Ye Ol Golf Bags Annual Event

Although I haven't played much this year, there is a group of us gals who play golf together every Tuesday during the golf season... and play Farkel (the dice game) during the winter months. Each year, we try to get together with our husbands and have a group golf event and a potluck dinner afterwards. Today was the day for the outing and, even though I haven't participated much, they still invited us to the event.

We matched up as foursomes (two couples per) and played a scramble. I played in the only all women's group. We thought we played quite well with a gross 74... but it, apparently, it couldn't compete with the groups with all men. The winning score was a 67.

The top picture is of my foursome. From left to right: Janet DeChand, Carol Wood, Carol Williams, and Sherry Perleberg. We had a fun time together.

Because of his Parkinson's, my husband doesn't really play golf anymore. Sherry's husband doesnt play golf at all, and Janet and Carol are widowed. All the other gals played with their husbands.

Here are some more pictures at the potluck dinner, held at the home of MaryLou & Carl Lattimer. Remember, you can click on any of the images to enlarge them.
-Carol

The Final Results for AVWGA

The final results for the 2006 Apple Valley Women's Golf Association team play are in. This, as you may recall, is regional competition between 8 different clubs from April through October. Points are accumulated from month to month, with the final results revealed after the last event in October.

This last event was held at the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club and we (our Three Lakes Team) played against the Ellensburg Golf & CC .

This picture is of our foursome today. On the left is my playing partner (and good friend) Kris Bates. Next to her is Hayley and to her right is Debbie... both from the Ellensburg Golf Club.

As a complete surprise to us, our team did come away with the most net points trophy. For this we received the trophy and a monetary prize to donate to the golf charity of our choice. We do this is lieu of a bunch of individual trophies. The money is generally donated to the various local junior golf programs.

The other winners this season were the Wenatchee Golf & Country club who took the Overall points trophy. Apple Tree took the Gross points trophy. Other teams that participated are: Chelan Golf Club, Leavenworth Golf Club, Lakeview Golf Club (Soap Lake), the Yakima Elks.

This was the first time I had played golf since the rain-out in Ellensburg last month. Considering this, I didn't play too bad. On this long, difficult, country club course I scored a 93 which was respectable 77 net for me.

As the Executive Secretary for the group, my next task will be to organize the winter meeting with the various team captains to start planning for next year. This will, hopefully, be in early November.

-Carol Williams

Rain-Out

Ellensburg Golf Course was the location for this month's Team event. Unfortunately, the weather was very bad and we suspended play (ultimately cancelling) after playing only three holes. Three holes in one hour was shaping up to be a 6 hour round!

It was impossible to keep us or the club grips dry... and when clubs started flying further than the ball, I decided it was time to call it a day. As Executive Secretary of the Apple Valley Women's Golf Association, it was my responsibility to make a decision. I did take a quick poll of the ladies within a 3 hole radius and it was almost unanimous. Out of the 48 ladies playing, only 4 wanted to continue playing.

I was disappointed with the need to cancel because this was my first chance this season to play as team partners with my friend, Kris Bates. I always enjoy playing at Ellensburg. It's only a 9-hole course (twice around) and it's not the best physical course we play, but the ladies are really nice and they always serve a really good lunch. In spite of cancelling play, we did stick around for lunch and enjoyed one of the best tomato bisques ever and a nice salad bar.

Huddled together in the picture above is, from left to right: Kris Bates and our (intended) opponents from the Leavenworth Golf Club, Marlys Sides and Bev Peer.

Next (and last) team event for the season:
Wenatchee Golf & Country Club - October 6, 2006

-Carol

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A Day At The Highlander Golf Course

Today I had the unexpected opportunity to play golf with Greg Grahn, the financial analyst for Liberty Financial Services. Greg spoke at a real estate investment seminar in Wenatchee last night and asked for a golf course recommendation. Well, I had to do a little better than that. I generously offered to take time off work and play with him.

Since it was seniors men's day at Three Lakes, I made an 8:30 tee time at The Highlander Golf Course in East Wenatchee, directly across the Columbia River from my home course of Three Lakes.

As described on their website, "The Highlander Golf Club is a classic Highlands Scottish golf course true to the land and heritage of Scottish links style golf. The club, open to the public, truly sits atop a cliff edge nearly 900 feet above the famed Columbia River as it winds its way through canyons and gorges to the Pacific Ocean nearly 450 river miles to the West."

