Thanks to Everyone for 2022!

2022 is winding down and we thought we would give you a snapshot of some of the things the Austin Senior Golf Association (ASGA) accomplished last year. These numbers were calculated using our Grand Prix calendar year (Nov. 2021 – Oct. 2022).

• Our average membership participation for the 53 events throughout the year was 94 — 10 of these were played when the daily high was over 100°.
• Highest attended event was 118 players. It was a February Two-Best-Balls tournament.  20 events had 100+ attendees.
• Total rounds played by our members for score and posted -- 5,286 !
• The 10 four person events had the highest average participation (100 players)
• We played at Morris Williams the most – 18 times
• We had over 100 members attend our annual end of the year banquet
• We increased the number of members participating in our annual ASGA championship by over 50%

We hope you enjoyed your 2022 with ASGA.  Take care and see you on the course next year!

Respectively,


ASGA Board

Lewis Howell, President
Greg Marshall, VP
Sam Mihalik, Past President
David Brader, Secretary/Treasurer
Shawn Higgins, Event Chair
Bill Burke, Handicap Chair
PARD City Board Rep, Jack Scruggs
General Membership, Allan Myers
Website/Admin Chair, Bruce Jones


Couldn't pass up a few year-end jokes:

--
Golf balls are like eggs. They’re white, sold by the dozen, and a week later you have to buy some more.

--
An avid golfer goes to see a fortune teller to inquire if there are any golf courses in heaven. “I have good news and bad news,” she tells the golfer. “What’s the good news?” asks the golfer. “The good news sir is that the courses in heaven are spectacular, without doubt better than anything you have seen on earth.” “What’s the bad news then?” he asks. “You have a tee time at 8:30 tomorrow morning.”

--
Three golfing partners died in a car wreck and went to heaven. Upon arrival, they discover the most beautiful golf course they have ever seen.

St. Peter tells them that they are all welcome to play the course, but he cautions them that there is only one rule:  "Don't hit the ducks during your first three months here.”
The men all have blank expressions, and finally one of them asks, "The ducks?
"Yes", St. Peter replies, "There are thousands of ducks walking around the course, and if one gets hit, he quacks, then the one next to him quacks and soon they're all quacking to beat the band.  It really breaks the tranquility, and if you hit one of the ducks, you'll be punished.  Otherwise everything is yours to enjoy.”

Upon entering the course, the men noted that there were indeed large numbers of ducks everywhere.  Within fifteen minutes, one of the guys hit a duck.  The duck quacks, the one next to it quacked and soon here was a deafening roar of duck quacks.
St. Peter walked up with an extremely homely woman in tow and asks, "Who hit the duck?"  The guy who had done it admitted, "I did."  St. Peter immediately pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed the man's right hand to the homely woman's left hand.  "I told you not to hit the ducks,", he said. Now you'll be handcuffed together for eternity.”

The other two men were very cautious not to hit any ducks, but a couple of weeks later, one of them accidentally did.  The quacks were as deafening as before, and within minutes St. Peter walked up with an even uglier woman. He cuffed the man's right hand to the homely woman's left hand. "I told you not to hit the ducks," he said; "Now you'll be handcuffed together for eternity.”

The third man was extremely careful. Some days he wouldn't even play for fear of even nudging a duck. After three months, he still hadn't hit a duck.

St. Peter walked up to the man at the end of the three months, and had with him a knock-out, gorgeous woman - the most beautiful woman the man had ever seen.  St. Peter smiled at the man and then, without a word, handcuffed him to the beautiful woman and walked off.
The man, knowing that he would be handcuffed to this woman for eternity, let out a contented sigh and said aloud, "I wonder what I did to deserve this?

The woman responded, "I don't know about you, but I hit a duck.”

Golf ATX Info for December/January

In case you're looking for a few extra practice rounds

Your GolfATX facilities are closing out the fall strong, we are very proud of our conditions right now and will continue to strive for the highest quality conditions that we and the weather can provide.  We are sure you are tired of this very gray weather and ready for some much needed sunshine.

Today and tomorrow, we received what is the final shipment for our golf cart orders at Lions.  That will bring the total new carts to 363 for your facilities, we are so glad to finally be out of the junk cart business for a few years.

During this time of year, our tournament calendars are pretty slow which mean more availability for daily plan.  We also do not have any planned closures for maintenance for the rest of 2022.  Because of Christmas being over the weekend this year, our holiday rates and times are as follows:

• Dec 23rd--Holiday Rates
• Dec 24th--Weekend Rates--Last tee times goes at 12:00, driving ranges close at 4:00PM 
• Dec 25th--All Facilities Closed
• Dec 26th--Holiday Rates

Scheduled Maintenance Closures--All general, no disruptive practices scheduled

• Jan 3rd--Jimmy Clay
• Jan 9th--Morris Williams
• Jan 17th (Tues)--Lions
• Jan 23rd--Roy Kizer

2022 is closing out to be one of our most successful years on record and we greatly appreciate all of your patronage, support and feedback.  From the GOLFATX family to yours, we wish you a very safe and happy holiday season!!

Steve Hammond, PGA
GOLFATX Division Manager

New Season is Underway!

Big turnout last Tuesday! 114 players participated at Roy Kizer on those new greens! More events for next year on Kizer. Check out the 2023 schedule, now available at austinsga.org. Next Tuesday will be at Lions, Individual stroke play. Current forecast is for a high of 79° !

Don’t forget to Renew your ASGA Membership before January 1st

We have several members who have not yet renewed their ASGA membership. Memberships are good from now to the end of 2023. If you renew before January 1st, you can do it for $10. If you wait until the new calendar year, it will cost you $15 to re-activate your membership. So don’t delay—renew your membership soon. Renewal procedures are explained on our website under Member Programs, Renew Membership.

If you are not a current paid member come January 1st, you won’t be able to sign up for a tee time or participate in any of our events until you re-register.

 

Help with the greens

Lately it seems like there are a lot of ball marks on the greens.  I doubt that ASGA is responsible for all of them since we rotate around the Austin public courses and each course has a lot of customers playing every day.  With that said, if you notice an unrepaired ball mark, please take the time to repair it. One thing I do think some ASGA members are guilty of is dragging their feet around the hole.  Almost every week we notice scratches around the holes where someone was dragging their feet. Please look back after you finish and if you have accidentally left scratches on the green, take the time to tap them down and repair ball marks. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Next time you see Bill Burke, tell him Thank You

Bill is our handicap chair. He has been doing that for a number of years. I’m not sure anyone works as long or as hard as Bill does. He basically gives up the entire day to not only play but gather all the scorecards, enter the information for every player into the system and format the results into flights. Our normal last tee time is around 11:00 am.  That means that all of the scorecards are not turned in until 3 or 4 in the afternoon which makes it a long day for Bill. Next time you see him, please take the time to tell Bill thanks and express how much we appreciate everything he does.

 

ASGA White Hats Are Coming

Last year we sold blue ASGA hats.  We used the profits to provide closest to the pin and longest drive payouts for our annual championship competition. We intend to do something similar for 2023. More information will be sent out as we get closer but right now, the sale of the white ASGA hats should happen around the end of March.

Earlier this year you had to pay in advance and then we ordered the hats. Once the hats arrived, we found you and delivered your hat to you. Next year since we have a demand for the hats established, we plan to purchase hats in advance so when you pay for your hat, you’ll receive a hat.  With only sixty hats planned, make sure you get yours when they are available. They will probably sell out pretty quickly.

I hope all of your drives are long and where you want them to go and your putts find the bottom of the cup.

Respectfully,

Lewis Howell
President

On Oct. 25 We Have The President's Cup, The Banquet, and The Annual Meeting

and the Annual Meeting!

 PRESIDENT'S CUP (MATCH PLAY)

Sam Mihalik,  ASGA President, has selected the following leaders for this year's President's Cup.

Past President, Travis McWhorter will lead the Red Team as the Captain. Travis selected David Brader to be the Assistant Captain. Travis' team has now won the first two President's Cup events and per precedent has once again been asked to defend the title. They are going for 3 in a row.

Sam Mihalik, served as the Assistant Captain to Travis last year and with a copy of Travis' playbook of strategic selection in hand has decided to step up to the tee box and stop this red streak in its tracks. Sam has selected Allan Myers as the Assistant Captain of the Blue Team.

The four leaders plus Shawn Higgins, Event Chair, will meet on Saturday morning Oct. 22 to draft the teams.

How do you get to be selected to play Oct 25? It is simple. Sign up or have your usual person sign you up to play in the event on the 25th. The sign up will be open from October 19 until 5 o'clock Friday the 21st. You do not have to select a time as we all shotgun start at the same time. You must be signed up by 5PM Friday because Bruce Jones will then compile the list of signups and forward it to the leaders so they will have some time to prepare for Saturday's draft. You will see which team you are on and who you will compete against in match play on Sunday the 23rd at the regular time on our website.

THE BANQUET/PICNIC

Following the golf tournament you will proceed to the pavilion and be served your meal. You must exchange your $10 ticket at the food line and it will be placed in a drawing box that will result in door prizes and you have to be present to win if your name is called. There will be no banquet tickets sold at the banquet. You must buy in advance no later than the event played October 18th as previously informed. Buy them as soon as you see a board member. Don't miss this great meal.

Important: the banquet ticket is not registering you for golf. It is only for food and door prizes. You have to register online in the normal way and also go in the pro shop the morning of the event and pay your fees including the normal $5 for entry fee. The winning team members will all win $10 whether they won their match, tied or lost. It is a team event. One team wins and one team loses. Play hard for your team.

THE ANNUAL MEETING

At the meeting you can renew your annual membership for 2023 by paying $10 to David Brader, Secretary/Treasurer.

Win Door prizes. witness and be involved in various awards, including the Grand Prix winners, and of course the President's Cup. There will also be some members recognized for special awards.

MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

Travis McWhorter and Shawn Higgins led a committee of 5 members and are recommending the following officers and board members for 2023. Of course there will be opportunity to nominate others during the election process.

President                Lewis Howell
VP                          Greg Marshall
Past Pres               Sam Mihalik (This is an automatic position and requires no vote from the membership)
Sec/Treas              David Brader
Event Chair           Shawn Higgins
Handicap Chair     Bill Burke
PARD  Rep           Jack Scruggs
Gen Membership  Allan Myers (His name will be placed in nomination from the floor)
Website Chair     Bruce Jones

Wow! That was a lot to cover and all of these things are important and only come once per year.

Sam Mihalik and all involved have pledged to streamline the process, but being prompt, involved and supportive will be important as we have fun and conduct the important business for ASGA. Find a board member (they're the ones with asterisks next to their names in the lineups), and get your ticket now and sign up to play the event as well when the time comes.

Sincerely,

Travis McWhorter
Past-President

Fall Weather and the President's Cup

Last week’s great turnout for the 4-person scramble resulted in low scores everywhere. If your team didn’t shoot net 53 or under, you didn’t make the prize list.

Perhaps better luck is in store for the rest of us this week, as we partake in our second-to-last 2-person event for the season. We have 100 hopefuls signed up. With Fall officially here, we should start to see those daily high temps drop out of the 90’s. And speaking of Fall…

PRESIDENT'S CUP and ANNUAL MEETING

The Trophy

... that means our President’s cup competition is right around the corner.  For those new to ASGA this year, our golf event this day is a match play competition with a shotgun start where each of us is either "RED" or "BLUE". For whichever team wins the most matches, each winning team member receives a $10 credit to his/her account.

This year’s competition, which historically closes out our annual season, will be held on October 25th at Roy Kizer.  Then immediately after golf, we will have our annual banquet and awards presentation.  

This year's banquet menu is:

• Fried catfish and chicken tenders 
• Pinto beans
• Coleslaw
• Hush puppies
• French fries
• Tartar sauce and other condiments
• Iced tea

Banquet tickets will soon be going on sale for $10 each. ASGA Board members will be selling tickets at our golf course events. What do you get for your $10? You not only get to eat the delicious meal described above but you’ll also be eligible for the many door prizes given away. The prizes have a value up to $100. You must be present to win.

Following the meal President Sam Mihalik will call the Annual meeting to order to conduct ASGA business, including award presentations, President's Cup and Grand Prix winners, conduct the election and conclude with the drawing of the door prizes. In addition, you will be able to pay your membership renewal (still only $10!) for 2023.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Bruce Jones / Lewis Howell
ASGA Webmaster/ ASGA Vice-President

ASGA Championship Results--4-P Scramble Next!

Results--Two Day Championship

In a close finish, Eddie Nunez once again has won the ASGA Championship. Eddie finished tied with Rick Cardenas, who was one stroke behind after day one. Eddie won the resulting playoff for the Championship. This makes Eddie a back-to-back winner, having taken the prize last year, too.

Congratulations are also in order for Dan Roberts, who shot a net 117 overall to take the Net Championship by an amazing EIGHT strokes over his nearest competitors, and five strokes lower than prior winning scores for this format, begun in 2019. A new bar has been set!



We hope you all enjoyed Event Director Shawn Higgins's idea of adding the CTP and Long Drive contests. Here were our winners:

Prizes for Championship, Long Drive, and CTP will be handed out at our Annual Banquet next month. You must be present to win! (just kidding)

And thanks to all the members who played this year's Championship--our Day 2 attendance was 25% higher than last year!

4-Person Scramble -- back to Jimmy Clay

The City of Austin has experienced delays in getting those new carts for the newly renovated Roy Kizer course, so it's back to Jimmy Clay for us. We should know every nook and cranny of the course now, so low scores will be expected for my favorite event, the 4-Person Scramble! Rules for placing the ball etc. are available on our website here in Section IB.

