Playing round 23 for the Year and collecting money!

I collected the money today that I won last Tuesday, a week ago, with my 73!  I won the back nine and the total 18 for a total of $34 !

I'm a little disappointed not winning the whole shebang with a 73, but I'm happy to win 2 of the 3.

Today wasn't quite as good as that 73.  We played at Shawnee GC today, rather than our usual Iroquois on a Thursday.  Sometimes the courses have other things happening and we can't get on.  Like next week, we will be at Iroquois on Tuesday, and must go out to Sun Valley GC on Thursday.

Today's round wasn't exceptional, but not bad.  I did have a double bogey on the front nine, and one on the back nine.  I ended up shooting a 38 - 39 = 77.  That 9 day layoff hurt a little, but I still feel like I hit a lot of good shots today, putted well, and chipped and hit my short irons well.  Both double bogeys were caused by hitting in bunkers, then 3 putting.  I made 2 good bunker shots, but couldn't get my first putt close enough to make my second.  One ball was up against the front lip of the bunker and I thought I really played a great shot just to get it out and onto the green.  The other bunker shot was to a pin on the back of the green and I carried the ball to the hole and it ran onto the fringe.  A downhill putt from there and it ran by the hole about 8 feet, and I missed it coming back.  So, I really thought my bunker shots were good, but the putting on those holes were a little off.

MEMORIAL DAY

On Memorial Day I like to go to the Zachary Taylor Memorial Cemetery on Brownsboro Road.  Each grave stone has an American Flag place in front of it, and with all the Tombstones lined up, and flags in place, I think it's just a nice place to visit on this day.
Of course, while I'm there I visit my Dad and Mom's grave.  They were getting ready to have a ceremony and had chairs all set up in the front near the Gazebo. I'm sure some dignitary was going to attend and make a speech.
I believe the Boy Scouts are the ones who volunteer to set all the flags out.  That's quite a job, with so many graves, and I thank the Boy Scouts for their hard work and appreciate the honor they show to all those who served our Country.

Another Summer Season of Concerts!

Memorial Day starts off another season of Willow Park Concerts on Sunday night.  It's always fun to listen to good music and watch good dancers. 

Here a couple of good dancers cut a rug to the Band "Lamont Gillespie and 100 proof".
Erin likes to dance with Mark because he's more fun than the rest of us.  I try to get Erin to do some 'Swing Dance" steps, but she likes to get out on the floor and do her own thing.  She's got good rhythm steps to the beat of the music.  She's fun to watch, especially when she's not aware you're watching her.

We've got a whole summer of concerts coming up.  This coming Sunday is "King Sonic", 'Rockabilly'  band that plays good dance music!

Why some guys would rather have a dog than a wife.

I got this as an email and thought it was pretty funny, especially the test at the end.  So, I thought I'd share it.

Why Some Men Have a Dog And No Wife:

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.

2. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.

3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.

4. A dog's parents never visit.

5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.

6. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk..

7. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.

8. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"

9. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.

10. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.

11. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad. They just think it's interesting.


And last, but not least:

12. If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff.



To test this theory:

Lock your wife and your dog in the garage for an hour. Then open it and see who's happy to see you.

--

Chance School Field Trip to the Zoo

Erin and her school friends made a last day of school Field Trip to the Zoo today.  I think it is a Field Trip they'll remember for awhile.  I mean, how often do you get to pet an Elephant?

Here, Erin gets to pet an Elephant.  They got to go into the yard 3 at a time and pet the Elephant. 

Erin, in green cap, watches them train the Amur Tiger 'Etta'.  As you can see, standing on her hind legs Etta is close to 7 feet tall!  Height measurements are on the white posts on each side of the screen.

Here's the whole crew!  They were waiting to feed the Giraffe's, but it got too late.  They had to get back to school before 3:00 o'clock.







But, they got to watch the Seals and Sea Lions training, see the Grizzly Bears wrestling in the water, eat Pizza for lunch, and got to touch a snake, a Rosy Boa that I had out for them.  I don't have any pictures of that because I was busy.  I hope Chance School posts pictures of the snake.

