Reflections on a Cool Clear July 4 Sunday

"Oh, the mind is a fragile thing." I am sure that's a quote by someone more famous than I am. Yesterday, I needed to buy broccoli seeds so I could sprout them. I understand they are some of the healthiest of greens to eat. I picked up my cell phone to look up the phone number for Dodson's Health Food store to ask if they had seeds to buy, while my husband looked down on my July 4th Golf Hat. 

He asked, "What is the Solo Cup on your hat stand for?"

My dear fragile mind heard him and typed in S O L O instead of Dodson's. Before I could regroup he had answered his own question and gone on, leaving me staring at my phone. "Oh, Brother?" I cried as I looked at S O L O. My poor mind has the attention span of a vacuum. 

And then, I looked up "Oh, brother" the idiom, wondering where it came from or what it meant. I thought it sounded rather 'Jane Eyre' of me to use a word showing such frustration.

Warning: Don't look in the Urban dictionary for the meaning.

And that is why I decided to take short notes on memorable things I did this week. 

Ironically, the big news is that I finished reading a novel The Rose Code. I must say it had my attention totally bound to the story line. Reading about code breakers in World War II is intense, but adding the role women played in saving Britain is spellbinding when in the hands of author Kate Quinn. 

The weather this week has been the topic of conversations and news alerts. While the west coast and east coast are baking in the sun, we are building canoes and arks to save us from the  Rains of Rancipour (click to watch a trailer of this 1955 movie), and still managing to play in golf FUNdraisers and conduct a WOGA Jr. Girls State Championship at Oak Tree Country Club. 

Kathy Hines and Jill LeVan

Our FUNdraiser team had exactly. We also experienced some honest frustrations with a par 3 with water on the left and in between, and tree lined on the right side. We just needed one perfect shot. Golf is not a game of perfect, and we managed to play the hole in a bogey and were proud of it. 

Letty, and Holly Hawk

The event to raise money for junior girls scholarships and grants to high schools is in its 7th year. We play in a shamble format meaning that we each tee off, go to the best tee shot and then play our ball into the hole. We played 15 holes before the clouds built up enough moisture to open and drench us. Sadly, we were not able to finish our round, but we did enjoy the day and the company. 

The next two days I volunteered to help shuttle girls from hole 18 to number 1 or to the clubhouse. I can't say I enjoying bouncing and bobbing up down and sideways while driving a golf cart, but I my soul glows when I listen to the stories and the positive attitudes the young girls display. They are amazing young women who exhibit grace and honestly in the face of total frustrations. The rains poured on them Tuesday, and for two holes they steered their push carts and golf balls through the driving sheets of rain. At last play was halted and we raced to the clubhouse. 

The last day of play flew by as nerves rattled instead of lightning. The emotions flowed as they do with all young competitors, and I found joy in watching the girls finish.  We must persevere. Congratulations, Maddi Kamas, our 2021 WOGA Girls Jr. Champion. 

Life is a game

Golf is serious...

The rains continued throughout the week, by Saturday we could smell fresh dry air and watch the fluffy clouds float by rather than build into cumulonimbus storms. 

We celebrated our Nation's Birthday last night, on a cool mosquito biting evening at The Trails Country Club amongst cheerful screaming children of all ages. How fun to sit back and watch the parents of these children, as they suddenly chased a child, put a broken neon necklace back together, held children in their laps when the fireworks began, and carried the sleepy little ones in their arms already laden with ice chest and lawn chairs.  My body often recalls those evenings and smiles. 

My wish for America is that we take the time to listen to each other for understanding and listen with empathy. 

 

Unfinished Business

My bucket list is filled with goals to achieve and places to go, someday. Over the last few years I have been thinking of things not done, goals not reached, places not visited and concerns. Do I still have twenty healthy years left to finish everything? 

Last year the Women's Oklahoma Golf Association announced that Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow would be the site for the 2020 Women's State Amateur. Pouncing like a cat on a mouse, energy and drive filled my body. I knew  I must find the stamina and strong back to play in the four days of competition in the Oklahoma heat and humidity of July, because I had some 'unfinished business' to take care of on that golf course.

In 1988 I played Golf Club of Oklahoma for a USGA Women's Mid Amateur qualifier. With three teenagers at home, and a golf coaching job at NHS I set out to qualify. I knew from the practice round that I must learn how to hit out of the sand and straight up an embankment of 19'. Thank you Tom Fazio, Course Designer, who found ways to challenge a golfer mentally on every shot.  That summer my husband, Jack, drove me to the sand banks of the Canadian River where he shagged balls for me as I practiced hitting.  My visual was to pretend I could hit the ball as high as the highway bridge. 

