My Favorite Golf Courses

My Favorite Golf Courses Played
May 2014

1.  Carnoustie:  I Played here in a warm up round for the 2012 Payne Stewart Cup.  In the 1953 British Open, Ben Hogan hit his drive on # 6 left of the fairway bunkers into a narrow gap of 20 yards on all four days.  It was marked by a plaque after he won the tournament to show the difficulty of the shot.

Eyeglass Bunkers - you must lie up short of them.

Brett Grant knocked it to two feet from this impossible green side bunker.

2.  Pasatiempo: a Northern California treasure designed by Alistair Mackenzie before he designed Cypress Point and Augusta National.

3.  Spyglass:  most golfers consider it the best of the Monterrey peninsula courses, though not as famous as it's neighbor, Pebble Beach.  I played Pasatiempo and Spyglass back-to-back with Wayne Lott and Chuck Lott.

4. Plantation Course at Kapalua - a memorable place to break 90 for the first time.  The views are amazing:

5.  San Francisco Golf Club is an historic course now surrounded by the city and freeways.  There is no sign announcing the entrance, and when you find it it is a throw back to an earlier time.  The same clubhouse and locker room from 100 years ago.  Hats off in the clubhouse, no cell phones on the course, and no cameras allowed.  This photo leaving from the parking lot.

 I played a tournament with my Links Players brothers at SF Golf Club and Lake Merced Golf Club:

6.  Castle Pines, Colorado.  I was fortunate to play this gem twice with Jerry Pennington.

7.  Crail, Scotland.  After the Payne Stewart Cup Bill Rogers took a group of 20 two man teams for a day on what may have been a windswept farm before the Scots made it a course in 1786.  It is the 7th oldest course in the world.  Crail Golfing Society now includes three courses.

8.  Shadow Creek was made legendary when Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio built it for Mirage hotel customers (read high roller gamblers).  All players had a personal invitation from Mr. Wynn.  Now owned by MGM Mirage, player must stay in one of their properties and travel via limo to play.  Played with Jim Stafford, one of only three groups that day.  Our locker was next to Oscar de la Hoya.

9.  Eugene Country Club, Oregon.  I attended a Links Players fellowship and played as guest of King Martin, Casey's Dad.  Pure golf with over 200 species of trees on the course.  Spectacular course in immaculate condition.

10.  Jubilee, St. Andrews Scotland.  This was the first day of the Payne Stewart Cup with high winds.  We had our best caddies of the trip.

Brett Grant will attest to my career shot over this hill to 15 feet pin high; 4 wood into the wind.

   

10.  Cascata, Boulder City, NV.  MGM started the design to answer Steve Wynn's Shadow creek, but before it was completed MGM and Mirage merged, so they sold it to Caesars, which is now owned by Harrah's.  It was a $ 500 green fee, like Shadow Creek, until the recession lowered demand.  Still at $ 350 per round it gets more play from casino guests.  Always in perfect condition with  hard, fast greens and top-notch caddies.  Cascata means waterfall in Italian, and several streams turn into waterfalls as the course winds up and down a mountain.  They culminate in a roaring waterfall/stream that rushes through the clubhouse, a spectacular setting.

The best of the rest I've played include Coral Canyon in St. George UT, Soldier Hollow in Heber City UT, Dallas Athletic Club, Mission Viejo Country Club (aka Mission Impossible), Austin Golf Club, Barton Creek Fazio Foothills and Houston County Club.

Ten Best All-time Basketball Players

The need to write a list of opinion to answer Charles Barkley's current list is too overwhelming to pass up.  To begin I will list the great players who were favorites of mine omitted from the list.  It is important that the criteria is spelled out for the ultimate list.  Two simple measurements:  1.  helping your team be better than they would without you, and 2.  winning championships.  Here is my omission list, in no particular order:

Barkely, Baylor, Oscar, Shaq, Pistol Pete, Malone, Hakeem, Rick Barry.

Several won championships, and multiple championships (Shaq) and all were stellar performers, but do not warrant inclusion for one reason or the other.  Some were individually spectacular players (Baylor, Pete) but never were able to lead their tens to the top prize. Moses Malone may be the most respected player ever.  Going to the ABA straight from high school, almost unheard of at that time, he played 21 years as a professional, winning one title, and defining the importance of his role of an offensive rebound leader. Pete and Rick were ball handling magicians, but like Barkley, never seemed to inspire their teammates to team greatness.  At times, despite their individual play, some seemed to actually hinder the team's ability to get to the playoffs and win the championship.

