NOVEMBER 2010 The last time I wrote a newsletter for this organization I had to sit on a block of ice to keep from overheating. Now it's autumn bliss and I'm sitting here with a view out the window of leaves falling all over my lawn.
Golf is calling. I just wish I had a game to answer the call.
Speaking of answering the call, it's time to grab a partner and get your game in shape for the annual CGRA Four-Ball Championship. According to the gospel form our esteemed and heavily over-worked president Betsey Mitchell, affectionately known as the Bmer, Phil Werz of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday is using all his persuasive skills and political clout to line up a course or courses for our two-day outing Oct. 31-Nov. 1. By the time you read this, he may have already accomplished his mission.
Even if it were not for the great golf on a couple of really good courses this would still be an important function to attend. Our organization has taken tremendous strides not only to solvency and preservation, but in gaining respect from the golf industry over the past year.
Some of you may not realize it, but it was less than a year ago that members were being warned that the CGRA might be eradicated because no one really cared whether it existed or not.
Under the energetic leadership of Bmer, we have survived. Not only survived, but added several members, created a working relationship with the Golf Panels of both North and South Carolina and hosted a Hall of Fame induction at Pinehurst that was one of the best ever with the honoring of amateur extraordinaire Paul Simson and course architect Mike Strantz.
We can all take pride in what has been accomplished in such a short time by Bmer and her husband, Dick, who has worked a few miracles as our new Executive Director.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank Phil Werz for his diligence in setting up a luncheon interview with CBS golf reporter and commentator David Feherty. I have to tell you that Feherty is a riot act, and his performance at the World's Largest 19th Hole during the World Amateur Championship was one of the week's highlights.
I'd also like to thank Werz for his contributions to my work for The Pilot Newspaper by sending out some interesting news items that I'm able to use.
As for the rest of you, I'm still waiting for something to help fill this space. Haven't heard a peep form anyone in the past couple of months. Help! Is anyone out there?
As for my birdie battle with Steve Williams, it's pretty much on hold. Steve suffered a wrist injury that curtailed his play and my game has deteriorated to the point that I wouldn't recognize a birdie if one flew up in face. At last count I had 60 birdies and three eagles. But remember, I'm playing form those silver super senior tees which thankfully brings a lot of par-5s into play.
On the bad news front, my home course, Gates Four in Fayetteville, lost all its bentgrass greens to the unrelenting summer heat and is being forced to play temporary greens. On the good news front, a $1.5 million project to rebuild the old Willard Byrd course is in the works that will include totally rebuilt greens, bunkers, tee areas and some fairway changes.
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to regroup from the embarrassment of using a driver on a 160-yard par-3 during the Hall of Fame outing in Pinehurst. OK, so that might not have been so bad if I hadn't come up short.
That's all I have for this month. So hit it straight, knock it in and choose that partner for Myrtle Beach. Let's don't drop the ball on this one because our annual fall meeting should be a real dust down. It's vital that we keep the wheels turning.
Go ahead. Write it down on the calendar. Let's keep the CGRA humming.
Howard (Aitch) Ward |
