Goose Creek (Again) and Fried Fish

Played 3-16-11

Twenty-one of us this week and that makes for some very tough team set-ups. Since GC doesn't allow fivesomes, (a good thing), we went with three foursomes and three threesomes. Two best scores per team. This makes for some serious skin carry-overs, but decent overall scoring. All of the teams were within 14 strokes with a winning team of Aaron, Bob, Tim and Joe, -who actually won by seven strokes and took home $9 apiece. I was on the second place team, (again), with Vito and Dave, and netted a big $5.50. Most of the other teams did OK with the exception of Bert and Bill's team which lost $7.50 each... bummer!

The course was in its usual good-to-great condition. The greens were a little bumpy, but held shots very well, and the rest of the course was in excellent shape. The staff was once again the stars they always are and things stayed right on time.

My group didn't do anything special with no birdies, but we stayed within one shot of par on almost all holes with the exception of 18, where we posted a rather disappointing four-over. 18 does that to you. Aaron had four birdies on the back to bring his total to five for the round which helped him shoot a very nice 74.  If he wasn't so nice, I'd hate his young punk ass. Great shooting none-the-less.

After our round, half of us went to a nearby Mexican restaurant on Limonite Blvd., (in the Stator Bros. Center), that is known for its excellent chile rellenos. However, Vito and Bob, who not coincidentally are of Catholic/Mexican descent, had their special of the month which included a deep-fried tilapia that was quite ugly looking but outstanding in taste. Chips, rice and beans were included with the fish and only cost them $4.99! Such a deal!

Anyway, koodos to the Goose once again and way to stay within your 'Lent' values, Bob and Vito! You both have inspired me to keep praying to my golf gawd every time I pull that five iron out of my bag.

Eagle Glen and the Bedlam

Played 3-9-11

Absolutely retarded. Due to early cancellations by fellow golfers that wanted to help me keep my sanity, we were down to a perfect group of 16 players. This is doubly good for Eagle Glen, since it doesn't allow fivesomes and frowns upon multiple threesomes in one's group. HOWEVER, at 9:07pm the evening before, Tim, who repeatedly told me the prior week and weekend before, text me saying he could now play. I immediately called him and mentioned the present situation, but he laughed and said, "tough shit for them!". He also said that someone would probably drop-out at the last minute so everything would be good. I told him, "no, because the other guys let me know way ahead of time if they can or cannot play and stick to their word, -unlike other guys I know". Anyway, I caved.

Once we arrived and let the starter know what was going on, he gave us the 'oh shit' look, but said we could start a group right now, which was thirty minutes before our first time, and then let the other 2 foursomes that were not in our group go, and then the rest of us could start. That was the only other open tee time available until much later. We took it. I told the starter "sorry for the hassle", but he just ignored me and walked away. EXCELLENT customer service, eh? I bring them 16 - 24 golfers about every six weeks and all I get is "screw you". We'll be going back real soon...

Anyway, the real dagger for all this was I called the golf course early Tuesday morning to cancel one of our five times to help the course out. Silly me.

Other than having to make up new teams and dealing with a less-than-charming starter, the golf went fairly well. Eagle Glen was in OK shape with mostly dormant fairways, dried-out rough, very poor conditioned tee boxes and bunkering that is less than consistent in texture. The greens were near-perfect and the weather was spectacular. Get this course in lush shape and it would be undoubtedly one of the best in SoCal. Yes, the rates are very good during the week for seniors at $35, but hitting out of a dried-out divot in the middle of 18's fairway with a wedge is not a good way to leave an impression on someone (like me). If they don't want to overseed for the winter to save money, so be it, but what a shame. Last impressions are usually the ones that stick.

The exciting news was Bert eagled 16! By far the toughest tee shot on the course with a pretty frightening second into a very undulated and protected green makes this one scary-ass hole. I don't know the specifics of how he did it, but it is a monumental feet considering he is not one of the longest hitters on tour. Excellent stuff!

Bert, Bill, Mark and Jon took first place and netted winnings of $8 apiece. They were delighted and gloated a little more than I liked, but good job just the same. My team played well enough for a stellar second place which handed us an extra four bucks each. Not bad for only three guys named Ralph, Al and T. Third went to Elliott, Calm Don and Dave who took home a whopping 50 cents each.. The remaining two teams complained to Tim, figuring he's the one that screwed up the original foursomes, -which of course, would have done better for sure. (They were kidding, of course... or were they?)

Spring Valley Lake and a Bunch of Hoodlums

Played: 3-2-11

The good people at Spring Valley Lake Country Club in Victorville were nice enough to have us play their very nice private course. SVL was in a little rough shape do to the heavy winter rains, but it is always a fun experience because of the layout and fast/smooth greens. The bunkers are in excellent shape with the exception of the motorized raker which leaves a very pronounce groove, -that I was (un)fortunate enough to find on two occasions. The fairways were a little thin, but quite playable and the tee boxes were very nice. The rough was the only (somewhat) major problem where mud had rolled into some of the low-lying areas, but the staff is doing an excellent job of marking the unplayable areas 'GUR' and getting them back up to par.

We had twenty-two players this week and that's with two late cancellations! Even with that kind of attendance and diversity of players, all of the final team scores were within 12 strokes of each other. We've been closer in the past, but with the two guys dropping out the replacement "phantoms" did more good than the two no-shows would have. (i.e.: Our "C" player, Doug, who called off late, would have shot 92 - 96, but our replacement "C" player, Calm-Don, shot 89, which helped offset our "B" player, Tino, -who shot 95!) Remember, we use the best 3-out-of-4 scores per hole system, and with just the right amount of ham and egging, we were able to shoot a total of 249 which tied for first. With three doubles on my scorecard I was still able to shoot an 81 and our "D", Mark, (who shot 103), had two pars while I was making two of those doubles, and that really helped! We got back $19.50 apiece after our $8 buy-in. Big bucks.

The big news of the week though, was having Not-Calm-Don back and playing. Only 8 weeks after having a triple bypass, 30 pounds lighter and a lot less volatile (for now), he hung in there and complained of nothing after his round. This is truly a 'New Don'. He did say he was still able to display his club-throwing technique to its fullest, which made us all smile.

Other than that, there were no truly memorable shots, stupid/funny remarks or displays of idiotic behavior to reminisce about (or I will admit to). Just a bunch of guys having a good time getting pissed about their dumb-ass shots and losing $2.75.