Alternate Shot/Alternate Tee Shot Next Week!

courtesy of news.com.au

Christmas is coming and Winter Solstice is past. The ASGA Board wishes all our members and their families a joyous holiday weekend. And with Solstice behind us, first tee times will soon start to trend earlier (after this week, as it turns out…)


Let’s give a shout out to our tournament director, Shawn Higgins. Shawn is doing a tremendous job this year, including bringing back event formats that we haven’t played in a while.

This coming Tuesday at Jimmy Clay we will once again be playing the Alternate Shot/Alternate Tee Shot format. Each 2-Person team uses one ball and takes alternate shots until the hole is completed. Team members also take turns in teeing off on each hole, i.e. one player will take the tee shot on odd-numbered holes, and the other on even-numbered holes.

Here are a few tidbits about the course that may help you in deciding which player tees off on the even or odd-numbered holes.

1. There are four Par 5 holes. Three are on even-numbered holes and one on an odd-numbered hole.
2. There are four Par 3 holes. Three are on even numbered holes and one on an odd number hole.
3. According to the course handicap rating, the two hardest holes are on even-numbered holes while the next three hardest are on odd-numbered holes.

Hope this helps. Have fun with the Alternate Shot/Alternate Tee Shot format next week. May your tee shots be straight and long and your approach shots dance around the flags.

At your service,

“Sand Trap”

Prior Member Passing

Jack

 John “Jack” Vaeth, who was a long-time member of ASGA, died December 6, 2021, at the age of 97. Computerized tournament results go back to 2006, and Jack is listed as playing that year. He last played in 2018.

His obituary may be found here, as well as in the December 15, 2021, edition of the Austin American-Statesman. 

Sam Mihalik

59. 1 STROKE SHORT. TRANSITION. TRAVIS 2.

ASGA Transition

Golf has been something I was interested in since I was around 12 years old. I watched it on TV. I played nearly all the other sports then, but not golf. The first round I ever played was at 19 with a friend and borrowed clubs. Amazingly I parred my first hole, a par 4, barely missing a birdie putt. I putted it out for the 4. My inner thought was, "I am a natural golfer and should have started earlier in life. Maybe this will be my career instead of law or business." However, I made 7 on the next hole and did not break 100 in a round for almost 3 years. I really never got much better until around 45 when I finally broke 90. I was playing 20 or 30 times per year by then. The most ever.

When I retired 10 years ago, I ramped up my playing time to 85 rounds per year and quickly broke the score of 80. Then I joined ASGA at the very end of 2013 and in 2014 jumped up to 115 times per year. In 2015 was able on three different courses to shoot 3 strokes over par which remains my best. It was 73 on a par 70, 74 on a par 71 and 75 on a par 72. On these three miracles for me, I was just 1 stroke over my age and in fact once was just 3 months away from my next birthday when I came up 1 stroke short again.

Now I am moving in the opposite direction, I get older and shoot higher each year. This year my best is 79.  I am a few days away from my 78th birthday and that gives me almost a year to shoot 78 when I am that age and finally shoot my age. My luck might be that I shoot a 78 this week and come up a stroke short again. When I was on that streak of lowering my score, I was dreaming of a par round and even when I was in my most imaginative time I thought "Why not 59?"  

In preparing for my last NEWS story as the President it crossed my mind to count the number of stories I have written during my last 2 years as back to back President. I decided that Obituaries would not count. I counted the other stories and was surprised to see that a magical golf number had been there all along. It was 59 postings. Maybe writing about golf is my skill over trying to shoot a low score. It is too late to apply at GOLF DIGEST, but it is not too late for me to thank you all for allowing me to serve you and for you all to put up with my stories. It was fun to do. After all I have kissed the Blarney Stone as Bill Burke likes to remind me.

Thursday the 11th, I presided over my last meeting as the current president and handed the golf club gavel over to Sam Mihalik, the newly elected President. I believe we have a great board to carry on our amazing history.  ASGA is 45 years old this year. The transition is complete. Carry on Mr. President.

I am signing off and standing down. I will continue to serve on the board as Past President.

Sincerely yours,


Travis McWhorter, Past President

Please scroll down to read about Travis Eckert. A true ASGA legend.

