Karl Seeks Sympathy Strokes

It is rumored that all 5 will be teeing it up at Jackson National this Friday after a long hiatus from play. Karl (The Krapper with a K) would like to thank the other four for their prayers during his current bout with what appears to be a 24 hour stomach virus that is at this time in it's 441st hour(8/26 at 6pm). As much as Karl was touched by the fasting and praying, he would like to suggest that strokes would also be accepted. The following scores are from the last two official rounds that were both played at Jackson National. Unofficially, it has been reported that Danny Walker led team Danny/Sam to a thrashing of team M/R last week at Humboldt.



S-39/43-82-1(birdie)

M-41/42-83-0

R-44/43-87-1

K-44/51-95-0





The Next Week

S-38/39-77-3

R-41/41-82-0

K-43/47-90-0



Notes Of Interest:
M and R even and R gets 7
K and R even and K gets 3
LT owes K 1 and LT gets 3
Team LT/R get 18

2010 Stats To Date

Jackson National Results:

S-36/40-76-3

M36/42-78-1

R-40/39-79-1

K-47/41-88-1



Notes Of Interest:

R and M are even and M gives 8

K and R are even and R gives 1

LT owes K 1 and gets 3

Team K/M give 18



2010 Stats to Date:



Rounds Played:

1.M-16

2.S-15, K-15

3.R-13

4.LT-10



Scoring Average-(2009 average)
1.M-79.2-(79.2) -0
2.S-79.4-(78.53) +.87
3.R-86.4-(87.65) -1.25!!
4.LT-88.4-(89.65)-1.25!!
5.K-88.9-(88.8) +.1(115 at Falcon Ridge didn't help)

Birdies(per round)
1.M-17(1.06)
2.S-13(.87)
3.R-8(.62)
4.K-6(.4)
5.LT-2(.2)

Team Records
1.K/M vs. LT/R-5-3 (not as dominate as thought)
2K/M vs. LT/S-1-0
3.K/M vs. R/S-1-0

Individual Records:
M vs. S-7-6-2
M vs. R-12-0
M vs. K-13-1
M vs. LT-7-1
S vs. R-13-0
S vs. K -13-1
S vs. LT-7-0
R vs.K-6-6
R vs. LT-5-2-1
K vs. LT-5-3

Please Review These Stats And Let Me Know of Any Corrections. Only 5 Months For 2010 Season. Good Luck To All In Their Quest For The Cup!!

Team LT/Ron Have Big Win At Chickasaw, Overheat At The Farms

Three weeks ago Ron took the short cut to Chickasaw. Although he saved 6 minutes and was able to get Karl car sick, the time saved was quickly lost with slow play. In fact, Karl was forced to withdraw after 15 holes. "When I started playing this game I promised Martha that I'd limit my time on the course to no more than 9 hours a day. Recently Mike and I played 54 with plenty of time to spare but today I had to leave the other 4 players in order to keep from going over the 9 hours." Team LT/R had revenge on their minds and dominated their opponents from the first hole, closing out the match on #13. At the turn: S-37, R-38, LT-39, M-39, and K thanks to being 7 over on the 2 par 5's:48. LT carded another 39 on the back to beat Mike straight up with a 78! Sam matched his 37 on the back for a 74.

Scores/birdies:

S-37/37-74-1

LT-39/39-78-1

M-39/43-82-1

R-38/46-84-0

K-48/48-96-0



This past week the 5 traveled to Dyersburg to play the always well conditioned Farms. All 5 played the front close with a low of 37 by Mike and a high of 41 by LT and Ron. Team K/M were able to overcome their recent defeat at Chickasaw and get back to their winning ways. LT, however was not only overcome by K/M, but also by the heat as he was unable to play the last hole. Although team K/M will surely remain hot, hopefully the weather will cool down some before next Friday.
Scores/Birdies:
M-37/39-76-1
S-38/40-78-2
K-40/40-80-1
R-41/45-86-0
LT-41/47-88-1

Notes of interest:
M will give R 9 and R owes M 1
K and R will play even and R owes 1
LT will get 3 from K and owes K 1
Team LT/R will get 18

Missionaries Fall To "The Machine"

As Karl(with a K) strolled off #18, it started with a gentle murmur that crescendoed into a deafening roar: "M-V-P!!, M-V-P!!" The fan favorite at Falcon Ridge had this to say:"The fans love me here, until recently this course has treated the average blue collar fan well. Then they enclosed the pavilion behind #18 allowing only the elite to enter. It's been a personal agenda of mine to break down these windows and open the pavilion to everyone." Why would the fans be chanting MVP to a player who recently recorded a 115 on this very course? Well, we'll discuss that later, first let's recap the last couple of TFF matches.

