(Highland National GC, Tuesday, September 27, 2011)Four months and eighteen days after it started, the 2011 MGA Tournament Season is coming to a close. Unfortunately, it is finishing much the same way it started - in the rain.
On May 9 at Bunker Hills, we endured a three hour delay due to lightning and heavy rain before we were able to start a US Open Local Qualifying. Today, we have endured light rain (but no delays) through the final round of the 38th MGA Senior Four-Ball Championship.
It is difficult to believe another season has come and gone. It seems just like yesterday that I was patiently waiting for the storms to pass, and then took a walk through a nearly completed clubhouse while five players earned their way to the regional qualifying for the US Open. Yet today, I am writing this as we wait for the final wave of 76 players to finish their rounds. In less than three hours, it will all be over!
Obviously, the end of the season is a mixed bag of emotions for me. I am relieved the pressure of a non-stop schedule of preparing for and then conducting events is off. Yet, it will mean not seeing our players, many of whom have become my friends, until next April 1 when they come into the MGA office to turn in their applications for the upcoming season. It also means that the warm sunshine, refreshing breezes and green grass will be replaced by low gray clouds, biting north winds and white landscapes. (Although, it will give me the opportunity for the aerobic exercise called "shoveling" to lose the extra pounds gained by eating the donuts, lunches and snacks often found at our tournament sites.)
With the end of the official golf season, my attention will turn to the baseball post-season. I'm hoping my Texas Rangers will make another successful run to the World Series (and win this time). My Arizona Wildcats are not playing well enough to garner much interest, and the NFL just doesn't have it any more. (The NBA ... at least the Mavericks won a championship before it goes away!) So, I can start looking toward Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year before the PGA TOUR resumes out in Hawaii in the warm sunshine, refreshing breezes and green grass.
Until next time-
Doug
