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. 

Golf Gypsy: Darn Good and Funny

Art Linkletter understood that Kids Say the Darndest Things, but he didn't know that golfer's also say the darndest things, too. 'Fore' instance, the term UBE is often used when one hits and "ugly but effective" shot in golf. We've all hit that shot and laughed about it! One of my old standby slang terms is when I can humbly say "That's a BIPLI!" Translated it means Ball in Pocket, Lost Interest.  I recently reported a BIPLI on a par 3 when I hit my tee shot into the gunch (lost it), my next shot into a bunker, skulled it out of the bunker over the green into the tall grass, nailed it back over the green, and then chunk chipped it. Still not on the green, I picked up my ball, and placed it in my pocket. Then said with a growl, "That's a BIPLI."  

Another explanation women occasional utter is, "Give me a Snowbitch." I howled the first time I heard that term, and my imagination went wild. I could see that hand drawn figure on a scorecard with eyelashes and a smile looking at me and laughing.  I came home and immediately drew my version of a snowbitch "8."

Keeping my mind focused on golf and not my "to do" list is difficult, so I learned years ago that singing softly to myself keeps my rhythm and control of my brain. One evening in a couples event, I was quite surprised to hear a man say, "Ha, that's Linda Ronstadt shot." I studied the moment then inquired. "That shot just 'Blue By You'" he explained. A moment of laughter is always appreciated. Every time my head sings Blue Bayou I think of that shot, and swing with purpose.  

The newest humorous line added to my vocabulary and to help lighten the day or the moment is, "Got your Bitch Wings Showing?"  It's the act of a person standing staring while placing one or both hands

on the hips.  Now that's a pose I've seen before, with and without smiles to adore the moment.  

The next time you notice a pose like this I hope you laugh, and remember to play faster, "while we are young at heart.*"

*Thank you Arnie.  

Golf Gypsy: Shots of the Day

The Gallery South Course, Marana, AZ

For golfers, nothing beats the beautiful vistas created when a golf course and mother nature combine to show off their shared beauties.  Even more than sharing these shots, I wish I could share the warmth and heat from the winter sun over the desert.  My cold knotted muscles begin to relax, and my body moves with more grace than jerks and groans, when I'm in the desert sun. 

bearded grandfather cactus

Our friends, Jim and Kathy, invited us to play in Los Amantes, a couples golf event, at The Gallery Golf Course in Marana. We explained up front that we'd love to be their guest, but reminded them how erratic our winter golf can be, and sadly, how we might be a little stiff like the grandfather cactus! "Just come out and let's have fun," Kathy replied.  Fun and laughter were certainly the highlight of the event.

On the day we played the best, we also laughed the hardest. I'm sure there's a correlation between our shots of the day, laughter, and shooting the day's low team score. Crucial putts were made early in our

photo by Bert Fredericksen

round boosting our confidence, and then....Jimmy hit an electrifying chip shot on a downhill hole. Truly, when his club hit the soil all forward movement stopped, the club released and flew through the air toward the green like it'd been struck with lightning , Jim's arms and hands stretched outwards in disbelief, and the ball bounded a mere couple of feet forward. Three of us on the green burst into laughter, and with a snort and giggle Jim hit another chip shot onto the green. 

Cactus wren 

My eyes were occasionally averted to the beauties surrounding us, but then Kathy brought everything back into focus when she hit a low flying tee shot barely missing the tops of bushes and cactus until the fiercely struck ball hit the face of a rock and bounded upwards and backwards, over our heads and back toward the men's tee box. In her excitement and awe of the shot she hollered backwards, "Fore on the tee." This time the four of us doubled over in laughter and disbelief. She lost at least twenty yards on her tee shot, and had an unplayable lie in the cactus. Her second tee shot flew down the middle, of course.

jumping cholla cactus 

Jack gave us reason to applaud with awe, first when he even found his ball in the ravine off to the right of the fairway and secondly, when he managed to get a club on a nearly impossible lie; hit the ball squarely up and left over the trees, and land in the center of the fairway short of the water hole.   Applause Applause.  

Our great day gave us bragging rights for low score in the clubhouse on day one, but another story took place behind us that seemed even funnier.  Walking up a long par four the lady in the group experienced numerous penalties. Already laying eight 100 yards

The Gallery North Course

short of the green, she turned to her husband and asked his score.  "I'm only three in the bunker, go ahead and pick up," he replied. His skulled shot out of the bunker landed him in the desert behind the green. With great humility and humor he chipped several directions, adding penalties when needed, and eventually finished the hole with an eleven. The total team score landed them in last place on day one, but gave us reasons to laugh, and admire the ability of couples to remain happily married after couples golf. (Rumor has it that they drank a few beers the next day, relaxed to the music of Maroon 5, and had fun.)

Golf channel may not broadcast our humorous and amazing shots, but then we play for fun and memories, not a paycheck.  They awarded the trophy after day two to another team. Something happened

javelinas with babies up by the green

to our magic from day one, but we did enjoy watching the javelinas grazing on the golf course. 

In the end, perhaps the greatest shot of the day came from Mother Nature's approach shot to the beginning of the day.

Sunrise over Marana by Bert Fredericksen