Deliberations.  There is some very high order thinking going on here, thought it's tough to tell by looking.  We look like circus clowns--purple shirts and red faces.  Harley took the shots.

Coal Creek,  August, 2018.

Coal Creek, August, 2018.

(Mick Rennich wrote the copy and Mark Hanson took the photos for the latest golf outing.   –Ed.) 

            It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. The four of us – Tom “Deac” Devine, Mark “Betsy” Hanson, Mick “the Mickster” Rennich, and Harley “Rino” Rinerson – got together for a second round of golf this year.  Getting together with old friends (we have known each other for sixty years) was a wise decision … we had the best of times; however, playing golf was a foolish decision as the play was unspectacular.  We would have had more fun playing pinochle for five hours.

            We ventured out early – an 8:34 tee time at Louisville’s Coal Creek Golf Course.  The weather was pleasant, in the low 90s by the time we finished; and we were all glad when we finally finished!  Coal Creek is Mick’s home course, but you could not tell by the quality of his play.

            The hardware was evenly divided this time around. Harley, by virtue of the lowest score and the most chits, was easily the best golfer and walked away with the Most Valuable Golfer trophy.  To give readers an idea of the quality of play, take note that Harley shot a 96. There was only one birdie recorded- that by Mr. Hanson on the second hole. Combined, the group accounted for only 9 pars.  

            Tom, by unanimous vote, was awarded the Rino Cup which is given for the best short game.  Deac was superb from green side bunkers and was accused of intentionally hitting into them.  His chipping was the envy of his peers.

            Shot Of The Day was briefly contested, but not for long. Nominations included Mark’s approach shot on the second hole, after which he made the above-referenced birdie; Mick’s approach shot on the eighth hole, after which he missed his fifteen footer; and, Deac’s shot from the bunker to within ten feet on the fourteenth hole.  Other than that, there was not much to pick from; as Harley said, it was difficult to remember many good shots.  Mark was ultimately rewarded with the SOD trophy.

            Mick walked away from the course with two awards.  He won the Purple Putter for the longest putt. His twenty-four footer on the fourteenth hole edged out Mark’s twenty-two foot birdie putt on number two. He also was unanimously awarded Miss Congeniality, albeit after a minor protest from Mr. Hanson.  Mick picked up the cost of carts for the group, bought range balls for all and gifted Deac and Rino with a sleeve of expensive Callaway balls and Mark with five colored golf balls (his favorite kind).  Mick was also on his best behavior, despite playing very bad golf.  Mark’s minor protest centered around Mick paying only for carts, liking it to having a party with a cash bar.  Mark did make a belated run at Miss C when he bought lunch, but the voting was over and the polls had closed by the time he announced his intentions.

            Miss Coal Creek, Holly, a CU student and cross-country runner, supervised the group during lunch and presented Mick with the Miss C trophy.  She also took pictures of the group, using Mark’s very complicated and heavy professional camera.

            In the end – and thankfully it did come to an end – it was the best of times seeing one another.  We have come a long way from Mellette kindergarten and grade school!

                        

The Presentation Ceremony:

May, 2018. Murphy Creek.

Saturday, May 12, 2018
Murphy Creek Golf Course
Aurora, Colorado

The usual gang showed up bright and early Saturday morning, with cloudy skies and the threat of rain.  Mick monitored the weather forecast all week, promised blue skies, and sure enough, just as the group teed off, the sun broke through.  Surely a sign.

Note to file:  Murphy Creek Golf Course is not for the timid, the weak of will, or, it turned out, over the hill sixty-somethings.  This course is a beast.   Harley picked it; he knew of it from his time working at nearby DIA.  There are four par threes on the course--from the tips, the shortest is 205, the longest is 248.  Looked more like 350.  Ouch.

Hanson attended as scribe and photographer--he had suffered a sprained knee in a fall the week before.  (He's working on a story of how it happened, because the truth is pitiful, and ironically, lame.)  And Rennich is more or less fully recovered from a "neurological event" of one kind or another suffered over the winter.  Devine is coming off a knee sprain and other health adventures over the winter.  Only Harley is still fully intact, but he has lots of secrets, including, I'll bet, details of his health.

The golf was pretty sketchy.  To get the idea, the Most Valuable Golfer went to Hanson, who didn't even bring his clubs.  Sometimes you just gotta show up to win.  The scores were a mile high.

Miss Congeniality went to Hanson as well, for coming the longest distance, getting up early, "playing hurt," and who knows what all else.  I think the Competition Committee should meet this coming year to discuss whether to reduce the tournament to six holes, or to change the game to cribbage, instead of golf.

Harley made a 42 foot putt early in round-- he also parred three of the first five holes and we thought it was dejavu all over again, but he returned to earth with a thud later in the round.  On the back nine, Rennich made a 72 foot birdie putt, which earned him Shot of the Day, the Purple Putter and the Rino Cup for his short game.  Other than that, the four of us could likely sit and drink beer, think and think and think and not remember much about the round.  Which may be accounted for by other factors than mediocre golf, right?   These days, we don't remember much, except the lyrics to the theme song from "Green Acres" and of course, "Purple and Gold."

But it was another merry time, and more memories were made, but to what end, since nobody can remember anything anymore?  Here are some photos: