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| Gabe (courtesy of V. Padilla) |
The usual playoff did not occur directly after the second day, so it was played the following Tuesday, with Gabe securing the win and a $100 credit at GolfATX. This was not the first time Gabe took the prize. He also won in 2023, 2015, and 2013, thus becoming the first four-time winner of this prestigious event!
View all the ASGA champions at this link.
Well done Gabe!
Sadly we announce that longtime Austin Senior Golf Association member William Miller, age 70, passed on September 16, 2024 just after finishing a round with the (in)famous “Hudgens Group” at Mo Willie. It happened as he was beginning his shift with Golf ATX, with whom he had a long association.
As an ASGA member since 2017, Will played in over 100 events, many with Shawn Higgins.
“Will was a former partner of mine and one of the really good guys. I always enjoyed his company and will miss him dearly.”--Shawn
The memorial service for William will be held Wednesday 09/25/2024 at the Corinth Missionary Baptist Church at 1:30 PM. It is currently planned to gather at Mo' Willie after the funeral for food, music and to hit a few range balls. Your challenge will be to beat Will’s longest drive.
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Hats off to all our participants—the prizes for Closest To the Pin and Longest Drive will be handed out to the various winners at our Annual Match Play/Annual Meeting and Banquet coming up next month. Stay tuned--lots of info coming soon!
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| ASGA CTP/LD Finishes |
You only sign up one time for both days. On day one at the Clay golf course, members will play with the groups they sign up with. Tee times are distributed and assigned as we normally do. The second day grouping process at Kizer will be a little different. Participants will be placed into flights based on your handicaps and grouped with competitors that shot similar scores as you on day one.
If you have a bad day one, you may be asking why bother to play on day two. One answer is the $450 of additional prize money you can win. Each day of this annual event we will have closest to the pin and longest drive competitions. Participants will be divided into three groups so you will compete against members with similar handicaps. On day one at Clay, winners of the competitions will receive $25 each. On day two, that amount doubles to $50 each. Winnings will be distributed at our Annual Banquet Meeting on October 22nd after the President’s Cup Competition at Morris Williams.
In addition to the winnings above, you also can win via the flight competitions. Our Low Gross ASGA Champion receives $100. We also pay $100 to the member who achieves the lowest NET score for the two-day competition. All flight payouts are doubled. Since this is a two-day event, you will pay two event fees. Let’s say you win your flight which would normally pay $20. Being a two-day event, that amount would grow to $40. For the ASGA championship, that amount doubles to $80.
There is plenty to play for. The event is a lot of fun and we hope to see everyone there. In years past, we played the Championship on Tuesday and Thursday of the same week on the same course. Since we will be playing on different courses in 2 separate weeks, you may be paying for both days on day one of the event.
We hope to see you there!
Before we complain too much about the heat, we will remind you last year we had about 60 consecutive days of 100+ degree temperatures with many of those being close to 105. With that being said, pay attention to your bodies and listen to your cautious inner voice...heat related illnesses come at us in a hurry and early detection is the best way to turn it around. According to the 10-day, this is our last day over 100!!
Jimmy Clay is back and we are very happy to have the full layout back into our inventory. Over a 10 week period, the crew has grown in 38 greens and still have 5 growing on the short course. That is not exactly a record we wanted to set but this was a really impressive feat of agronomic excellence. We are very proud of the crew for pulling this off and getting the courses back to you as soon as possible. We have also noticed significant improvements on the Roy Kizer "roll" 10 days after opening and expect Jimmy Clay to be really good very soon.
The sod work at Morris Williams is going well and we should have it finished by the end of next week. You will see continued improvements over there as we hand-dress and roll the new sod.
The Save Muny Conservancy along with the Save Muny Historical District have funded a re-grassing project of the old putting green area at Lions. The entire surround (north of the asphalt road) has been resurfaced with a Stadium Zoysia and the putting green has increased in size by 1500ft. We are always grateful for their ideas and contributions.