1.  Kareem
2.  Michael
3.  Magic
4.  Russell
5.  Bird
6.  Kobe
7.  West
8.  Dr. J
9.  Duncan
10. Wilt

Current players that will certainly vie for inclusion in the top 10 list are LeBron, Blake  (who like Kareem in just a couple of years has his team contending), Wade,  Dirk and Durant.

http://qr.ae/NEOay

Few Americans know or follow rugby.  This highlight link is to a match considered one of the best of all time, between Australia and New Zealand. Probably a wee bit of a rivalry. It looks like a great sport (note the lack of pads or helmets) and a great game.

Alaskan Cruise Sept. 2013

Alaskan Cruise

The Travel:  We flew to Vancouver on Friday with Air Canada.  This is a terrific airline with easy boarding and great service.  Left and arrived on time.  We chose to depart from Vancouver rather than Seattle to visit a new city, and weren't disappointed.

The Place:  Vancouver is a neat town with friendly people.  We stayed downtown to be near the departing ship and glad we did as we were across the street from the modern football/soccer
stadium and concert venue.  The Eagles played that night.   It is a walkable downtown that reminded us of San Francisco or Austin.  Three things we hardly saw:  police ( saw one cop car), black people (saw one on the street and one as waitress) and homeless.  According to Wikipedia Vancouver has the 4th highest crime rate but downtown was police-free and peaceful.  Also, since Hong Kong went back to China from the British there has b een a large influx of Chinese immigrants.  Today the town is 46 % Asian and the influence is evident.  I'd never seen Japanese and Korean hot dog stands.  Vancouver has them.

The People:  The Canadians we encountered on Air Canada and Vancouver were wonderful.  Walking around with our hotel map three people that asked if they could help with directions.

Recommendations:  Frankie's Italian next to our hotel was great - very upscale dining.  Also Jerry's Tap Room had an outdoor deck on the street and happy hour every day. Jerry's deck is across the street from the library, which looks like the Roman Coliseum.   More friendly people.

Ketchikan, Alaska

The Travel:  The Sapphire Princess left at 1645 Saturday.  We passed a cool green suspension bridge that led to North Vancouver and beautiful scenery.

The Weather:  Clear, cool weather at departure, but we awoke early Sunday to foghorns.  Completely fogged in all day. Went to a brief church service and watched NFL all day, two games won by a last minute field goal.

The People:  We signed up for "Anytime Dining" which meant we could eat dinner anytime we chose at three restaurants, or after 8:30 pm at two more.  The first night we were seated with a couple that lived just across the green bridge in No. Vancouver from England, and a couple of retired Dept. of Defense folks from Tucson.

The Place:  Ketchikan is called the salmon capital of the world so of course we signed up for a fishing excursion.  The ship arrived at 0505 and we left for our fishing boat at 0630.  We fished until 1130 and the ship departed at 1405, leaving little time for exploration.  We each caught a Coho (silver) salmon.  

The People:  We had five fishing companions on Dewey's boat.  Dewey has been running charters for 25 years and brings his beagle, Sherman.  Our fishing buddies were two ladies and a man from St. Louis.  Everyone caught a fish, and lost one too!  The fish ranged from 10-15 pounds and 28-30 inches Dewey said.  Sherman makes friends at first and then snoozes most of the trip.  Dewey brings snacks and some smoked salmon.  I expected a packaged salmon, but found it was his own creation.  He soaks the fish in a brine overnight, then puts brown sugar on top and smokes it for 2-3 days.  You peel off the skin for Sherman and eat a delicacy.  At dinner we shared a table with a couple from Alabama and from Australia, both who had toured the world extensively.  One took a 48 day cruise earlier this year.  There isn't anywhere these two couples haven't been.

Juneau, Alaska

The Travel:  Arrived 0700 Tuesday morning to a partly cloudy cool day, with a high of 54 degrees.  Highs ranged from 50 - 66 degrees all week with very few showers.

The Place:  We were here until 2100 hours and thus had time for sightseeing.  We took a bus tour to the Mendenhall Glacier (see below).  It is the capital of Alaska and we saw the smallest State capital and ugliest State office buildings, according to our tour guide.  It is the only State capital accessible only by water or air - no roads run into Juneau.  We did manage to find the Red Dog Saloon,  a former brothel and famous watering hole.



