Monthly Newsletter

  Thanks for all the help with the post-match scoring at Eagle Harbor.  Those who helped were Roy Gulick (MP), Glenn Dobrick (SG), Joe Power (EH), Gary Owensby (EH), Wayne Albright (EH), Jack Garrity (EH) and Gary Campbell (EH).

SUBMITTED HUMOR (From Greg Howard of EH)

The Masters

IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW.....

Clifford Roberts is widely, and justifiably, credited with making the Augusta National and the Masters the golf institutions they are today. When it came to the tournament, Roberts was a man who seldom took no for an answer.

One year he wanted to shift the tournament's dates, so it was played slightly earlier in April.

'The problem, Cliff,' a committee member said, 'is that means we'll finish on Easter Sunday.'

'Well, who's in charge of scheduling Easter this year?' Roberts asked. 'We'll get them to move it.'

A footnote: Roy Gulick faces similar problems when scheduling MSIS matches.

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One year during the Masters, Clifford Roberts heard reports that some people in the gallery were making a lot of noise and bothering the players.

Roberts drove out to investigate: when he got there, he discovered that the culprits were comedian and television star Jackie Gleason and some of his friends. Roberts took their badges and ordered the Pinkerton guards to escort them off the property. 'This is the Augusta National, not Broadway,' he told Gleason.

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Augusta National and CBS operate under a series of one-year contracts, which give the club enormous leverage when it comes to making suggestions on how the telecasts might be improved. One year it occurred to Roberts that someone of unusual stature was needed to open the telecast. But whomever he had in mind was a far cry from the person CBS proposed: Ed Sullivan, whose variety show was one of the longest running hits on the CBS schedule.

'Ed Sullivan?' Roberts replied. 'Never! Why the man has monkey acts on his show.'

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Roberts was a brilliant investor who made millions in the stock market. Because he was very fond of Byron Nelson, he offered to help Nelson with his investments. When Nelson told him of his plans to eventually retire from golf and buy a ranch in Texas , Roberts was skeptical. Still, Nelson was determined, and in 1946 he virtually retired from competitive golf.

Several years later, he got a phone call from Roberts.

'Byron, somebody just told me that Ben Hogan and some partners are building a golf course a few miles from your ranch,' Roberts said. 'Is that correct?'

Byron said that it was.

'They tell me that Ben and his people bought twenty-five hundred acres and they paid $3,500 an acre,' Roberts said.

'I believe that's right,' Byron said.

'Didn't you once tell me that you paid just $82 an acre for your ranch?' Roberts asked.

'That's right,' Byron said.

'Byron, the next time we sit down to discuss your investments, remind me to treat you with more respect,' Roberts said.

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In 1972 Ben Crenshaw came to Augusta National to play in his first Masters. He was 21 years old and one of the finest amateurs in the nation. The traditions of the game had always been important to Ben, and playing in the Masters -- where fellow Texans Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Jimmy Demaret had dominated -- was the culmination of a long-held dream.

Ben opened with a first round 73. As he left the scorer's tent and made his way to the clubhouse, he ran into Clifford Roberts.

'How did you enjoy your first round in the Masters, Ben?' Roberts asked.

'Very much, Mr. Roberts,' Crenshaw replied.

'That's fine, Ben,' said Roberts. 'And I think you'll enjoy it a lot more tomorrow if you'll go get a haircut.'

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Jack Stephens, who succeeded Hord Hardin as chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club in 1992, is one of the wealthiest men in America His fortune is measured in the billions of dollars, and yet he has never forgotten his modest upbringing in Arkansas

One day, Stephens set out to play at Augusta with a foursome that included a guest who had just met Stephens for the first time. When they got to the first tee and agreed to a match, the guest was astonished that Stephens insisted on playing a $2 Nassau

'Two dollars!' the man said. 'Why, I never play for less than a $100 Nassau '

He remarked on it more than once during the match, and when they returned to the clubhouse to play gin, he was even more incredulous upon learning that Stephens played for a penny a point.

'Usually we play for a dollar a point at my club,' the man said.

'How much are you worth,' Stephens asked the man in his slow Southern drawl.

'About $12 million,' said the man.

'Let's cut the cards for it,' said Stephens, absolutely serious about the bet.

The game proceeded smoothly from there...for a penny a point.

HELP WANTED

  Due to the ravages of time, there is a need for new people to step up and take the reins of the Men's Senior Interclub.  Roy Gulick and I need some relief and rest.

   Roy needs someone to take of the Scheduling and PR tasks.  Roy has everything pretty much automated so that someone can step right in and go to work.  Give Roy a call at 904-284-2296 for more details.

   My tasks are automated too.  And they can be broken into several pieces.  Some examples:

• Do the pre-match ground work
  • Email Team Reps to decide the tees
  • Talk to host pro, to find out when the pairings are needed
  • Email match requirements to host pro
  • Email Roster Notification to team reps
• Solicit volunteers for post-match scoring
• Solicit proximity prizes
• Gather and organize team rosters
• Assign handicaps where needed
• Add new players to database
• Do the pairings
• Send pairings to host club
• Add pairings to web site
• Prepare flash drives with post-match scoring programs
• Post-match tasks
  • Input all scores and points to database
  • Create Daily Results lists and compare to scoreboard pictures/spreadsheet
  • Fix discrepancies
  • Update standings spreadsheet
  • Update handicap indexes
  • Audit scorecards
  • Add new indexes and results to web pages
  • Send thank you note to host club
• Prepare monthly newsletter