Little Punks

We had our qualifier today, which means that today was the first time in three weeks that I wore my old man shirt. I've had the past two Sundays off from work, but I didn't miss a beat with today's quali. After topping some tents in the pouring rain (which made tent tops the ideal assignment, because I stayed relatively dry) I was half of our registration crew. Yup, two people to check in 100 players.

Shotgun got off on time, and when I say on time, I mean three minutes late. It was still rainy and overcast, but luckily that was the worst of it. We kept playing and the rain held off, mostly.

But I want to mention a couple of things that really irk me about these juniors:

1) The Tiger drop. You know how Tiger Woods would be pissy after a bad shot and drop his club behind him? Well, juniors think it's cool to do that too. For us, it's a violation of our code of conduct. Sometimes warnings, sometimes penalties. I mostly give them a warning the first time and tell them to hold onto their club, but we see this happen a lot.

2) Kids that think they are above this game. Come on now, you are still in high school, you shouldn't expect yourself to make every single shot in golf. You hit one bad, but it isn't the end of the world. Pull yourself together.

3) Boys that expect to reach the green on par 5s in two shots. I was on No. 14 today, which was a timing station, and I was wondering why some of these gap positions were so big. It was because guys would hit their tee shots and then wait for the green to clear. They were still 240+ yards out, with a dog leg, with overhanging trees, with a dozen bunkers between them, and slightly uphill. You won't reach this green in two shots. So what happens? I watch all for of them hit. Bunker. Trees. Short. Bunker. Nobody made it in two. Speed it up you jerks.

4) Boys that pee on the golf course. This really bugs me. I could go on and on about how many times I see guys pee on the course, but nobody wants to read that. (If you do really want to read that, let me know and I will write a separate post.)

However, there are things that I really like to see or hear. And the best ones happened today.

We see a lot of the same players this summer, and during scoring today one of the guys asked me, "So Tim, are you growing your hair out?" I said yes, yes I am. Thank you for noticing!

Another guy asked me, "Tim, you are really letting your sideburns go, huh? I really dig the chops." I told him thank you, and yes I am letting my sideburns go. That is until somebody on staff tells me not to.

And a third player said, "Tim! You're here! You announced me in the final round at Pinehurst and I shot a 73! You were good luck!" I said, thank you, I really am good luck.