The People:  We settled on one dining room for dinner, the Savoy.  The food in all the rooms is about the same but here we had a server named Nestor (Nestie, "for short.").  He is from the Philippines and his wife works on the ship too.  Their children are 14 and 11, being raised at home by her parents.  Almost all the ship employees come from economically challenged countries.  Our other favorite server was Lajos, from Hungary.  Curiously we did not encounter any employees from North or South America, and few from Europe.  All were extremely well trained.  The dinner servers were on duty at the buffet at breakfast and lunch, with several hours off between each, every day during the cruise.  Servers clean, bus and set the tables and then serve the meal.  They are in constant motion and always with a god attitude.  In the Savoy we were seated at a table for two, with other such table nearby so we met others at each dinner.

Skagway, Alaska

The Travel:  Arrived at 0600 hours and left shortly after dinner.  Nice partly sunny day.

The Place:  Skagway is the most interesting town we visited, and we took a tour trolley.  It has an artsy population and of all the cities Skagway would not survive without the cruise ships.  The high school graduated 6 last year, 5 girls and one boy.  (She thought the odds were good, but the goods were odd).  The school enrollment dropped under 100 with the recession.  The tour took us to the cemetery where many bandits are buried, including infamous con man Soapy Smith.  Our tour guide, an actress certainly, narrated the gun fight when Soapy was killed.  The ship anchored next to a mountain covered with painted rocks.  We found out each new ship that arrives can paint a rock and some went back to 1976.  Disney came last year for the first time and cheated, according to out tour guide, hiring a crane.  Skagway is influenced by a warm current from Japan and has mild winters until...sometime in January, the cold air build up on the other side of a mountain.  It spills one into town and meets the warm Japanese air.  That creates a dense fog and everyone knows they have about two hours to stock up before 3-4 weeks of cold, howling winds.

The People:  The tour guides were fantastic, letting us know if we wanted jewelry we'd better hurry as main street is down to 43 such stores.  It also has the Red Onion Saloon, our second brothel.  All the waitresses and bartenders wore period dress, and all were female of course.  They also had an upstairs tour of the rooms for $ 30.  Mary was not interested.

Mendenhall Glacier

We took a bus tour out of Juneau up to the glacier and surrounding area.  It is a spectacular with icebergs in the bay, which was created by the retreating glacier, and a nature walk where we saw spawning salmon and a porcupine in a tree.  The park service had a visitor center and short video explaining the geology of the glacier.  Since 1750 there have been a mini ice age and two warming periods which dramatically affected the glacier.  Below is a bald Eagle on an iceberg, one of 9 we saw in a few days.  This was a good prelude to the passage up Glacier Bay.

Glacier Bay

The Travel:  The ship entered the bay after breakfast on Thursday.  A boat from Bartlett Cove brought several Park Rangers who boarded for the day.  One narrated the trip up the bay and others manned an informational display on Deck 15.  She told  how a ship can't come right up to Johns Hopkins glacier until after Sept. 1 because they are afraid of scaring the mating seals.  We were lucky to get so close.  It is several miles wide and 250 feet high (a 25 store building would fit in front).  The most amazing scene was witnessing the calving of the glacier, where with much noise a 10 story building of ice  fell off the front and into the bay.  Mary got a couple of pictures.  We also went by Margerie Glacier and College Fjord.

Whittier, Alaska

The Travel:  We traveled all day Saturday to dock at 2330 hours, and woke up to another foggy morning.  We boarded a bus that took us to Anchorage.  Our driver was a retired school teacher who entertained us with a 10 minute tour of Whittier waiting for the one-way tunnel to open.  He mans a check point on the Ididitrod Trail as a volunteer, thus he regaled us with tales of the history and dogs of the race.  The dogs run 6 hours and rest 6 hours, and during the rest time the musher spends about 5 hours caring and feeding his dogs.  Incredible stories.  The bus ride took about an hour, and the driver spoke at length about the earthquake of 1964, of which we learned more during the tour of Anchorage. On the way from Glacier Bay to Whittier we passed many amazing glaciers.

Anchorage, Alaska

Arrived about 1100 at the cruise ship loading center in the middle of downtown.  Our bags were taken from the ship to the center and we took a cab for the few blocks to the Hilton.  It is an old remodeled hotel.  We were on the top floor, 22nd, across from the McKinley Suite, which has a view of the peak. 