Registration has begun for the 2024 Senior Men's City Championship and will be capped at 144 and is filling up fast. The tournament contested at Roy Kizer, information can be found at: Austin Senior Championship - Tournament Information Page | Golf ATX (bluegolf.com)
The 2024 Austin City Junior Championship will be played at Jimmy Clay--Registration begins on August 28th. More information can be found at: Austin City Junior Championship - Tournament Information Page | Golf ATX (bluegolf.com)
Tournaments of note:
Aug 27--MW--Seniors
Sept 3--Lions--Seniors
Sept 10--Clay--Seniors
Sept 10--Lions--High School Event (Open by 1:00)
Sept 11--Clay--High School Event (Open by 1:00)
Sept 14-15--Kizer--Senior City Champ
Sept 19--Roy Kizer--Shotgun
Sept 20--Lions--Charity Shotgun
Sept 21-22--Clay--Junior City
Maint Closures:
Aug 26--Kizer--Solid Tine Aerification
Sept 4--Clay--General Maint
Sept 9--MW--General Clousre
Spet 11--Kizer--General Closure
Sept 16--Lions--General Closure
Have great weekend and we look forward to having you out.
Stay Cool!
GOLFATX
The dog days of summer are here...and like most things in August, our pace of play has slowed dramatically. In the last 2 weeks, barely 40% of groups are finishing in less than 4 hrs 15 minutes. 5 hour rounds have reappeared. No one likes that.
So...it's a perfect time for this general reminder. Just keep up with the group in front of you. It's as simple as that. But here's a few more tips for you:
Honors aren't honorable when it's 105 degrees.Everyone hates taking honors away from someone who just made birdie, but if they are lolly-gagging, seize that tee box!
Put your glove on while you’re walking to your ball, not when you get to it.
What if, and I know this sounds insane, you put your phone on airplane mode during the round?
Kizer and Clay's bermuda rough are making balls disappear. Watch your partner's shot. Remember to limit your lost ball search to 3 minutes.
Let's all do our part to make everyone's round more enjoyable!
Greg Marshall
ASGA Pres.
A new Hole-In-One contest starts next Tuesday. Get your $5 to
Bill Burke (who’s substituting for Shawn Higgins) to be in the next go-round.
Good Luck to Everyone!
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| James |
He worked at Morris Williams for some time. A definite golf fan, an excerpt from his obituary states "...He impressively had five holes in one".
Here is a link to his recent obituary.
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of ASGA member Ronnie L. Morgan on June 9, 2024. Ronnie has been a member of ASGA for the last couple of years and enjoyed golf outing with various members of the association.
Ronnie is a native of Rockdale, Texas, had a childhood upbringing in Fort Worth, after which he joined the US Air Force and served for many years before retiring to Austin.
He is survived by his wife Carolyn, children, and siblings.
Gone but not forgotten Ronnie Morgan, rest in peace my dear friend.
So we'll be sharing tips regularly on keeping pace, but the one simple goal to keep in mind is this....
Keep Up with the group in front of you!!!!
Your correct position on the course is immediately behind the group in front of you, not immediately in front of the group behind you. Arrive at your next shot just before the group in front leaves the area in front of you. If you are consistently not able to keep up and a gap opens in front of you, invite the group behind you to play through.
Another small time saver is leaving the driver head cover in the cart until the last hole.
Taking the head cover on and off on every tee box is a time suck. You’re not really protecting anything—take it from the equipment editor of Golf Digest. The driver sits well above your irons, and your fairways and hybrids have covers, so you’re good. I’ve gone without a driver head cover the last few months and my driver is never dinged and certainly never busted. Put it back on before you shove the clubs in the trunk—that’s it.
Thanks!!!!
Greg
President
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| Riverside! Awesome! |
Two-person scramble next Tuesday at Riverside. Be sure to sign up by Friday as Riverside wants a 72 hour notice for our lineup, so we will be closing Tee Time Registration late Friday night.
Also with our first tee time to be scheduled for 8:00 a.m., please show up early so more members can beat the heat.
(Update 6/20: First tee time will be 7:40 and we've been approved for 48 hr. notice, i.e. Tee Time Registration will stay open Saturday as usual).
(Update 6/22: First tee time will now be 6:40.)
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| Lino |
Longtime member Lino Oballo passed away May 20, at the age of 84. Lino joined us in 2016, playing in over 200 events, retiring just last year.
An excellent golfer (usual handicap of 6), Lino almost always played in the 1st flight, racking up more than 55 first place finishes, many with his usual partner Mike Sobremonte. Even more important he served as our Vice-President for two years during Covid, leading us through that unique period.