Remember, you can sign up on-line anytime Wednesday through Friday for the following Tuesday's event. We'll pair you up if you don't have a complete foursome.

Hope to see you all next Tuesday!


Bruce Jones
ASGA Webmaster

Latest from Golf ATX

 Here's the latest update from Golf ATX for your golf planning the next two weeks.

We hope all you GOLFATX'ers are enjoying the slightly milder temperatures. We wanted to update you with some highly anticipated news as well as a few operational updates and opportunities.

The Roy Kizer Golf Course will come back into the fold on Thursday the 8th. For about 2 weeks we will be walking only as we simply do not have the cart fleet to satisfy both courses. If we need to make a mobility accommodation based on a handicap parking placard or letter from a medical professional, we can do that. The golf course is good and the rough has not had the cart traffic on it so we suggest you hit it in the fairway. You are truly going to enjoy how plush the course is. Tee times can be booked over the phone only right now and once we get our cart fleet (hopefully the week of the 18th), we will be back in full force. Call 512-974-4653 to book times.

Senior City Championship--Sept 17th and 18th at Morris Williams, registration closes on Sept 13th at 6:00 PM. Open to men and women ages 50+. Register https://golfatx.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/golfaustin22/event/golfaustin2210/index.htm?

Junior City Championships--Sept 24th and 25th at Jimmy Clay, registration closes Sept 19th at 7:00PM. Open to Juniors 18 and under. Register here: https://golfatx.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/golfaustin22/event/golfaustin228/index.htm?

General Closures--We do not have any greens punches scheduled for September but here are the closure dates so you can all schedule your rounds accordingly.

• Sept 12th--Morris Williams
• Sept 19th--Lions
• Sept 26th--Roy Kizer-Herbicide Application--Closure Necessary

Thank you all and play hard, have fun and do it often!

Steve Hammond, PGA
GOLFATX.org

4P Scramble Next Tuesday--And a Place to Put That Scorecard

 The Heat Continues -- A New Scorecard Deposit Box for Lions

A winning team?

One of our most popular formats is coming up this Tuesday at Lions Muny, the 4-Person Scramble. Last time at Morris Williams just a month ago, we had 27 teams totaling 108 players survive the heat with amazing low scores. Teams needed scores of 51, 50, and 48 to win their respective flights.

The heat IS causing one thing for sure: Everybody wants that early tee time. Of the 101 who've signed up so far (Friday 9am),  10 foursomes want 7:00 or earlier. The next 5 groups want 7:30. So more than half of us want to play in the first hour the course is open. 28 of us will beat the randomizer, but at least 32 of us will be later than we planned.

Fortunately we only need to hit one good shot in every four for this event!

Check Out the New Scorecard Deposit Box at Lions
Next time you see Lewis Howell, give him a big thank you. He purchased, donated, and installed that new Scorecard Box at Lions Muny. We've had multiple instances of "lost" scorecards at this location--you scorers now have a permanent spot to deposit that all important scorecard. It's on the wall just inside the front door on your right.
 

Click image for larger view

And More on Scorecards
When you sign and attest those scorecards, you are certifying that it is correct--that each hole score is accurate. If your total score doesn't match your sum of the hole scores, the hole scores take priority. And that will be the score that's posted. Here's an article link that discusses your responsibilities in detail.

Stay cool--see you on the links,

Bruce Jones
ASGA Webmaster

Hat News!

The New ASGA Hats Have Arrived!

Travis McWhorter has announced that the ASGA hats have been delivered from the vendor. He will try to catch those members that have prepaid at each of the next two events. There were a total of 106 hats sold along with a very limited number of extras ordered.

Tuesday at Morris Williams he plans to present hats near the first tee box to the first half of the tee times and catch up with the last half as you are coming in. For the next event at Jimmy Clay he will catch those he missed along with the other members who did not play this week. After these two events he will catch the balance where he can.

Travis says the hats look very good and should give you a good feeling when you wear them.

Thanks again for your support,

Bruce Jones
ASGA Webmaster

Partner Events Have New Rules for Determining Flight Results

Next Tuesday we'll be playing our 2-Person Best Ball event.

And we'll be calculating flight positioning results using a new method, which will continue for all future partner events. Members on our Email list are reading about it now. So be sure to bring your and your partner's "Best" game to Morris Williams next week.

You can read of all the changes in the current version of the ASGA General Information document. 