The peak is 200 miles away and visible throughout downtown at over 14,000 feet high.

Everyone recommended Humpy's for food and game watching, where we got great grub and watched the Alabama-A&M game.  We raised the average age in the bar.  After walking downtown we tried to eat dinner at the Glacier Brewing Co. but the wait was too long for our hunger.  We did manage to get into the Snow City Cafe for breakfast Sunday morning after an hour wait.  Great food - if you go make reservations!  Saw glaciers all the way into Anchorage and never tired of staring at them.

Took a bus tour of the city, with a retired teacher/band director driving and narrating.  He took us to Earthquake Park, where a friend of his in the Anchorage Symphony lived as a 10 year old.  He watched his neighbors houses disappear, and he and family go out the front door just before theirs sunk.  They spent 4 hours in the snow before they could escape.  Most earthquakes last 30 seconds; this one was 5 minutes.  It raised the level of Houston 4 inches and impacted Ft. Myers, FL.  Earthquake Park is now a stand of young trees adjacent to the city's nicest residential neighborhood.

Home via Alaska Air.  3 1/2 hours to Seattle and 2 hours to Las Vegas.  Great to be home after a terrific vacation.  We loved the Sapphire Princess and highly recommend an early  Sept. cruise to Alaska.  

After a week away from social media (FB, LinkedIn etc) I have to say life is better without it.  We bought an internet package and went to the Internet Cafe each night after dinner to check email, mainly to see what the kids were up to.  The last day we had 30 minutes left and both looked at Facebook.  It was a waste of time, nothing interesting and nothing to add. 

Now that I'm back, gotta go and check if Brett has any new posts on Facebook.

Sports Expressions

There are a nimber of somewhat new expressions describing sports plays.  They can be referred to as oxymoronic  depending on ones definition:

A figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side; a compressed paradox.

1. Dribble drive.  Or frequently, dribble drive penetration.  This ridiculous phrase may have been started by Billy Packer, former Wake Forest point guard in the early 1950's and CBS basketball announcer.  Billy was a terrific player at 5'9" and became the voice of basketball for CBS.  He was criticized for favoring and pumping up the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).  At the time, however, the ACC was dominant relative to the other conferences in college basketball and Billy was usually right.  The best basketball was played in the ACC fueled by the recruits from the New York City area, which was the center of the basketball universe at the time, and for several decades.  What is my issue with the expression "dribble drive?"  Just this: a player dribbles the ball up the court and decides to attempt to get the ball inside toward the basket, either to his center who is posting with back to the basket or to drive to the basket.  How is he going to "penetrate" the perimeter defense?  With a pass to his center or dribble to the interior, of course. Billy didn't mention "pass penetration."  That is because it would be redundant.  As is "dribble drive."  There is no other way to drive other than dribbling.  I do not mean to demean Billy Packer, a fine player and announcer, despite his ACC bias and a perceived racial comment that effectually ended his TV career.  My problem is all the announcers 20 years later spouting off his expression.  Dribble drive, indeed.
2. Foot speed.  Again a basketball expression redundant in meaning.  I do not know who originated it, but believe it came into being to describe James Worthy's drives to the basket with the Lakers.  (Yes, he dribbled in his drives to the basket.).  The Lakers are located in Los Angeles, which like most coastal cities sports an active yacht racing scene.  A common expression, with boats from 10 to 100 feet, is "boat speed."  Most mono-hull boats sailing to windward average about 6 mph, so a small increase in boat speed is immediately noticed and usually results in victory.  (He had great boat speed today).  With this back drop of the "boat speed" expression came Worthy, All-American from the University of North Carolina, ACC powerhouse.  James Worthy was a talented player with great coaching and quickness.  It so happened that when he ran, he took unusually small steps for a 6"8" player, and his feet appeared to be moving with great rapidity.  He wasn't getting to the basket any quicker than another player that took larger steps and had the same body speed, but his feet seemed to be moving faster!  Thus the expression good "foot speed." 
3. Walk Off homer.  When a home run is hit, the hitter walks around the bases, whether it results in a game winner or not. The rest of the players of both teams have been walking around the entire game; which explains my feeling for the game of major league baseball.