Greg & I got matched up with a very nice retired couple from Juneau, Alaska. Pictured above are, from left to right: Tim, Greg & Barb.

It took me the first nine holes to figure out the speed of the greens, which were very fast. I knew I had to score no worse than a 5 on the par 4 18th hole in order to break 90... and I did get a bogey 5, for an 89 for the day. Greg beat me with an 86.

Putting For Sight

The Annual Wenatchee Sunrise Lions Club Putting For Sight tournament was held today at the 18-hole, par 72, championship putting course at Desert Canyon Golf Course near Orondo, Washington. The Puttermeisters fielded a team, but one of our regular team members, Karen Madison, could not play with us because she was one of the tournaments organizers. So, here is the team as it was today, from left to right: Donna Regan, Lisa Schmidt, Kris Bates, and Carol Williams. Kris is a good friend of ours and was a very worthy Puttermeister substitute.

This is definitely a fun course to play, but it played way slower than it usually does. Desert Canyon was recently repossesed by the bank and I think they are scimping on grounds maintenance. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad, but just not the usual. This is really a fun thing for two couples to do together. It takes less than two hours and is worth lots of laughs.

We left before the results of the tournament were in because Lisa needed to get back to work this afternoon. Our team had the low score posted at the time. This was the cumulative total of each players score (280). To the best of my knowledge, I had the low score of 67 when we left... but there were still several teams to come in. I'll report back in when we get the final results.
-Carol

Late breaking news: The results are in. The Puttermeisters won the team title (for the second year in a row) by quite a large margin. I, indeed, did win the individual division honors again this year... defending my title from last year. This is a lot of pressure for next year! Way to go Puttermeisters!

Team Golf At Apple Tree

Today's score: 86

Apple Tree Golf Course in southeast Yakima is a beautiful and challenging course. I spent nearly as much time admiring the flowers, lakes, waterfalls and surrouding landscape as I did analyzing my golf shots. It is such a unique setting, literally amongst apple trees, with cows and horses crazing in the adjacent pastures.

Here is a descriptive clip from their website:
Over the past decade, the Apple Tree Golf Course has quickly become one of the Pacific Northwest's premier golf experiences. Carved from the rolling terrain of 100 year-old orchards, Apple Tree's prestigious resume includes a 4-star rating by Golf Digest. Its signature par 3 17th features the world-famous apple island green and has been named "Best Par Three" by the Seattle Times, and "One of Washington's Top 18 Holes" by Washington CEO. And while the 17th has been featured in countless golf publications, calendars, and web sites, the rest of the championship track plays over 6,900 yards and features a variety of scenic challenges including lakes, fountains, and a beautifual cascading waterfall. So whether you come in ten over...or ten under, a spectacular round at Apple Tree is always a gimmee!

Today was our monthly Team golf event, held at Apple Tree. This was our 5th of 8 events for the season, with the next one being at the Ellensburg Golf Course and the final event coming at the Wenatchee Golf & CC on October 6th.


The ladies we played against today were from the Yakima Elks Golf Club. Pictured above from left to right: Ruth Toler (my playing partner), Pat Sugden and Barb Fortier (both from the Elks). We were all fairly close in handicap, so it was a good match. Ruth and I took slightly more than half the points, but Pat & Barb were very tough competitors. Despite the challenging terrain, I was pleased with my score of 86.

I was so enthralled with the beauty of the course, I took several pictures and am posting them here... to entice you to visit this beautiful course next time you're looking for a unique golfing experience.

Be sure to click on these images to enlarge, so you can appreciate the beauty of the landscaping.

The Results Are In

The first thing I did this morning after arriving at the golf course was to check the Leaderboard. The Puttermeisters were, indeed, in first place... but by only one single stroke. The second day of this tournament is often more difficult, so we knew we'd have to do well to hang on to the lead for the final win.

We did do well and, thankfully, my putter was hot again! Most importantly, we had a good time and ended up with the same score as yesterday, a 76... giving us a two day total of 152. This turned out to be 7 strokes better than the closest team, who shot an 82 today.

Pictured here on #10, which was our first hole of the day, from left to right: Lisa, me, Donna, Karen. Barb... are you reading this? We missed you!

I didn't stay around too long after the tournament was over. After the hot round, I had to get home and take a cold shower for an evening dinner with some friends. I know we won the first gross team prize, and also some of the side game money... skins, KP, gross honey pot, etc.

