To: RSG-OHIO@yahoogroups.com From: Guy Cooper Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 12:09:02 -0400 Reply-To: RSG-OHIO@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [RSG-OHIO] RSG-Ohio happenings.. LONG! On Tue, 25 Sep 2001 16:31:42 -0400 gary hayenga writes: ... > tough match that went down to the wire, I was able to post a victory > for > the team over an opponent (Joe Conte) ... Something else happened to Joe that afternoon... After the last MPM group teed off a couple of abandoned carts remained. One was slow, and I changed to the other. Some- where while riding between matches, I noticed a set of keys in the left cubbyhole. Had no idea whose these were, but attached to the key ring was a handsome stitched keepsake from The Masters. Hmmm ;-). Well, this was off the ring and in my pocket before you could say Bobby Jones. As the last group was heading off number nine's green, Joe came up to my cart, fished his hand into the pocket, felt for and pulled out the keys. Not seeing the familiar AUGUSTA patch he tossed 'em back, but returned to look at 'em again. "These are my keys, but they are missing a Master's tag." He asked me a few questions about the cart, and its location... I answered every one of his questions, in truth, and the conclusion was *someone* must have stolen it! (Of course, my obvious lie of omission was the tag was in my own pocket, even though he never asked me directly if I was the one who removed it.) Now, I have enjoyed Joe's good company, on and off the course for a few years now. But I've never seen Joe engage in trash-talking or questionable pranks as long as I've know him. ('Course if this tag had belonged to *some* others in this group it may have been Yet Another Trophy we'd be playing for for untold years down-the-line!) So, after dinner I quietly returned the patch to Joe because it seemed to me holding onto it any longer wouldn't be funny, but possibly hurtful. Joe, always the gentleman, hope my prank didn't leave you twisting in the wind too long. Stay up there, above the fray as long as you can! It's a real privilege to share in this group's company. Everyone's welcome, but *everyone's* also entitled to feel comfortable, too. Joe, if I offended you or betrayed the trust that you place in this group, let me apologize right away. I think a full and heartfelt public apology would be in order for any suspected transgression. --Senator Coops ======================= Joe Conte replied =================== Actually, George and I assumed you went to the cart barn and bludgeoned several employees til they confessed their dastardly deed. I was too embarrassed to thank you for committing such a crime on my behalf. Ever the gentleman, you now claim it was you who obsconded with them, when we all know it must have been an employee of the course. So please accept my thanks for going my dirty work for me, and recovering it on my behalf. - Joe Conte ====================================== Then, there was the thread Gary Hayenga started about "inconsistent play": ====================================== I am always darn erratic. Someday (soon) I want to fix that, but Mark Georg and Jon Green have made me rethink my concept of erratic. gary hayenga ============= Mark responded ======================== I am frequently called erratic. Oh, you mean my golf game! I actually didn't expect to play real well last weekend due to a 3 week layoff leading up to rsg-ohio. I just didn't expect to sink to the depths of despair that I did. What was erratic during the weekend was my ball-striking. My short game and putting held up OK or it would have been worse than it was. You'd kind of think it would have been the other way around. I just can't really explain Saturday. I couldn't hit the ball. My short game and putting saved me from posting an even worse score than my 116 but they weren't all that stellar either. I don't think it was nerves. Sure you're always a little nervous on the first tee, but I'd always played within a few strokes of my h'cap in this event before, hell, I tied for 3rd the year before on this same course. Perhaps it was the revenge of FUBU? =============== and Jon responded ====================== Wow, Mark, you make me feel better. Well, not for you, just that I'm not alone. I "ONLY" shot 108 on Saturday. After the 11 on the first hole it was mainly bogeys and doubles, maybe 3 triples. My short game held up also. I think for me it was partially nerves, but it was also rhythm, which I think fell apart due to lack of sleep. I have a longish swing, which can fall apart more easily, especially when you're tired. Gotta tighten it up. I hadn't practiced much the weeks leading up, and then the week before, when my wrist felt OK, I spent most of my practice time trying to straighten out the Integra 450. It's a little too heavy, and that may have really screwed me up. Sunday got worse, but again I was playing on 4 1/2 hours of sleep. So the question is, should I concentrate on golf or partying? I obviously can't do both well. ========================================== Gary also started a thread about how terrible the 15th hole at Players was: ========================================== I want another chance at the 15th at the Players club, grrr. I can do better than an 11. ============ John Shacklett responded ================= I hit a five wood off the tee that went just left enough to catch all of a branch and drop straight down. The second shot, with the same five wood, also caught a tree left, but it hit the trunk dead on and shot straight up the trunk a good thirty or forty feet and out a branch, dropped to the ground and rolled to almost where I hit it from. I've never ever seen the likes before. ============ and I responded ========================= I hit a fair number of trees on that hole. (One was very obedient. I watched my ball sail toward the woods on the left and said, "Kick right!" It did. My next shot was blocked out by the trees on the right. :-) I also nailed the "Carts stay on path" sign at close range. I also chunked a sand wedge (I seldom chunk a full sand wedge) so badly it looked like a good layup short of the creek. (At least I didn't drown my ball. One of my playing companions drowned two of his, so I felt there was no need. :-) The only good news was a professional-looking two-putt -- for a snowman. That was the second-best score in my foursome, and six better than the worst. We were all gettin' pretty shabby at that point. ========================================================== Finally, there was the thread about the purple putters that Toucan Golf donated. There were enough to go around to everyone, not just as prizes. So we all had to take one, and were supposed to use them in Match Play Madness. (But Thor decided not to require them under the draconian rules.) ============= Brent Hutto wrote ====================== You know, that reminds me. I liked using the Official RSG-Ohio Putter in MPM. It's my understanding that the other lefties wimped out but if I could have just kept my tee shots out of the woods and water, me and my purple monster would have earned a point for the World Team sure enough. Putting left-hand-low with that thing, I was deadly inside 10 feet. ============ I resonded ============================= ...As long as swinging it doesn't injure your toe. :-D I seem to recall that, except for the toe problem, you'd be a right-handed golfer. Bet it's that as much as anything that made the Purple Putter work. Though I must admit I made everything I should have with it. There's no reason it SHOULD work from a design point of view, but it seems to in spite of itself. My opponent, OTOH, declined to use the Official RSG-Ohio Putter. If he had, I'm sure I would have fared better in the match. Yeah, that's the ticket... ============ Thor wrote, and I responded ============================ > For those who didn't see, it was interesting that Dave T > took the time to go through each and every putter and test > their balance until he found one that was face-balanced. A bit of an overstatement, but correct in spirit. I tried a half-dozen or more until I found one such. Another clubmaker in the crowd (Pat?) did a similar search for a different parameter; he noticed the shafts were all at different angles, and found one that was square. Finally, I notice that the grips were aligned at somewhat random relationship with the putterface. > How'd it work for ya, Dave? Not too bad. I may use it again. I play an executive course with my family and carry a "modified set makeup" for such occasions. May take the Purple Putter on those. > Going to replace that old Slotline? Not hardly. BTW, it's a TechLine, not a Slotline. Thanks again. DaveT