From: David Sneddon Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 09:11:07 -0400 Subject: [RSG-OHIO] RSG-Ohio 2003 - Things I Learned 1. David Hayes is very handy to have around when you need a ruling 2. VD Pflum always ends up with a strange lie somewhere during the event. 3. Never give Peter Strauss 24 shots 4. Mark Koenig can play..... boy can he play. 5. Thor gives putting clinics 6. It will now take me until 2008 to break even with Mike Plowinske 7. Drink diet coke between Championship round and MPM 8. Always carry plenty of mosquito repellant 9. MrJFB absolutely murders the golf ball 10. And as always look forward to next year, to play and meet with a great bunch of golfers. Thanks to all. A truly great weekend. Cheers!! David ========================================================= From: "Brent Hutto" Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 14:17:21 -0000 Subject: [RSG-OHIO] Brent's 10 Observations from RSG-Ohio 2003 1a) The mosquitos go away once the sun comes out. Yeah, right. 1b) At precisely the moment that the mosquitos go away, apparently some other creatures that look exactly mosquitos, bite exactly like mosquitos and leave the same itchy welts all over my body as the mosquitos do show up in their place. 2) In case anyone didn't notice, the tees were UP on the first hole at Indian Springs. That fairway bunker and those trees weren't as far away as you might think. 3a) There is a Thor Effect. The local weather announcers seemed to be mystified every night that the huge rain storms to the west and east were being kept away by a strangely persistent high pressure system over central Ohio. 3b) The Thor Effect ends as soon as he putts out on the 18th hole. About that time on Sunday, it got dark, the wind picked up and it was obvious that we should have made him play in the last group. Nobody got rained on but it was cutting it too close. 4) Would the person who stole the yardage markers from all of the Par 3's at Indian Springs please return them. Thank you. 5) When you arrive at Columbus airport on a Sunday evening and everyone around you sounds like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, it's because some team from North Carolina was playing football at OSU on Saturday. Amazing. 6a) The 16th at Cumberland Trail is my favorite short Par 5 hole anywhere and my all-time favorite hole at RSG-Ohio. And no, that's not because I made birdie (verily, I didn't even make a par). 6b) I do not believe Dave Tutelman agrees with the previous item. In fact, I don't think he likes that hole even a little bit. 7) Yes, as a matter of fact, I certainly can reach the 17th hole at Cumberland Trail with a 4-iron into a club-and-a-half breeze. And once I've proven that point, yes I certainly can three-putt from 55 feet. 8) Sandy, aerated bent-grass greens in Ohio suck just as badly as sandy, aerated Bermuda greens in South Carolina. 9) Some days, the only way to win a skin is to tear the scorecard into tiny pieces and throw it in the trash can next to the tee. Alas, it only seems to work for that one hole. Maybe I should carry 18 scorecards. 10) Gary Hayenga is either better at ignoring mosquitos than me or he has better bug spray or he's a better golfer. Or maybe it's all three. Congrats to the new RSG-Ohio Champion. Plus, the jacket matches his new shirt. ======================================================== From: "Mark Georg" Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 11:08:04 -0400 Subject: Re: [RSG-OHIO] Brent's 10 Observations from RSG-Ohio 2003 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brent Hutto" > 4) Would the person who stole the yardage markers from all of the > Par 3's at Indian Springs please return them. Thank you. On the signposts. > 6a) The 16th at Cumberland Trail is my favorite short Par 5 hole > anywhere and my all-time favorite hole at RSG-Ohio. And no, that's > not because I made birdie (verily, I didn't even make a par). That's as much a par 5 as #1 at Conley's is. The walking scorecards at Cumberland had different yardages than the carts did. Cart said 438 for #16. ========================================================= From: gary hayenga Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 11:24:30 -0400 Subject: Re: [RSG-OHIO] Brent's 10 Observations from RSG-Ohio 2003 On Monday, September 15, 2003, at 11:08 AM, Mark Georg wrote: > ----- Original Message ----- > That's as much a par 5 as #1 at Conley's is. The walking scorecards at > Cumberland had different yardages than the carts did. Cart said 438 > for #16. It was 438 yards from the white tees, where we played. 497 from the gold. I don't quite follow why this is Brent's all-time favorite hole at RSG-Ohio. gary hayenga ========================================================= From: dph@luckytrout.com Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 10:54:03 -0500 Subject: Re: [RSG-OHIO] Brent's 10 Observations from RSG-Ohio 2003 Decision 47-6a/12 says, "If dph can reach the green (or the rough 'green high') with a driver and a 7-iron, it ain't a par 5." --dph ======================================================== From: "Brent Hutto" Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:11:14 -0000 Subject: [RSG-OHIO] Re: Brent's 10 Observations from RSG-Ohio 2003 --- In RSG-OHIO@yahoogroups.com, gary hayenga wrote: > I don't quite follow why this is Brent's all-time favorite hole at > RSG-Ohio. I just like the design of the hole. Not a lot of trouble going on from the tee so you can wale away and try to hit a strong drive as long as you don't bounce one into the wetlands (lateral). Second shot is uphill to an effectively very small target by which I mean that getting it