On another note, as we are now in the hot summer season--most members wish to play early. Two weeks ago 106 of 114 signups wanted first period.  If you wish to tee off before 10:00 a.m. I recommend selecting Period 1 until the weather begins to cool. And don't forget to add your "Ideal" tee time. Some want 9:00, some want 6:30. I only know that if you enter it into your request.

Thanks,  

Bruce Jones
ASGA Admin

Scramble This Week at Lions! Is Your Hat Clean?

 Two-person scramble at Lions!

Tuesday is a two-person scramble. This is one of our more popular tournament formats, as shown by our 108 signups this week. The pace should be steady and fairly fast. Hopefully birdies will be flying.  Our Handicap Chair appreciates it when you turn in a completed and very legible scorecard before leaving the course. 

Lions has a cardboard box in the pro shop for dropping off scorecards.

Please Take Extra Care While On The Green

We have noticed damage on the cups when we play. It appears some golfers are using their putters to remove or flip their golf ball out of the cup. Please do not do that. There are a lot of accessories one can purchase to assist you retrieving your ball without damaging the cups. Most of them fit on the end of your putter. I did some research on this and it appears the preferred method is the “Pendulum” technique to get your ball out of the cup. Using your putter for balance, you swing your leg back, using it to counter-balance your torso as you lower yourself down, and then swing it forward gently as you raise yourself back up. Whatever you decide, please be safe and take care to not damage the cup. The players behind you will greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Also please be sure to tap down any trails or damage caused from dragging your feet on the greens. Repair all ball marks and have fun.

Golf Humor

It was a sunny Saturday morning, and Mike was beginning his pre-shot routine, visualizing his upcoming shot when a voice came over the clubhouse loudspeaker, “Would the gentleman on the ladies’ tee please back up to the men’s tee!” Mike was still deep in his routine, seemingly impervious to the interruption. Again, the announcement, “Would the man on the women’s tee kindly back up to the men’s tee!” Mike had enough. He shouted “Would the horse’s ass in the clubhouse with the loud speaker kindly shut up and let me play my second shot!”

 At your service,

Sand Trap

---

Members,

Bruce Jones here—I asked for a bit of space today to pass on a method for cleaning golf hats that I’ve found to be easy and worthwhile. 

Sometime back I bought a “golf hat cleaning frame” (try that on Amazon.com and you’ll see many examples). Basically it involves using a little cleaning paste around the brim where the sweat has piled up, then putting it in the dishwasher and run it for a full cycle. Very helpful for white hats. Here are some “before” and “after” shots I took for a hat I cleaned the other day.

Click image for larger version

 See you Tuesday (in my clean hat)!

 

Here Comes Net Best Three and a Long-Time Member Passes

 

Net Best Three Coming!

4-Person Teams This Week!

This week’s event will be 4-person teams at Jimmy Clay—the three best net scores for each group will be used for a total that will determine winners. Unfortunately, we had a lot of threesomes and very few singles to fill out those groups. We also ended up with an extra twosome that needed a single to qualify to play.

We urge you to try to be a few minutes early--that way if there is a gap in the tee times, your group can tee it up early, as can everyone behind you who also (hopefully) shows up early. 

Enjoy the day! Possible rain Tuesday with a forecast high of 84°.

 

ASGA Board Member Passing

Rufus

No doubt many of us remember Rufus Stanton, long-time active member of ASGA. Joining in 2008, Rufus was more than a player, he also volunteered with running the organization, serving as Secretary/Treasurer for three years, and Member Delegate in 2012.

He played in ASGA events for 14 years, including over 200 team events, with partners such as Jerry Newton, Willie Johnson, Charles Davenport, and Curt Fludd. But by far his favorite partner was Leroy Wormley Jr., playing over 170 team events together.

Travis McWhorter, past President, offered this remembrance of Rufus:

“Rufus was in his second term as the Secretary/Treasurer when I joined the ASGA Board in 2015 as the Delegate-at-Large. I was a fairly new member and new to the board. Rufus gave me a warm welcome and made me feel at home. In 2016 when Rufus had some serious health issues and did not finish his term he met with me in the parking lot of Morris Williams to transfer the records of the association so they could be passed on to next Secretary/Treasurer. Though just back from his absence he took the time to meet with me to make sure ASGA members were properly served. In the future as I became president for the first time he always stopped and visited with me when we met at various tournaments and offered his support for the continued success of ASGA. 

“Rufus genuinely enjoyed playing golf with Leroy Wormley, Jr. and other members. He will be missed by all that knew him. “

We offer our condolences to Rufus’s family and wish them well.

Rufus Stanton Obituary

Regards,

Bruce Jones
ASGA Admin