Several weeks ago newly reinstated member to The Jackson Country Club, Mike, invited TFF to play there. The course was in pristine condition and well worth the $584 per round average Mike will pay to play there this year. All five of TFF made a rare appearance for the match. Karl got off to a slow start and was 8 over after 5 holes allowing team LT/R to take an early lead, however, "The Machine" as team K/M have become known as, began to click and were up 2 at the turn. They cruised on to victory closing out the match on #16. Mike and Sam battled to a tie at 80 while the "little 3" played close with Karl edging out LT and Ron with a long 28 foot par putt on #18 for an 86 to their 87's.

Scores/Birdies

M-40/40-80-1

S-41/39-80-1

K-46/40-86-1

LT-43/44-87-0

R-44/43-87-1(Ron had 8 5's on the front)



The following week M,LT,and R went to Jackson National, where team LT/R agreed to play team K/M giving K an 86 in his absence. Despite Mike's impressive 74(4 boggies and 2 birdies), it was the consistent play of Karl that once again carried "The Machine" to another victory. LT couldn't get his game going but when Ron holed his sand shot on #13 for his second birdie of the day, he was only 3 down to Mike and in great shape for a victory. However, a 4 putt Shotsky on #16 did Ron in and Mike went on to victory.

M-37/37-74-2

R-41/46-87-2

LT-45/46-91-0



Then last week fresh from their trip to Panama, Ron talked Sam into partnering up with him in place of LT and "The Missionaries" took on "The Machine". LT was absent once again, this time due to an alleged injury to his good shoulder ( it was really his bad shoulder until he hurt his good shoulder which made his bad shoulder his good shoulder, or something like that). There has been some speculation that perhaps LT has been practicing self-injury similar to many soldiers over the years who have injured themselves on purpose to avoid going to war. "The Missionaries" came out playing "inspired" golf and when Sam followed Ron's birdie on #3 with a birdie on #4, they went up 6 after only 4 holes. Once again. "The Machine" began to roll and picked up a point a hole on 5-9 to only be down 1 at the turn. Of note, it was the first time ever that all players broke 40. Although the match remained close, Karl's string of 11 straight pars on holes 2-12 helped carry "The Machine" to victory and with Ron's Shortsky on #16 "The Missionaries" didn't have a prayer. "The Machine" has become such a dominate team that there has been some discussion of a rule's change. Although no one has ever dared to consider changing "LT Rules" golf, "The Machine" may force the rule's committee, (Karl), to consider LT and Ron's plea for help. In the past, there have been players that were so dominate in their sport that rules were changed. Take basketball for example. When George Miken began to dominate the area around the basket to such a degree, the NBA widened the free throw lane and initiated the 3 second rule. When Wilt Chamberlain was in high school, and was shooting a free throw, he would stand at the top of the key, throw the ball up toward the basket, take 2 steps, jump toward the rim and dunk the ball. Basketball was forced to change the rules to state that a player cannot cross the plane of the free-throw line when shooting a free-throw. Then of course there was the "Alcindor Rule" which forbid dunking in college games. After Lew graduated the rule was rescinded and the dunk was once again allowed. Has "The Machine" reached the point of dominance that rules must be changed? In the next match, team K/M must give 18, if they win what happens next? Do they give 2 strokes on the #1 handicap? TFF rules committee has decided at this time to continue the usual adjustable wager, but will be open to discussion if the points go beyond 18. After the match, when Karl was asked about his 37 stroke improvement from his last round at Falcon Ridge(over 2 strokes a hole improvement), he had this to say: "All you can ask for in golf is consistency and as long as I'm in the 78-115 range, I'll be happy." After the match, the four dined at the newly opened Coyote Blues where Sam was forced to buy Karl's lunch.