ASGA Life Member Travis Eckert Passed Away October 29, 2021

Travis Eckert

ASGA members Sam Mihalik and Lynn Hammer have reported that Travis Eckert, Life Member of ASGA died October 29th at age 89. His memorial service will be Nov 16th at  3:30 PM , First Methodist Church, Austin. Travis was formerly a very active member and golfer having served on the ASGA Board as  ASGA’s Voting Representative to the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, Golf Division from 2004 through 2016.

His health had kept him from playing much the last few years. He had originally scheduled to attend the most recent Annual meeting held October 26tth at Jimmy Clay but had called and canceled due to health issues. He was so looking forward to visiting his ASGA friends and meeting new members one more time he told me on the phone when he accepted my invitation to come as my guest. Sadly, he died 3 days later.

As the official Travis 2 per my first meeting on the ASGA Board in 2015 after being elected to the board, I met Travis 1 for the first time. He with his beautiful smile said it would be easier if we used that designation. It worked well in the board meetings.  Travis also was the founder of the hole-in-one program and so many times after I introduced myself to new ASGA members they would stop listening after Travis and say "I want to join the hole-in-one pot and hand me $5. It was harder to explain that there were 2 Travis' so Travis 1 told me to take their money along with their name and he would add them after I texted him who they were. I gave him the money when I saw him next. We became good friends sharing the name. He gave me so much good advice as a new ASGA person. You can read about his life in the obituary article below. He was one of a kind and a very kind one.

On behalf of the ASGA Board the family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers. We will celebrate his great life in many ways. His memories will be a forever part of ASGA.

Travis McWhorter

 Below is a link to the obituary that appeared in The Statesman.
https://www.statesman.com/obituaries/p0161841

Annual Meeting--President's Cup is Set

The annual meeting is upon us. The schedule and agenda is as follows to help you understand the flow of the day. Also, after the golf completes you can find Sam Mihalik, Treasurer, somewhere in the pavilion area available to renew your annual membership for $10. Please make it easy on yourself and Sam by renewing.
 
President's Cup. Shawn Higgins, Tournament Chair, invited Challenging Blue Team Captain Maury Miller and his assistant Captain John Hirsch along with Defending Red Team Captain Travis McWhorter and his Assistant Captain Sam Mihalik  to meet yesterday morning at Jimmy Clay to draft the teams from the record breaking group of 88 players. Bruce Jones came to referee this highly charged event and brought the famous Round Rock donuts and Starbucks coffee to keep the Captains in check. You have now seen posted under Event Schedule your team, your opponent and the hole to start. At approximately 7:30 we will load up and Shawn and Club personnel will provide instructions. We will strive to get to the assigned holes to begin play by 7:45.

Both Captains Request That You Wear Some Red or Blue To Support Your Team.

We have exactly the right number of players. Please do all possible to show up for your team. You can begin to register in as early as 6:15 AM. We have 88 playing so please come as early as you can to avoid long lines and delays. Bring your clubs up, ask for a ride from one of the marshals or maybe borrow a cart as your carts are parked prearranged as to your partner, hole assignment etc. There will be personalized cards (provided by Bruce Jones, Website Chair), for each opposing twosome in your carts. At the end of your match, when you have a determined a winner or end in a tie please come in so we can stagger the serving of the meal to avoid long lines and to get the annual meeting started as early as possible. Make sure your card is signed by both players and given to Shawn Higgins.  He will be the one entering into his computer somewhere near the back of the Jimmy Clay pavilion. Please turn them in before you go to your car to unload your clubs.

Lino Oballo, Banquet Director, advises that the meal will be prepared and delivered to us by Catfish Parlor. It will be ready to serve about 11:45 AM when Lino starts taking tickets for the meal and  putting them in a box used later for the door prizes. Some of The Board of Directors and a few others have agreed to help serve the food. Our goal is to serve enough to avoid seconds and to be safer with one serving only. We need to space out with 4 or so to the table while eating so some of you should eat at the Kizer pavilion. The serving line will be in between. When the meeting starts we will recommend that some stand behind the tables at Clay pavilion to be able to participate and hear. Also, we can use a little help in cleaning up the pavilions after we complete the last event, the door prizes. You must be present to win!!

Menu. Catfish/chicken tenders, pinto beans, coleslaw, hush puppies, french fries, ketchup, tartar sauce and lemon. We will serve bottled water only (1 each) for safety. We are being provided warmers this year to keep the food warm even though the day has a warm forecast. We sold out the tickets this year. We have reserved some tickets for our honored guests and plan to take a plate to the 4 or 5 club house employees that have helped us so much in arranging the banquet/picnic space and preparing for the golf event.

