Pittsburgh Golf - Nov 8-9, 1997 Normal mortals would have been filled with trepidation at the weather reports. A huge northeaster was heading for Pittsburgh, administering huge rains and floods to everything in its wake. It was scheduled to arrive Friday night and stay for most of the weekend. And we were planning to play golf in Pittsburgh all weekend. So why were these people smiling? Because we were playing with Thor -- and everyone knows even Mother Nature doesn't mess with Thor. (Whoops, I hope we're not getting too arrogant here. Let's just say Mother Nature has an understanding with Thor.) Having started that way, I guess I have to say right off that Thor did it -- and the legend grows! We got drizzled on for a couple of holes Sunday morning. But nothing requiring umbrellas. And you'd never have guessed from the radar maps that there was any room to play between the drops. Johnstown flooded again, very visibly from the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the drive out. We had rain driving out, and rain between our rounds. But it refrained while we were on the course, where we were on the course. To show how local our respite was, we told the starter at Butlers on Sunday morning that we had played Quicksilver on Saturday; he expressed amazement, since "it didn't stop raining all day" at Butlers. Coops, Fred, and I drove in from the east and Thor from the west, to meet Mark Georg and other locals for some golf. The other locals were Mark's neighbor Bill and RSG lurker Ron Anthony. Shawn Bannon was also supposed to join us, but couldn't because of a death in the family; our condolences, Shawn. The company was great, the courses were excellent, and the golf wasn't half bad. Of course, with all that rain in the area, the courses were very wet -- even if we weren't being rained on directly. HOW WET WAS IT, DAVE? - I knew we were in trouble when I couldn't find a place for a stance on the driving range at Quicksilver, and every time I hit the ball I had to wipe the mud off my glasses. - There were teeing areas that were ALL casual water. (What are the rules for relief in that case?) - I wouldn't go so far as to use the term "casual pond", but some fairways on Saturday were grounds for relief their entire width and length. - Don't even think about a pitch-and-run; guessing how far the ball would run before it died in a puddle was a real crapshoot. - Some putts displayed rooster-tails. (BTW, the slow putts were a blessing in disguise. They made the sloped and "polished" greens at Qucksilver reasonably puttable. In dry conditions, they would have been frightening.) - On the 18th at Quicksilver, I hit a really nice drive -- even with a little draw on it. Did it roll (hey, it had draw spin)? No. In fact, it backed up when it landed. I found it about a foot behind its [deep] ball-mark. Not only was it wet, it was windy. You didn't notice it much downwind, but the crosswind produced hooks and slices when there wasn't any. And into the wind was a real bear. The wind and the cold combined to take 2-3 clubs off your distance. I remember Coops hitting an excellent drive with his new Great Big Bertha, followed by a perfectly-struck three-iron -- and STILL being short of the green on a 370-yard par-4. Personal reminiscences: Playing the first 5 holes at Quicksilver as a sixsome. Fun, but SLO-O-O-OW. When we split into a pair of threesomes, our time-per-hole went from 20 minutes to under 15. (In that weather forecast, we were the only ones on the course, so we weren't holding anyone up. But we had to finish before sundown, and we just made it.) Thor's drive on #4 at Quicksilver was awesome. I hadn't reached it after two shots. (Two not terribly good shots, but not terribly bad, either.) Thor has his hammer working! Mark was using an offset 3-wood that he had made for a relative who didn't want it. He used it instead of a driver, and was getting awesome results. On some holes where I hit my DRIVER really well, he was right there next to me. Mark, tell me again why you carry a driver. Fred loved the weekend's courses. Lotsa' long par-4s. Fred hates iron shots; he likes holes where the plan is 3W-3W, and found a lot of those. (BTW, Fred 3-wood is a three-WOOD -- laminated maple. He does carry a couple of metalwoods, but I've never seen him use them.) Ron just took up golf this year. He has a lot of game for a novice. Hits the ball a long way with his irons, and chips and putts really well. I didn't see him 3-putt a single green. Speaking of Ron's putting... On Saturday, there were a lot of earthworms on the green. We all got used to having putts knocked off line by the worms, including Ron's birdie attempt at #2. Thor's comment: "The early worm got the bird." (Honest! You can't make this stuff up.) But Ron DID get his first birdie ever on Sunday. Nobody can say any more that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I proved otherwise at Butlers. Long par-5 curving right, with buildings but no OB on the left. I was on the right, blocked by trees. My 4-iron was a rocket, but slightly pulled. Caromed off the broad side of a barn (as I said, you can't make this stuff up), and straight at the green. Got the up'n'down. My own game was spotty: a few excellent shots admidst some not-so-good ones. (The low screamers I usually get away with went nowhere on the soggy courses.) But my wedges were almost Mickelsonian, and my putting was good. My short irons and wedges landed and stuck, a combination of height, backspin, and "receptive" greens. Speaking of wedges, Coops' got better as the weekend wore on, culminating in a chip-in birdie on the last nine. As usual, his irons were very solid, and his new driver is doing right by him. The scenery around the courses: Naturally it was hilly, even more so than the courses themselves. The hills at Butlers were gorgeous; farms, woods, ponds and a reservoir. The trees were past fall peak, but the colors still lingered. At Quicksilver, OTOH, the surrounding hills had been strip-mined, and were devoid of trees; not nearly as aesthetic. Yes, we did Mexican food. The tradition lives! Of course, the only Mexican restaurant Mark knew was as far east of Pittsburgh as the golf course was west -- and the drive took us downtown. But the REAL tradition of RSG Mexican food is the drive to get there -- and the view of Pittsburgh when we emerged from the tunnel kept THAT tradition alive, too. (BTW, Mark is a snob about Mexican food, having lived for years in San Diego. Don Pablos may or may not be authentic, but it was very good, IMHO. Good call!) The real drive-for-food adventure came Sunday morning. We stayed at the bed-&-breakfast at Butlers golf course, and we made the mistake of believing the word "breakfast". Of course, the restaurant opens AFTER our tee times. We discovered this early enough to begin a two-car hunt (Coops, Fred, Thor, and me) for a restaurant open at 7:00 AM in the "wilderness" south of Pittsburgh. After a couple of detours, and bad directions from a gas station (the diner he sent us to was closed), we found a place. (Thor:"Let's hunt down this road a bit more". Me:"But all the businesses were the other way." "Yeah, but we're this way already". "Reminds me of, 'Your ball went in the woods, why are you looking for it in the rough?' 'Because it's easier to look in the rough.'") Anyway, there was an Italian restaurant open that did breakfast. Good too, with quick and friendly service. We'll remember that for next time. And there WILL BE a next time. We're set for the last weekend in April. Butlers and Lindenwood. See you there!