Our next event together is a "Putting For Sight" tournament at Desert Canyon, sponsored by the Greater Wenatchee Sunrise Lions Club. It will be held September 9th. Karen will not be able to play with the team because she is a member of the sponsoring club and will be running the tournament. We will find a substitute. We are the defending team winners, and I am the defending overall individual winner.

My next golf event is this coming Thursday for our monthly regional Team event, which will be held at Apple Tree in Yakima.

-Carol

The Puttermeisters (Reborn)

Consensus is that "The Puttermeisters" have been reborn after Barb Keeler, one of our original team members, moved to Buckeye, Arizona.

Today was our first event as a Puttermeister team since Barb's departure. It surely wasn't the same but our "newest" Puttermeister, Donna Regan, did a great job of filling Barb's "big shoes".

Pictured here is the new team, from left to right: Me, Lisa Schmidt, Donna Regan, and Karen Madison. We are at Applebees (after golf) having lunch to celebrate Lisa's birthday, which we missed earlier in the month.

The event today was the "Ball Buster" Scramble at our home course of Three Lakes Golf Course. Co-sponsored by Pepsi and Budweiser, this is truly a brutal two day tournament, with the tee boxes set in very bizarre places, requiring shots to go under and between trees, and pin placements on every green set on the slippery slopes. It's a very challenging tournament, but we've played in this tournament several years and have developed fairly successful strategies for dealing with the sinister set-up.

Today we shot a team score of 76 gross, 63.5 net. I played well today and my putter was particularly effective which made me feel quite useful. With the pin placements as difficult as they are, some lucky putts are definitely appreciated!

Because we wanted to get the birthday lunch celebration under way, we didn't stay around to compare scores with the other teams. We're fairly confident this could have us in first place for the time being. We'll know in the morning when we check in before the next (and final) round.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's results...

Golfing & Gawking

Today I had the pleasure of playing golf at Bear Mountain with my very good friends (from left to right): June Dorner, Donna Long, me, and Dorothy McIntire. Dorothy and Donna play out of the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club and June plays at Three Lakes like me.

Today was just for fun and none of us had ever played this course before. It is very scenic and one could easily get distrated from golfing and just gawk and the fabulous views of Lake Chelan and the surrounding area from every single hole. June, however, spends all of her spare time grubbing around in the brush looking for lost balls... and there are lots of them on this course. She found about 25 balls today. Me, I'm too scared of snakes, to go wandering off the course!

This course is built on a hillside and every single hole is up, down, or sideways... with lots of scrub brush if you're not able to stay in the fairway. It is very beautiful and I would definitely play there again.

Dorothy and her husband, Bud, moved to Palm Springs a few years ago but they come to Wenatchee during the summer to visit family and friends (and to get away from the awful heat down south). Wenatchee is hot is the summer, but Palm Springs is worse. When we're in Palm Springs durng the winter, Dorothy is very gracious and invites me to play golf with her fairly often. Dorothy & Bud belong to Cathedral Canyon Country Club, which is quite a difficult course with lots of water and sand to deal with.

As for my game today... after the first few holes I thought, perhaps, this would be the one day I would NOT report a score on this blog. The final score wasn't as bad as I expected it might have (or could have) been. The score ( 94), plus one mulligan on the first tee. Can you read that score? I don't know what happened. All of a sudden the type shrank and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to enlarge it. Oh, now it's back to normal.

The course was, indeed beautiful, but the front nine was the most difficult, with several blind shots. Now that I've played it, should be easier next time. Theoretically speaking, of course!

Well, that's enough babble for now.

Next games: Saturday & Sunday for the Ball Buster Tournament at Three Lakes.

Mysterious Ways

I can only be consolled in knowing the Lord works in mysterious ways and he has his reasons.

Today I lost my match in the third round of the Club Championship for the 18-hole ladies division at Three Lakes Golf Course. The good news is I didn't play bad. The bad news is I still lost, even though my opponent, Ruth Toler, and I shot the very same score of 85.

I, a 15 handicap, netted 70 which is a very respectable score. Ruth who, I believe, is a 22 handicap netted a 63 which is unbelieveable.

In match play, however, score is irrelevant. It's all about who wins the most invidivual holes. I should have known how the day was going to go when an omen was sent from above on the first hole. Ruth chipped in for a birdie on the par 5 #1. Hope sprung anew when I got a chip in birdie on #4. It was a back and forth match... but Ruth moves on and I wish her luck.

