SHARE THE PASSION IN 2013... and our 2012 newsmakers

Our Helpers L-R: Cooper Cowan, Ryder Cowan, Travis Poole, TRes Hill,
Nick Nagle & Grant Graham 

There is no question that 2012 was a very special year, worth repeating, but hopefully and optimistically, thinking of it as "the best is yet to come".

We had many highlights and  news makers.... and "firsts", both for the club and for individuals, but I have to tell you, there were some moments that for me, were very personal and that I will always remember with fondness, but that I suspect, would not be on anyone's list but mine.

It was a very busy golf season. The weather was great, the golf course was in nice shape, and golfers showed up in record numbers, both members and non members. Good news for the club, but more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to be around when we had a "new" newsmaker, inside or outside our wonderful little course.  I have to say that on top of my list, was "going back" over a quarter of a century, twice, and witness how young kids can really enjoy the game of golf. For you to understand what I am saying, I must bore you first with a little history:

Ronnie Smith: Senior Champion

Russ Smith: Club Champion

I say twice above because as I was growing up, my mom, the most avid (and worst) golfer in the family, enjoyed more than anyone, helping organize the "Grasshoppers" league at our club in Mexico City. The grasshoppers were kids of all ages up to about 10. At the time, everyone who played, whether you played the short or the championship course, had to have a caddie. In addition, kids had to be accompanied by an adult. To say the least, this did not promote junior golf. So, my mom, who wanted very much for my younger brother to play as often as he could (he loved golf and was 8 at the time), took the bull by the horns and organized "The Grasshoppers League", a league exclusively for young kids who liked to play golf.

Haley Gunkel: Women's Champion

Grady Lantz: Super Sr. Champion

There weren't many, but their clout grew enough in order to change the rules at the club: kids who passed "a players ability test" that included basic rules of golf and etiquette, could go out in groups of 2 to 4 on the short course, as long as they followed the rules set forth by the golf professional. By age 12, if you could break 90 from the women's tees, you were allowed on the championship course, without a caddie, carrying your bag, as long as you joined a group. Several good golfers came out of that bunch. By then, since I was an older teenager, I was "forced", many times, to play with the little brats, which I actually learned to enjoy. About 20 and then 30 years later, when I had my own kids, two of whom, nine years apart, ended up playing golf, I, of course, took the time and enjoyed sharing moments with them on the course.

'"Thumper": 4th of July Champion

Greg Dodson" "A" Flight Winner

Then... 2012 rolls in, and I started receiving frequent calls from a group of 9 & 10 year old kids who wanted to play with me. Though at the time, I had completely forgotten about the Grasshoppers League (it was my sister who reminded me of my mother's project when I shared this story with her), I didn't want to say "no" and went about playing with them a few times. Later in the year, when I realized these kids were actually trying to share their passion with an adult, their "club pro", I had the idea of the photo shoot in 1930's outfits (thanks moms for your help!!!) to help me remember those moments. So, to my little friends Grant Graham, Ryder Cowan, Nick Nagle, Cooper Cowan,  and Travis Poole... I truly enjoyed it and with your help, I am looking forward to sharing more of the passion with others in 2013! 

Danny Teel: "B" Flight Winner

Betty Maine: Women's "A" Flight

Right along with these younger kids, Elk City is host to two teenagers, Logan Gore and Joby Gray, who will play every day that they can. In fact, when most humans think that it is best to stay inside and have a hot chocolate in front of the TV while watching a football game, these two kids are playing their routine 18 or  36 holes a day and hitting balls, before, after and in between. In fact, this Christmas, I had to send a picture of the snowed in golf course to Joby and said, "Sorry, course closed today", he didn't reply, but later I hear he went to hit some balls anyway! Right along with them you have the Butcher kids, Bryce, Braden, Grayson, Bella & Zane will also play in any kind of weather!

Anya Alvarez: Symetra Player

Don Andrews: no one better at
scoring his age!!

Hey, if anyone of you are playing and you see a couple of teenagers behind you, chances are it will Joby and Logan. My group has let them through many times, and they are soon be out of our way.

2012 NEWSMAKERS:
On top of the list, you have Russ Smith -truly by these days a "part time" golfer-, who came out of "retirement" and won the Club Championship with rounds of 67-67 in windswept Elk City. Ronnie Smith -yes, Russ's dad-, made the list as well when he won the Senior Division of the Club Championship rounds of  73-73. Haley Gunkel won the Women's flight with scores of 74-74. Seventy eight year old "Grady" Lantz won the "Super Senior flight.

