Bob’s Blog

It started Friday when I played golf, at Willowbend, with Woody Austin and a group of three others, including Rick Nuckolls. Now, it’s rare when I have an experience unlike any other I’ve ever had, but this one qualifies. I was in a group with one of the five best players in the world _ and, yes, one of the five worst. Me.

My nerves were calmed years ago but they flared up some Friday, especially on my first tee shot of the day. It wasn’t just our group watching. There were five or six other guys standing at the tee box watching Woody make his first drive of the day. His was down the middle and very, very long. Mine was down the middle and very, very short. We’ll leave it at that.

Anyway, the day was gorgeous and the golf course was fun and the company was incredible. Woody could have ignored me totally. Instead, he really made an effort to help me with my game. He told me a lot of things about my stance that should help my game. And he was somewhat encouraging, though he’s a bit crusty. I like crusty, by the way.

I rode with Rick Nuckolls, the head pro. What a great guy. He also gave me pointers. If I just had an ounce of talent, all of this instruction might really pay a dividend.

Saturday, a group of us dressed up as the castaways from Gilligan’s Island and went to Margarita’s. Which is just the best. The band, Lotus, is so good. And the lead singer _ wow. Anyway, I was the skipper and I think we really nailed it. Our group was the talk of Margarita’s because of our costumes, for which the credit goes to Andrea Gordon, who put it all together.

Oh, Friday night I went to a party at Brent Kemnitz’s house, hosted by our pal Tom Kosich. It was a great time. Lots of interesting people there, from Frank Carney to Gregg Marshall.

Good weekend.