As I said, the Lord does work in mysterious ways and perhaps he was saving me from myself. Had I won this match I would have had to play in the 36 hole play-off on Thursday. That, in itself is a difficult task... but I will also be playing at Bear Mountain in Chelan on Wednesday. Then, a two day tournament this coming week-end. Perhaps it is best I save myself for fun at Bear Mountain with my very good friends... and the very challenging Ball-Buster tournament at Three lakes this coming week-end.

Seriously, it's no big deal to me. My self esteem isn't tied to winning, but I do love to win! No doubt about that. But, I'd rather be a good loser than a bad winner. I once heard that you have to be used to losing to be a good loser. But, I beg to differ. It just makes winning that much sweeter when it's my turn (again).

I'm actually pleased to be playing as well as I am considering how irregularly I have been playing. Ruth is very nice and certainly deserved to win on this day. I have won the Club Championship before and now, perhaps, it is Ruth's turn. We will know on Thursday afternoon... after the final round.

The picture above is (from left to right): Ruth's Dad (Dale Wyles), Ruth's son (Travis Toler) and Ruth Toler... my cheating (oops I mean worthy) opponent. This is the group I played with today.

Second Round of Play

Well... today was the second round of match play in the Three Lakes Ladies 18-hole division of the Club Championship.

The group I played with today are (from left to right): Bev Peer, Donna Jones, and Donna Pershall. Donna Jones was my opponent today and she turned out to be a very worthy and spunky opponent. For a 24 handicap, she played better than her average and I (with a 15 handicap) played worse than usual so it made for an interesting match. We played pretty well head to head until the 5th hole when she let me win the next two holes. She came back to win hole #7, leaving me only one hole up. I took hole #8 & #9 to be three up at the turn. I gave back a hole on #10, but we halfed again on #11 with a par each.

Ultimately, I did win the match being 4 up with 2 holes to go. As it turned out, she outscored me on the next two holes... so, overall, she only lost by 2 holes. She was quite proud of herself, and I was proud of her too. Now she will move into the "net" division competition.

My final score today was a 92, which was about 5-7 strokes higher than it should have been. For some reason my slice resurfaced and I spent much of my energy trying to figure out how to deal with it. I never ceased to be amazed at how I can play so well one week (84 last week) and so poorly the next week. Despite a few (very few) excellent shots, my long game was very inconsistent today, but once I got close to the green I was able to do redeem myself in many cases.

Donna Perhall & Bev Peer had a very good match too, with Bev finally winning.

Next game: Next Thursday for Round 3. I will play the winner of the Ruth Toler / Sue Chin match.

First Round - Club Championship

Whew... now I know what the Wicked-Witch-of-the-West must have felt like when she was melting! It was so hot today on the golf course, by the 16th hole I was questioning my ability to keep standing. We were all seeking shade at every opportunity thoughout the day, but we were all pretty well in survial mode by the last three holes. Not sure what the temperature was but it must have been close to 100.

This is the group I played with today... all friends who are regulars with the Three Lakes Ladies 18-hole Division. From left to right: Linda Hinton, Mary Weatherman, Donna Jones, and... yours truly. Good thing this picture was taken on the second hole of the day. Had it been taken after the round, I would have been shorter than Donna.

Today was the first round of this year's (match play) Club Championship. My match today was with Mary. Linda and Donna also played a match. This was the scratch division which was really a bit unfair for Mary because she has a 27 handicap, whereas I have a 15 My handicap is up from an 11 a couple years ago, which is a result of not playing on a regular basis. It is very difficult for a 27 handicapper to play scratch golf against a 15. But, that's the way the brackets work and Mary was a great sport about it all. We are good friends and enjoy playing together under any circumstances. Now, Mary drops down into the "net" division where she will be on a level playing field with whoever she is matched with. Good luck, Mary. I'll be rooting for you!

I won the match 8 & 6. Meaning, I was 8 holes up with 6 to play. I was 7 up with 7 to play, which is "dormy"... meaning Mary would have had to win every hole to go into an extra hole play-off.

I played very respectable 41 on the front nine (before my body started it's melt down). Usually I can score better on the back 9 because it is shorter, but not today. I shot a 43 on the back for a total of 84. Overall, I played well but my drives were not as straight as I would have liked. With a few brain fart exceptions, my iron play and putting was quite good.

All-in-all it was a good day... and now that I've had a cold shower, I'm feeling much better!

