Hammock Dunes Playday @ Creekside
September 28, 2013
|
|
|
The Fall, 2013 Hammock Dunes/Grand Haven “Play Day” was played on the Creekside court at Grand Haven. The story of the day was a rain dance with Mother Nature, as morning play was delayed for 15 minutes when the heavens opened up during the first round of games. Players huddled under the Gazebo and the courtside umbrellas, chatting cheerily as they waited for the rain to subside.
There were 12 players from Hammock Dunes and 12 from Grand Haven with each club having a partner from the other club. The format was “High-Low” and handicaps ranged from zero to 13. Scores were not published in an attempt to keep the event more neighborly and less competitive. To some extent this was successful, although there seemed to be no shortage of healthy competitive spirit! But, after all, isn’t that what games are all about?
Our court was, as usual, divided into two courts with two doubles games on each court. Having 16 players and four games going on all at once, was sometimes a little hard to sort out, but at least the players knew where they were going…most of the time. Good humor was often tested by the balls apparently clearing a wicket only to roll backward and settle into the deepening depressions (often referred to as Rabbit Runs) at many of the wickets.
After the morning rain the sun came out and a brisk breeze kept things pleasantly cool. A fine catered lunch of excellent sandwiches and salads was well received by all, with Grand Haven volunteers who were not playing in the event, doing a great job of hosting, serving and cleaning up. Special accolades to Rich Burns as the Tournament Director, and to Anne Marie Zilligen and Yvonne Croizer who stepped in at the last minute to serve the lunch and the adult beverages which followed the event.
Bob Carlsen, our Club Photographer, gave up a couple of hours of his day with visiting family and his wife’s birthday, to photograph the event. I know his pictures will accompany this narrative.
The afternoon session began under skies that were threatening, once again, and it was a race to see if the games could be completed before Mother Nature doused us once more. Fortunately, we were able to get the games underway a little ahead of schedule and Match Time was all but over when the torrents came again. There were more than a few damp but good natured players that cleaned up the court and dashed to the shelter of the Tiki Bar for a celebration of the day and some well received refreshments.
The Hammock Dunes players went out of their way to thank us all for having them and before they left, we received an invitation to be their guests at Hammock Dunes, next summer. I feel certain there will be no shortage of players from Grand Haven that will be delighted to accept the invitation.
The following slide show was put together from the photos that Bob Carlsen took just prior to, and during, the 11:30 matches. These photos are downloadable and printable if you desire. Just pause the slide show, select the photo you want by number, "right click" on the photo, select "save image as", then indicate where you want to save the picture and you can print it from there. If you want to email a photo, do the same first few steps, but select "email image" instead of "save image as". (If you have your default email handler set up correctly, you should have no problem).
There were 12 players from Hammock Dunes and 12 from Grand Haven with each club having a partner from the other club. The format was “High-Low” and handicaps ranged from zero to 13. Scores were not published in an attempt to keep the event more neighborly and less competitive. To some extent this was successful, although there seemed to be no shortage of healthy competitive spirit! But, after all, isn’t that what games are all about?
Our court was, as usual, divided into two courts with two doubles games on each court. Having 16 players and four games going on all at once, was sometimes a little hard to sort out, but at least the players knew where they were going…most of the time. Good humor was often tested by the balls apparently clearing a wicket only to roll backward and settle into the deepening depressions (often referred to as Rabbit Runs) at many of the wickets.
After the morning rain the sun came out and a brisk breeze kept things pleasantly cool. A fine catered lunch of excellent sandwiches and salads was well received by all, with Grand Haven volunteers who were not playing in the event, doing a great job of hosting, serving and cleaning up. Special accolades to Rich Burns as the Tournament Director, and to Anne Marie Zilligen and Yvonne Croizer who stepped in at the last minute to serve the lunch and the adult beverages which followed the event.
Bob Carlsen, our Club Photographer, gave up a couple of hours of his day with visiting family and his wife’s birthday, to photograph the event. I know his pictures will accompany this narrative.
The afternoon session began under skies that were threatening, once again, and it was a race to see if the games could be completed before Mother Nature doused us once more. Fortunately, we were able to get the games underway a little ahead of schedule and Match Time was all but over when the torrents came again. There were more than a few damp but good natured players that cleaned up the court and dashed to the shelter of the Tiki Bar for a celebration of the day and some well received refreshments.
The Hammock Dunes players went out of their way to thank us all for having them and before they left, we received an invitation to be their guests at Hammock Dunes, next summer. I feel certain there will be no shortage of players from Grand Haven that will be delighted to accept the invitation.
The following slide show was put together from the photos that Bob Carlsen took just prior to, and during, the 11:30 matches. These photos are downloadable and printable if you desire. Just pause the slide show, select the photo you want by number, "right click" on the photo, select "save image as", then indicate where you want to save the picture and you can print it from there. If you want to email a photo, do the same first few steps, but select "email image" instead of "save image as". (If you have your default email handler set up correctly, you should have no problem).
(Special thanks to Ms. Gaisor for the poignant narrative and to Mr. Carlsen for the wonderful croquet photos and the eagle photo).
|
The slide show below was put together from other photos taken during the 10:00 matches and at the 19th hole.
|
