When you least expect it.....

6:04 am - June 23rd - Sunday - LPG&RVR - 56° F, humidity 54%, wind 5 mph out of the southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 92° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I hiked to the top of Lookout Mountain near Spearfish, SD with good friends, David and Denise Zonker.....

Saturday was the day of the annual Likely Volunteer Fire Department Golf Tournament, so I was on the job by 7:20 am t0 stage 24 golf carts for the participants....

.....there were still a few carts to wash left over from Friday night, but I was able to get them all washed and staged by 8:15 am at which time I left for my first round of the golf course.  The geese/ducks are mocking me, I'm sure, as all the tee boxes at hole #3 were covered with their leavings....what a mess!  I also raked all four sand traps, and was back just as the golfers were heading to their assigned starting holes....this is what is called a 'shotgun' start.  

I spent the rest of the morning marshaling around the course, and took a few pictures.....

12th hole....participants had to stand with their feet inside a ladder while driving the ball

11th hole....the participants had to wear a fireman's hat while driving the ball

....I probably made 7, or 8 passes around the course, finding everyone abiding by the rules, and moving right along.  As is my usual I returned to the Clubhouse at 12 pm to give TLE her lunch break.  At 1 pm I headed out the the CART RETURN area to await the returning golfers.  By 1:45 pm they began to return, and I just stood there washing one cart after another for about 70 minutes.  Suddenly I looked up, and they were all washed and put away.....20 golf carts washed, and stowed within 70 minutes.  The last 4 carts returned over the next 20 minutes, and by 3 pm I was done, and it was time for the weekly putting contest.  

Originally I was not planning to putt Saturday, even though I had entered, as I did not think I could get all the carts done before 3 pm, but I did.  By this time it had reached the high of the day....94° F, and I was hot and tired.  There were 40 putters on this day, so my name was not called for about 30 minutes.  I headed to the first hole with my opponent not having any idea of how I would do, but I beat him by winning the first 3 holes...I hit three good putts, and sank all three of my second putts. For the first time in a few weeks I got out of the first round.

The second round I was tied with my opponent after 5 holes, so we repeated the 5th hole to make one putt for closest to the hole, and I won.  So, into the 3rd round I go.  In the third round I was down 2 points as we putted on the third hole, and I sank my first putt to win the hole.  Down 1 point with 2 holes to play.  I managed to claw back another point on the 5th hole, so once again we returned to the 5th hole to see who could get closest to the hole, and I won again.  Wow, I'm going to the 4th round....uncharted territory this year for me.  Once again I had to got to a one putt playoff hole beating my opponent by just a few inches.  So, for the first time this year I was in the final, and in the money (1st and 2nd place split the pot 60/40).  Regrettably, I barely missed two second putts, and lost the final round, so I finished in second place, which will entitle me to putt in the grand finale in September....cool!  On top of that I still have the rest of the summer to actually win one!

It was around 4:45 pm when the putting contest ended.  TLE gave me the availability, and envelopes for the late arrivals, and I headed down to the Night Registration office to post them, then home for a long, hot shower.  What a long day, and what a great ending for me!  I had to win three playoffs to get to the final, and had my best putting day of the season, so far.  On top of that I had to get by 38 other people to get to the final....so cool!

Thanks for stopping by!