Haircuts and Such

I went to get a haircut this morning at Great Clips.  They had a sale going on, haircuts for $6.99.

I got my haircut for $6.99, plus tip,  But my penny change was a 1944s penny.  You just don't see many coins in circulation that are 68 years old!  Another penny for my collection.

And, I think my haircut looks like it cost $6.99!  Iiiittt'l grow back.

My Tuesday at Shawnee was Awesome!

First, let me tell you that I shot my lowest round ever!  I really hit the ball well today, and I'm back shooting a round without anything worse than a bogey.  I had a total of four bogey's, one birdie, and a round of 35 - 38 = 73.  Par at Shawnee GC is 34 - 36 = 70.  Pretty good, huh?  I played very steady all day.  I didn't make any long putts like I did last Tuesday, but never 3 putted.  I made every putt within 6 feet, and that's what kept me out of making a 3 putt.

After shooting a 35 on the front, I bogeyed 10 and 11 and figured the streak was over.  But then I parred in from there.  Does 'parred' have one r or two r's?  The spell check didn't highlight it, but it may be because it's spelled correctly, but used incorrectly.

I'm really hitting the ball well right now, and my shots I don't hit solid, I'm still hitting them well enough that they aren't causing me trouble.  And, besides putting well, I've been chipping pretty good.  In the past, when I've been chipping well, I can't convert by making the putt.  Right now, all the parts of my game are clicking on all cylinders.  I know my handicap at Shawnee GC will be dropping like a rock.  I don't know how much last weeks round dropped it, but with two rounds of 76 & 73, I know it's gonna be down in the mid-single digits.

I hadn't mentioned the Scramble I played in Sunday.  We didn't win anything, but I thought I played very good, and I had the closest ball to the pin I've ever had in a Scramble on a par 3.  I had a ball about 10 1/2 inches from the cup.  Unfortunately, the winner had one 10 inches from the cup!  We were the last group thru that hole, and had to measure it.  It was a let down.  Of course, if I'd have beaten him by a half an inch I'm sure he would have thought we cheated.  It's a good thing we weren't about 10 feet from the hole with that little difference because I'm not sure we'd have been able to tell who was the closest.

Well, I won't be playing Thursday, so I won't know if I won any money today.  I'll find out eventually.  This was round 22 for the year!

I am now an Award Winning Docent!

The Louisville Zoo had their Volunteer Awards Dinner this afternoon.  This is the one time each year they recognize  the Docents for the hard work they do and pick out those who deserve special recognition.

Out of Class of 35 new Docents this past year, 3 were picked as a Docent who jumped right in and started educating the public upon graduation.  I was one of the 3 Awarded the 'Leap Right In' Award.
This Award was given as the very first Award of the night, so I received the first award given out on an evening where there were a lot of awards and recognition given for all the hard work and volunteer time put in by all the Louisville Zoo Docents.




A Docent is required to put in 48 hours in a year to remain a Docent.  This is really not much time, considering it's less than an hour a week.  Tonight, listening to the awards, and the number of hours some of these people put in as volunteers, was amazing.  Many of these people put in hundreds of hours.  I think the most I heard was over 800 hours for one year.  But many were in the 300-500 hour range.  Amazing!  When looking at the hours I thought I'd probably put in, I was thinking I might be around 100-150 hours a  year, and I thought that was a lot.  I can't imagine putting in 850 hours in volunteer work.  And it is work.  I went over to the Zoo yesterday and took a Ball Python to  the Herpaquarium for about an hour, and then took the Rhino horn we have up to the Rhino exhibit and talked to people up there for a little over an hour.  I would guess in about 2 and half hours I talked to over 350 people.  That's a lot of talking,  a lot of questions answered. And, I'd like to think I enhanced the visit to the Zoo for each one of those people.  After I was finished, I had sweat my shirt ringing wet, my throat was dry from talking, and I was tired.  It was enjoyable, but it is hard work.
We were told that the last 12 months has been the largest rolling 12 month attendance in the Louisville Zoo history.  Over 948,000 people.  Just short of 1 million!  I'd like to think that the Docents, making patrons visits more enjoyable, has helped increase the attendance.  Yes, I'm sure the good weather has been a factor, but I'd like to think the Docents have had a little influence on those numbers.
Congratulations to all you hard working Docents!

So much for rounds without a double bogey!

I didn't get far into the round today before I blew my 'no double bogey' wish.  I double hole #4, and for good measure, I doubled #18.

I did find out today that I won ALL the money Tuesday.  Front 9, Back 9, and Total 18, for a whopping $60!  I thought it might win it all.  I would have been very disappointed if I didn't win any of the money, but am pleasantly surprised that I won ALL of the money!

Despite my 2 double bogeys today, I didn't play that bad.  I shot a 40 - 40 = 80.  Both double bogeys were  the result of a 3-putt.  I hit a lot of good shots today, and even had several recovery shots that I thought showed very good imagination to be able to get the ball either on, or very close, to the green.

I left early so I don't know how our team did.  We averaged almost a net 73, which is about 2 strokes higher than what usually wins.  But, the other teams could have had a bad to, too.  You never know.
This would be my 21st round of the year!

My 20th round of the year was a pretty good one

This was our normal Tuesday at Shawnee GC.  We had good weather today and a pretty good turn out of golfers.  A good day to shoot well with a lot of money on the line.

I don't know my handicap at Shawnee GC.  I think it is around 13.  But I played well today.  If I don't win any money today I won't win any for a long time.  My handicap is still high enough that with a good round I can shoot really low, but I think after this week my handicap may drop to a number that will keep me from being able to net low enough to win.

I shot a 37 - 39 = 76.  This could easily be low enough that I could sweep front, back, and total 18.  But, in our group you never know.  Somebody else could have fired their low round of the year.  I didn't stick around to see how it came out.  We were the 2nd group in and I knew it would be close to another hour before the last group got in.  I'll find out Thursday.  By the way, with last Thursdays round, this was 3 nine's in a row with a 37!  Pretty good, if I do say so myself!
I hit the ball well today, but what made this a super round was that I made 3 really long putts,   two from just off the green.  One saved par and the other two were birdies.  So I made two birdies today.  And, this was two rounds in a row that I had nothing higher than a bogey.

A nice way to celebrate a Rainy Mother's Day

It rained all day.  But, that didn't stop us from enjoying a nice Mother's Day.  Mary Lynn and I met Mark, Kim and the girls, Judy, and Kevin, at Uncle Maddio's Pizza.  Had a nice lunch and, after our plans to visit the Zoo was rained out, came back to our place for a rip roaring game of Monopoly!

First things first.  Erin and Jill had a cake with them that they made but hadn't decorated yet.  So they went into the Kitchen, nobody was allowed to come in, and  iced and decorated their cake for Mommy.  It not only looked great, but tasted yummy!

Mary Lynn and I were partners, so it was a 7 player game.  I was a silent partner.  I found that out when I tried to make a deal early in the game and was told to butt out!
Erin and Jillian, thru some shrewd trading and investments, eventually ran everyone else out of the game.  They traded large payments back and forth for awhile, but Jillian ran into a string of bad luck, hitting Erin's property 3 straight times, and had to start making some property deals to stay in the game.  This lead to her eventual downfall, and Erin became the Monopoly Queen!

Of course, along the way there's a few casualties.  Even on Mother's Day there's no mercy shown in financial dealings!
Here, Kim goes bankrupt and must exit the game.

To end the day, we went to The Comfy Cow for some great tasting Ice Cream and everybody was a winner.
One of the really funny times was, as everyone was sitting around enjoying their ice cream, Erin says, in front of everybody, "Mommy, how much do you weigh?" 

As Promised, The Coca-Cola Golf Scramble Report

We played about as well as we could play today, 10 under par.  Sure, we could have made a couple more long putts, or maybe chipped one in.  But overall, we did about as well as we could expect.  After the tournament, Brian and I were the official scorers.  We went into the scoring tent (Inside the Clubhouse), and double checked each scorecard to make sure the right score was posted before they announced the winners.  We found a couple of errors, but not with any that were in contention.