M-37/38-75

S-38/38-76-1

K-37/41-78

R-37/47-84-1

Karl Finally Gets A Break

As the first quarter of 2010 play came to an end this past Friday, Karl(with a K) finally got his first break of the season. However, the break didn't occur until the 18th hole. It has been a frustrating season for Karl who has often been just one break away seemingly ever round from stepping his game up to the next level. Before we report on Karl's Big Break 2010, let's recap the day at Falcon Ridge. LT was unable to play this Friday due to Casey Jones dying unexpectedly in a train wreck.(Casey's wreck was mild compared to the crash Karl was about to experience.) TFF welcomed back Ron (Don Ho) Darby who was back after a 2 week absence from play. Ron(Real Golf) Darby insisted that in the absence of his partner LT, that we play it down with no mulligans. Historically, TFF has lived and died playing "LT Rules" and "LT Rules" are the only official rules of TFF. Although all four agreed to play by "Ron's Rules", one anonymous player has already retained the services of an attorney to dispute the legality of the round and is demanding that all scores, etc. be stricken from the 2010 records. Until this case is settled, TFF will report the results of Friday's action but will not add the stats to the 2010 totals. Mike had the shot of the day when he left himself a 3.5 foot putt for a birdie on #1. When Mike birdied #9 he took not only a 1 under par 35 to the back, but a 9 stroke lead over Sam! Ron had a 44 also and his 43 on the back was just enough to defeat Karl but feel far short of Short(Mike) who shot a very impressive real golf 75. Sam was able to recover some with a 39. Karl was in a zone all his on. He played bogey free golf until the 17th hole where he picked up his only bogey of the day, but his birdie on #11 made up for the slip. So for 5 holes Karl was even par. On the other 13 Karl carded 4 doubles(missed by 2 Darbying the round), 3 Sammy's, 4 Shortsky's, and 2 LT's. Now back to Karl's Big Break 2010. Karl's second shot on #18 just missed going in the hole but instead got a very bad bounce off the cart path and ended up past the practice putting green and against the far corner of the cart shed. After consulting with rules officials, Karl was given a drop. Desperately needing to hole this birdie chip out to get within 24(23 with the one stroke Ron had to give), Karl finally got his break. Shanking his third shot into the newly enclosed pavilion behind #18 green, Karl's ball broke a window. Fortunately it was a double pane window and his ball remained in play. Karl was able to finish with a Sammy on #18 thanks to the break he got from the window being double paned and went on to a very respectable 28 stroke (27 with the stroke) loss to "Don Ho" Darby. TFF caught up with Karl after the round and he made the following statement:"I was proud of the way that I was able to stay mentally in this match even though my tempo was a little off today. A wise golfer once told me that if you can't Shortsky the hole at least get a LT. I could have easily T-boned three or four holes but I was able to keep focused. If I can just stay mentally in the game, I think more breaks will start going my way. Believe me, I was close to breaking more than a window today and I'm proud of the way that I was able to keep my composure. I'm going to take a couple of weeks off from TFF competition, to re-evaluate my game and perhaps "tweak" a few things. I'll use today as a learning experience and for motivation to come back and win the 2010 Player of the Year."

Scores:
M35/40-75!!-2(Birdies)
S-44/39-83-0
R-44/43-87-1
K-58/57-115-1

"Greet Our Friends By Name" (3rd John vs. 15)

"There are 'friends' who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Prov. 18:24) Some may wonder how five men that compete so fiercely each Friday on the links can remain such close friends. The time spent riding together, discussing things that are important in our lives, eating together and sharing our cookies or cherry pies have brought the five of us as close as brothers. Lee Iacocca once said: "My father used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, you've had a great life." There is a true insight in the quote, "A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and hard to forget."(Anonymous) This past Friday, Sam, Mike, LT, and Paul with a P travelled to The Tennessean to play. Nobody remembers for sure how many years that we have been playing together but it's amazing how much and how fast we are learning about each other, such as first names. For example, despite putting Ron's name on the scorecard,(Ron was still dancing the hula in Hawaii) Mike is already beginning to differentiate between Ron and LT. In Ron's absence, LT once again made the mistake of asking Sam to replace Ron on his team. The 2008(LT) and 2009(Sam) Players of the Year remain win less against team Paul/Mike and Sam has yet to win a match in team competition. LT and Paul had a classic match as Paul jumped out to an early lead only to see LT charge back and gain 5 strokes on the first 8 holes on the back. Also, team LT/S were 8 down with 8 holes to go but stormed back to get within 2, with 2 points left on 18. However, once again, #18 proved to be LT's Nemesis and took a Sammy(8) on the hole allowing not only a win by team P/M but letting Paul gain 2 strokes and a tie. A highlight of the day was hole #6 where Sam had a chance to win back to back Player of the Year awards when he stood over a 14 foot eagle putt, but his attempt was unsuccessful and TFF continued it's 2 year eagle drought. The following scores include last weeks round at Falcon Ridge. Hopefully, all 5 friends will be able to compete next week and remember, "Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall, all you gotta do is call, and I'll be there, cause you've got a friend"(James Taylor).

