Trip Highlights and Results!

The majority of Bubba’s and WAGLer’s arrived at the golfing mecca of Myrtle Beach on Wednesday, March 20, from 2:30 pm. until 6:15 pm. The last to arrive was Wayne Yahm. It so happened that his plane sat on the tarmac at the Charleston airport for a little more than an hour. As promised Eddie, John, Jack and Geoff kicked off the festivities with a killer Happy Hour.  They welcomed everyone as usual. ‘The Barber” (John Kalocay) was a wonderful host.  “The Wizard” (Jack Sharp) and “The Stealth” (Geoff Timlin) made sure everyone‘s drinks never went below half empty, and “The Lord of Light “(Eddie Timlin) ensured the moonshine was delivered in the right amount to the each guest.  After the evening festivities, everyone went their separate ways to prepare for the “Show Down” at Myrtle Beach National West Country Club.

 

The Match Play was held on March 21, at Myrtle Beach National West.  Three of the matches were played to a draw: the team of Geoff Timlin and Tim Albert against the team of Irish Kuwahara and Lennie Fogelsonger; the team of John Kalocay and Wayne Yahm against the team of Joe Kraft and Chuck Blair; the team of Don Clement and Eddie Timlin against Travis Blake and Lee Thompson.  All battled to a draw with no winner determined. The team of Dan Brion and Mike Simms thrashed the team of Jay Raliff and Rex Olson 3-0. The team of Chuckie Grindle and Rich Sidone defeated the team of Bull Carasella and Dave Tisza 3-0, but on the QT it has been rumored that the Tiz and Bull team threw the match, because they didn’t want to see Rich Sidone throw his clubs in the lake and Chuckie Grindle give up golf for good.  The team of Tiz and Bull took a one up lead and held that lead through 4 holes. They saw the look of concern and panic on their opponent’s faces and decided to put their plan into action. On a side note, it was noted that Chuckie played with an illegal Martini Step -Up Tees (advertised by Bye Bye Bogey) to gain an advantage on his tee ball.  I cannot report on the other matches because they left the course after round and did not turn in their scorecards to be reviewed.  Lennie Fogelsonger, Diego Fama, Rex Olson and Wayne Yahm won the closest to the pins.  Don Clement and Diego Fama won the two raffles.  After the matches, we all gathered at the Clement, Badali, Yahm and Grindle room.   Once again, they put on a wonderful get-together. The only complaint about the whole evening was being let down by Chuckie Grindle (there ‘s that name again).  He threw his friends under the bus, again, by not helping with the festivity and he did not provide the vodka and the gin for his playing partner and friend, The Wizard.  Do I need any further explanation why Chuckie is hanging above the Pit of Misery?  All in all, the day and Happy Hour went well.  It appeared everyone had a good time in spite of Chuckie.

 

The date of March 22^nd will go down in Bubba WAGLER history thanks to Richard P. Sidone who will be referred to from this day forth as “Richie Rich.” Just in case some of you have not heard, Richie formerly known as the Nay Sayer took a twenty -dollar chance on the 17^th par 3 to support the “Make A Wish Foundation”.  As the golf Gods would have it, he aced the hole to win a Ten -Thousand dollar prize, that’s right $10,000.00.  Needless to say it ruined the round of golf for his playing partners and witness’s (The Wizard, The Bull and the newly named God of Wine Dionysius formerly John Kalocay). Their excitement and enjoyment could not be contained long enough to focus on the remaining 10 holes.  In other golf news, the Iron Born defeated the White Walkers; the Lords of Light defeated the King Slayers; the Dire Wolves defeated the Night Watch and the Wildings defeated the Dothraki Horde. After the round of golf, we all gathered in the Stringer, Wardell, Booth and O’Meara room for drinks and snacks. We all shared our lies and accomplishments, in other words bragging rights, before embarking to our annual dinner at Umberto’s for our traditonal meals and plethora of gifts that Eddie (the Enlighten One) would bestow upon us. Eddie passed out the Rookie of the Year trophies to Diego Fama, Bob Harrison, Rex Olson and Charlie Janisowski.  Jack Sharp and Travis Blake won the raffle.  “Richie Rich” provided everyone with a drink and 8 pitchers of wine for the tables for everyone to enjoy and help him celebrate his HOLE –I N -ONE.  Dionysius, formerly known as John Kalocay, helped to ensure that the wine Richie purchased did not go to waste.  After dinner we parted ways.  Some went back to their rooms others went to Nick’s Cigar and Wine Bar to enjoy the rest of the evening.  As the evening moved on, it was brought to our attention that Chuckie Grindle had re-gifted a cigar from Wayne Yahm to Lee Thompson.  Wayne was devastated because the cigar was a token of his appreciation to Chuckie.  This is getting to sound like a broken record when it comes to Chuckie Grindle.  The rope hanging over the Pit of Misery is getting frayed and weaker by every passing day.

 

On Saturday, March the 23^rd a bunch of wide eyed and eager golfers prepared to attack “The Tidewater”, the #1 rated course in Myrtle Beach and # 88 in the Nation. The format was Four Man Florida Best Ball  with everyone using at least one drive. The team of Don Clement, Joe Badali, Wayne Yahm and Chuckie Grindle came in first place.  There was a tie for second place, so both teams (Chuck Blair, Joe Kraft, Steve Orr, Jeff Hainer and Jay Ratliff, Irish Kuwahara, Rex Olson and Eddie Timlin) decided to split the 2^nd and 3^rd place winnings.  Wayne Yahm and Dan Brion won the raffle. Travis Blake, Chuckie Grindle, Dennis O’Meara and Steve Orr won the closest to the pins. The Wizard has a few autographed pictures left and is always opened to give advise on many topics. Charlie Janisowski out bid Joe Kraft and Tim Armstrong for the duffle bag of goodies. We all gathered in the Thompson, Brion, Blake and Kraft room for drinks, snacks and games.  Steve Orr guessed the correct amount of candy in the jar and won it.  Eddie Timlin and Don Clement won the raffle. Everyone left the hospitality room and went their separate ways.  The only one who had a little trouble navigating his way back to his room was Irish Kuwahara.  He had to be carted on a luggage cart, but all in all everything was fine. 

 

On Sunday March the 24^th 32 weary and completely worn out golfers started the long trip to their respective homes in anticipation of the many questions about the past 4 days of activities.  Hopefully everyone had a memorable time.

 

I will be sending out an agenda and information sheet on next year’s gathering sometime in August. Remember with the number of former and new members it will be limited (32) on a first come first served, that means a non- refundable deposit to Eddie Timlin by September 15, 2019.  All late entries will be placed on the waiting list.  Input is always welcomed, but seldom followed.   One of Bull’s favorite quotes: “Stay in your lane Bro”.

 

Sorry for the length of this summary, but a lot of great things happened on this trip.