A memorial service for Lino was scheduled June 17th at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church.
An obituary for Lino may be found here:
Last week at Lions, groups improved their speed significantly. Late starting foursomes finished 20-30 minutes faster than prior 2024 averages. Please Keep It Up!
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| Say "No" to Slow Play |
Here are some tips as shown in our Pace of Play Video.
Thanks as always for your support,
Preparations are in full swing to resurface the greens at Clay/Kizer, things are going as planned so far and we are super eager to put this chapter behind us. The temp greens are surprisingly decent but I am not going to overstate what they are...they are still temp greens. Below you will find some important dates over the next month that will help you plan your visits to the courses.
Maintenance Closures:
June 24-25 -- Kizer
June 3-4 -- Jimmy Clay
June 10-11 -- Morris Williams -- Aerification
June 17 -- Lions
Events of note:
Monday June 3--8 AM Shotgun--Lions
Thursday June 6--11:00 AM--STPGA Lil Linksters -- Morris Williams
Monday June 10--8AM Shotgun -- Lions
Thursday June 13--11:00 AM - STPGA Junior Tour--Morris Williams
Wednesday/Thursday June 12-13 -- AWPLGA Event-Should open by 1:00 -- Lions
Monday-June 20--11:00 AM -- STPGA Junior Tour -- Lions
Saturday June 22--Firecracker Qualifier -- Lions
Thursday June 25--11:00 AM-STPGA Junior Tour--Morris Williams
Tuesday June 25--Firecracker Qualifier--Lions
Play Well!!
Best,
GOLFATX Staff
New Grass is Planned for Clay/Kizer!
We want to provide an announcement regarding the conditions at
Clay/Kizer of the plan going forward for the next couple of months. The
reason this has taken so long is due to planning, sourcing and weather.
We have been in discussions with our grass farms and it has been decided we will replant all 45 greens at the Clay/Kizer Golf Complex. From the beginning of our communications, we have pained over this decision and we are to a point where this is the quickest way to get a resolution to the situation. Not a single thing we have done is a result of neglect or incompetence. If we have lost your trust, I understand and that is regrettable. Here is what our timeline looks like.
We will advise the membership on any effects this may have on our events at Clay/Kizer.
Results are posted—we have a tight race among the six
flights—all but one twosome signing up braved the 70° weather to put up some great scores!
Thursday is the two-person Scramble—flights were created using Total Team Handicaps.
Scheduling for Thursday will be low-handicap flights first, and within each
flight, highest scores from Tuesday are scheduled earliest. Remember there are Grand Prix bonus
points for this event, as well as an ASGA 50% match to payouts!
Member Clifford Rierson recently passed away on April 14th,
at the age of 84. A long-time member, Cliff joined sometime before we started
keeping computer records,i.e. prior to 2006. He played in over 350 ASGA events since
that time. He won his flight in the 2010 Annual Championship, tied with Ken
Eppright, another long-time member of that period. He remained an active member
through 2024.
President Greg Marshall recalls: “I played many times with Cliff. He loved the game and always had a smile. He was really smart, and really curious. He was a huge fan of the NFL and cosmology and could hold court equally well on the Big Bang or the West Coast offense. A renaissance man if ever there was one.”
A memorial service for Cliff is scheduled for May 17th
at St. Theresa Catholic church at 10:00 a.m. An obituary for Cliff may be found
here:
“Soil Testing from Clay/Kizer yielded two active ingredients from in the crab and goose grass application. Although those two ingredients were well within the tolerable thresholds, we are confident in saying that application contributed to our conditions. We don't know why and neither does the manufacturer because as stated previously, all application labels, rates, post application watering schedule and time of application suggestions were followed. It is just too peculiar that we went south shortly after the application.
“Winter damage and Poa annua are both significant factors in our conditions.
“With
the above, I am pleased to report that we are seeing significant growth at
Morris Williams and Kizer and we are seeing growth at Clay. Growth does
not mean immediate improvement but it does mean hope.”
Steve
Hammond
Golf Division Manager
We have lots of members who like to play with different members each week. If you are assigned a partner in a 2-person event, don't have his/her email, and are not planning to play, please advise the webmaster (email preferred) so he can pass along that information to your partner. Let’s not leave anyone “high and dry” in future events.