Anya Alvarez, my youngest, qualified for her second consecutive U.S. Open, participated in "Big Break", played the Symetra Tour, finishing her season with a 64 (yes the fateful 64 that somehow forgot she to sign for), and made the finals of the LPGA Q-School. She missed conditional status by 2 shots and is fully exempt in Symetra for 2013.

Butcher Siblings: Never afraid to play in any weather conditions!

Matt Brown

Blake Walker

Alfred "Thumper" Galyean, who was as far as 5 shots behind Billy Jennings with 10 holes to go in the final day of the "4th of July Tournament", fired a 28 in the back nine and a 61 total to overtake Billy by 2 shots.

Greg Dodson won the "A" Flight of the Men's Championship, Danny Teel won the "B" Flight and Betty Maine won the "A" Flight of the Women's Championship.


Elk City Golf Team won the Regional Tournament for the first time ever (Berek Dyson, Logan Gore, Brock Walker, Keegan Hall & Joby Gray). (NOTE: Thanks to the hard work of Bill Weatherly, the 2013 Western Regional Tournament will be in Elk City, OK)

Bedlam Cup: Team I (won cup)

Bedlam Cup: Team II (3rd place)

Joby Gray led the Elk City High School team with three wins, shared 2nd in the Club Championship (69-70) with Andrew Albert (67-72), shared 2nd in the State Tournament with Berek Dyson, shot three rounds of 60, and of course, had numerous rounds in the mid 60's; as an "icing in the cake", one day while playing with Logan and myself, hit a 408 yard drive on #8 and then chipped in for a 2 from a place where most people would have been happy to get within 10 feet! Joby , now a senior, will be playing for the University of Central Oklahoma

Elk City Team: Had never won
the Regional Tournament before

Blake Walker shot a 58 during an informal round. Matt Brown shot a 28 on the back nine with one bogey! He had no pars. Don Andrews, 80, matched his age more times than anyone else in Elk City.

And we had Hole's in One by several people: topping the list was Aaron Lee from Texas, who aced the par 4 number 6!! Then you have Bob Miller who had two holes in one, first on #7, then a couple of months later on #10. Harry Payne aced #5, Ricky Nagle aced #10, Tanner Williams aced #7, Ann Cowan aced #2 at Idabel OK Country Club, followed with a chip in eagle on the next hole and won the Ladies Invitational there.

Logan Gore & joby Gray: No one plays
more rounds than these two kids.

But the hole in one I will most remember was by Tim Lewis: playing behind my group who had just teed off ahead, Tim started yelling like a man in need of help: I rushed back to the 5th tee to see what had happened, he  said, "sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys, but I just made a hole in one here, and would like for you to escort me down the hill to retrieve my ball from the hole so that you can serve as my witness"... my pleasure Tim! By the way, only Ann, whose hole in one was not even in Elk City, bought me a drink!

SEE YOU IN 2013!!!!!!!!!!!

IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE...

As I see kids from of all ages (7-59) and adults (60 & over) hone their skills in the full swing outside the pro-shop every day, I realize that most of them, if not all of them, really do it in order to improve their swing, and therefore, their scores.... At the same time, I wonder if they also think of other things that will help them lower their scores, like putting, chipping (I can't see the putting green from the pro-shop) and, just as importantly, getting as much playing experience as possible and.... knowledge of the rules.

Hitting a solid shot is important, and yes, there is nothing more satisfying and fun in a round of golf than pulling out a shot exactly like you thought it should be struck. Whether it is a tee shot on a tough par 4 hole, or a difficult approach into the wind that requires a long club, when it comes out just as planned, it is very satisfying. But, just as it is satisfying to hit a good golf shot, it is very frustrating to waste a shot or more with a bad chip, putt or -particularly-, a bad decision on the course. To play one's best, one must be aware of details.

In his book, "The Heart of a Champion", Bobby Richards points out that champions have three distinct characteristics: 1) They know their equipment (in the old days, golf pros worked on their own equipment and knew exactly what they needed to do); 2) They believe in a higher power (you have to have faith in yourself and in someone much more powerful than yourself); 3) They believe in details that will gain them 1/100th of a second, or 1/4 of an inch or an extra 10th of a point. DETAILS!