Annual Meeting: The general meeting will be called to order by President Travis McWhorter following eating.  The order of events will be as follows:

1. The vote on changing the bylaws/constitution to change the minimum membership age to 60.
   
   
2. Election: Vice-President Lino Oballo will place names in nomination. Travis will conduct the election. Lino will make some remarks following the election.
   
   
3. President Travis McWhorter will close the Annual Meeting and then turn the meeting over to Shawn Higgins to conclude the golfing events for the year.
   
   
4. Event Chair Shawn Higgins will present the winners of the year-long Grand Prix and announce the results of The President's Cup.
   
   
5. Shawn will then call out the winners of the door prizes. We have a limited number of prizes this year for speed and safety reasons. You must be present to win. When all prizes are given away that will conclude the meeting.
   

On Behalf of the Board and those helping bring this program together,

Thanks,


Travis McWhorter
President

 

A Message to the Members from your Vice President

Members,

 

On October 26, 2021 once again we will carry out the most important activity of our ASGA membership, to elect and install our Board of Directors for 2021-2022.

We, the nominating committee submit to the membership these suggested Board of Directors for the coming year.

Nominees

President                                    Sam Mihalik  
Vice President                            Lewis Howell 
Secretary/Treasurer                    David Brader  
Event Chair                                Shawn Higgins 
Handicap Chair                          Bill Burke
PARD City Board Rep               Jack Scruggs 
Website Chair                             Bruce Jones
Immediate Past President          Travis McWhorter (Automatic per bylaws)  
General Membership Delegate  Greg Marshall       (Will be nominated from the floor per bylaws but is recommended by the Board) 

The tremendous amount of time and energy that our president has devoted to the duties and responsibilities is commendable. It takes talent and dedication to balance these responsibilities and personal life. On behalf of the membership of the ASGA, Travis, we thank you and all the current board members that made up your team.

For those incoming board members we will elect it is a demonstration of their commitment and dedication to ASGA. 

For those of us, the members, we also have to demonstrate our commitment to support our leaders during the coming year.

With kindest regards,

 

Lino Oballo
Vice President 2019-21
Chairperson of the Nominating and Banquet/Picnic Committee

Nominees, President's Cup, Picnic and Tribute. So Read It All Folks!!!!

 

Our ASGA year and season are coming to an exciting finish. Hang on for a lot of fun. Sam Mihalik, our current Treasurer, will set up shop at the Annual Meeting October 26 to collect your $10 renewal memberships for 2022. Make it easy on Sam and yourself. You can also renew online beginning at the same time, but in person is easy.

The Election

The Board of Directors under the management of Lino Oballo, Vice President and his committee have brought forth the following slate of officers that are recommended and will be put into nomination at the meeting following the picnic. Other nominations may be made from the floor.

Nominees

President                                    Sam Mihalik 
Vice President                            Lewis Howell
Secretary/Treasurer                    David Brader 
Event Chair                                Shawn Higgins
Handicap Chair                          Bill Burke
PARD City Board Rep               Jack Scruggs
Website Chair                             Bruce Jones
Immediate Past President          Travis McWhorter (Automatic per bylaws) 
General Membership Delegate  Greg Marshall       (Will be nominated from the floor per bylaws but is recommended by the Board) 

The voting will NOT take place in the lobby as Sam Mihalik mentioned in his advance notice of the meeting. The shotgun start will not make that voting feasible.  All voting, including the vote on expanding ASGA eligibility to age 60, will be handled by Travis McWhorter, current ASGA President, at the general annual meeting following the golf event and picnic. We will be meeting in the Clay/Kizer pavilions.

The President's Cup

The Captains and Assistant Captains have been selected and each person who signs up for golf for October 26th will be drafted by one of the teams to play match play. Super Fun!! You will know your team in advance. Your hole number for the shotgun start and your team and your foursome will be posted on our website Sunday the 24th.

The defending champion RED TEAM will be captained once again by Travis McWhorter with his new Assistant Captain Sam Mihalik. The challenger BLUE TEAM will be headed up by one of the ASGA's most interesting golfing stories, Maury Miller with Assistant Captain John Hirsch. 

