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The 2015 year has begun and it did so on a positive note with a very nice party at the Elk City Golf & C.C. Originally, it was planned that the party would be entertained by the Trader Price Band, but, Danny Price used their recorded songs for in between playing breaks and it all turned out great. Our members and guests had a blast. It all goes to show that great company and expectations for the new year is more important than who is playing the music! Thus, this became my last memory of 2014 and... by the same token, the first of 2015: MAKE THE BEST OF THE HAND YOU ARE DEALT WITH, AND EVERYTHING GOOD WILL FOLLOW! No one was disappointed!their drummer became very ill and the band could not perform as usual, so,
here are some more memories of 2014 that will remain in my mind for a long time to come:
The year begun in a high after I had the pleasure, the previous December, of carrying Anya's bag on her way to an LPGA card, and as far as professional golf was concerned, it ended on what some may think was a "down time", when Anya quit the tour after only one year. Her last tournament was in Alabama and I agreed to caddie for her. However, the humidity and temperatures were really high, and I could not caddie as planned... that is until the last hole of the second day, when it was obvious that Anya would miss the cut, and her caddie gave me the bag for this symbolic moment, which she punctuated with a birdie on her last competitive hole, which was actually, her only birdie of the week! (Anya now has a job in Oklahoma City with the State Legislature).
In April, I had the pleasure of attending The Masters for the first time ever. Mona and I were invited to join Joe & Dewana Wynn, Charlie & Gina Kauk and Ann Cowan. They all had tickets for the Monday practice round... which was washed out by rain at noon or so, so the party was only able to see the first nine holes of Augusta National. As a PGA Member, I was able to attend Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was not the same as my whole party was left behind without tickets. I took hundreds of pictures (and eventually made a poster for the club of "Amen Corner" as compared to our own "OilMen Corner"). Anyway, that was another one of those times in which you do the best you can with what you are dealt, and my group had a great time!
My game in 2011 when I first came here was bad, now, it is worse and I do not play many rounds during the year. One thing leads to another and back. A vicious circle. So, when I was asked by Ann Cowan to be her partner in the Labor Day Tournament, I quickly went to hit some balls for two consecutive days (she and son Sean were defending champions). I wasn't sure what was wrong and my swing got worse. By tournament day, I was truly stressed. In our very first hole, I hit a good tee shot, but horrible approach shot, but holed a tough putt to save par; the same happened in #2 and #3. The holed putts settled me down and I played without much embarrassment and hit some very decent shots and we ended with a respectable 66, which was pretty good considering how both of us had played leading into the tournament.... But that is not all the story: We were disqualified (actually before we posted scores). It turns out that we had taken one more "mulligan" than the rules allowed on #18 and, when Ann discovered that, she immediately came to notify me before I posted our score. In the end, the memory was of a pretty decent round and better yet, of what golf is all about: be conscious of the rules and honest with yourself. Thank you Ann! (it would have been awful had I posted the score and then we discover this after posting a win in our flight!) If you cannot be honest in golf, you can't be honest anywhere else.
This year, I celebrated Christmas 3 days earlier. My daughter Paola and husband Jeff came the weekend before Christmas to open presents prior to their trip to Cancun to meet with my daughter Mariana there and all of my grandkids. It was a great weekend with smiley Ana Micaela in Elk City! Mona and I "baby-sat" their dogs, and Rocky, the youngest one will surely miss me (he, he). He had never ran so much in his life! (nothing like having a golf course where to do some running!)
I remember several rounds with kids, but I had the best time when four kids under 11 year old and I played a 2 vs 3 scramble. I always like to play for something and believe it is good to teach the kids that playing for something is good, if 1) It is something you can pay if you lose and you not get hurt, and, 2) Something that means something fun if you win. I remember that day clear. Our bet was something I copied from our good friend Tim DeWitt, so the losing team would "smell the shoes of the winning team" at the end of the round, I remember one of the kids saying before we started, "we have not shaken hands" and before we did, Ryder Cowan saying (Tres Hill nodding in agreement), "no, but we gave our word". THAT MY FRIENDS, I WILL REMEMBER! Giving your word should be enough. That is what golf teaches.
Two of our kids qualified for national tournaments: after winning the Junior Match Play in Oklahoma, Logan Gore qualified for the Junior Stroke Play Championship in Virginia; Ryder Cowan qualified for his age group for the National U.S. Kids Junior Championship in Pinehurst!
A young couple of newlywed members came last summer to let us know that she was pregnant and that they had saved the news for us before it became public. Thank you! Since we do not know who knows about this yet, we will not publish their names here for now, but thank you for the honor!
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| This is when Checo hit his first green ever from outside 75 yards! |
I love when I see dads playing with their kids, teaching them manners, golf etiquette, rules etc., sometimes entire families, like the Damon Butcher and family or Michael Womack and family gangs, but, when older adults show up to play with their dads, it is a testament to a long life of good times, Steve Ivy and dad, Marsha Ballew & Dad Don, Shirley Weatherly & dad Calvin Adkison come to mind. Every time they come in the shop, I can identify with the dads' happy face!
Old friends playing the game as well, I shared good times with Bob Griffith, his longtime friend Don Andrews and Bob Miller, (they almost "retired" me from golf!!) and it was great to see the patriotic outfits of David Dyson and Grady Lantz during the 4th of July Firecracker Open.
The junior Camp is always filled with memories, this year, when going through some pictures, I saw my little best friend Brandie "as if checking if the kids were doing the right drills". I will miss her and I hope the next dog friend I have is as good with kids as Brandie was. I also remember the day I was taking pictures of the Elks Tournament, and one of the teams said, "We will take a team picture if you let us hold Brandie with us". "Deal!"
The week before Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure of traveling to Albuquerque to meet with my sister Chuchina and my brother Armando, who was my constant golf partner in New Mexico. It reminded me of my first year when then president Joe Wynn told me to always take some time to visit with family. We did not play golf, but remembered a lot of our great moments together in just one day, which we shared with our non golfing sister.
We were part of the biggest fundraiser ever in Elk City, we are talking $50,000 that went to the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals due to the tournament Loves - Linn Energy organized for the third straight year. I can't forget the happiness Kurt Hayes and Billie McGowan displayed at the end of that day!
The fourth GPN Bank Bedlam Cup matches went great, but it was punctuated by the short note our Captain, Terry Nichols left for the team that made the day. Terry's schedule changed at last minute and he could not be present, so he left a note which was read by Shawn Wilson, said, in part "some of my best memories are at this course with my family and friends, please go out and give your best, but more than anything, have fun". The team did both: had fun and did their best.
In spring and summer, there is no brighter day that when any of the kids who use the golf course come in the pro-shop, but nothing tops the smiles of the girls who make up the Elk City Girls Golf Team!
In the end, every day there is a new memory. None of you truly know how much it means for Mona and me to be part of this community.
Thanks to all of you! Some of the above are personal memories, and some are "club memories", but all of them are possible because we are now part of his community. Rest assured that there are many more, some which I will probably remember of later. I just wrote some of the ones that came to mind this early morning of January 1st, 2015! AND NOW, LET'S START SOME MORE MEMORIES TO REMEMBER IN 2016!
P.S. Last night, six of us made a "New Year's Resolution Challenge". Six overweight men. We will meet every 3 months and give $100 to the one who lost the most weight during those 3 months. My only regret is that Jordan Williamson is not in this group, this would be the only fitness test I think these six men could actually have a chance against Jordan!
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