There are many valid sports expressions which accurately describe what is happening on the court or field.  Since its march Madness time, here are a few from the game of basketball:

1. Pick and roll
2. Pick and pop
3. Back Door
4. Double screen
5. And the best of all, "don't get caught watching the paint dry, boys."

There is a great small business story in the link below, and good advice on packing perishables for shipping.

http://blog.ups.com/2011/05/31/easy-as-pie-packing-and-shipping-with-the-ups-store/

"Poehnelt bakes the pies, freezes them and seals them in plastic to stay fresh. She takes them to Heil’s The UPS Store  where he places each pie in a 12 x 12 x 8 box with a 2-inch foam base. Dry ice is packed in the vacant space in the foam that sits under the pie. A second piece of plastic foam on top secures the pie in place.  He then ships them UPS Second Day Air."

Happy Thanksgiving from The UPS Store in Las Vegas   For those planning turkey for Turkey Day, here is Alton Brown's video on preparation.

Scott Steele

Scott Christopher Steele

December 12, 1957 - October 19, 2012

Hello honey, I'm home!

I have lost friends and family without writing about them; maybe because they were before blogs.  And Scott's death was a complete shock.  As good of friends that we were, I only saw him a half dozen times each year.  Caddying on the PGA Tour is a grueling road warrior process.  There is the west coast swing, moving to the east coast before the Masters in April.  He came through Las Vegas, where he lived with his wife, Barb, on the way to the east coast.  Always driving.  And when he had some extended weeks off he would fly home to see Barb, and come by the store to visit us.

He had a mailbox at our UPS Store for years.  Every time he came by, usually after months of absence, he would announce: "hello honey, I'm home."  And hug everybody.  At first I resisted the guy hug, but not for long as we became closer friends.  Of course, I'm an occasional golfer, fan, and general golf nut - but when I asked him to play, he told me he was not crazy enough to play such a stupid game.  We loved his candor; what a down-to-earth guy.

Barb came by the store today.  She and Kathy hugged and cried for what seemed like five solid minutes.  I was hiding out in the back office, reaching for the Kleenex.  Kathy called me and I had to come out.  Barb is sroill in shock trying to deal with it, as we are too.  When my Dad died, my older brother, who only saw him every few years, spent some time before he came to grips with the loss.  That's the way Mary and I feel, we can't quite believe he won't come stro lling in the store at any time, "help honey, I'm home."

In my mind, strictly from golf periodical reports, I had the details of his death wrong.  He had a heart attack in the parking lot on Friday, October 14, at a Champions Tour event.  Jerry Pate gave CPR and he went to the hospital.  Kirk Triplett called Barb and she jumped on a plane.  Kirk picked her up and drove the hour to the hospital, where he had been put into a coma.  He came out of it, and Barb thinks she recognized her presence, then had another attack, passing away October 19.  I wish I'd known. 

Scott had been hired and fired by several golf pros, but caddies of his pedigree don't get "fired" for doing a poor job.  It's because the pro thinks that a change will help his putting, or whatever.  Once Tim Herron hired Scott back and won the first tournament, crediting Scott for the victory.  Then he fired him again two years later.  I wondered, did Scott become less experienced after two more years?  Of course not.  Several times I asked Scott about this player or that, or about a current rumor.  He would never say a word, about his man or others.  A total professional, not about to lower himself to petty gossip.

A word about Kirk Triplett.  He dropped out of the tournament and spent the final days with Barb.  A stand up guy, as Barb says.  (He could have found a local caddy and played out the tournament, then gone to her side.  It's been his best year in years, so he would expect to earn a big check.  But he didn't do that.   A stand up guy, and more).  I've thought several times, c'mon God, why now.  He just got on with Kirk the past couple of years, a great guy and a player who can really compete on the Champions Tour (i.e. make a lot of money).  Why now?

Barb came back to bring us an article by Tim Rosaforte in "Golf World," and to talk to Kathy some more.  I got confirmation of what I long suspected - Scott was not fond of reporters, either print or TV, mainly because their job is to weasel information out of a caddy, and Scott wouldn't talk to them, at all.  So it was nice of Tim to write a complimentary piece.

Well, I've lost a friend, a wonderful guy, the first since this blogging thing.  I hope when the time comes I can be like Kirk, a stand up guy to someone who needs me.   Like Scott, who was professional and manly enough to know when to speak.  I just wish, one more time I could hear...