As you can see, we finished tied for 8th out of 25 teams.  Brian won the $100 closest to the pin hole.  The Wagner Team finished 6 Under, but they had a little trouble on the 'toilet seat' hole.  That's the hole where they sit a toilet seat around the hole and it's only open from one direction.  The Wagner Team double bogeyed that hole, while the Tabler Team managed to Birdie it.

Here was the only place I helped today.  I got to the food pretty quick and saved us a place at the table.  This is me and my 3 sons. Clockwise from me:  Mark, Brian, and Kevin.  Kevin played his usual good game today and helped  lot.  Mark, who only plays golf once a year, hit some nice shots and made a couple of putts for us.  And, like I said, I saved a place at the table.
Our team didn't fair very well in the Door Prize drawings. They had a lot of nice Door Prizes, but Mark's number was the only one called out before all the Prizes were gone.  Mark won a $30 gift certificate at an Auto Service Facility out near him.  But, the rest of the team didn't have their number called, so we got an envelope.  The envelope was guaranteed to have at least $5 in it.  Of course, mine had $5, but Kevin and Brian's had $10 each.
It was fun, and I look forward every year to playing golf with my 3 sons.

"Cool Hand Luke" I Ain't

Mary Lynn and I played "Cool Hand Luke" today and went back to our Alley Hillside and tackled the weeds.  I could have sworn we worked back there for 8 hours, but Mary Lynn informed me it was only two hours.  I told her that in "Cool Hand Luke" they do this for 8 hours a day, day after day.  I don't know how they can do it.  She said, "Well, they're not as old as we are!"  We got pretty tired and hot before we got done and had to take a few breaks.  At one point I had to tell her to "get mad at them weeds!"
Our yard drops off about 8 feet from the fence to the Alley.  A pretty good tumble can be taken if you're not careful.  Especially when you just may roll off the hill in front of a car that may happen by.
We used snippers and a weed whip to trim it back.  It was a pretty hard job and I'm glad it got done.  I'd already trimmed the hill from the Alley, all I could reach, and I'd had the mower just behind the fence.  But the hill drops off so steep, you just can't get the mower on it safely.  As a matter of fact, it's hard just to stand on it safely!  But, it's trimmed back now and should last a few weeks.  I'll get back there with the weed whip the rest of the summer and cut what's growing before it has a chance to get big enough that a weed whip won't cut it.

Maybe my lowest Score ever...but you have to know how we play.

I know I have hundreds, maybe thousands of faithful readers.  And, I'm constantly writing about my golf rounds.  I've mentioned this in the past, and I may have some new readers since then or some of you may have forgotten this.  So I'll go over how we play and you can take what I shoot on the golf course and understand I'm not as good as the scores I post!
We play improved lies.  I play with the same bunch of 25 or so guys and this is our system.  We take gimmies, and because of the variance between foursomes gimmies, we have decided that anything inside 30" is a gimmie.  This distance is marked on our Putters. We play from the "Senior Tees", but several us, yes, me included, have moved up to the Red, "Ladies" Tees after seeing that the courses had not moved the Senior Tees up to an acceptable distance. On many holes the difference is less then 5 yards, but on several holes there is a significant difference. Also, no ball is lost if it is known to be inbounds and on the course.  Drop another without a penalty.  However, Out of Bounds balls are taken in from the distance they were hit, and one penalty stroke taken.  And, we are allowed no more than a triple bogey.  One other item.  On Tuesday at Shawnee GC we play our own ball all the way, but at Iroquois GC we always play a 'Shamble' on 2 holes,  1 and 10, because we play Team competition on Thursdays.  For those of you that don't know, a 'Shamble' is when you play your own ball from the best drive of your foursome.
So, now you know.  You still must hit the ball well and putt well to score well.  I'll tell you how I did today.

