A brief review of Friday's Action

Sam, Mike, and Karl, teed it up at Jones Creek early Friday mourning. Without the pressure of playing against the LT/Ron team, the threesome played fast and were through by 11. Sam and Mike had a good match with Sam recording birdies on holes 8,12,13,and 16. Mike only had one birdie(#14), but was able to match Sam's 36 on the back. Sam's one stoke lead after 9 held up for a victory. Karl with a K unveiled his new driver, but without any matches refused to show too much. Hopefully, all will be able to play this week.
Sam-39,36-75
Mike-40,36-76
Karl-45,43-88

birdies
Sam-4
Mike-1
Karl-1

Shot of the day
Karl- 218 yard 5 wood to 12 feet on #2(set up by a 166 yard drive with his new driver)

Putts of the Day
With the match on the line at #18, Sam and Mike both faced 4.5 footers. "Good-Good"and Sam maintained his #1 ranking.

A View of Karl and Sam on a Mission in Jaque

I thought I'd share a few pictures of Sam and I teeing off on #1 at Jaque Golf and Country Club. As you probably know, this is ranked as the hardest opening hole in all of the Darien. Just take a look at that narrow fairway!!! As you can see by my reaction, I had to hit a provisional mulligan.

A Tribute To Gary Player

In an emotional day for Karl with a K, he retired his driver in honor of Gary Player's last round at The Masters. The driver that has produced so many memories for those who have witnessed it in action, will forever live in golfing lore. This is the same driver that drove #5 green at Humboldt while teeing off on #8. However, perhaps the most famous shot(s) ever produced by any driver occured on #18 at Humboldt where Karl not only was able to hit the side of the sign for the hole once but twice, sending both balls across the highway behind the tee box. More about the driver later but first let's review today's action.
LT, Mike, Sam, and Karl returned to Jones Creek again this week. Ron was gone to watch Adam play, but a quick call from his partner LT convinced him that if Ron would take a bogey on every hole that LT could carry the load and defeat the K/M team. LT got off to another rough start and was 7 over after 2 holes. Mike, however, came out smoking.On #1 he hit a 18 footer from off the green for birdie, then came back with a 34 foot putt from off the green to go 2 under. Sam jumped with joy as he watched Mike sink the 2 putts and found himself 3 strokes behind and his #1 ranking in jeopardy. Mike took a bogey on #3, but had visions of another birdie as he teed it up in the rain on #4. Out of nowhere came a shot that had all the characteristics of a shank. Mike took his mulligan and hit a pure shank. He was able to bogey the hole, however. Despite LT's slow start, Karl was able to play poor enough to keep their match close. After nine: Mike-37, Sam-41, Karl-48, LT-50(for the second week in a row). Team K/M were only up 3 points. As the players made the turn, the wind picked up and played havoc for the rest of the day.Sam hit a great drive on #12, and followed it up with an even better second shot, setting up about a 20 footer for eagle. Karl was also only about 20 feet from the hole in 2 also but was more than happy to take a par. Mike and Sam both birdied the hole. As Karl approached the #13 tee box he was reminiscing about his old friend Gary Player playing at that very moment at Augusta. As a young lad in Memphis, Karl was watching Gary practicing on the putting green at the old Colonial Country Club. A friend of Karl's wished that he could have Gary's autograph. Karl then walked out on the green and asked Mr. Player for an autograph. Gary didn't seem to be too excited to sign but he did. Shortly afterwards, Karl not being too keen with golf etiquette at the time, decided he might as well get an autograph for himself also. He returned back to Mr. Player as he was putting, an requested another autograph. Well as you can imagine, Gary was not exactly overwhelmed to see me again, and gave me some personal advice on manners in a somewhat aggravated foriegn accent.(However, he did give me an autograph)Anyway, after Karl boomed a 268 yard drive right down the middle on #13, his mind was made up, in honor of Gary Player he was never going to hit his legendary driver again. After hole #14 the team match was over.Sam birdied #15, and both Sam and Mike missed easy birdie opportunities on #16. Karl, true to his word, kept his driver in his bag for the remaining holes and was still to go on to a 3 stoke victory over LT. . The scores were better all around on the back 9.
Mike-37-37-74
Sam-41-36-77
Karl-48-40-88
LT-50-41-91

Birdies
Mike-3
Sam-2

Afterwards, Karl enjoyed a free#11 at Los Portales courtasy of LT. LT still owes Karl 4 dinners and Ron owes Karl 1. LT and Karl will play even next time. Again, TFF would like to thank Karl's driver for it's countless memories over the years and may it rest in peace.