Next game: Probably next Thursday for round 2 of the Club Championship. I play Donna Jones (next to me in the photo). Donna won her match with Linda, but it was very close and I think went up to the last hole.

-Carol

Guest Day at Wenatchee Golf & Country Club

It has become a tradition for my friend, Donna Long, to invite me to the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club's ladies division annual Member / Guest Day. Today was the day. The Country Club is a longer and more difficult course than my home course of Three Lakes, and the greens are much much much faster! The course was in excellent shape, but it was very hot today. We all pretty much had the energy zapped out of us by the last few holes.

We had a fun group to play with. From left to right are: Karen Schmitten, Kay Fuson, and Donna Long.

Donna and I met through team golf several years ago... she playing for the Country Club and me playing for Three lakes. Our skill level is very similar and we enjoy playing together. I had never met Karen before, but really enjoyed being around her. I had played with Kay once before at a Three Lakes ladies day event earlier in the season. Kay is a retired school principal, Donna is a 3rd grade teacher and I think Karen is in some field of education administration. We never really talked about that. Hopefully, we will play together again sometime and I can learn a little more about her career.

As for my game, I was hitting the ball well, but my score ( 91 ) wasn't all that great. Of course, the 6, 7, 6 on the last three holes shot down my hopes of breaking 90 for the day. My energy was pretty well gone and my ball control went with it. The good news is I didn't spend much time at all in the rough, which is a very good thing... because the Country Club rough is very thick and can eat up strokes in a hurry.

I came home and took a long cool shower.

Next game: Thursday - First round of the Club Championship for the Three Lakes Ladies 180-hole division.

-Carol

Three Lakes Ladies Guest Day 2006

Today was the Three Lakes Ladies Guest Day. Pictured here, with the par 3 #18 fairway and green in the background, are the ladies I played with today. The weather was hot, but I enjoyed playing with this group. Fortunately, the course has plenty of trees and we were seeking shade by the second hole of the day. We all ran out of steam the last few holes.


From left to right: Nancy Vail, Dorothy McIntire (my guest), and Sharon Nance. Sharon is also a member at Three Lakes and Nancy was her guest. Dorothy and her husband, Bud, live in Palm Springs, but come to Wenatchee in the summer to visit family (and to get away from the summer heat in P.S.). Dorothy and I play together quite a bit at Cathedral Canyon Country Club (where they live) when Max & I go to Palm Springs in February. Dorothy and Bud are also members of the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club in East Wenatchee.

My game today was the best I've had for a while. My final score was 82 but I added a stroke to my score for posting because I took a mulligan, which was allowed for the team best ball competition. I had a few duffed chip shots but, otherwise, played a pretty good game. I even got my fairway woods to cooperate. I forgot to count putts, but my putting was good.

My biggest challenge right now is calculating yardage with my irons. Steve Creps who fit me for some new custom irons (which I haven't ordered yet) showed me how to torque my body to get more distance and accuracy. When I do this properly, the ball flies a lot further and I haven't played enough this year to really figure out what the yardage is for each club. Heaven forbid I should get desperate enough to go to the driving range and work on that!

Next game: Next Tuesday at the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club for their ladies guest day

Team Golf At Leavenworth Golf Club

Pictured (left to right): Lola, Chips, Marianne

Friday was our monthly "Team" golf event which was hosted by Leavenworth this month. Our Three Lakes team played our matches against Lakeview (out of Soap Lake). The ladies to the left in blue are from Lakeview and our worthy opponents. They were playing pretty darned good and made Chippy and me work for every single point. When the day was over, Lakeview did very well against all three of our teams.

My score of the day was 87, which was decent considering I had played only one other game over the last month (in Chelan the day before). My drives were inconsistent but the rest of my game was decent.

Leavenworth is a beautiful course, with tight (tree-lined) fairways and the Icicle River running along the edges in places. It is a course where "control" is a key factor. It is, essentially, carved out of a forest of trees and there is plenty of trouble if you don't stay in the fairway. I am proud to say I wasn't in the trees one single time on this day. My first drive of the day on a long par 5 was a goofy shot pulled into the left rough. I managed to recover, though, and scored a 5 to save par. I had a beautiful approach shot from about 100 yards out, leaving me a short par putt. Oh... those 1 putts do cover up a lot of sins!

I love all the flowers they maintain on this course. To the right is just a sample of some of the flower gardens. Fairway 10 in the background. Makes for more pleasant waiting during slow play. Play, however, moved right along on this day. We were so pleased to get finished in about 4 hours and 15 minutes. Generally, team play take close to 5 hours which can get a little frustrating.

A fun day on a fun course, with pleasant company.
-Carol

A Day at Lake Chelan Golf Course

Score: 92

My golfing friends today:
Gail, Janet, Ruth (and me)

The score of 92 may not sound very good but, after a 50 on the front nine, a 42 on the back was somewhat of a redemption... and, I'm ashamed to admit, I was happy to get away with a 92. At one point I was just hoping to break 100. I was hoping the month long lay-off would do me good, but it didn't seem to help. Oh Well. My work has been keeping me too busy and I've got to figure out a way to play once a week or, at the very lease, once every two weeks from here on out. I worried that, before I know it, winter will be here and the season will be over.

Overall, my game wasn't glaringly bad today. My main problem of the day was adjusting to the speed of the greens. Each green seemed different and I just couldn't seem to figure out what to do about it. My putting stroke wasn't bad, but my brain was confused about what to do on the greens.

The score aside, I had a very fun day playing with this group! My friend, Ruth Collins, is the one who invited me to play as her guest in their annual Member/Guest Invitational. Ruth and I have gotten to know each other over the years from various events and always enjoy being together. She is one of those people who can keep golf in perspective as a way to get out and have fun with out regard to the score. Gail and Janet were great to play with too. We had more than a few laughs on the way around the course.

Lake Chelan Golf Course is in a beautiful setting overlooking the deep blue Lake Chelan. Rumor has it, the bottom of Lake Chelan has never been determined in some places. Anyway, this golf course is fun to play... with long par 5's and challenging par 3's. Even some of the par 4's require some strategy in ball placement. If you've never played this course, I highly recommend it.

Next game: Tomorrow at Leavenworth (July Team event)

Golf At Lakeview G&CC

Score today: 87

Today Lakeview Golf & Country Club (in Soap Lake) hosted the June event for our Apple Valley Women's Golf Association. This is a fun, challenging and well maintained course. It was a beautiful, sunny, day after an unsettled week of weather.

Today's schedule called for my home club to play competition against the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club.

My playing partner from Three Lakes Public Golf Course today, was Ruth Toler (center). Ruth is a bus driver for our local Link Transit system, but tries hard to get these team golf days off. TheWenatchee G&CC players were Pat Terry (left) and Dellas Herring (right). Pat has had back, neck and foot problems over the years, but still manages to carry a 7 handicap at the very difficult Wenatchee Golf & Country Club. Dellas used to play with us at Three Lakes, but defected to the Country Club this year. When Dellas was at Three Lakes, she & I often played these team events as partners (not competitors). She used to love watching me use my lob wedge, but isn't so fond of it anymore. :-)

Considering I've only played golf once in the last month, I wasn't unhappy with my overall score today. I had some errant (hook) tee shots into the nasty rough. The good news is: I've gotten rid of my natural slice. For the most part, I played pretty decent... considering I have only played this course a couple of times.

My driving was the most inconsistent, but I had some boomers... "two bun-ers" as Dellas calls them. My putting was really quite good and the greens were fast! My iron game was o.k.

It was a very fun day. Next team event is in Leavenworth on July 14th. Not sure when my next play will be. Maybe next Thursday with the Three Lakes Ladies Club.

Finally... Time For A Game Of Golf

Today's score: 83

My playing partners: Chips, Mary, & Bev.

Bev has mostly played at Leavenworth but will be playing at Three Lakes now too. This was the first time I had met her and she is very nice and a pretty good golfer too. Chips and Mary both play regularly at Three Lakes and they're always fun to be around. But, I have to warn you... if you ever ride in a cart with Mary, I recommend a helmet (and more life insurance)! She's a little more exuberant with her driving than I am.

I haven't forgotten (or been ashamed) to post the last three weeks. My last post, from the Spring Fling at the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club, was truly the last time I played. I've been busy with work (selling houses, of course) and sticking close to home to be with my husband more. I had been playing poorly anyway, so a little layoff wasn't a bad thing. I didn't like that habit of shooting in the 90's on a regular basis.

Today, overall, my game was pretty good. I had one birdie (on the par 5 #13), a lot of pars and, obviously, quite a few bogeys. I was driving the ball pretty good but not totally consistent. My iron game was decent and my putting was pretty good. I'm still not hitting my fairway woods very well so I only used them twice (with terrible results). Gotta get out on the driving range with those. This is a problem that plaques me off and on. When they are working, it's awesome, but when not... aargh!

