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