Jack Nicklaus did not become Jack Nicklaus just by a lot of practice -he practiced as much as Ben Hogan ever did-, but Jack went a step further: of all the greats in golf, he is the one who started measuring courses as well as his average carry distance with each of his clubs (he actually copied the practice from his friend Dean Beman). Jack and his long time caddie, Angelo Argea, with whom he won many of his 18 majors, charted golf courses, measured from sprinklers, trees or bunkers to front of green, then depth of greens, and so forth. You could say that Nicklaus invented "Sky-Caddy" before there was GPS. There is nothing worse in a round of golf that not knowing how far you need to carry a particularly important shot. DETAILS!

And what about the rules? How can the rules help you score better? I remember one time a friend playing with me tried to go over a hill to try to get closer to the green of a dog-leg hole. He had a stroke play bet against another player in the group and was a few strokes ahead. When he found his ball, it was unplayable in an area full of rocks and shrubs and lose sand. The problem is that he only knew ONE of the three options of an unplayable lie, the one about two club lengths around the ball. So as I am watching from 80 yards away, I am thinking, "what is Tommy doing dropping there? Maybe there is a flat area there that I can't see from here". There wasn't, he dropped and had another almost unplayable lie from where he hit a very bad shot, and another, and so forth. He ended up with a score of 12 on the hole. Going back to the tee (second of three options) would have helped him score a 6 or 7.

Recently, my daughter Anya qualified and played in the LPGA final stage of Q-School and over five rounds (90 holes) missed full status by 5 shots and limited status by 2 single shots. Her putting during the week was not as sharp, and by all accounts, her on course decisions might have been a little suspect. She had started slow with two 75's and needed two good rounds to qualify for Sunday's play for a fifth round. She had a third round of 69 and reached 2 under par in her fourth round when she hit a wayward tee shot. Her ball was unplayable just beyond a red line. She took a penalty drop under rule 26 (lateral water hazards), hit her shot in the green, scored a bogey only to find out a little later that the red line was not a hazard!

It just so happens that one of the two courses used for the qualifier had hosted a Sun Coast Tour event a couple of weeks before. Sun Coast officials had designated and marked certain areas of the course as lateral hazards (red lines). When LPGA rules officials came to mark the course two weeks later, they decided that some of those areas should not be a lateral hazard so they decided to remark the course. LPGA rules officials made their changes in the "hard card" rules (the general rules) and wrote "red hazard lines are only a hazard when accompanied by stakes" (nebulous at best), but did not advise competitors that there had been such change nor was in the player's daily rules sheet.

You can say what you want about the handling of this by LPGA (very poorly), but as a policy, when I play or caddie in a tournament, I always ASK the starter if there are any rules or situations that I should be aware of. The ensuing two penalty shots that Anya received kept her from "conditional status" (she could have played in about 1/4 of the LPGA tournaments in 2013! KNOW DETAILS!!

Rory McIlroy almost missed his tee time during the Ryder Cup, he saw in TV his tee time in the Golf Channel, however, what they were showing was Eastern Time, not Central Time, which is where Rory was playing. DETAILS!

One more story about the rules. In 2010, Dustin Johnson came to the last hole of the PGA Championship 2 shots ahead of eventual winner Martin Kymer. Whistling Straits is a very hard golf course built on sand dunes, and much of that sand is still there, usually played as an "integral part" of the golf course, but not as bunker. PGA of America decided that all sand should be played as a bunker, SO INSTEAD OF INFORMING PLAYERS DIRECTLY, THEY POSTED A SHEET OF PAPER EVERYWHERE IN THE CLUBHOUSE DESCRIBING THEIR DECISION. Dustin Johnson had not bothered to read sheets of paper posted in the clubhouse, and since no one was advised directly and since he did not ask for any changes or situations that he might run into, on the 72nd hole, he hit a wayward tee shot in one of those sand dunes, where he grounded his club, hit a nice shot just over the green, and failed to get up and down, supposedly for a 5 that would have won. Wrong! PGA officials went to him and assessed him a two shot penalty for grounding his club in a bunker that didn't look like a bunker (all the gallery had been stepping all over this area as well), ended up with a 7 and one shot behind the playoff eventually won by Kymer.

Both, Anya's and Johnson's incidents were caused by poor communication with players, however, players have the responsibility, under Rule 6, of knowing all that is associated with the competition.

IN SHORT, ALL DETAILS, INCLUDING KNOWING SOMETHING THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SWING, CAN SAVE YOU STROKES AND YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE.