Wind, rain, sleet, hail, snow........

 7:22 am - Tuesday - May 9th - LPG&RVR - 31° F, humidity 76%, wind 2 mph out of the east by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, frigid, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 59° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Gloucester, MA at Stone's Pub & Eatery for a late lunch....two Murphy's Stouts please......↴

.....the view this morning.....frost on everything....↴

Monday, May 8th,  was the day for the northeastern California high school golf championships being held here at LPG&RVR.  There were 4 high schools represented.  Most of the high school kids participating had played a practice round on Sunday.  Little did they know that Sunday would be the best weather we've had in a week, and that Monday would be like a cold day in January with torrential rain, at times, sleet at times, hail at times, and snow at times.  

TLE and I arrived at work about 20 until 8 am, and within an hour it began to rain, and I mean hard rain....sideways rain!  The tournament was scheduled to begin at 11 am, so maybe the rain would stop, and the sun would make an appearance between now and then.  Miraculously, it did as the kids walked down to the 1st and 10th tees, as well as the 9th and 18th tees.  They sent two groups off from each of those four tees, but within 30 minutes the rain returned....not hard, but enough to make things uncomfortably wet.

Hail on the putting green....

....then snow

Prior to the beginning of the tournament I made my usual morning rounds to clear the tee boxes at #3 of duck/goose leavings, then weeded and raked all four sand traps before returning to the Clubhouse just as the torrential rain began.  Between 9 am, and 10:30 am the kids practically emptied our large 55 gallon trash can of range balls as they warmed up for the tournament.

Finally, around 10:30 am they were all gathered together to discuss the format, and assign starting holes.  As they walked down to the 1st and 10th tees it began to rain, then snow, and for the next 3-4 hours it would alternate between rain, wind, hail, sleet and snow with brief 15 minute interludes.

Once the tournament began I headed down to the driving range to retrieve some of the balls as our supply of range balls was nearly gone.  Over the course of the next hour I managed to clear the outer portion of the range before it began to snow  again.  I was getting cold, and thankfully it was time to give TLE her lunch break during which time I managed to get my gloves dry, and warm my extremities.  I, in turn, took a one hour lunch break as I knew many of the 13 golf carts being used by the organizers of the event would be returning between 3 and 4 pm, and that it would take me up until 5 pm to get them all clean (and they were very muddy) and put away.

By 3:30 pm the last groups on the course had returned to the Clubhouse, which was now packed full of the participants ordering, and eating late lunches.  In the end, Modoc High School (Alturas, CA) won the contest.  Many of the owners of LPG&RVR attended Modoc High School back in the day, so they were quite happy.

I can only imagine how cold, and miserable those kids were as they walked the entire course carrying their own golf bags for 3-4 hours, but every single one of them completed the 18 holes, and posted a score.  I wonder if I would have stayed the course under such conditions.  I have to say that Monday was the most miserable work day in two seasons for me, but we all got through it, and the reward was the many thanks we received from parents, the organizers, and the kids who played.

TLE and I were home by 5:15 pm.  I was cold, tired, and ready for a long, hot shower.  TLE prepared Minestrone soup for dinner with a few pieces of sourdough toast....the perfect meal for a wet, cold, miserable day.  On a high note, the weather outlook is wonderful for the next week, or so.  Our next work days will be Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, all of which are forecast to have highs of 78° F, and clear skies each day.  Are we done with winter like conditions?  Well, last year it snowed 8 times between April 12th, and Memorial Day.  Monday was only the 3rd snow, and we still have 3 weeks to go....lol.

Thanks for stopping by!