2017 – Week 3
I suspect right about now that we have more than a few GCCGL members questioning their judgement in joining this crazy whacked league of ours. Let’s be honest, we had no reason to play golf last Thursday. It rained all day long and it continued to rain as we teed off. We were THE ONLY league to play last Thursday. I repeat, WE WERE THE ONLY LEAGUE TO PLAY last Thursday. The only cars in the parking lot were those of the GCCGL members and one beat up van which belonged to the maintenance guy hanging a new TV in the clubhouse. I called the clubhouse late afternoon to check in and make sure that the course would remain open throughout the round. They assured me that it would. That is also when they told me that they fully expected the GCCGL to show up even though most of the course employees had already gone home. Yes, the GCCGL has a reputation for playing in less than ideal conditions and the Kenton County Golf Course knows this. I’ve also learned that many of the old salts working part-time at the course, absolutely refuse to work Thursday nights because of the GCCGL. Mainly because we play under any condition and we stay later than any other league. I don’t blame the Q-Tips really. By the time we’ve polished off the last pitcher of beer and dropped off the last cart, they’ve normally already rubbed the last of the Bengay on their aching feet and their dentures have been soaking in a glass of water for 45 minutes. The point is, they just want to go to bed already! Don’t get me wrong, I love old people. God knows, I’ll be in their shoes in a few short years. But I’ll tell you this, if I’m a cart jockey at Kenton County Golf Course 15 years from now and the GCCGL is still playing, I’ll have NO PROBLEM walking up to Prince Albert and slapping that beer out of his hand and commandeering his golf cart so that me the my new geriatric friends and I can go home and play canasta.
So we played golf because the course was opened and therein lies the rub. If the course is open, we’re playing. It’s that simple. Let me take this time to write a letter of apology to my fellow co-commissioners, Lip Gloss and Cupcake. I admit, I did not want to pay good hard earned cash to play golf in the rain last Thursday. But at least I PAID, unlike some other people! I’ll get to that later. So to my fellow co-commissioners:
You were right and I was wrong. Although conditions were less than ideal for golfing, we were able to play a full round of golf and when the rain finally stopped, it actually wasn’t too bad. We’ve played under much worse conditions. So I decree now for all to read, I will defer all future weather related decisions to the ones they call Lip Gloss and Cupcake. You will have the final say and whether we play or go home. I will not complain or doubt your decision on weather related matters again.
Just End the Season’s rein at the top of the standings lasted all of two weeks. They were replaced by Birdies, Eagles and a Crowe after they pummeled team JETS (23.5 – 16.5). They were led by The Senator who grabbed 8.5 points. But the real story was the match between Prince Albert and Goldie. Goldie got “Mitch-slapped” around the course by PA. We all know that Goldie hates the muck. Prince took advantage of the situation and wound up winning the match convincingly. But the story doesn’t end there. As Lip Gloss and I passed by the Pioneer 10th tee, we both witnessed Goldie teeing off. No big deal right? After all, the course was open so we were playing. As we were paying our greens fees, Jim, the clubhouse attendant, started to tell us a little story about how “Pete” paid for his greens fees and then turned around shortly thereafter and asked for a refund. Say what?! We were both confused, didn’t we just witness Goldie teeing off? So I asked him to repeat his little tale and it was confirmed. Goldie skirted out on his greens fees! Goldie, what do you think this is? This isn’t like returning perfectly cooked, half-eaten matzoh balls and gefilte fish dinner at your favorite restaurant just to get a free meal. This is golf, the “gentleman’s sport”. LG and I kept our mouths shut and didn’t say anything. After all, the GCCGL has a reputation to keep. However, we ask you Goldie, do the right thing, explain what happened to the clubhouse next week and pay for that “free” round of golf. You’ll feel better about yourself and we can put this unfortunate incident behind us. Seriously folks, I can’t make this stuff up! These kinds of things just seem to happen in this crazy golf league. I don’t know why, but it makes for some great blog material. The other two team matches finished tied (20 – 20) leaving the standings pretty tight after three weeks. Click on the RECAP to get the details.
History Lesson
This brings us to our other GCCGL creed, “GCCGL, it’s not just a golf league”. I wasn’t planning on bring up the origin of this motto until later on this season but considering the circumstances, I felt NOW was the right time. Today’s history lesson goes back to 2012. This is when I first realized that this league was not just your ordinary golf league. It was one of the fist times that we waited out a couple of terrible storms and wound up playing golf when everyone had left the golf course. Sound familiar? There was a line of folks in the clubhouse but they were there to PAY for their greens fees, they were all getting their RAIN CHECKS. The GCCGL were the only ones voluntarily handing money to actually PLAY golf. The clubhouse attendants and other golfers were laughing at us but we were the ones who had the last laugh. If you are interested, you can read all about it right HERE.
Profile Spotlight
This week’s player profile is easy. It has to be Goldie. Goldie took some heat this week and let’s face it, it was well deserved. But I actually like Goldie a lot. He’s a fellow east coast guy, grew up in the eighties, small statured, balding and he gets most of my jokes. Other than the whole Jewish/Christian thing, we’re almost the same person. That is why this week’s player profile is Goldie.
The low net winners this week were, Big Donkey (A/B) with a low net of 31 and Radio a.k.a. Squints (C/D) with a low net of 32. Congratulations to the winners! We continue match play this week, still on the Pioneer back. If you like what you’ve read, then join the conversation and leave a comment. We hope to see you on the course and as always, hit ’em straight!
George Almeida – GCCGL Co-Commissioner