All of us will be paying close attention to your golfing skills and desire to win the last couple of events as well as your history before meeting to draft the teams the Saturday before the annual picnic. The next News story to be released later this week will feature the history and comments from team leaders. The President's Cup is almost here.

The Picnic/Annual Meeting

You will need a ticket to get your meal at the picnic and to be eligible for the door prizes. The next 2 events will end the selling of the tickets as we will then place our food order. Look at the schedule of each event and you will see *** to the right of each board member's name that is playing golf that day. Find them and buy your super valued ticket for $12 each.

Tribute

Now that you have read all the latest NEWS  please scroll down and read a tribute to one of our iconic past ASGA members.

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League,

Travis McWhorter, President

Longtime Member L.D. Washington Has Passed

L.D. Washington
(courtesy of F. Segura)

The heartfelt words below, posted on the Tribute Wall  of L. D. Washington's Obituary by Sam Mihalik are reflective of the way L.D. touched many people in his life including many friends within ASGA. Please join Sam and the rest of us in celebrating the life of such a great man. 

"I am positively heartbroken at the loss of L.D. - He was a fixture at Morris Williams Golf Course. We would meet and talk early Wednesday mornings when he and I and the rest of the Austin Senior Golf Association had to wait patiently until 7 am to get a tee time for the following Tuesday. L.D. always had a smile that would brighten up the room whenever he entered the Mo Willie pro shop. His eyes told everyone he met that he was a friend.
"We lost touch when tee time registration changed to an online process, but he would occasionally show up to help Charles Organ and Ray Harper move golf carts.
"L.D. was an exceptionally good golfer. After reading the many tributes on this site, I now know he was also a football and basketball star. It is truly sad that we know so very little about someone until they've passed on. He was truly a gentle and loving person and we will miss him and that wonderful smile of his on the golf course." --Sam Mihalik ASGA Secretary/Treasurer

Please check the obituary in the first link below and pay tribute or read other tributes on the second link. 

 

https://www.statesman.com/obituaries/p0152851

https://www.alcbf.com/obituaries/L-Washington/#!/TributeWall

The picture you see with him and a car is one that Frank Segura, past ASGA President and friend of L.D. provided for us to post. What a great picture..What a smile!!

The Board of Directors and all members of ASGA offer our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends as you celebrate his life. He made the world a much greater place and his memories will inspire others into the future.

Travis McWhorter

ASGA President

Get Your Ticket Now. Exciting Grand Prix! The Cup?

THE CUP

Our October 26th event has been cleared. We will have the famous second edition of the PRESIDENT'S CUP MATCH PLAY, results of the year-long GRAND PRIX, OFFICERS (recommended slate to be announced soon) ELECTION, possible expansion of lower age to join ASGA at 60 with your voting, limited but nice door prizes, and  fish and chicken choice plus spread of sides and literally we will be spread across the two pavilions for eating only to properly space. Details as we get closer to the date.

Get your ticket for the banquet/picnic at Jimmy Clay for October 26th from any board member. Do it now. See them, ask them, give them $12 and get your ticket. You need the actual ticket to eat and participate in door prize drawings. You have to be present to win! This ticket does not sign you up for the match play shotgun start President's Cup. You have to still sign up on-line from Wednesday morning through Friday at noon Oct 20-22. All groups will be assigned and all shot gun start near 8. Details as we get closer. BUY YOUR TICKET AT KIZER TUESDAY FROM A BOARD MEMBER or at least soon.

The GRAND PRIX is still in play with only three events left. The winners and finalists will be announced at the picnic. It is truly exciting and the program for next year will be announced soon and the tweaks you wanted will be incorporated to make it even better. It may be hard to beat the tightness of this year's race at the finish line.

The Captains for the President's Cup Match Play have been selected and they and their Assistant  Captains will be announced soon as we prepare for the most fun ever in a Match Play event October 26th at the Annual Meeting and Picnic. Stand by and you will be amazed!

The committee for picking the recommended slate of officers has completed their work and we will announce in the NEWS soon. I am nearing the end of my third term and have been proud to serve you. Our next group will be just right to keep ASGA around for years to come.

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League,

Travis McWhorter, President

Tickets Go On SALE TOMORROW For Annual Picnic. A Very Special Tribute to Follow This News.