#17 a par 3 at Golf Club of Oklahoma

My plan was nearly flawless. When I teed off  The Golf Course of Oklahoma that morning in August 1988 against Susan Basolo Kennedy and Deena Dills Nowotny I lost all focus. Jack tried in every way to help me swing and hit the golf ball squarely, but my mind and body would not work together until I faced the 17th hole, a par 3 with water to the right and deep sandy bunkers to the left. I had practiced that shot. I knew that shot like the back of my hand, and I performed that shot to perfection. Instead of landing the ball on the green with my tee shot, I pulled it into the deep bunker on the left and found myself faced with the shot I had practiced on the river bank. My body sprang into action. The sand wedge lifted the ball up, onto the green, where it promptly rolled into the hole for a birdie 2. I failed to qualify but I did have ONE fantastic shot that day. 

*Dena Dills Nowotny is in the Oklahoma  Golf Hall of Fame

*Susan Basolo Kennedy was a talented dynamic golfer Herstory

Thirty-two years later, I grabbed the opportunity to play that course once again in competition. On June 6, 1966 I shot a 76 at Ponca City Country Club and qualified for Championship Flight. Never again have I played that well in competition, especially not in a qualifying round. So those two thoughts filled my mind and it became my driving force, even through the panic of Covid. 

hole #10, the climb toward my goal

I worked out in the gym with weights, focused on strength and balance with Yoga and Tai Chi classes, and swung the golf club in my backyard to keep my body in shape all winter.  Older bodies do not perform like younger bodies in anyway except we can still focus and persevere, like an old mountain goat.  

This spring Dr. Beth Brown, sports psychologist, introduced me to "SupHer Power Golf for Women." The mental focus helped me push ahead and set a firm pictures of how and what I planned to achieve. 

SupHer Power Golf for Women

Did I do what I set out to do? This became my driving question instead of scoring as I played in May, June, and July. Did I set out to play 18 holes in thirty putts or less? Did I set out to hit my Driver down the middle and at least 160 yards (I may not out drive you, but I will beat you around the green!) Did I set out to chip the ball within 10' of the hole? My scorecard this year has a scores and + or - if I played to my goal on a hole. 

The process of being mentally prepared paved the way. Every shot I performed the same routine: 

1) see the line vividly (take a snapshot)

2) stand over the ball and fully visualize the shot (the snapshot I took earlier)

3) slowly take my club back

Did I do what I set out to do? YES. On July 20, 2020 I set out to play my best qualifying round of golf since 1966 and I did it. I did it at Golf Club of Oklahoma where I didn't have any fantastic shots, but I hit only 84 shots on a course of 5,300 yards. My body and mind know that I climbed my Mt. Everest and have seen the view. It felt damn good. 

Earl Woods successfully taught his son, Tiger, to 'PUTT THE PICTURE.'

Letty has Literally learned to "LIVE THE PICTURE."

Footnote: My timer went off at 4:00 today so I would take a break, mix the meatloaf, and bake it 45 minutes while I wrote. I took the break outside, felt refreshed and walked back to my studio to write. I never glanced at the kitchen! So we are having spaghetti and meat sauce. Life, just like golf sometimes gets off track. 

THE SUB PAR TRIO

 

Pam Harrell, Letty Watt, Terri Street, the Sub Par Trio

Angst
Anxiety
Tension
Expectations
Drama
All words to describe playing in a golf tournament when my game is up to the 90's (not good) !
All words to describe putting on a five minute skit in front of my peers.
All words to describe being a local chair person of a state women's golf championship.

May 20,21 were the due dates. Dawn and I were co-chairs for the Women's Oklahoma Golf Association's Senior Championship to be held those two days at the Trails Golf Course in Norman.

We were prepared, our ducks were lined up, even though they were everywhere on the golf course.

My two singing friends and I had prepared for the greatest debut in golf to be held this close to the Canadian River.

My golf game had not improved this spring, but I held high hopes that my game would show up for the tournament and allow me to win the Super Senior Championship ( remember this song...She had high hopes ) BUT

On Sunday, May 19 the  National Weather Service predicted that Monday would be a level 4 danger for tornadoes and dastardly storms, SO we postponed this thrilling championship until June 24-25, and of course, the rains didn't let up for a month.

ANXIETY
FRUSTRATIONS
TENSION
begin to build...

Another month goes by with preparations ready, lists and volunteers ready, The Sub Par Trio ready, but Not my golf game. The rains stopped, the sun came out, the temperatures were in the 80's, and we played our first round of golf on June 24.

Lynn Ballard, Lee Ann Fairlie, Dawn Stork

This year we added a featured called "The Tin Cup Challenge" a simply 50-60 yard chip shot over water in front of people watching. For a mere $10 a lady could take two chances of getting closest to the hole and winning money with half of the money going to our junior girls scholarship fund. You could either laugh or cry at the shots taken that day. We choose laughter and memories. 


