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Plans

I guess most of you already have your summer plans mapped out.  I’m just now getting around to mine.  I’ve got to go shoot a couple of courses in the Rio Grande Valley and back up through Laredo, but I’m really, really looking forward to stopping in Concan on the way back for a round of golf, an afternoon on the Frio, a big slab of meat at the House Pasture and a good night’s sleep at Margarita Villa.  I haven’t been there in over a year, which is downright shameful.  Looking forward to catching up with the Arthur family, who are as much a part of Texas cultural preservation as anyone.  That shot there is from behind the 13th green, looking west toward Seven Bluff, just before sunset.

Texas Hill Country Golf

Here’s a couple of guys coming off the 17th green of the Fazio Foothills course at Barton Creek Resort & Spa here in Austin a couple of days ago.  Barton Creek came to Austin about the same time I did, back in the late eighties, and it’s still the best, at least for me.  The three courses there on the main property are good enough and provide enough diversity for me that I could be a member there and never feel a strong urge to play anywhere else.  That, in itself, is the same way I feel about Austin.  It’s the only place I’ve lived where I didn’t feel like I needed a vacation from it.

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UT Golf Club April 2009

That’s how many times I released the shutter on my D3 this weekend.  Most of it out at UT Golf Club for the 2009 Orange & White Cup Matches.  The White Team prevailed this year, squaring the matches at 2-2 in its fourth year.  Most of the time when I’m out shooting golf, I want to be playing instead.  Today, not so.  The wind was howling (and gusting), it was cold, and the greens were running faster than porcelain.  Time and again, I watched very good players make very large numbers.  I did see some great shots, though.  Jay Legg’s cut 8-iron from 121 on 13 to 4 feet.  Rusty Kennedy’s tee shot on 4.  Graham Turney’s approach to 15.  Jean-Paul Hebert holed one out from the cart path on 18 to win his match.  Here’s a shot of the final group coming up the 18th hole.

Orange & White Cup Matches

The 2009 Orange & White Cup Matches got underway yesterday out at UT Golf Club with Foursomes (alternate shot) matches.  Yesterday’s weather and course conditions were designed for golf.  70 degrees, sunny, slight wind, greens rolling fast and true.  Those guys there studying a putt on the third green are two of Austin’s finest amateurs, Greg Meserole and Steven Bright.  Today’s format is Fourball (best ball), and the Cup matches will wrap up on Sunday with Singles play.

Et tu, Austin?

It’s hard to describe what makes Austin Austin, but I think I’m onto something.  When I first came to visit here in 1988, I noticed something comforting, inviting, safe.  The graffiti, even on dive bar bathroom walls, was harmless, clean, smart and sometimes inspiring.  No phone numbers, no genital references and no profanity.  I guess it’s still mostly that way, and at first glance at the water cooler on the 8th tee at Lions Muny last Friday, I assumed the spirit was alive and well. But then I looked a little closer, only to find stains of the creatively-challenged.  Please, golfers, if you feel the need to scribble out what’s on your mind, and it’s not something you’d want me to find out that you wrote and my daughter read, either write it on your pathetic excuse for a scorecard or leave the grafitti to the professionals.  Thank you.