Lewis Howell, ASGA General Membership Director, will not be able to play in the 2-Day due to a foot problem, but has volunteered to help score the event with Bill Burke, ASGA Handicap Chair. He also will be distributing the hot off the press tickets to the Annual Picnic for the board members to sell as well as offering you a chance to buy yours at $12 each. See him when you turn in your score cards. He and the board members also may catch up to you on the course. The Picnic is being managed this year by Lino Oballo, ASGA Vice President, and his committee.

The Annual Picnic, Match Play and Election are scheduled for October 26th at Jimmy Clay. See either Lewis or Bill to be among the the first to buy your Ticket to the meal and for a chance at many door prizes. You can also purchase your ticket from any ASGA Board Member from now until we run out or one week before the event. We will keep you posted. Some usually also sign up later for the golf event when announced, but some just  come to eat. You will need a ticket to eat even if you play. So buy your tickets NOW!!

To all of you playing in the event tomorrow, play hard and have fun. Please remember to check back Wednesday to see your Thursday tee time and playing foursome. You will be playing with those closest to your position in the event. It will be like a PGA event on the final day. Good luck.

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League,

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO PAY TRIBUTE TO JERRY HORTON, ASGA MEMBER.

Travis McWhorter, President
 
 

The loss of a beloved visionary.  Jerry Horton has passed away.

ASGA has over 200 members and I wished I knew them all better. Jerry Horton was one of our members that I knew, but only recently came to know better. Following is an email that began my learning curve. It was received by me June 23rd, 2021.

Travis,

My wife and I are the founders of Down Home Ranch, a 410 acre residential community for adults with intellectual disabilities located north of Elgin, Texas. Over the years we looked to create enterprise income, which today includes beef cattle, 12 commercial greenhouses growing poinsettias and other flowers, summer camps and other stuff. I retired from DHR five years ago but remain a strong supporter.

One of the staff there showed me the baseball caps they are embroidering and it reminded me that the ASGA doesn't (to my knowledge) have a cap for sale, but might be interested in having DHR create a few. Might y'all be interested?

Jerry

You can see that the email really encapsulated what he and his wife Judy have done. I agreed a little later to take a look at his operation as to hat making and went to Elgin and toured the Down Home Ranch. It was amazing. The hat making was a small part of a fantastic program for giving opportunity to great folks with intellectual disabilities. I met the people Jerry had brought on board to keep the ranch going forever and most importantly I met the "Ranchers" that called Down Home Ranch their home. We never got the hat program started, but I came home with the one and only ASGA hat ever made by the "Ranchers" and will have it on Tuesday at the event. If you see it and you like it I will take your name and we will see if it is possible to put an order together for some hats in the future.  

William Boyd is an ASGA member that played often with Jerry. William forwarded the letter that Judy placed on Facebook below. Now for the record, Jerry played often. He was scheduled to tee off in the 2-DAY at 9:50 AM Tuesday. I would encourage you to think of Jerry at approximately that time and pay a tribute to a great person that liked his golfing friends and really loved his family and the "Ranchers." Did he like golf? Let me count the ways. The 2-Day event would have been his 43rd event played since this event year started last October. The letter below was to the donors, but it expresses a heartfelt story from Judy, his beloved wife. Please join me and all ASGA in expressing our warmest condolences in celebrating such a great man and the mark he left on this earth of ours.

On behalf of ASGA,

Travis McWhorter
President

Dear Down Home Ranch Donors,

 

Jerry

It is with great sorrow that I write to let you know of the death of the Founder of Down Home Ranch, Kelly’s Dad, my husband, Jerry Horton.
 
I don’t know many of you whose Ranchers arrived after our tenure ended, but please know how grateful Jerry and I were to know you entrusted your precious family member to our dream.
 
To those who have been with us since the beginning, when we first opened Ranch Camp in the summer of 1995 with 13 Campers, tents and cots, and little else visible from which to create a Camp experience, I’m tempted to ask: “What were you THINKING!?” But you trusted us, and our amazing friends and supporters came together and gave our Campers a magical week.
 
When Kelly was born, after we’d gotten over the shock and fallen completely in love with our funny, fat baby, I felt moved to write a song about her titled, “No Less a Miracle". I brought forth that miracle in nine months, and then Jerry went on to create his: Down Home Ranch, which grew from that little mobile home we first lived in, to everything you see today and much you don’t.
 
From the day we decided to go for it, I told him, “OK, just promise me you’re not going to run out and sign a contract for a million-dollar hunk of land.” He didn’t. Only a $300,000 hunk... with $5,000 total in Ranch account.
 