With a touch of Tim Conway humor (click link to watch  Dorf on Golf with Tim Conway)  playing on the television in the grill after our first round of golf, and while we were piling our plates with food from the buffet we watched and laughed at some old golf humor, after all we are all Seniors.  With dinner nearly over, the golfers were restless, and the show was ready to go.  With Pam Harrell on the piano, Terri Street lead singer and comedian, and support provided by Letty Watt the show began.

As a tribute to Mabel Hotz, Hall of Fame Oklahoma lady golfer and mother of the Oklahoma Junior Girls State Championship (1950's, 1960's), we sang a rendition of "Oklahoma", and "Oh, What a Beautiful Day" combining her rendition and mine.

Imagine, in nearly perfect harmony as we sang "Oklahoma":

Oklahoma, where the women golfers love to play
And we sure have fun, beneath the sun,
Even though it rains most every day.....

Pam Harrell, Letty Watt

A creative refrain from "Oh, What a Beautiful Day";

Oh, what a difficult golf game, Oh, what a fabulous shot.
I sank a long putt on eleven, everything's going my way.......

Terri topped off the night with her lyrics, adapted from "It's Ruff Being a Dog" by Phyllis Wolfe:

Camera please......

From the last refrain:  But still it's...
Rough, rough, rough out on the course
When the Golfing gods turn mean.
Your ball goes in the bunker
And can just barely be seen.
Yes, it's rough, rough, rough, rough out on the course
When your round proves to be a test.
But either way -- a good or bad
This game is simply the Best!

At the end of day two we proved the lyrics and the poetry to be correct.

Fun
Fulfilling
Friendships
Gratifying
Relief
All words to describe a round of golf, when the score does not reflect who we are.
All words to describe the Tin Cup Challenge, and  a skit on golf filled with laughter and memories.
All words to describe the smiles and thanks from women golfers.

Judy Sapp and Cathy Scott

Tammy Higginbotham, Linda Maddox

Marna Raburn, Lee Ann Fairlie, Medalist and Senior Champion

Thanks to all of the staff at the Trails Golf Course, all of our volunteers, and especially to the ladies of WOGA for making this Senior Championship a success. 

The Golf Gypsy: Letter to Dad

Dear Dad,

I wish you could be here to see the changes in golf in the last thirty years.  You'd be so impressed by the young women who can hit the ball 275+ off the tee, and they might be only fifteen years old!  Even my driver distance improved with the new technology in golf clubs and golf balls. When I was fifty-five I could still hit the ball farther than I did at eighteen.  I've kept my old persimmon MacGregor woods as a reminder of the beauty and difficulty of times past, but the heavy leather bags that tore at my shoulders have long since been given away.

This summer while playing in the WOGA Stroke Play Amateur at Dornick Hills, one of your old favorites,  I saw an old woman playing golf.  She swung the club exactly like you might have taught her, a smooth rhythmical swing that looks effortless, but judging from the distance I watched the ball fly, she hit the ball at least 10-30 yards less than a younger women.  This old woman played the cliff hole like an aging tree, moving stiffly in the wind. I felt the cracks of her spine that reflected the rugged cliff facing her.

Her 8 iron could no longer carry the cliff, her eyes seemed to have tears in them, but her resolve moved her stubbornly to the next shot and the next until her ball found its way to the top and onto the green.  Only then did I realize that I was that old woman, not someone I could point to and say, "When I'm that old I'll ...."

I sobbed silently that day, but kept my head steady and putted with skill and focus to make up for the lost yardage.

Dad, you've been on my mind constantly this summer because I remember with love and sorrow how difficult it was for me to watch you age.  Now I am understanding your pain daily when I get out of bed or play golf.  I watched how your burned and scared arms from that childhood fire stiffened your wrists causing you to cringe with every golf shot or hammer stroke. I noticed when your hips refused to rotate how the pain shot down your legs causing you to explain the "hitch in the get along", but you never stopped playing golf, Dad.  Sometimes weeks passed between rounds of golf.  You slowed down, took longer naps. Most importantly, you persevered and taught your two daughters by example.  Thank you, Dad

The Golf Gypsy, Letty

Golf Gypsy: And then....

And then, there are truly some bad days on the golf course, even with cool temperatures and a breeze blowing. After all, there are those moments when all a body can do is sigh and say, "Thank you Lord for this day." 

The Pro, Johnie Stapp.

Like my father, I am generally a fairly lucky golfer and a respectable putter, but few weeks ago, my golf game tested my strengths and sense of humor.  It began on a Monday at Lincoln Park West, after having "not" practiced a single shot and still unsure of my body's endurance after nearly six months of rehab.  First of all, my putter didn't have any zip or ping to it when I fluffed the ball.  In fact, the ball didn't even scare the hole after a putt, it just sat there 3-4 feet short of the hole, and so the putting continued to be feeble.  In order to laugh I initialed myself LWB, for Letty Weenie Butt! Nothing worked, 18 holes later and 36 putts I was frustrated.