to pin high or beyond is not too hard but for any sort of makeable chip or putt for eagle there's only a few places the ball can end up. If you lay up to wedge range the green runs away from you so it's not just an easy pitch-and-putt from, say, inside 100 yards. The green has lots of little undulations, it has bunkers, it has a false front and it has a really tough front pin position that they used Sunday. I like having that little collection area behind the green for recovery chips rather than a bunker or just an embankment of thick rough like most courses would have. I think depending on where they cut the hole each day the entire strategy might be different. Especially when you take the uphill/sidehill lies in the fairway into account there's a lot of variation. It would be an interesting hole even if you played there every week. That's all. For my part, it matters not whether they call it a Par 5 or a Par 4 (although an uphill 438-yard Par 4 from the front tees would be a bit much IMO). For most players the scores 4, 5 and 6 are pretty much equally probable and even a 3 wouldn't be all that rare. =========================================================== From: "John Pflum, Jr." Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:13:04 -0000 Thanks to Thor for putting on another awesome event. This weekend is something I look forward to every year and I had a thoroughly excellent time. I got to play with some folks I'd never teed up with before and some old friends. Now, in no particular order: 1. You might think that the free coffee at Courtyard by Marriott is swill but actually it's pretty good. Good enough, at least, for Mark Koenig to remark as such. 2. When Bill-O lets a "silent but deadly" one loose you had better look out. And though he never actually claimed responsibility for it we all know it was him. 3. One of the greatest tragedies of the weekend was SOMEONE (who shall remain nameless) knocked over a table and spilled my full Guinness directly into David Sneddon's hat. Unfortunately, DPH was too quick and dumped it out onto the ground otherwise I would have poured it back into my cup and drank it. 3a. Cans and bottles of Guinness have a nitrous oxide filled ball inside that makes the beer have a good head on it. 3b. David Sneddon has no problems wearing a hat that was previously drenched in beer. 4. The chaotic glory of the 1st tee during Match Play Madness is one of best things in RSG. Everyone is standing around laughing, cracking jokes, cheering good shots and booing bad ones. It is something not to be missed. 5. Mark Koenig should NEVER have kids, as evidenced by his comment on the 4th tee on Sunday -- quieting crying kids is the reason God invented pistols. 6. Never, ever, ever take on John Van Der Pflum in a beer match. 7. Poor people should get jobs if they want to buy cigarettes. 8. A drunk David Sneddon is something not to be missed. You thought he was hard to understand before try it after he's hammered. 9. The definition of passing out includes falling asleep with your clothes on, on top of the covers, and at least at a 90 degree angle to the pillows. 10. The burger-dog at Indian Springs is freaking awesome especially with some red onions and mustard. The BLT at Cumberland Trails, on the other hand, is a total rip off. -- John Pflum, Jr. 2002 RSG Cincinnati Champion Email: jpflumjr at cinci dot rr dot com ================================================================= From: Mark Koenig Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:19:41 -0700 (PDT) --- "John Pflum, Jr." wrote: > 5. Mark Koenig should NEVER have kids, as evidenced > by his comment > on the 4th tee on Sunday -- quieting crying kids is > the reason God > invented pistols. As I stated at the time, "Judge me by my actions, not my thoughts"... Keywords: Sunday, 4th tee, crying kids This is after closing down a bar at 2:30a on Saturday, after drinking all day before/during/after MPM... Those kids would have been on a spit had I had my way. :-) Texas ======================================================== From: Peter Strauss Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:43:38 -0700 In point of fact: I did not get lost, not even once. OTOH, Sneddon and Inglis missed the turn into New Albany Links, they informed me, and Stemmer and Hayes (I think they travelled together on the ground as well as in the air) took a wrong turn, or no turn at all, on the way to Cumberland Trail. So that's it on that. Thor's directions were impeccable. Reflections on the weekend: I had a great time playing golf with you all, and even better than that was the opportunity to just meet you in person, and having a chance to get to know you a bit better. Truly, it doesn't get better than that. You're a fine bunch of people, I'm very pleased to be in your company, and I look forward to being with you again, when- and wherever the opportunity arises. My flights back home were uneventful. Nobody on either the CMH-ORD puddle jumper or the ORD-OAK somewhat longer flight even faintly looked like a terrorist. The air was smooth, the food was the shits (glad I had some corned beef in Chicago, which in fact warn't half bad) because otherwise I'd have been hungry and grumpy arriving in Oakland at 10:11 body time. The in-flight movie, Bruce Almighty, had some truly funny moments, but overall is a bit of trivia and fluff. It did serve nicely to pass the time. Motel 6: Shabby, at best. Night clerk: an ignoramus. Won't stay there again, ever. Screw the price, the place for the birds, IMHO. For me, it was false economy. Non-golf notable thing: I270. What a fine highway! Love it. And I'm a freeway kinda guy. Good going, Ohio Transportation Dept. David Sneddon: great to meet you in person, and even greater to be looking right now at my framed CDN$10.00 bill, with my name inscribed thereupon. Great fun, my friend, and I'll do my best to amend downwards that handicap index of mine before we match up again. You're a (sorta) good sport :-) David Hayes: Thanks for giving me that money-saving tip (he told me to pass on the skins game.) I owe ya. And thanks for the fireplace lumber (the book). Pflumster: Great to see you again, and Amy and Jean. Glad you brought them. Steve Stemmer: Likewise. Great to meet Susan and Sam, too. And I really enjoyed playing/riding with you Sunday. Sorry I couldn't stay to finish out the round. Mark and David: same thing. Sunday was a good time. BTW, I needn't have lost all those balls--United at Columbus Int'l never even checked the weight of the club coffin. A fine weekend, everyone. Thanks, and special thanks to Thor. You do us all proud with your efforts, and I'm greatly appreciative. Peter ================================================= From: "James Hoskins" Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 23:24:42 +0000 Subject: [RSG-OHIO] - Champion Gary Hayenga I want to congratulate 2003 RSG-OHIO Champion Gary Hayenga on his victory and let everybody know how impressive his round of golf was. The only thing better than being in a group with a player "in the hunt" for the Coffemaker Trophy of course is to be in the hunt yerself. It was fun to observe Gary's round. Gary has the ability to remain focused without zoning out. In other words, he has great concentration but is still enjoyable to golf with. He stayed mentally sharp in spite of some tough spots. In particular a lost ball on one of the early holes, the mosquitoes throughout the entire round, one particularly nasty short lip-out, and another lip-out (hole #10) where there was a bug flying around his ball and he should have backed-off. Way to go Gary! A great round of golf you delivered in the middle of the worst insect infestation I've ever experienced. It truly will go down in the _anals of RSG-OHIO_! (thanks for that pure poetic phrase SuperDave!). I want to thank THOR too, for putting all the hard work yet again into organizing RSG-OHIO. ================================================ From: gary hayenga Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 20:54:47 -0400 Subject: Re: [RSG-OHIO] - Champion Gary Hayenga Thanks Jim. Overall that was also the worst mosquito infestation I have ever seen. I guess I just withstood it better than most. All in all it was a round full of Unbelievables. Starting with 1) I can't believe we couldn't find Thor's ball in the middle of the fairway. 2) I can't believe how bad the mosquito's were. 3) I can't believe that Mike Plowinske and I were the only ones to par the 17th hole. 4) I can't believe that *I* was the only one to par the 18th hole, especially after hitting my ball into the woods and getting a thorn stuck in it. 5) I can't believe how far you can hit that 4-wood of yours when you connected. 6) I can't believe how much fun I had playing with you and Thor and Mark Georg. 7) I still can't believe that I managed to eke out net par and that no one else could. Though I have to say Brent Hutto should be damn proud of himself for shooting 98 at that course. 8) And I can't believe that I had 3rd low gross with an 87 with that many good players there. I think Indian Springs should be the tournament course *every* year ;-) gary hayenga ================================================ From: Steve Stemmer Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 20:06:20 -0400 Subject: RE: [RSG-OHIO] RSG Ohio thoughts and photos What I learned at RSG-Ohio: 1) John vdP is beatable in MPM 2) Sneddon smells better with a hat full of Guiness on his head. 3) Hayes plays the best poker golf of anyone I know. Holes 11-18 on Sunday were 9,8,7,6,5,4,3 4) Peter Strauss does not get lost driving a golf cart while I would be perfectly comfortable arguing that we should be teeing off on what turned out to be the 18th hole instead of 11 at Cumberland Trail 5) The Pflum family are some of the nicest people I ever met and I now have a daughter who wants to move to Cincinnati. 6) My wife also would prefer Cincinnati to living with me (though this comes as no surprise) 7) That I drink more soda from the refreshment cart when the salesman is a 19 year old blond girl tying her shoe by pulling one leg up to the cart seat while wearing short-shorts. 8) Thor does have an uncanny control of weather systems but this does not extend beyond Lancaster, Pa forcing small planes to re-route south of Philly if they want to get to the NY/NJ area. 9) Mexican food in Ohio tastes significantly better after 3 margueritas, then again food everywhere tastes better after 3 margueritas. 10) Ants on your underwear do not ward off mosquitoes A great time was had by me and the family and we look forward to doing it again. Steve S ================================================== From: David Sneddon Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 07:58:05 -0400 Subject: Re: [RSG-OHIO] Had a great RSG-Ohio 2003 Playing the last three holes barefoot, was not my attempt to foil mosquitoes:-). I was in the same bunker as Thor, but my ball was in the water, and I had to take off my shoes and socks to play it since the water was over my ankles. I then walked the rest of the hole to let my feet dry off, but enjoyed the feel of the grass so much, thought I'd stay barefoot. A fellow I know, who is an excellent player, often practices barefoot, I just thought I'd take it one more stage and try it on the course. David =================================================