King's Putter May 3-5

[Pete Lavallee]

OOOOPS! My apolagies to the esteemed Northern Captain.

[Neal_Meagher]

Pete,

Happy to add you to the SLO CC list.  Please private message me with your email address as that is easier for me as I keep everybody signed up for this in the loop.

[Garland Bayley]

OOOOPS! My apolagies to the esteemed Northern Captain.

I don't think Pete needs your apology.

[Dan King]

Pete there is no need to get a hotel. My house in Cayucos has plenty of room. The beds are now taken but there are plenty of futons, floor space, or if the tide is right, beach camping.

I hope nobody skips this KP because of budget. You can stay for free and the courses come to about $150 to $200 total.  Anyone that doesn't have a budget and is not happy there isn't enough money to spend this year, you can always bring it along for a late night poker game.

Cheers,
Dan King

A budget tells us what we can't afford, but it doesn't keep us from buying it.
 --William Feather

[Joe_Tucholski]

The beds are now taken but there are plenty of futons, floor space, or if the tide is right, beach camping.

I hope people aren't counting me as taking one of the rooms if others are interested.

[Rich Goodale]

Yo Dan

I wasn't sure if I had spousal permission for this gig, but I made a plane reservation anyway.  So....I'll be landing in SFO sometime in the afternoon of May 2 and driving down to wherever the hell this place is on that day.  Should I stop in the nearest Motel 6 or is there still a place on the floor and a Hudson Bay Blanket waiting for me?  Do I need to bring a bottle of Tequila or can I just exude it after 24 hours of airplane hell?

See y'all then

Rich

[Neal_Meagher]

Because I am often portrayed as being an anal retentive, over-planned snot-ass I cannot help but continue in that vein, so here goes the tee times and players who have contacted me regarding playing San Luis Obispo Country Club on May 3, 2013:

2:00 pm

Garland Bailey
Dan King
Bob McGhie
Alex Miller

2:09 pm

Patrick Kiser
Tim Leahy
Pete Pittock
A. Stavrides

2:18 pm

Rich Goodale
Pete Lavallee
Gib Papazian
Tom Huckaby*
*tentative

As sent to all of you previously, the club is extending us a tremendous rate to play the course and will allow credit card purchases of food, beverages and merchandise to those who are absolutely smitten with the SLO CC logo.  Or who are in desperate need of a new sweater with no holes in it.

[Alex Miller]

Which Tim Leahy do I get to play with? 

[Garland Bayley]

I'm smitten with the Mustang logo.
Do they sell them at SLOCC?

[Alex Miller]

The course is 6,800 yards long from the Championship Tees with a rating of 77.8

From the website. Is this true? Wow!

[Bill_McBride]

I wish I could be there, if only to harass the 2:18 group.   

[Jeff Fortson]

If I can get out of jail, I'll be there.  May need a jailbreak or a pardon from the governor.  The South shall rise again... maybe, someday.


Jeff F.

[Dan King]

Jeff, I'm sure you will clean my clock in golf, but I think I have a fighting chance against you in beard pulling:


Cheers,
Dan King

It does look like a very good exercise. But what is the little white ball for?
 --Ulysses S. Grant (after watching a beginner swing several times without making contact with the ball)

[Dan King]

Rihc plenty of room at the King Estate if privacy is not a big concern.

Glad you are coming out. It will be good to see you. I think it has been at least a decade.

Cheers,
Dan King

The old brigade is there -- with the general missing. Ouiment, Sweeter, Egan, Tolley, Willing, Johnston, Voigy -- all are in. But the brigadier general, and ranking officer of them all, is in the gallery. Bobby Jones is on the side lines a smiling, affable figure.
 --O.B. Keeler (on Bobby Jones losing in the first round of the 1929 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach to un-known Johnny Goodman from Omaha.  Bobby Jones had been the medalist)

[Rich Goodale]

Book me, Dano!

As long as the shag carpet is 70's deep and soft and the craic and the tequila is as good as it ought to be, I'll be happy to pass out on the floor of Chez King.  I'm unlikely to have a beard on the day as it seems that most of my ancestors bought their way out of fighting "The War of Southern Gormlessness" (as we used to refer to it in New England, back in the day....).  Or should I try to recreate this 1980's look....

http://file:///C:/Users/R5chard/Pictures/2009-06-21/Royal%20Kabul%201982.jpg

Look forward to seeing you, too, buckaroo!