But then, that's not all.  My tee shot landed in a divot, not once but four different times during the day.  Even the ladies in my threesome noted my bad luck.  Still I chuckled and reminded myself that somedays are like that, even in Australia.  (I'd still like to go to Australia to see if that is true.)  On number 10, a short par 3, my tee shot landed in the water and mud filled bunker.  Hump, I slammed it out leaving my glasses and clothes pock marked with muddy sand. After the shot, my ball wasn't on the putting surface, so I could not clean it before I putted it back onto the green.  It is interesting how a ball rolls when it is caked with mud!  After five shots, the ball gave up and went in the hole.  Imagine my relief.  

A few holes later we came to a large water hole that only required a easy rescue club over the water and onto the green, except the dry land between the green and the water's edge was packed with gaggle of geese, honking and eating the lush green grass or bugs??  As I swung through the shot,

Canada Goose lurking near the water.

I happened to look up early to make sure I didn't hit a goose. I watched and then screamed the ball over the water's edge, And Then ...I hit a goose, right in the wing.  Ouch, I cried, and the poor goose went wobble walking toward the safety of the rough.  The day ended, and I realized I had paid my bad luck dues.  The next day I rallied, and improved my putting by nine strokes.  I smiled, and thought of dad.  He taught me well; that you must take the bad luck with the good.  

Luck returned the next week when I volunteered to help the Women's Oklahoma Junior Girls Golf

Championship at Southern Hills.  I was back in my element of being with children who were passionate about learning the game of golf.  I'm so thankful to have enjoyed sixty plus years of golfing moments and the amazing people I've met along the way.  

"Beans" Factor golfer.

To my friends along the way Salute! and as the shirt says, "Kiss my putt."  


*Letty Stapp Watt
historian and storyteller
 

Golf Gypsy: Making New Friends

I don't know if I've ever said "thank you" enough to my parents and the community of golfers from my old home, the Miami Golf and Country Club, for teaching me how to meet people and make new friends. (photo of: Pat Horner, Clara Barton, Helen Moore, Claire Oliver winners July 12, 1962 of Ladies Sunrise Tournament.)  <http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/makenewfriends.html>   Not only does it have the right rhythm for my swing, but singing helps to relieve the stress or nervous twitches that come with golf and my life.

courtesy of  the Dobson Museum

To add to that my mother was a Brownie Scout leader, and those years of scouting helped to guide me in making friends.  To this day I often sing the scout song, when I'm swinging the golf club, with these lyrics "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold."

Barbara, Stephanie, Donna 

Within days of our move from Hutchinson, to Norman,  this spring my husband had the foresight to join a golf course immediately.  I think he knows that his wife is slightly intense and high strung and needs fresh air and exercise, sometimes!   As soon as it was warm enough I ventured out to join the Trails Ladies Golf Association and meet new friends. The first Tuesday we worked in groups to take lessons from the pros.  It is especially important to be able to hit over the water on this course, and Stephanie Brecht helped us with that shot.  After lunch we were paired in twosomes to play in an alternate shot horse race.  My partner and I didn't finish in the money, but had a great time laughing at ourselves and the early spring mishits that we all shot. When I heard the laughter coming from everyone's voices, I knew I'd found a golf home that I'd enjoy for years to come.

Cliff hole at Dornick Hills

A few weeks later on a cool spring day the opportunity arose for me to join the Trails Ladies team play event and travel to Dornick Hills in Ardmore, Ok.  I was honored to represent The Trails at this unique golf course, and most of all to pay my homage to it's designer, Perry Maxwell, the same man who designed Prairie Dunes, my former home course.  What a vision that man had to see a green sitting on top of this cliff, and on a par 5 going UP.  My partner, and new golf friend Dawn Stork, and I played a dynamic

The Dornick Hills team. 

round of ham and egging it, as they say in golf.  She was on her game every time I was off my game.  That day I was off a lot, but you'd never know it by the laughter we created.

Shortly after this trip my back decided I needed a rest, so for the last month I've taken it easy with therapy and ice packs.  I played twice this last week (No woods) with new/old friends Ellen, Barbara, and Mary.  Ellen and Barbara were my golf friends from the 90's when we were all teaching school and playing golf on weekends and summers together, and for a short time Mary's daughter dated our son Michael.  What fun to be invited back into a group of friends who have good memories to share.

The songs are still in my head as I wonder down the fairways, singing and keeping my head clear to focus on the next shot.  Thank you to all of my friends who are "silver and gold."

Peggy celebrates her 2

I will miss you all, but I'll see your pictures, and read about your adventures through KWGA communications. 

Sue, Denise, Lois, and Betty





 Letty Stapp Watt, storyteller and historian