I didn't really have a lot of short chips. Mostly I was approaching the greens from 100 yards and further out. For that reason, I wasn't getting close enough to the pin to get many one putts, butI did only have 32 putts total for the day (including one 3 putt).

Today's team game was "draw for score". What that means everyone is assigned a number from 1-4 (determined by their position on the score card). When everyone has holed out, you draw a number to determine who's score to post for the team score. You, of course, want to draw the number of the person with the lowest score. That did happen a few times but, we also drew the highest score on more than one occasion. As it turns out, our team won low gross for $5 each. I don't remember our actual score. It wasn't particularly good, but the other teams must have had more of a problem than we did drawing the right number. It was fun to be back out and in the sun!

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Wenatchee Golf & Country Club Spring Fling

Today I played in the 49th annual Wenatchee Golf & Country Club Spring Fling. "Flail" (not fling) would be a better description of my golf today. I actually putted very well, but the rest of my game left a lot to be desired.

My playing buddies today were, from left to right: Gerrie Holfeldt (member of the hosting Wenatchee Golf & Country Club), Gail Bender (member at Lake Chelan Municipal Golf Course), and Chips Hulett (member at my home course of Three Lakes Public Golf Course). I took this photo early in the round while everyone was still smiling. :-) Remember, you can always click on the blog photos to enlarge them.

The rough at the Country Club is not particularly long, but very thick. When you get in there, you've just got to take your medicine, waste a shot, and punch out... and it's not always that simple. With low hanging tree limbs, it's not always easy to get the ball high enough to get into the fairway without risk of catching the tree branches. You just have to stay in the fairway to score well on this course. I did not do that today.

95 was the number of the day! 95 was the recorded temperature, a record for this date in history for Wenatchee. It is unbeieveable that we are getting temperatures this high in May. The rest of the week is forecast to continue warm but not quite as hot. 95 was also my final score. Baaaad.

I've come to the conclusion that I must play at least 2 times per week to achieve and maintain my expected scores in the 80's. I haven't checked the calendar, but I can't be averaging over 1 game per week, if that. So, guess I need to figure out how to play more... or get used to (and accept) the higher scores.

Next game: Not sure (maybe Thursday for Ladies league)

AVWGA At Beautiful Lake Chelan

Today we played our May event at the beautiful Lake Chelan Course. My foursome today was, from left to right: Betty Gilmore, Paula Williams, and Ruth Toler.

As a reminder, the Apple Valley Women's Golf Association is a group of 8 ladies clubs from around the region that gets together each month for two-person best ball competition.

I love match play because it is a hole-by-hole competition and individual score is essentially irrelevant. In two-person best ball only one player needs to do well on each hole. One person can have a terrible hole, but if their partner does well no damage is done. If you're having a bad hole, you can literally pick up your ball and let your partner finish out. There is 1 gross and 1 net point at stake per hole.

This month my club (Three Lakes) played against Apple Tree from Yakima. Apple Tree is the best team in the group and it can be intimidating playing against their very low handicappers. Ruth (22 handicap) and I (13 handicap) played against Paula Williams & Betty Gilmore who have an 8 and 9 handicap respectively. This gives them a significant advantage for gross points, but we would have the advantage with net points IF we played well.

As it turns out, Betty was having a bad day and allowed it to negatively affect her and, ultimately, her partner. Ruth & I managed to be a good team and took 24.5 points out of a total of 36 (10.5 gross and 14 net). I've had bad days like this... and it seems the harder you try the worse it gets. You've just got to give in and put it all in perspectve with real tragedy. We should all be so grateful to have the opportunity to be out on such a beautiful day.

When it was all said and done my score card read 90... but it doesn't matter because we did well in the overall point category. That's what match play is all about.

Paula... if you're out there reading this I want you to know I enjoyed playing with you (and thanks for the glass of wine). I don't think I got to know the real Betty today but, perhaps, we can play together again sometime and she can enjoy the day too.

Next game: Tuesday for the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club's annual Spring Fling.

2006 Golden Apple Tournament

Today was the annual Three Lakes Ladies club Golden Apple Tournament. We always get lots of gals from other clubs to come play and it's a lot of fun. The organizers always do a great job and everyone has a good time.

