Member Pete Guttery Passes

"Truman (Pete) Guttery Austin - Truman (Pete) Guttery of Austin died unexpectedly on Saturday May 22, 2021. No services are planned. "

The sentence above was all we have found about Pete in the various sites that usually publish obituaries. Perhaps some of you remember him. Don Steussy learned that Pete had passed and when we reviewed our files we discovered that Pete was a member  and much involved with ASGA leadership around 2000 as he served as Delegate-at-Large on the Board in 2000  and also the PARD city board rep for The Board in 2003. He apparently often played with L. E. Clark another active ASGA member during that time. Don Steussy a current member remembered him with the following statement:

"I started playing with L. E. and Pete in or about 1995. Pete was a regular player and rode with me several times. We played on Monday and Thursday 4 man teams with a,b,c,d players. Pete was a very good player and very talented.  One of his talents was to build golf clubs. He was a very nice gentleman."

On behalf of the ASGA Board and membership we wish to pay our respects to this past contributing member and wish his family and friends our condolences.

Travis McWhorter

ASGA President

President's Message -- May 12, 2021

	Inside Your President's Mind.  It Is Half Gone.  Followed by Note From Bruce. Recently I saw a tee shirt that read, "Sometimes I Talk To Myself And Afterwards We Both Laugh And Laugh." That statement is easy for me to understand and maybe some of you can relate to it as well. In fact the headline for this update could both be the same subject, my mind, but in fact I plan to discuss two different items. Last week at Kizer was one of the few times as president I was faced with a tough decision about our event play. Generally Shawn and I or in the past other event chairs, when I was previously president, make them very routine, with the event chair going it alone most of the time. The decisions usually take on the personality of the event chair. The goal is always play as often as we can and only cancel when either the course closes for weather or other issues that come up that is deemed the best for our members as to fairness and safety. The best call is one that can be made the night before, but that is often very hard to do. Shawn has proven to be pretty good at reading the tea leaves and weather. I saw my first weather forecast at 4:30 AM and all looked good to me. It did look like there could be brief shower in the early going as a front from the north came through and  it would last only a few minutes. I personally don't love wind and rain together, but was determined to play when I got to the course and it was beginning to look more threatening than planned for our 8:10 tee time. Several foursomes were in front of us on the course and in fact they called us to the tee a few minutes early. I was the only walker in our group and each of the others had a cart. As the wind freshened and rain started to fall I rushed to take the first tee shot so I could get my umbrella employed. With the aid of a 30 mile per hour gust I hit one of my best drives ever from hole one, turned for praise only to discover all three of my foursome were wheeling to cover. Lightning and thunder accompanied the front and I saw many coming off the course. When I got to one of the covers finally I was asked by a few if we were going to cancel. Knowing that it was supposed to blow through promptly and discovering that Shawn had headed home, I said not yet. When I went inside to consult with the course management for the day, they thought it would last just a few moments. I went back out and advised to hold tight. Unfortunately it stalled and kept adding lightning and more rain and even some small hail. Many were deciding for themselves that they were not playing and several were waiting. After a rather long wait, I went back inside and witnessed many later arrivals canceling or not registering and the phone was canceling more.  I overheard the course say, if and when we resume play it will become cart path only and some time would be needed to check the course. I then conferred again and due to many cancellations and the uncertainty, I was advised to cancel the event.The thoughts that went through my head were these: I should have canceled sooner, I was aware of at least one group that was still playing and more that were waiting to see.  If we had canceled sooner at least our members would not be at risk of being injured. It felt that more that half had canceled out and who knows how many more would cancel when they came to realize that tee times they were expecting would be delayed.  I canceled and caught up quickly with Shawn by phone and he did not disagree. Now as I finally got near my car the rain picked up again and I talked to myself and we concluded. Good job. Get home and build an ark. However, before I made it home the rain was gone and I ended up mowing my perfectly dry yard just 15 miles away from the course. 20 or more players did go ahead and play on their own I was later to find out. I cannot truly second guess though as I felt like it was the best thing to do at the moment and I slept fairly good that night. I did hate to quit with a perfect shot on the course. Now here is a short point. The current board's allotted time is half gone and the election is coming in October. In the near future we will begin looking for new nominees for the next board. Please tap me on the shoulder or email me or other board members and say that you would like to be considered for nomination and what position you would enjoy serving. I am sure most of you will want the president or event chair positions. The pay is good if you like myself enjoy serving and an occasional thank you. Most of you have been very good about that and likely would make outstanding board members. New ideas and new members on the board will ensure our future. Now that you have spent some time inside my mind, we should all have a good laugh together.  See you Tuesday. Oh, of course there is a 50% chance for rain or thunderstorms in the current forecast. ______________ A Note from your Website Administrator Over the last few months, I have received five emails from coordinators (contacts) who were positive they had signed their teams up, but it didn't show up when the Event Tee Times were posted. Sadly all these emails arrived on Sunday, AFTER I've created the schedule, posted it, and copied the applicable course. We're all disappointed when that happens--and I'd like to make a suggestion to prevent it from happening to any other group. On Saturday, have someone in your group assigned to check for your team's entry. It doesn't have to be the coordinator (contact) who did the sign-up. Merely check the "View Registrations" page in the Tee Time Registration System section. If you don't see your names, send me an email. There's a selection titled "Registrations/Cancels" which will allow you to easily send that email, so I can add your missing group before Sunday morning. It is also advisable for the coordinator (contact) to check "View Registrations" immediately after registering as the registered names will be there by the time you check if all is in order.  Thanks--and hope to see you on the course, Bruce This News has been brought to you on behalf of the ASGA Board of Directors and The Austin Senior Golf League, Travis McWhorter President