His vision lay always over the horizon, while the rest of us scrambled frantically to bring about the most recent one. The Ranch was his tribute to Kelly and his gift to all.

We will keep you posted on plans for celebrating Jerry’s amazing life and legacy. I invite you to share your memories and/or thoughts via email to craig@downhomeranch.org.

Sincerely,
Judy Horton

 

ASGA 2-Day Championship Next Week

 

ASGA Championship 2-Day Next Week. Double Points For Grand Prix.

 

Next week the  2-Day marks the beginning of a great fall season for ASGA members. Please sign up and play both days. The prize monies are the largest of the year and you get double points for Grand Prix. Also, in less than two months we have our big match play event and election banquet. Now come on weather cool down for fall. We are ready. The sign-ups for the 2-Day begin tomorrow.

Enjoy,
ASGA Board

 

Here are the details:

The procedures for the 2021 Annual 2-Day Championship Event have been announced by ASGA Event Chair Shawn Higgins. The procedures are listed below:

• Members will sign up using ASGA online system beginning Wednesday, September 8 and this event only you must complete your sign ups by 1:00 p.m. Friday September 10th. You can sign up yourself and/or others, but the Event Chair and his committee will assign the start times by flights. This info will be posted Sunday the 12th at the regular time on our website.
  
  
• The Event Chair will assign flights per the process defined in Section VI of the ASGA General Event Information (9 minimum flight entries with all handicaps the same as the 9th in the same flight, see page 2, #7)
  
  
• Tee times will be assigned by the Event Chair according to flight order, with the first tee times assigned to the lowest number flight and continuing in order to the highest number flight. This will be in effect both days of the event.
  
  
• Tee times on the second day will be modified within flights in order to group like scores for the same tee time; e.g., players with the two lowest scores in the flights will have the same tee time. These flights will be posted on the web by Wednesday September 15th.
  
  
• The event fees (entry fee, both first and second day green fees, and the cart fee for the first day) will be assessed at sign-in on the first day of the event. Members riding the second day will pay their cart fee on that second day.

 

President's Message -- August 29, 2021

 Your Board Met in Person. Committees. Grand Prix Update. A Tribute.

Your ASGA Board of Directors met in person last week for the first time since the Pandemic began. You will be receiving more details soon. I did want to update you with some keys. The hearing of each other, at our age, through the muffling of masks gave us some difficulty but being back in person was a positive sign for the future. 100% of the board was present.

Keys:

1. The Annual Election, Match Play, Picnic and Grand Prix Awards are set for 10-26-2021 at Jimmy Clay. The committees are planning an in-person event, but it is possible that if Covid-19 does not back off we will have to go virtual on some things. We will keep you posted.
2. 
   The two-day ASGA Fall Championships (9-14 and 9-16) are on target. That week you will only have to sign-up through our system that you are playing, not call the course. The Event Chair will assign tee-times and flights which will be posted on Sunday preceding the 2-day event. Details are listed under General Event Information. VI.
3. Annual meeting Committees are working on nominations for special recognition and officers. Also, the Secretary will be posting on-line and at the courses soon that the general membership will be voting whether to extend membership to 60 year olds and above, replacing our current 62 minimum age requirement.  The board is recommending that move as it matches the city courses senior annual membership requirements.
4. There are only eight more events left to count towards the Grand Prix. The two categories are still a close race at the top. A lot can happen at the end considering double points for the 2-day event. You have been able to follow all year as our Website Chair has done a great job of  bringing this year-long event to the forefront. The winners will be announced at our Annual Event as well as some changes for the next year's Grand Prix. The new Grand Prix will begin the week after our  President Cup Match Play, Picnic and  Election Meeting Event.
5. The Captains and Assistant Captains of this year's President Cup will be announced soon.

Please take the time to scroll down to the note below from Sam Mihalik and pay tribute to Jesse Ybarbo, one of our past members, whom has recently passed away. Then click on the link to read his interesting obituary. ASGA was blessed to have had Jesse as a member.

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League, See you on the links.


Travis McWhorter, President



Former Member Jesse Ybarbo has passed August 7, 2021

89 year old Jesse Ybarbo was a member of ASGA until the end of 2019. He died August 7, 2021. You should read the Obituary found at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/Austin-tx/Jesus-Ybarbo-10298789 as he was such a special person.