November 16, 2012

Team Mascots

October 25, 2012

Watching the World Series between Detroit and San Francisco two things come to mind.

1.  Don Larsen pitched his perfect World Series game on October 8, 1956.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Larsen).  That's when the series should be played, at the start of October, not the end, finishing in November.  Brrr.  The NBA season will open before baseball is done and go well into summer. Baseball is summer, football is fall, basketball and hockey are winter.

2.  Team mascots have long been a hot button for me.  My definition of an acceptable team mascot,from middle school through the professional ranks, has three components:  (1) ferocity (2) intimidation and (3) fear.  In other words, a mascot should bring all three in the mind of opponents.  These are my general criteria for mascots.  Acceptable - animals, usually with fur, preferably striking fear if you encounter them face-to-face, manly icons, and fierce Native Americans.  Unacceptable - birds, fish, inanimate made up names, cuddly/furry animals, and most humans.  A sample list:

OK:  Longhorns, Bears, Tigers, Lions, Eagles, War Eagles, Wolverines, Bruins, Badgers, Giants, Lumberjacks, Cougars, Bearcats, Seminoles, Cowboys, Red Raiders, Raiders, Wildcats, Chiefs, Braves, Buffaloes (Buffs), Indians, Blackhawks, Warriors, Tomahawks, Arrows, Indians, Redskins (my high school), Utes, Steelers, Mustangs, WolfPack, Wolves, Dragons, Panthers, Snakes, Sharks, Razorbacks, Bulldogs, Rams, Hawks, Gators, Grizzlies, Crocodiles, Cobras, Vikings, Coyotes, Colts, Broncos, Bobcats.

Marginal:  Trojans (a guy in a skirt on a horse is marginal, at best), Horned frogs (unless you've touched one), Celtics, Blue Devils, Gamecocks, Rebels, Pandas, Cubs, Yellow Jackets, Hornets and Bees (close call on these three).

Not OK: cardinals, orioles, blue jays, packers,  jayhawks, hoyas, ducks and beavers (please), phillies, heat, shockers, thunder, corn huskers, mariners, commodores, tar heels, camels, lakers, green wave, crimson tide, hurricanes, hokies, mud hens, turkeys, owls, 49'ers, sun devils, knickerbockers, pistons, pacers, gophers, twins, terrapins, orange men (red men ok, men named after a fruit? Not ok.), buckeyes.

And the two most offensive and totally unacceptable:  aggies and sooners.

October 16, 2012

We had 12 members and no guests or visiting Rotarians.

After Steve and Ted beat me up about Texas losing a football game, the meeting proceded.  Caitlin announced her Crohn's Foundation fund raiser, a muscle car show, on Thursday Dec. 6, and Ken announced that our Christmas party is Tuesday, Dec. 4.  Francie did not announce it, but I think there is a board meeting next Tuesday after the regular meeting, somewhere off property.

Our small crowd was livened by the speaker, Chloe Powell, current Miss Helldorado Rodeo.  She tried out for Miss Nevada Rodeo, but was not selected.  However, there were some Elks Club members present and they asked her to be their Queen.  The competition involved judgement in horsemanship on two horses picked at random as well as beauty. She plans to try again for the state title in April with more experience under her belt buckle, which she wore along with big hat and smile.

Chloe graduated from Faith Lutheran in 2008 where she was Key Club president.  She got her first horse at age 7 and has never looked back, competing in barrel racing and pole bending as a teenager.  Currently she rides cutting horses and participates in Western Pleasure, which is a competition that encompasses how naturally the horse moves and the posture and aesthetics of the rider, among other things. The Elks ask her to speak to elementary students and other groups, which she happily does, since she talks real good.  Did I mention that smile? Photo attached.

Chloe told us a lot about her experiences with horses and cattle, and was a delightful breath of fresh air to our club meeting.

St. Andrews, Scotland

July 22 - 30, 2012

Off to the home of golf for a two day tournament, the International Payne Stewart Cup.  I received a personal invitation from Jim Hiskey in April.  It is a biennial event to honor the late Payne Stewart, friend of Jim, Wally Armstrong and Bill Rogers.  The event was presented by Bernhard Langer and Bill Rogers.  Bernhard could not be there as he was playing in the Champion Tour British Open that week.

I learned it was to be two man teams for the two day tournament so I asked a friend, Brett Grant.  Brett became more than a good friend, fellow Rotarian and golf buddy when he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon/rectal cancer in 2010.  Suddenly Mary and I were into prayer and support mode, as were many of his close friends.