At Iroquois today I had the lowest score I've ever had.  I shot a 37 - 37 = 74, and won low man money of $10!  Our team came in 3rd out of 4 teams.
I really didn't think I played as well as I scored, at least not hitting the ball solid.  I did hit decent shots, though  very seldom did I hit my best shot.  But, I kept the ball in play and made a lot of par saving putts.  I had 13 pars, 1 birdie, and 4 bogeys.  Another round where I didn't have anything over a bogey, which is my goal each time I play. 
My favorite Scramble of the year is coming up Saturday.  It's the Coca-Cola Company Scramble, and this is the only time I get to play golf with my 3 sons.  We never seem to challenge for the lead, but I always enjoy being out on the course with Mark, Kevin, and Brian.  Brian plays well, Kevin plays a respectable game, and Mark, I think, plays excellent for this being the only time each year he picks up a golf club.  I'm looking forward to it, and I'll let you know how we do.

Tee Boxes....Just my Opinion

I've always had a disagreement with courses on their Tee Box positions.  That is, most courses.  Maybe I don't understand why we have different Tee Boxes.  Do you know why there are different Tee Boxes?
The way I understand it is that we have different tee boxes for the difference in the level of players.  That is, low handicap players would use the longer distance boxes, where the higher handicap players would use the Tee Boxes that would make the holes play a little shorter.  This would also hold true for the players who hit the ball further, would play the longer tee boxes.  While players who just can't hit the ball far would play the shorter Tee Boxes. 
Each hole has a par assigned to it.  That is, either a par 3, par 4, or par 5.  Most courses have, on each nine holes, 2 par 3 holes, 2 par 5 holes, and 5 par 4 holes, for a score of a par 36 on each nine, and par 72 for 18 holes.  Par for a hole is decided by the number of strokes it would take to reach the green, plus 2 putts.  Therefore, a par three should be reachable from the tee, with two putts for par.  If you have a par 4 that is 400 yards long, and you have a player that can only hit the ball 180 yards of the tee, then that player will not be able to reach the green in 2 shots.  It will take him 3 shots to reach the green.  But, if he moves to a forward tee that makes the hole play 360 yards, then it would be a playable par 4 for him.

This is why I don't understand the reason that most courses have 3 tees that are each 10 yards apart.  10 yards?  What exactly is 10 yards supposed to do?  Placing Teeing grounds 10 yards apart would be fine if you had about 12 tee boxes per hole.  Most courses have 3 to 5 Tees.  These Tees should always be 30-40 yards apart, to allow the player to choose which Tee Box would suite his game to allow him to play the course in the designed par.
And, while I'm at it.  Get rid of the names for Tee Boxes.  They shouldn't be called:  Championship Tees, Senior Tees, Women's Tees, Junior Tees.  Just use the color or number,  and let where you play suit the distance you hit the ball.
One other point.  If I play against someone and I'm using a forward Tee Box from the one they are playing, when my drive is the same distance theirs is, I'm still at a disadvantage.  While from this distance they may hit a 7 iron, I would be hitting a 4 iron.  So, my theory is, my drives should be far enough ahead of theirs so that I'm hitting nearly the same iron to the green that they are hitting.  So, by doing that, at least we're playing on the same level.
Yes, I understand handicaps take care of a lot of the difference.  But, to the normal player, it is not nearly as much fun to play a course when you know on many of the holes you cannot reach the green, even with your best shots, in regulation.
Well, that's my opinion on tees.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Have something to add? 

After Picking the Derby Winner I thought I was on a Roll.....

I guess the Luck didn't carry over to the golf course.  I played Shawnee GC today.  It was back to our usual Tuesday at Shawnee.  I didn't score that bad, but I really didn't feel like I played very well today.  I wasn't hitting my drives solid, the putting and chipping was a little off.  I ended up shooting a 41 - 41 =82.  Not a bad score for feeling like I didn't play well.
Here lately I've been hitting my drives solid and down the middle.  Today, while I was keeping the drives in play, they just weren't as solid as I've been hitting them.  I three putted several greens.  Had two make-able birdie putts that I left short.  LEFT BIRDIE PUTTS SHORT!  You just don't do that.  And, my goal is to get through the round without a double bogey.  Well, that lasted until the 2nd hole.
Oh well, this was my 18th round for the year.

