Nov Review- Part II

 November Review Plus Part II of Sparky

Well, fellow Bud's Boys, we are down to the last month of the 2023 calendar. Next week's weather looks promising, so take advantage while you can.

As always, Monday tee time is 11:00, Tuesday through Friday is 9:58.

You must provide your own food and beverage on Monday.

November Review

We were able to play 19 days with 28 different BB's and guests. 212 rounds were played, an average of about 11 per day.

Glen earns a shiny red apple for perfect attendance.

Randy won 4 CTP's for the month of November. Since there were many BB's records set this month, I wondered if that was the best total for one month in 2023.

Flipping back through the monthly stats, I stopped at the month of March. Seems our CGOTY Raymond picked up 2 on the 14th and the 20th. He then blitzed the field with 3 in the last four days of the month for a total of 5, the best 1-month total for 2023.

Glen added 3 in November while Scott, Doc, and Clint had 2.

One more shout out to Brandon for his first of the year.

Here is how the CTP race stands with one month to go.

Tom          16

Glen         15

Raymond 13 

Bob          12

Randy      12

Doc          10

Clint         10

Doc and Glen each won 4 Medals, Scott and Leroy 3 apiece.

For the year, Scott maintains his big lead.

Scott  21

Tom   14

Glen  13

Bob   11

We have 9 players with 100 or better days of play, ranging from 155 to 100. We have 1 player at 98 and 2 in the 80's. $1000 Bud's Boys Bucks to anyone who can name the 12 players in order.

I have kept an unofficial count of prize money for the year. A very close race for the top has Butch slightly ahead of Raymond and Jeff.

If you are interested where you stand, I can text your number to you.

To conclude our look at November I see Doc was the biggest mover and shaker by improving his number from 26 to 29 for the month.

Monday's Numbers haven't changed since Weds.

The Golfing Journey of Sparky Mullins

                                       Chapter II

It had been a restless Friday night as Sparky never went more than a few minutes without taking phantom swings around the apartment, desperately trying to keep the feel of 'the move'. But here it was Saturday morning and Sparky found himself at the range for a quick warm-up before his tee time with Sandy. All had gone well; the swing was still there. Some shots strayed a little right while a couple pulled off to the left. After all, you are still a golfer no matter what level of skill you possess. Still, overall, it was a positive session leaving him with high expectations.

Sparky entered the clubhouse to pick up the scorecard and meet with Sandy Simon to get the preliminaries out of the way.

He noticed a few of the wolfpack sitting around as they gathered for their round. They would tee off shortly after Sparky and Simon did.

Al Thomas was listening intently to Harvey the 'Breadman' Glenning explain what bread went best with deer sausage (Harvey ran his own bread shop). These two were the longest hitters in the wolfpack and the 2 most likely to make a flurry of birdies on any given round. Sparky appreciated it when they wished him good luck and to "kick that sandbaggers you know what".

Terry Garner, Al Thomas's nephew, was sitting with Kyle Scofield. A little surprising since Terry didn't usually play with the group till later in the year. Kyle, of course, had his playing cards out ready to choose the teams. They both gave the thumbs up gesture as Sparky headed to the first tee.

Simon gave his hand reluctantly as they wished each other a very insincere good luck. They flipped for honors and Simon teed off first. A fairly non-threating hole to start a round, No. 1 is a 360 yd par 4 playing into the wind today. Simon almost smirked when he cracked his drive 220 down the middle. The smirk was immediately erased when Sparky's drive rolled a good 25 yards further. Simon even muttered a soft "nice shot".

Simon had already hit a decent 2nd shot that had stopped in the fringe leaving about a 40-foot putt when Sparky reached his drive. It had rolled just off the fairway but left him a good lie in the rough. He figured the 115-120 yards would play 130-35 into the wind. A week ago, that would no doubt have been a 7-iron, but he had been busting his 9-iron 150 at the range. His first approach shot in competition with his new swing gave him pause. Would a 9 be too much or too little? He took the 9, told himself to let the club do the work and let it fly.

Now if you are of a certain age close to mine, you enjoyed reading a comic book or two in your youth. I remember that even Clark Kent needed an adjustment period when he discovered he had superpowers. Like a few accidentally broken objects, flying into a tree, things of that sort, until you harness your newfound ability. Sparky still had not grasped that his swing speed had increased to this degree.

The 9-iron shot landed nearly 15 yards over the green. A gnarly lie allowed only a chopped wedge onto the green that rolled 30 feet past the hole. Simon's first putt was close enough to the hole for Sparky to concede the par. Sparky's 30-footer came nowhere close to going in. Down 1 after 1.