When I asked Brett, he had just gone through a round of chemo and was unsure he would have the stamina to fly overseas and play golf for two days.  I told Jim, and he said "let's pray for him, and if he decides not to come we'll pair you with another partner."  Of course, I didn't want another partner, so I prayed for Brett's strength, and that I would get my way.  God focused on Brett, not me, and before we left he was talking more rounds of golf.  The group had decided to play Crail on Saturday, following the two days of tournament play, and Brett signed us up for Carnoustie, one of the hardest courses in the world, for Tuesday.  Keeping count, that makes four days of golf, so far.

A good friend in the Links Players fellowship (linksplayers.com), John Hurlburt, has friends that live in St. Andrew, Ames and Jacqueline Broen.  In order to play the Old Course at St. Andrews, the actual birthplace of golf, one must enter a ballot into a lottery two days in advance. That is a new policy that started January 1, 2012.  John's friends did so on Monday for Wednesday but we were unlucky.  We found another spectacular course, Kingsbarns, to play that day and played in sunshine, unheard of in Scotland. That's up to five days straight.  As you may know, golf in Scotland is played walking; there are no electric carts as we have in the USA.  Jacqueline and Ames hosted us for a fantastic lunch prior to our round at Carnoustie in their beautiful home, just minutes from the Old Course.

Carnoustie was fabulous and challenging.  We had great caddies but shot well over our handicaps. Cool, windy and overcast but no rain.   Kingsbarns was beautiful, with all 18 holes having ocean views.  It is a combination of Pebble Beach and Pelican Hill, but a much better course.  Again two great caddies and scores improved a bit.  Sunny skies up to 68 degrees, the warmest day of the week.

The opening dinner was Wednesday night, and Jim asked Brett to tell the story of his ordeal, which he did willingly.  I noticed several players come up to him during the week having been through cancer experiences -  themselves or family members.  There was an unbelievable mix of international players from 20 countries.  We played with guys from Peru, France, Switzerland, England and Nebraska. With 40 two-man teams,  including wives we totaled 97.  We met those from Argentina, Russia, Germany, Northern Ireland and Tunisia.  And Arkansas, too!

The tournament was played at Scotscraig, the 13th oldest course in the world and Jubilee, part of the St. Andrews golf links.  We finished tied for 5th place of the 40 teams.   But wait, there's more!  We decided to play the New Course (built in 1897) on Sunday.  That would be 6 days straight.  Brett's legs were sore in the morning, so play was undecided, until he sat with Bill and Beth Rogers at breakfast.  Describing his soreness, Beth said, " hey, you'll only be here once, go play!"  We played.  Beth is a wise woman and I know Bill is thanking his lucky stars she said yes years ago.  After a week of good weather, the rain came in our last four holes to remind us are in Scotland, indeed.  That made 6 straight days golfing, 108 holes.  We both had some memorable shots, and a few we'd like to forget.  We had caddies for each but the last day at the New Course.  Some were excellent, others not so helpful, but they are definitely part of the experience.  The best were two ladies at the Jubilee Course.  Brett's caddy, Linzie,  had won the Scottish Women's Open, beating the sister of mine, Pam.  Pam's sister became a teaching pro, and Pam had a good amateur career herself.  She said twice before we teed off that Jubilee was going to be a very difficult course in the wind that day.   My best shot of the trip tus far was over a hill to a partially visible green.  140 yards to the front (sprinkler head yardages are always to the front edge) into a 2-3 club wind, Pam pulled my 4 wood.  I couldn't believe I needed that much club, but with Brett standing behind me hit it over the hill to 10 feet.  What a thrill.  Missed the putt,though.

Now that I'm bragging, the best shot I hit was the last hole at Crail on 18  Saturday.  I didn't have a caddy that day but took an electric pull cart, which helped navigate the hilly terrain.  We walked up a set of steps to the tee box, and as I arrived with driver in hand, realized it is a par 3.  Everyone had irons or hybrid clubs to play a hole 180 yards to the front into a stiff right quartering breeze.  I was too tired to walk back down, and decided I probably needed the driver anyway, being the 90th hole we had played.  We were playing a shamble, where everyone goes to the best tee shot and plays the rest of the hole on their own ball, and I hit it to 6 feet and  made the birdie putt.  The wind held up my fade to make it a perfect shot.  Malcolm Gregson, former European Tour pro was on our team, and he was as happy for me as everyone.  Malcolm won the Order of Merit and played on the Ryder Cup team in 1967.  He too is a cancer survivor, having suffered throat cancer.  For every good shot I hit  I made 20 or more bad ones during the week, but choose not to remember all those shots into the gorse. Brett made many more great shots than I, and in fact carried our team to its 5th place finish.