In spite of 3 out-of-bounds drives and an unplayable lie (which is equivalent to 8 strokes in penalties), I shot a 91. It didn't put me in contention for any of the scoring prizes, but I did win long drive on #8... a beauty smack tab down the middle of the fairway. It was probably my best drive of the day, and it came at just the right time. The ironic thing is, since I'd been having so much trouble with my driver, I narrowed my stance and shorted my back swing considerably to just keep it in the fairway. I also won a little money for being one of only 7 people in the field (of 88) who drove the green on #7.

Regardless of the scores, I enjoyed the group I was playing with (from left to right): Olive Ruff from the Yakima Elks Club, Ruth Collins from Lake Chelan Golf Club and Sue Chin from the Wenatchee Country Club. Remember, you can always click on images in this blog to enlarge.

Next game: Tomorrow at Lake Chelan (monthly AVWGA team event).

We Are Das Puttermeisters

Saturday I had the pleasure of playing with my Puttermeister team mates. The sad news is, teammate Barb Keeler is retiring to Arizona (with her husband Leonard) and our chances to play together will be few and far between. But, as usual we all had a good time being together.

I'm a little behind on my blog posting and I was hoping (with the delay) my last score card would get buried and lost under all the paperwork on my desk. It was my worst game of the season so far. I broke 90 but not in a good way. I shot a 93 (net 80). There is very little I want to remember about the game because I don't believe in dwelling on the negative. Tomorrow is another day, blah, blah, blah

I need a massage!

No Time For Golf Lately

No, I haven't forgotten to post any rounds. Max and I were called away late last week for the memorial service of a dear Aunt in Springfield, Oregon. We didn't arrive back home until about 7:30 Monday evening so I've spent most Tuesday and Wednesday catching up (and keeping up) with work related stuff.

I didn't play golf yesterday due to some unexpected work for an estate sale. I was contacted Wednesday afternoon by an attorney in Olympia that needed some quick action, including a little amateur investigative work, so I stayed home and worked instead of golfing with the Thursday ladies group today. Somehow I let it slip to the attorney that it was my regular golf day (and fabulous Spring weather). She said she appreciated the great sacrifice!

The next scheduled game is for 9:30 Saturday morning with "Das Puttermeisters".

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

2 OB's and a 3-Putt

After starting out so well with 3 pars on the first 4 holes... my body and brain revolted for the next 3 of the next 5 holes.

I ended up with a score of 87 inspite of two out-of-bounds (#4 & #5) and a three putt on #8. I figure the two OB's cost me 4 strokes so, other than a few brain farts, my game wasn't too bad today. I had a total of 31 putts, so that was acceptable.

It was a beautiful classic Spring day and my playing partners (at right) were very good company. From left to right: Jan, Velma, & Kay. Kay has recently retired and I had never played with her before. It was nice riding in the cart with her and getting acquainted.

First 2006 AVWGA Golf Event

Today was the first Apple Valley Women's Golf Association event of the 2006 season. I've mentioned this group before. This month's event was held at the Yakima Elks course in Selah, Washington.

There are 8 golf clubs from around the region that participate: Three Lakes Golf club (my home course), Wenatchee Golf & Country Club, Lake Chelan, Leavenworth, Ellensburg, Yakima Elks, Lakeview, and Apple Tree. Each ladies club sends the 6 lowest handicap players that are available for competition once a month from April through October. It is a 2-person best-ball match play format, making three 2-person teams from each club. Each club competes against each of the other teams throughout the season. Each hole is worth 1 gross and 1 net point. There are no monthly winners, but the team(s) accumulating the most gross, net, and overall points at the end of the season wins money to donate to their favorite golf charity. Many of the clubs donate their winning to their local youth golf association.

Even though we don't have actual winners each month, we do have a KP prize each month. This years KP winners are awarded two free rounds of golf at the new Bear Mountain golf course at Chelan. We also have a monthly honey pot which is divided among the 2-person teams who win the most points (against their opponents) for the day. It's all for fun and is a great way to meet other women golfers and play some courses we wouldn't otherwise play.

This month, Three Lakes competed against the Lake Chelan Ladies. The picture is of my group: Chippy (my partner), Linda & April (from Chelan). We all had a really good time playing together and the weather was fabulous. You can click on the image to enlarge.

I played pretty well, carding a score of 89... not bad for playing a course I've only played a few times in the past. In an event like this, though, it's not about the score but rather the hole-by-hole points. Overall, I was pleased with the days play... except for the fact that I had to play in a pair of "slippers" for the first few holes. That's a story for another post. Some days just get off to a bumpy start.