Catching Up

Wow!! It's time to try to catch up on TFF. Three Friday's ago, Sam and Karl were in Panama.(earning extra points in The Provisional Mulligan Cup race) Meanwhile, Mike, LT, and Ron went to Falcon Ridge. Ron and LT agreed to play Karl and Mike in an official team match with Karl getting a bogie on every hole. The match was off to a slow start as Ron had to go back to both #1 and #2 to hit provisional mulligans, only to find both balls. Ron had the only birdie of the day on #4, which helped put his team up 2 points. All 3 played a respectable front side: M-39, LT-42, R-43. However, the back 9 wasn't so pretty. Poor sportsmanship was displayed by Mike on #11 as he yelled for Ron's mulligan to GO! GO!, and it did, rolling into the water.This proved to be the turning point of the match, as team K/M picked up 2 points and never trailed again. Despite missing a 4 footer for birdie on #12, Mike still picked up 2 more points. Although LT/R got back to within 2 points, Karl earned player of the day with his bogie on #16. Both R and M double bogied and LT had a triple. Mike won 2 dinners from Ron to go up 1, and Karl having his best round of the year, is up one on LT.
Mike-81
LT-90
Ron-92

There was no play the next week due to the weather. However, for only the 2nd time this year, all 5 got to play at Jones Creek last Friday. The front 9 was tough on all 5 players, but especially LT as he recorded 3 triple bogies. Ron hit a great shot from 200 yards out to within 6 feet on #2. Mike chipped in for a birdie and Ron missed his putt and team K/M were up 4. After 9:
M-41
S-44
K-44
R-49
LT-50

After a terrible start, LT came to life on the back. He parred #10 then hit the putt of the year, a 59.5 footer on #11 for birdie. On #15, Mike once again chipped in for birdie. Both Mike and LT birdied #16 and after trailing Karl by 8(counting the 2 strokes LT had to give) LT pulled to within 3 strokes of Karl. However, in the end Karl with a K had the day of his dreams. With a par on #17, he went on to beat LT, Ron, and K/M defeated LT/R, so in total that was a 3 dinner day for Karl!
M-78
S-82
K-87
LT-88(38 on back)
R-90
In the next team match,K/M will give 12. K will get 1 from LT., K will give 1 to R, and M will give 10 to R. Hope the weather allows us to play this Friday.

Stats for the year:
Karl/Mike Vs. LT/Ron---- K/M 3-0

Rounds Played
S-9
M-8
K-8
R-7
LT-6

Average Score
S-78.95
M-80.25
LT-87.33
K-89.62
R-90.00

Birdies
S-11 (1.22 per round)
M-7 (.875)
LT-5 (.833)
K-5 (.625)
R-4 (.571)

Rankings
1. Sam
2. Karl
3. Mike
4. LT
5.Ron

Ready To Come Home

Sorry about that last post but I'm having trouble with this Spanish keyboard. Anyway, as I started to say, the weather would be great here in Panama today to play. Sam and I hope that it's raining up there. The trip to Jaque was great and we have returned to Panama City. In about an hour we will be site seeing, including a trip to monkey island. Sam and I were able to tee it up at the prestiges Jaque Golf and Country Club. I hope to post some pictures in the future of us teeing off on #1. It is ranked as the most difficult hole in all of the Darien. I haven't heard the official results from last week, but I understand it was the best golf that I played all year! This is the last Friday of March and TFF has only play together once this year. We hope to be back to Memphis around 3 tommorow. Please pray for everyone to have a safe trip. LT, tell Jill that several of the men prayed for her brothers every night in a room before going to our tents. Also, many made a special trip to the beach late one afternoon where Larry Chambers lead a beautiful prayer asking for God to heal them. Hope to see everyone Sunday!

Well it's Friday and if the weather permits, once again only 3 of the 5 will play today. Too bad everyone's not in

Adios Mis Amigos Del Golf

Mientras Sam yviaje de Karlos(with a K) a Panama, dejaran a los tres amigos para jugar para las proximas dos semanas. Who am I kidding? My Spanish is actually limited to:abra la boca(open your mouth) and escupa(spit).Sam and I will enjoy the break from the pressure of competing with The Friday Fivesome for the next two weeks. Hopefully LT will return from the IR and we will continue to pray for Norma. Please keep good records for rankings, shot's of the year, etc. By the way, mission work is worth 500 points per day of mission toward The Provisional Mulligan Cup. Due to Sam being in Panama longer than Karl, he will be the early favorite to be #1 in the next rankings. As requested by Mike, he is to give Ron ocho strokes this week.
ADIOS AMIGOS!!!!!!!!!