Hole 2 seemed to be decided when Sparky's 10-footer for birdie was inside of Simon's 12-footer for par. That changed when Simon holed his putt, and he rubbed it in with a whoop and a little dance to the hole to extricate his ball from its hiding place. Sparky's shoulders sagged a little, realizing that he needed to make the 10-footer to win the hole. Sparky's eyes nearly popped out of his head when his ball not only didn't go into the hole but ran 5 feet past. It did not help his confidence when his par putt that was center cut stopped 6 inches short. Two down after 2 holes and No. 3 was a stroke hole for Simon.

The lengthy trek to the third tee gave Sparky a few seconds to gather himself. One of the wiser Wolfpack members always told him that you are just a streak of pars away from a hot round. Number 3 was 410-yard par 4 dead into the wind. It was the number 1 handicap hole for a reason. His breathing back to normal, he watched Simon's drive popped up somewhat, not even 200 yards down the fairway. Sparky put a good strike on his titleist, a 220 yarder in tough conditions. A 3-wood from Simon fell well short of the green, leaving a tough up-and-down. Simon couldn't tell you the last time he didn't hit a 3-wood for his 2nd shot on this hole. Today he hit his 5-iron to the front portion of the green. Sparky got his par and even though Simon's bogey tied the hole with his stroke, he felt he was now in control of the game.

Although Sparky's putting was inconsistent, his ball striking kept him in every hole. Shot after shot flew true and long. As Sparky's confidence rose with each swing, so did Simon's frustration. Sparky claimed victory on the 16th when Simon found the water on his approach to the green. After conceding, Simon couldn't hold back his temper when he spat out, "You have some nerve playing to that handicap." Sparky stepped up face-to-face with Sandy Simon and responded, " I hope to have my handicap where it should be soon. Tell your wife to help you with your scorecard and maybe you will to." 

Sparky had planned to wait for the Wolfpack to finish and down a few beverages in celebration. He could see in the distance the first wolfpack group walking off the 16th green on their way to 17 tee box. He could recognize the white hair and beard of Wes Timbrook walking quickly. Interesting guy that Wes. He could see Brady Ralston. Brady had won the latest wolfpack tourney. There was no question who the third member was. Still back on the 16th green putting (re-putting?) was the groups most senior participant, Milton Rodman. Still has the fire burning to beat game.

It was then Sparky realized how tired he was and how much his hands ached from all the swings taken in the last day and a half. He would see everyone the next day anyway for the Sunday game. He left the course with a very satisfying feeling of fatigue and accomplishment.

Sunday was greeted with more anticipation. Sparky didn't finish 18 holes yesterday, but he knew he was probably only 1 or 2 over for the round. He figured to be more relaxed playing with his buds today and was hoping for a career best round.

Kyle started turning cards for teams. Sparky drew Stony Jeffries. You couldn't blink when Stony addressed the ball. Fastest swing in the group. Next was Zane Buckner. Zane was from a little further north but had moved south to Wayland basically exchanging one group of beer drinking golfers for another. He seemed to win most of the time but had a knack for bringing down a guy who was on a hot streak. The last player chosen to fill Sparky's foursome was Perry Leroux. Now here was an interesting character.

Perry Leroux is the slow talking, slow walking, wise-cracking spiritual leader of the group. His job is to settle any minor grievances, storytelling and entertaining the group in general. Do not, however, ask him if he is Cajun. It still bugs him that he still gets mail from the CCF (Cajun College Fund) asking for donations, just because of his name. "I have never even been to Louisiana", he likes to say.

Sparky did shoot his best that day, a 1-under 71.

As the days flew by and Sparky continued his good play, the calendar had reached the club championship. Sparky had always been an A or B flight player but now found himself in championship division. The defending club champion was regarded as the No. 1 golfer in the region.

Sparky ended day 1 with a well-earned 2-under score. He was stunned to hear the champ had a terrible start, finishing at 5-over for the round. Although there were 2 players closer to Sparky, he still had his eye on the champ. Sure enough, the champ birdied 5 of his first 6 holes on Day 2 to get within 2 of Sparky. Sparky never wavered, repeating his 2- under round for a 3 shot victory. He was club champion!

This victory seemed to stir something inside Sparky. His confidence swelling, he started doing some real thinking. For the first time that he could remember, he did start pondering his future beyond the coming weekend. He would be 40 soon. He was not good enough, he realized, to be a PGA Pro, but he did have 10 years before turning 50 (Senior Tour?). How good could he be with the right conditions, the right facilities, the right instruction. Melvin 'Sparky' Mullins was genuinely considering a complete life change.

 

Hope the story hasn't been all bad. Check in next week for the final chapter.

Disclaimer: All characters in the story are fictional (That means made up). Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely intentional.