Rich

[Gib_Papazian]

Gentlemen,

I'll grab Rhic at the airport Thursday afternoon and we will buzz down on Friday morning. Thanks to Neal (and G.M. Mike Stanton) for setting up those times at SLO - we hope everyone likes the work. My guess is that some of the more daring features will go over pretty well with this crowd. Then again, we are playing to our constituency. Apparently the membership digs how it came out, proof that a highly skilled architect can push the envelope, but still create something that appeals to a wide range of tastes without presenting a series of watered down concepts and strategies. Do we have before/after pictures posted anywhere here? The difference is quite striking.

As a further bonus, we are trying to cajole the Emperor into making an appearance. Our Monarch in absentia - exiled and hiding in the bowels of Max's Lounge - might possibly be convinced if enough subjects implore by email.

TommyNacc@sbcglobal.net

[Gib_Papazian]

Tommy is in!!!!!!!!

[Pete_Pittock]

Tommy is in!!!!!!!!

Wonderful. I will bring some cloth napkins for Neal to draw on.

[Garland Bayley]

I thought I would update the list of players for Sunday afternoon at Santa Maria Country Club so people yet uncommitted are able to see this additional offering for the weekend. PM me if you would like to join us.

Bob McGhie (host)
Me
Tim Leahy
Pete Pittock
Dan King
Joe Tucholski
Patrick Kiser
Pete Lavallee
Rich Goodale
Tommy Naccarato

Alex S and Jeff F are maybes for the whole event, hoping to add them.

Also, I took some time to read the history section on the club's website. I excerpt two sections below to show what perhaps one could call the Augusta Nationalization of SMCC, something we know happened to Pinehurst #2 also.

What was
"The rough at the Santa Maria Country Club, in its natural state, consists mainly of blow sand.  In essence, the rough was all one giant sand trap.  It was very difficult to hit crisp, clean shot off of such sand.  It was necessary to pick the ball off of the sand, which was a difficult shot.  Quite often, shots hit from the rough would be fluffed only a few feet.  Therefore, the strategy of the original course consisted almost entirely of keeping the ball out of the rough."

What is
"With the building of the back 9, the transformation of the Santa Maria golf course from a Scottish links type course to a parkland course began.  The rough areas between the tees and landing areas of the fairways were planted in turf.  The roughs were also planted in turf and an irrigation system was installed to irrigate the rough areas.  Trees were also planted, which provided some relief from the ever-present wind.  Therefore, the Santa Maria course was transformed from a links type course to a parkland type course in the 1950's and 1960's."

The good news is that there is a sand base under the course.

[Garland Bayley]

I've received an inquiry about what type of payment SMCC will take. Bob just informed me that both cash and credit card are good.

[astavrides]

edit--disregard.  info was already given in an earlier post on this thread...

[Dan King]

I have a message from Dairy Creek, our planned Saturday round. They were originally going to punch the greens early this month with the small holes. Ends up they are punching the greens the week prior to the KP so the greens will be very sandy. They said if we want we could move over to Morro Bay Golf Course. I like Dairy Creek better, but the views at Morro Bay are better.

I'm leaning toward moving. Anyone have strong preferences, let me know asap.

Cheers,
Dan King

Hitting a golf ball and putting have nothing in common. They're two different games. You work all your life to perfect a repeating swing that will get you to the greens, and then you have to try to do something that is totally unrelated. There shouldn't be any cups, just flag sticks. And then the man who hit the most fairways and greens and got closest to the pins would be the tournament winner.
  --Ben Hogan

[Pete_Pittock]

I don't mind playing sandy greens on a decent course. Maybe the best option is Morro Bay in the a.m. and Dairy Creek in the p.m. That way we get liter winds and drier topdressing. But whatever happens is okay with me.

[Dan King]

He said on the voice mail we could do the morning at Dairy Creek and the afternoon at Morro Bay if we want. They are very close to each other, so it wouldn't be an issue traveling. I do not know if that means we pay a new rate or a replay rate or what.

If people do not hate the idea of playing on recently sanded greens, I'll do that, morning at Dairy Creek, afternoon at Morro Bay.

Cheers,
Dan King

These greens are so fast I have to hold my putter over the ball and hit it with the shadow.
  --Sam Snead

[astavrides]

I'm only a maybe for the event, but I'll reiterate (see post #31) for the record my vote for moving the afternoon round to Morro Bay.