I think Brett and I agreed that Carnoustie was the best course we played, and Kingsbarns the most spectacular.  They were all so good it is difficult to choose one.  As many departed Sunday afternoon, Jim and Malcolm asked to pray for Brett with me, which went something like this:  "Lord give Brett many more years and let Brett give you all his years."

The trip home was more brutal than Jubilee in the wind.  Counting waking up early enough to make the hour drive in the rain to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinboro) and the layovers and drive home from the airport, we spent 24 hours getting home.  Tired and spent!  But it was the most fun golf trip ever and the fellowship with players and spouses from all over the globe cannot be matched.  The next Payne Stewart Cup is being planned for the USA, and in 2016 for Rio as golf will be in the Olympics.  I hope to make both and hope Brett can make them too.  I couldn't ask for a better friend or partner!

Tips on Sending Easter Gifts

Care packages are a great way to send love to college students, military personnel, parents and grandparents.  Here are a few tips to be sure it arrives intact:
1. Send items that travel well, such as oatmeal, sugar or peanut butter cookies, brownies, molasses bars, biscotti, shortbread, snack mixes and hard candy. Use a potato chip canister or coffee can as a cookie cutter, then use it for packing the cookies.  They will stack perfectly and won't crumble.
2. Avoid items that can't withstand heat or extreme temperatures, such as chocolate or foods needing refrigeration.
3. Pack soft cookies with a slice of bread to help them retain moisture.  Don't pack crisp cookies in the same container as soft ones (moisture from the soft ones will soften the crisp ones).
4. Fill air gaps with squares of bubble cushioning to soften vibration and prevent cookies or brownies from breaking.
5. Use a new box specifically designed for shipping and wrap each item in bubble cushioning surrounded by at least two inches of packing peanuts.  All the packing materials you need are at The UPS Store.
The certified packing experts at the UPS Store can pack your items for you so they arrive intact.  Call our stores at 702-341-7722 or 702-631-6300.  Vegasupsstore.com - We're open every day but Sunday.

Due in part to prompting by friends, I have started ads on Facebook, Google and now, Foursquare.  Newby tags on Foursquare get a 20 % discount on all services (except mailbox, stamps and money orders). I hope some will take advantage of it; if so, we'll come up with more offers. foursquare

foursquare.com

Christmas

I hope everyone is ready for Christmas.  In Las Vegas the season is ushered in with the NFR rodeo and UNLV basketball.  Also the crush of shippers at The UPS Stores.  Though online shopping and gift cards have affected our business the last few years, we can barely keep up with the rush in our stores these two weeks before Christmas.  Also, with 850 mail boxes rented in our two stores, the influx of presents ordered and shipped to the stores can be overwhelming.  I don't know if daily news of the Post Office demise is a reason, but we've opened up more new mailboxes in the past 30 days than ever.  Tomorrow, Dec. 12, will be our busiest day of the year!  Merry Christmas everyone, coupon page scan below.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my followers! We are having dinner, lunch actually, with Lindsay and her boy friend Jason.

The UPS Store Staff

In order to help you get to know the staff, here is Corinna Lavala's daughter, Cassamira, and grandchildren Cedrina and Cahlil. They live in San Diego, jsut close enough for Grandmom to visit ofter.

Corinna works in our Summerlin store and fills in at the Lake Mead store occassionally.

Welcome to The UPS Store!

We have two stores in NW Las Vegas, NV. Visit our website for specials, coupons and information:
www.vegasupsstore.com
www.theupsstorelocal.com/2228

Coming soon, sizzling summer specials, which will be for new and current customers and primed to start June 1, 2011.

Andy Lott in "Bye Bye Birdie"

This is a new blog, started primarily to recognize my son, Andy Lott (tandylott.com), who is a Broadway actor. He is soon to leave on a tour of the touring show "Bye Bye Birdie!" Check out his website for the tour schedule and pictures of his career dating back to high school.