Fall

Fall, named for leafs which do and golf putts which don't, is arriving.

Yeah pholks, I know the calendar says it ain't official until Sept. 23, but autumn is knocking on the door.

The leafs already are dropping and football is in full swing on high school, college and professional gridirons so there is no argument that the season has changed.

And those damned putts still aren't dropping. My drives off the tee are better but still nothing to brag about.

My annual fall column this time around is focused on golf in tribute to the annual Pete's Golf Classic in Reno, a trip to which I have now been a part of for three years. It “falls” on the day after Labor Day and involves three dozen or more guys who spend three nights in Reno and play two rounds of golf in and around Reno and Sparks.

The Reno trek was started by Woodlake golf addict Pete Legakes, a printer by trade, who took a few of his buddies to Reno for a golf getaway. Pete died several years ago but his legend along with his printed “rules of golf” for Pete's Golf Addicts (PGA) and the annual—semi-invitational tournament continues. Officially it is a tournament but the prize money from each day traditionally is turned over to one of the group who plays the craps table at the host casino. Two successful passes and everyone shares the winnings on dinner. Crapping out means the golfers are on their own for dinner—the result the last two years.

Mike, Jim and Tim and I didn't win the best-ball scramble event either day. We had some good holes but not enough. We had some bad holes, far too many. We had fun and lots of laughs, but not enough of those damned putts fell to put us in serious competition with some teams who had real golfers.

But pholks, the good news is that I won the best prize of the trip…a Nike golf bag complete with a Budweiser logo donated by Sequoia Beverage of Visalia which, along with several other businesses and individuals, have donated some good stuff for a number of years. My luck at drawings is much better than my luck, and skill, at golf. Last year I got a nice Budweiser pool cue which I had my eye on. I didn't win that drawing but a teammate did and he handed it off to me.

Now I have a Bud golf bag and a Bud pool stick despite the fact I haven't had my favorite Budweiser in more than nine years. You may recall my tributes to the King of Beers and my loyalty to my former long-time “bud.” I believe strongly in being faithful.

The other good news is that our team didn't break any windows. Not every team can say that, truthfully.

One of the guys on the team right in front of us, (I'll call him Steve, 'cause that's his name) badly sliced his tee shot into the window of one of the several hundred new homes surrounding the course. At the time our team did not know what had happened, only that the foursome was not moving ahead on schedule and we were getting a little impatient. We did see a young woman run out into her backyard and heard some yelling.

Later when we caught up with the group at the next tee we learned that the young woman (she didn't deserve to be called a young lady due to her vocabulary—as related to us) notified her father, who rushed out on the course and confronted the window breaker and his teammates. Except for a brief heated exchange the matter was resolved with Steve giving his name and telephone even though the home owner admitted that those living along the course were at their own risk and that he already had experienced more than one previous window shattering.

Steve and his group also notified the course marshal of the incident. Time will tell what, if anything, will happen.

By the way, despite Steve's crashing shot his team finished several strokes ahead of us that day, and the next.

Anyway the trip was great and I've already started saving my coins for next year. I had used a Jim Beam bottle due to the size of the neck but I think I'm going to find a way to use a Bud bottle or 18-ounce can to serve as my golf trip kitty. It only seems right.

Miles can be reached at mshuper@valleyvoicenewspaper.com