A Break In The Action? - Well.....

This week is the 3rd Annual St. Mary's Catholic Church golf tournament. Kind of a different focus for me, because I am co-chair of this. In truth, Nancy Howard who is the other co-chair is pretty amazing in terms of what she has accomplished in working to get things in place for this week.


I have a great appreciation for people who have chaired golf events for years and years. For example, the Oak Ridge KFI tournament has been going on for more than 30 years, and the people who organize it seem to have the same enthusiasm for making it work this year as they had in 1990 when I first played in it.


I also have a great appreciation for people who play in these kinds of events. We have 13 teams in the St. Marys tournament this year - more than last year, but not as many as we hoped. But there is another local tournament going on the same day, and I know of a third going on this week. We are delighted that we were able to attract 13 teams to play.


Our hope is that all of the players who are in the event will feel like they each got something out of it that made it worth it, besides the donation to the event. Today I was loading event goodie bags with some of the things that we purchased for the players.......and we think we have found some things to give to them that they will find worth their time.


So there you go................now down to final planning, putting it all together on Thursday, and in particular hoping for great weather! And being thankful for people who take the time to help make events like this work.


Next week..............blogging from Columbus, GA!!


Tony

A Great Weekend!

My brother Harry comes every year to play the Oak Ridge Country Club Member Guest tournament with me. We played this past weekend, and did the best we ever did in the tournament - winning our flight, first round playoff match, and getting into a chip off on the first shootout playoff hole. For me this weekend is pretty much both the highlight of my golfing year and also the end of the summer golf season for me.


Both my brother and I now play clubs totally fitted and built by me. He plays an SMT Indio driver, Golfworks KE4 3, 5, and 7 woods, Wishon 785 HF 4 and 5 hybrids, and Wishon irons. I built him a new putter that he put in play this weekend and he putted great - the fit for him was about an inch shorter than his previous putter, and he liked an oversized Winn grip for the putter. He putted great with this the entire weekend. I play with an SMT 455DB driver, Wishon 3 and 5 woods, Wishon 785 HF 3, 4, and 5 hybrids, and Infiniti Assure irons and wedges. I play a Golfworks putter, and use the Opti Vibe putter optimization weights in the putter to improve its feel for me.


There were for me three great highlights of the weekend....

1. In our second match on Saturday - when we were down two holes - we were playing a par five and Harry hit a 200 yard 3 wood to a steeply uphill green to 30 feet, and sunk the putt for a birdie. It was one of the finest shots I have ever seen....I am still not sure how he did it!


2. In the first hole of the shootout - alternate shot - I stood on the tee to hit my drive - and I looked out on rows of carts of people watching the play and it was TOTALLY quiet....not sure I have ever experienced such a calm time on a golf course. I was enough in control of the moment to slow down and truly enjoy it.


3. Finally, today we played one more round and my brother shot his first ever 37 for 9 holes - one over par. He made two birdies in a row (first time ever) and easily could have shot even par. We were quietly rooting him on!


Golf never ceases to be a great sport to play. But getting to compete and sometimes succeed in tournaments - what a treat!


Tony