My 4th Derby Winner since 1957!

I HAD THE DERBY WINNER!  That doesn't happen very often.  Only 4 times in my life.  I can't really count the first 10 years of my life because I wasn't aware of the Derby.  I mean, it wasn't on TV back then, or we didn't have a TV,  and it would slip up on me without notice until it was actually Derby Day and the race would run.  So, I would only count my Derby picks starting at 11 years old in 1957.
My first Derby Winner was Tomy Lee in 1959.  This selection was made because I drew him in a Jackpot in the neighborhood, so he became my Derby Horse.  After that, I'd pick a horse each year. 
My next winner didn't come until 20 years later, Spectacular Bid, in 1979.   I thought 20 years was pretty bad until it got to be 27 years before I had my next one!  Street Sense in 2007.  So, with just 5 years between these two winners, I have to feel like I'm on a roll!
We really had a great Derby Day. 

Of course, we had a jackpot on every race.  Some of us didn't win, while others seemed to win multiple times.  Kinda being piggy. 
Here, Erin, the Jackpot Queen, has Great-Great Uncle George draw his selection.  Uncle George was one of the 'piggy' ones, winning 3 jackpots.

And then, every Derby gathering has to have pretty girls in pretty hats.  Our little Derby gathering had Erin and Jillian modeling their Derby Hats they made. 

Well, Round 17 for the year was just a small Train Wreck

It could have been worse.  I played pretty well except for a couple of holes and I couldn't make any putts.  So, that being said, I shot a 43 - 41 = 84. 
My 43 on the front nine ended with a triple bogey on #8 and a double bogey on #9.  Two pretty easy holes.  So, as you can see, I had a pretty good 7 holes before the train wreck on 8 & 9.  Even not making putts.
I hit very good drives today.  If the rest of my game was that good I could have been in the mid-70's.  Oh well, no money today on the golf course.  I guess I'll just have to make my money at the races tomorrow and Saturday!

Watching "The Great Steamboat Race"!

Mary Lynn and I picked up Erin and Jillian at School yesterday and headed down to the "Great Steamboat Race", witch was the 50th running. 

We had a little time to kill before the big race started, so Jill and Erin spent a little time trying to fill up the Ohio River with rocks.

Then, spending a little time out of the late afternoon sun.  This was also used as 'home base' when Grampy played 'catchers' with them.  I wasn't allowed to listen-in when they made their secret plans under the umbrella.

The Steamboats finally made it up to Cox's Park.  The Belle of Louisville pulled in to the bank just about 100 yards downriver from us and picked up the Cardinal Bird!  This was one of the tasks each boat had to do as part of the race.  So, the Belle was way behind when She passed us.  And, She passed real close to our bank, so we got to see her up close as She passed by.  And, The Belle of Louisville eventually won the race!

The Spirit of '76'!

I finally had a round today without a Double Bogey!  One Birdie, and the rest  pars and bogeys.  I shot a 38 - 38 = 76!  We played Iroquois GC today instead of Shawnee.  They had a tournament at Shawnee GC so we did our usual Thursday golf at Iroquois GC, where we play team competition and low man.  Our team won low team, but I lost low man by one stroke.  My net 65 was beaten out by a 78, net 64!  I got back $14 for the team event.

I was disappointed not winning low man, but shooting a 76 made up for it.  I thought earlier I was close to a good round, but then threw in a few clunker rounds that had me wondering where my game was going.  So, the 76 today, without any big number holes, has me feeling pretty good about my game.
The only trouble is that my handicap will start dropping now, so I'd better play well to make up for it.  This was round 16 for the year.
I haven't mention it, but last Tuesday at Shawnee GC, when Brian played with me and J. R. Harris, J. R. won all the money.  He won Front, Back, and Total 18, for a total of $60!  J. R. has been playing well and his handicap is dropping.  I used to not be happy with a round unless I beat J. R. by 10 strokes.  But now, I'm happy if I beat him by 5 strokes.  Today he shot a 40 - 42 = 82.  He's getting tougher and tougher to beat.