Sam Mihalik, ASGA Secretary

President's Message -- August 8, 2021

 Too long to clearly remember?  A few tips to avoid a senior moment.

ASGA last played a 4-person select shot event November 26, 2019. Many of you have asked for the game to be returned. The last time we analyzed popularity of formats it was in the top 3. It is back Tuesday. Many of you have fond memories of playing it and maybe some of those memories may not be quite clear.

Almost a hundred have signed up to play at Jimmy Clay August 10. Your tee times and final grouping (if you did not register as a complete 4-person team) will show up Sunday around noon on the website under Event Schedule. Come play with your team. It is often difficult to find a last minute replacement so don't back out if at all possible.

Shawn Higgins, Our Event Chair, is responsible for our annual playing rules as well as scheduling in general. Recently under 2-person select shot he added a new handicap formula and outlined that on the Event Schedule before the event. In the 4-person Shawn advised me that we will not be using a handicap. The team will record only one score on each hole. That score will be determined when one of the players gets the ball in the hole first. Remember all these formats are discussed on our website under Golf Information and General Event Information. It is recommended that you re-read before Tuesday.

Some of the keys are:

1. Each player of the team hits a shot beginning with the tee and then precedes to the shot that the team selects to play next. Our normal rules apply at the shot with the exception that if not on the green you may move the spot to shoot from within one club length not closer to the hole. On the green you select the ball best positioned to putt, mark it and each putts until one is holed. The resulting score is the team's score. You record only one score per hole.

2. If at all possible have a 4-person team. If one is missing you can play with 3 players, but none can hit the ball twice to get to four hits as some of you may remember from the past. That is no longer true per General Event Information. If you play with 3 your team only gets 3 shots from each location. If you only have 2 players and neither you nor the ASGA system can add 1 or 2 before your tee time, you are not eligible. You must have at least 3 players to compete.

We are all aging and may have senior moments.  Re-reading the rules you will refresh and clear up your memories, create the chance to have a fun round and not let a senior moment get you disqualified.

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League, See you on the links.

Travis McWhorter, President

 

 

President's Message -- July 25, 2021

 At Least It's Not Hotter'n Hell.  Please Don't Dig & Block The Hole!!

We have been blessed this summer with cooler and wetter weather than normal for our area. Now the temperature is rising and most of us are lowering our preferred start time as we are registering on our sign-up system. Please be as open minded as you can to a later start time as we get through the next 6 weeks or so of hot weather. The 10 minute intervals we are required to schedule makes the last tee times later by 25% than when the city previously used 8 minutes. However, come on out and you will see that most of the time we are running a few minutes ahead of schedule and at least we are not pumping a bicycle to play golf and having to go 100 miles before we finish.

Hotter'n Hell Race Start
(courtesy of texasfishingforum.com)

I grew up in the Wichita Falls area and believe me it gets hot there and may be just a little hotter than Hell. I am not totally sure as I have not visited Hell yet. If you want to get a comparison sign-up for it. The schedule is below:

Hotter'n Hell Hundred -August 26-29 2021-Wichita Falls, Texas.  

Ride it once and you will be back volunteering for the last tee time for ASGA in Aug/Sep wearing a jacket.

Speaking of the Devil,  several members have asked me to point out that some of you must be using a pitchfork to get your ball out of the hole. Maybe you are not following the Devil and just using your putter head instead. The putter method actually bruises the top of the hole and often leaves debris that blocks the hole when the ball approaches. On-line, possibly the course shop or at Walmart and other places it seems a suction cup is available that attaches to your putter handle and cost less that $6. The best way to remove the ball is to carefully use your hand if you can physically do so or get one of your more flexible golfing buddies to retrieve the ball for you.

Please, we always putt the ball out and do not need any more obstacles or even time delays to repair the holes before we putt. If you can't bend then get a suction cup on the end of your putter and do not use the putter head itself to dig it out. You might as well use the Devils own pitchfork. Don't let the Devil make you do it!!

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League, See you on the links.


Travis McWhorter
President

President's Message -- June 30, 2021

ASGA Is About Fun and Fairness to All Players, From All Tees

ASGA has been around approaching 45 years and many changes have come along that kept it thriving. Since the first board decided in the parking lot at Lions to form the association, we have striven to keep having fun and be as fair as possible to all members.