Falcon Ridge:
M-38/39-77-1
S-38/39-77-2
K-42/44-86-0
Notes of interest: all played from the back tees

The Tennessean:
M-39/38-77-1
S-43/38-81-2
Paul-42/46-88-0
LT-48/43-91-0
Notes of interest:
Paul will give LT 3 and LT owes 1

Ron Records Six Blobs at Decaturville

In a prelude to a dramatic Masters, TFF's trip to Decaturville produced some historical golf. Unfortunately for the fivesome, the history was the worst collective golf ever recorded since this blog began. Between the 5, 39 bogeys were recorded. By the way, the history of the term "bogey" is believed to have its origin when in 1890 England, Mr. Hugh Rotherham who was Secretary of the Coventry Golf Club conceived the idea of standardising the number of shots at each hole that a good golfer should take, which he called the 'ground score'. During one competition Major Charles Wellman referred to a golfer as a regular Bogey man, which was a reference to the eponymous subject of an Edwardian music hall song "Hush! Hush! Hush! Here Comes the Bogey Man", which was popular at that time. so the ground score became known as the Bogey score. In 1892, Colonel Seely-Vidal, worked out the 'Bogey' for the military course where he played and being in the military, the term 'Colonel Bogey' was born, replacing 'Mister bogey'. So, the term bogey predates the term par. Par comes from the stock exchange term in which a stock may be above or below its normal or par figure. The par standard in golf is actually credited to The American Woman's Golf Association in 1893. By the way, interestingly, the men's association wasn't founded until 1894 (sorry Sam). It wasn't until 1925 that British golf dropped their Bogey based scoring system and adopted the par system and bogey became one over par. TFF Blog suggests that perhaps we should go back to the bogey scoring system, this past week LT would have only been 7 over instead of 25 over. TFF set a record with a total of 16 double bogeys. Although there is no particular term for a double bogey, sometimes golfers call them Buzzards and in Stableford, it is called a Blob. We could say that Mike and Sam only had one Buzzard (or one double) each, while Ron led the way last week with 6 Blobs(or 6 double bogeys). Sam had the only triple, Mike had one snowman quadruple, LT was able to shot 5 over on a hole, but Karl topped them all with a 6 over on one hole. Officially there is no term for such holes other than a "blow -up" or a "disaster". TFF would suggest that we should use our influence to give these scores an official term. A triple could be called a "Sammy". A quad would be a "Shortsky". Five over would be a "LT." Six over on a hole could either be a "Karl with a K" or maybe a "T-Bone." If a golfer were to have six or more doubles on 18 holes he would be said to have "Darbyed the Round". Just some names to consider. Team K/M were able to defeat team LT/R. Ron beat Mike easily but had to hit a 5 footer on 18 to defeat Karl by 1. Karl cruised to victory over LT. Karl had the only birdie of the day. The term birdie came from the 19th century American slang term "bird", meaning anything excellent. The term was first used at The Country Club in Atlantic City in 1898, where a shot by Ab Smith was described as "that was a bird of a shot" and gradually became a common term for one under par on a hole. By 1903 it was a common scoring term in golf.
Scores-Birdies
M-41-44-85-0
S-40-46!!-86-0
R-44-44-88-0
K-42-47-89-1
LT-47-49-96-0

Notes of Interest:
K/M will give 15
M will give R 7 and are even
R will give K 1 and are even
LT gets 3 from K and owes K 1