19th HOLE at Oaks North (Oaks North Men's Golf Clubs - Tuesday and Thursday groups): November 2007

Tom Reid is the great grandson of John Reid, who introduced golf to America!

Golf as an organized game in the United States usually is dated from the founding of the St. Andrew's Golf Club at Yonkers, N.Y., in 1888. Its progenitor was John Reid, a Scot from Dunfermline who became known as "the father of American golf."

In February 1888, John Reid and several of his friends took an armful of clubs, some gutta percha balls and hearts full of enthusiasm to a pasture in Yonkers for a friendly round of “Gowf.” There, in front of a gallery of bemused cows, they knocked the balls around a three-hole course. Before long, these golfing pioneers had commandeered their own “clubhouse” – an old apple tree from whose gnarled branches they hung their coats and obligatory flasks of fine scotch whiskey. They became known as "the apple tree gang."

This was the birth of what was to become the oldest continuously existing golf club in the United States, The Saint Andrew's Golf Club.

Our fellow Oaks North golfer Tom Reid (click on the photo to enlarge) is the great grandson of John Reid! The man in the blue shirt is David Leadbetter, the legendary golf coach, whose students have included:

Tom is written about in previous postings on this blog. He won the 2007 Oaks North Men's Golf Club Championship (net score) on May 8, 2007. Two days later, while playing with Jim O'Mahoney and me, Tom made a Hole-in-One on the 160 yard 3rd hole of the South Course! It was the third ace of his golfing career! I wonder if he learned this art from Leadbetter? Needless to say, he bought the beer afterwards.

R. B. Men's Executive Golf Club (Thursday Club) Winter Shotgun Tournament and Annual Members Meeting (November 8, 2007)

The Annual Members Meeting and luncheon was held at the Garden Room overlooking the course at Stoneridge Country Club in Poway. Al Dahlvig, the new club President, presided over the meeting. Prizes were awarded to the 5 low net teams. Those closest to the pin on select holes also received prizes. Those with winning raffle tickets also won money. Everyone received a sleeve of golf balls. The food was excellent. A good time was had by all. (Click on the photo to enlarge).

Results of the R. B. Men's Executive Golf Club (Thursday Club) Winter Shotgun Tournament

Click on the photo to view the results of the tournament.

Dave Page wins again!

Son-of-a-gun, he did it again! Here is smiling Dave Page (click to enlarge) enroute to getting his prize money! Did anyone count the number of clubs in his bag?

Mike Huffman, the big winner!

Mike Huffman has a 3 handicap! He was probably a little disappointed that he failed to play on a winning team. As it turned out, Mike may have been the biggest money winner of all! The photo (click to enlarge) shows him proudly displaying $114.00 he won from a small investment in raffle tickets. I happened to be sitting at his table at the luncheon and got this great photo. To my regret, he did not buy a round of drinks for those at his table.

My teammates: Don Findley, Bob Tworuk, and Bill Park

I was fortunate to play with these three athletes (left to right): Don Findley, Bob Tworuk, and Bill Park. (Click on photo to enlarge) We had a very good time. Our team played well after a rocky start, and would have won some money if I had not putted so badly.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. TITLEIST

[Editor's note: The following entry was provided to me by Phil Latham, an engineering friend of mine from boyhood days in Texas. He worked on the "Blackbird" and the "Stealth Fighter" in the latter stages of his illustrious career.]

1. Eighteen holes of match play will teach you more about your foe than 18 years of dealing with him across a desk.
~Grantland Rice

2. Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players become is proven by their frequent inability to count past five.
~John Updike

3. It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place the world is when one is playing golf.
~Robert Lynd

4. If profanity had any influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is.
~Horace G. Hutchinson

5. They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that.
~Gardner Dickinson

6. If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork as poorly as they do a golf club, they'd starve to death.
~Sam Snead

7. Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness.
~William Wordsworth

8. If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.
~Dean Martin

9. If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up.
~Tommy Bolt

10. Man blames fate for all other accidents, but feels personally responsible when he makes a hole in one.
~Author Unknown

11. I don't say my golf game is bad, but if I grew tomatoes they'd come up sliced.
~Author Unknown

12. My handicap: Woods and irons.
~ Chris Codiroli

3. The ardent golfer would play Mount Everest if somebody would put a flag stick on top.
~ Pete Dye

14. I'm hitting the woods just great...but having a terrible time getting out of them!
~Author Unknown

15. The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.
~Billy Graham

16. If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.
~Jack Lemmon

17. It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.
~Mark Twain

18. Don't play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.
~Harry Vardon

19. Golf and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.
~Jimmy DeMaret

20. May thy ball lie in green pastures... and not in still waters.
~Author Unknown

21. If I hit it right, it's a slice. If I hit it left, it's a hook. If I hit it straight, it's a miracle.
~Author Unknown

22. The difference in golf and government is that in golf you can't improve your lie.
~George Deukmejian

And Finally. .
23. Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of a bagpipe.

~Author Unknown

19th HOLE at Oaks North (Oaks North Men's Golf Clubs - Tuesday and Thursday groups)

About Me

Saturday, November 17, 2007