A few years back under the presidency of Don Pratt it was noted that many members nearing the age of 80 and beyond were hitting the ball a little "shorter" than before. It was then that the idea hatched that for these "older" players, when your handicap and your age totaled to 100 or greater, you could in fact play from the reds after requesting to the handicap chair and being approved. It was also thought that perhaps the red tee members or "100 Club" as it has come to be known should play against each other for flight purposes.

The fact is, playing in the same flights created a problem since there were fewer 100 Club members. Often flights were too small or large to be reasonably equal to the other members. A few years later it was decided to mix the groups by handicaps and let them compete against each other. Though, there was likely an equalization process available it was not incorporated into the program at that time. Effective with the next event played July 6, 2021 your board has approved moving to a the process that USGA strongly recommends be used when players and gender play from different tees in the same event.  I will highlight some of the things considered during the study before it was voted into being our process. This NEWS is longer than most but I feel you need to know, if you wish to, as to why we voted to change. I have included words from Bruce Jones, Paul Redden, Bill Burke, but can assure you the entire board was involved.

Bruce Jones, Website Chair, spent considerable time in researching our need to change to be fair to all and below is a summary from him.

"Under the Handicap system we use at ASGA, when players use more than one tee in an event (as we do at all events), a modification for each event is necessary to level the playing field. This applies to both men and women participants. The USGA accommodated this modification in their basic handicap calculation when they changed to the World Handicap System in 2020. We however choose to use the prior system, which uses a Course Handicap adjustment.

"Without this adjustment, men playing from Green Tees are at a disadvantage to men playing from Red Tees, and women are at a disadvantage to both.

"The Board voted in favor of making this modification to our course handicaps to align with USGA recommendations. For implementation, smaller tee groups usually have their handicap adjusted to the largest group. Effective July 6, our events will implement the modification. When you view the Latest Handicap Listing, the change will be incorporated into your course handicap automatically. 
Please note this does not affect your Handicap Index. 

"Here is a table that shows what the adjustment will be for our most-played courses.

Thus when playing Morris Williams, handicaps for Men playing Red Tees will be lowered 1 stroke from their former Course Handicap. Similarly, handicaps for women playing Morris Williams will be raised 3 strokes. This applies to team as well as individual events."

For further information:

http://golfsoftware.com/learn/handicap-adjustment-different-tees.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn1sSqTTJWI

Paul Redden, The Immediate Past President and former Handicap Chair contributed a lot of fact gathering on payouts under our previous process and concluded that though red players may have earned slightly more percentage of the time than others on some course it was reasonably balanced. He then recently went back and checked the new system and concluded with a phone call to me last evening the following statement and borrowed some of the USGA words to make the point.

 "Using the USGA Standardized process when multiple tees are used in an event will create fairness for all genders from all tees on all courses. "

Bill Burke, your Handicap Chair, has worked hard to keep your handicap up to date before each event. Bill uses the system at hand to do that as he like most of us does not totally understand the handicap process that creates the actual handicap. He feels the handicap will take care of itself and that is still going to be true. When you check your handicap before each event you should know all our being treated equal to get there and the process used to balance out difference of tees etc. is built into the total system for fairness to all.

Please let me summarize. Is ASGA about to become a totally USGA compliant group? Heck no! We can have as many clubs as we want, can move ball a dab if we want, can change balls in the middle of a sentence if we please, and many more senior rules. We do putt out and can be proud of that and the many USGA rules we do follow.  However, we have many members that could qualify from the red tees but don't choose to, many that hit their golf ball where and how it lies, and many other choices that are ok. These choices do not give them an advantage. However, without making this standardized process for hitting from multiple tees we create a slight unfair advantage and we choose to be fair to all genders and teeing choices that are allowed. The red tees (forward advanced tees) are here to stay and should be.

In the past I heard many say "some of the people hitting from the red tees can hit the ball farther than me." Believe you me that is true from the green/white or whatever we agree to in the future as we continue to stay healthier having fun playing golf and have our first "shot their age" with a score of 100 or greater coming sooner than you might think.  I still play from the green/whites and most of the time hit my second shot first.  When I move to the forward advanced tees at some point I expect that most hitting farther than me may still be the case. I will bet you one thing though, I will be having fun and the scoring will be as fair as possible.

This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League,

Please skip on down and read a brief story about some of our past members.


Travis McWhorter
President