Thanks
for your support,
Bruce
Jones
Webmaster
Greetings all!!!!!! March is here!!! That means running both the heat and the AC…. sometimes on the same day. March Madness and the Masters are right around the corner (best four weeks in sports!). And we’re enjoying the moderate temps while we can!
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| Earl Klattenhoff |
Earl Klattenhoff, long-time ASGA member, passed away last November at age 86. He was a good golfer and a great competitor. Earl was our 2004 Champion and was runner-up in 1999, 2003, 2006, and 2010, as well as claiming the ASGA Hole-In-One Jackpot back in 2015. He remained active in ASGA through 2018.
Our hearts go out to his family and friends. You can click here to read more about Earl’s life and accomplishments.
A liner leak was recently discovered in the irrigation reservoir on the 13th hole. This is going to require sludge pumping out of that pond which should begin shortly If it is not safe for crews to be in the pond during work, hole #13 will be closed and regular rates will be modified down to evening rates during closures, but since most of us have senior memberships, the rates won’t change. Lions is at the mercy of the contractor with regards to scheduling so they can't give a firm start and end date yet.
Also, the Save Muny Conservancy in partnership with Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore have begun a maintenance project which will reshape the #1 tee complex, expand the upper putting green and provide a larger practice area. No doubt you've noticed the large change at #1 tee where they are enlarging the practice putting area. The #10 teeing ground will also be resurfaced. Much of the sand will be replaced with soil. Planting is scheduled for April 1 and those areas will be re-opened as soon as possible.
Playing Lions on April 2nd
Scoring for hole #13 if closed will be an automatic 3 for handicaps 17 and under, and a 4 for 18 and over. In the event a flight contains both 17 and 18 handicaps, those scores on #13 will all be 3.
Please take a minute before you turn in your scorecards to make sure you’ve entered the start and finish times for your group’s round. And make them as legible as you can. Times are recorded and entered weekly, so your help is needed and appreciated!!
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| An example of what TO do |
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| An example of what NOT to do! | |
Sharing a cart should be like a game of leap frog, not a three-legged sack race. Often, I see a golf cart stop at one ball, the first player hits, then they drive diagonally 20 yards to the other player’s ball before moving up the fairway together.
Instead, try parking the cart between your balls and you can both get ready at the same time. If your balls are farther apart, there is no shame in dropping off the first player and then going to yours. After that first player hits, they can walk up the fairway and meet you after you hit. The passenger of a cart should always be aware of when they should get behind the wheel.
The original Augusta National was intended to have a 19th hole, giving losing golfers a chance to win their money back on a quick round of double-or-nothing. It was indefinitely tabled because the hole would ruin the flow of the golf course.
That’s it for now. See ya in the short grass!!!
Greg
Many of you may remember Robert Amaro, who passed away earlier
this month. A long-time member (our first recorded finish for him was July 2009),
Robert was our last winner of the Hole-In-One pot last June.
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| Robert retrieves his hole-in-one golf ball at Morris Williams #14 |
As a senior member of the ASGA, Robert took part in over 400
tournaments, finishing first in his flight over 20 times. He usually led off on
tournament day, as he and his group would consistently finish in under 3 hours,
45 minutes. Oh that we could all be this quick on the course!
Our hearts and prayers go out to Robert's family.
Further information regarding Robert’s life and funeral arrangements may be found here.
At the latest Parks & Recreation Board Meeting it was announced that there will be no fee increases for 2024. If you play the Austin city courses more than once a week, consider an Annual Senior Membership to save money. Look for "Annual Card: Senior" on this city website page for more details.
As each of us plays a round of golf this Tuesday at Morris Williams, use your divot tool to take up one piece of poa annua grass each green when you putt. You know this grass--it's the one that causes all the bumps in the greens. For each usual tournament of ours, that would be more than 1,800 pieces of grass removed!
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| Here's what you're looking for! |
See you all at the course,
Bruce Jones
ASGA Webmaster
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| Is winter really over? |
It's not the big things, it's the little things. If each player in your foursome could save 10 seconds per shot, your round would be 35 minutes faster!! And that's not counting putts! Going forward, we will be regularly providing tips and tricks to get you that 10 seconds!
