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My player this week is Dina Ammaccapane
Week Off
Sunday: Didn't wish to take the red-eye out of SJC so booked an early
morning flight instead. Went through Houston once more then on to
Columbus. The first leg was packed but with plenty of room on the next,
thought minimal aggravation was at hand. NOT! The nonstop gabfest just to
my rear drove me up the wall. Lupita and Chiquita acted as if they were
long lost sisters who just found each other and did not take a break except
for sipping their agua. Two plus hours of yackety-yak! On top of that
,what was the first thing upon landing one of them took to? Her cell phone
of course. Never missed a beat as she just kept on keeping on. I got out
of there fast just to find the normal din of airport life. Now wait.
Before you sharpen up your fingers for that "Larry you're a
racist" email, I would say the same if it were two blue-eyed, blonde,
all American sweethearts. But in that situation, at least I would have
understood the conversation.
Back at Chad's place for a few days before heading to
Cleveland. Need to get my license plates (hope the title has arrived) then
fly to Mexico on Sunday.
Wednesday: Chad and I
took in a movie last night, "Gridiron
Gang", and it was if we had a private screening. Had the whole
theater to ourselves. Left the cell phones on and critiqued the cinema as
we pleased.
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Spoke too soon;
Same station is now $2.17!
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One for the books;
"The Nerd" decided to hang out on the West coast for a few
days before heading to Morelia and visited Tahoe City for sightseeing
and golf. Rick wrote "Played with Jeff Steffler and Rollo, Sue
Daniels, Cool Caddy Cal and friend. Barely broke 90 but did not
care". Why not? The pic below says it all.
"The Nerd's" first
ace!
Friday:
I hate incompetence. So when I checked my mail for the memorandum of title
for my Sable and found it missing, I was perturbed. But I gave Dennis
Hyundai in Columbus the benefit of the doubt until finally getting through
to Terry, their title agent. Seems it's been sitting on her desk for
awhile and she just dropped into snail mail today after receiving the
first of the three messages I left. By the time I get back from
Mexico my current plates will have expired. Wonder if they'll pay for the ticket
if I'm unlucky enough to get one on the way to the license bureau.
Sunday:
I'm sitting in Chili's in the "B" concourse at Houston
International watching football with Billy Prentice. So far my two flights
(originating in Cleveland and through Chicago) were on time. Dosed off
during the meal service on the second so a trip to the food court was in
order. The fajitas at the Mexican eatery looked appetizing but then it
dawned on me. Why eat Mexican in an airport when I can have the "real
enchilada" for the next seven days. DUH! Opted for spicy (might as
well start now) curry chicken, pesto pasta salad and rice from La Petit
Bistro. Excellent choice.
Looks like our flight will
resemble an LPGA charter as more and more familiar faces surface. Audra
Burks, Wendy Doolan Karin Icher along with caddies John Schiffer, Colin
Cann and my
roommate Steve Kulchar are just a few.
Spoke too soon on the fluent
progress of my trip. The last leg form Houston to Morelia was on a
smallish Continental commuter jet and, being packed with players and their
clubs, an overweight condition arose. They were convinced to give the
clubs priority and twenty pieces of luggage were left behind including
mine. I did have a carry-on but packed all the wrong stuff. Won't do that
again
Monday:
No word on the missing bags but similar horror stories on the same theme
arose. Didn't seem to make a difference were you came from, more luggage
and a few golf bags never made it. Even the officials did not go unscathed
as they were in the same boat.
Walked the course wearing just a
T-shirt and ball cap and, even though we had considerable cloud cover, I
got fried. Everything I really needed was residing in "the black hole
of lost baggage".
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Promises, promises;
Finally figured out how to use the hotel phone and gave Continental a
buzz. No way were the bags going to make the once-a-day flight to Morelia
so they sent them on to Mexico City and were being trucked to Morelia. For
my inconvenience, I was awarded an authorization of $100 for incidentals
to get by.
Tuesday:
It was a repeat of that flight from Houston but much worse this time. Our
flight was overbooked by only one passenger but is was twelve on yesterday's!
More of the same as bags and clubs were left off.
Dina was on that flight and
luckily, the sticks made it but not her luggage. Played the practice round
in jeans and a T-shirt. All rules governing proper attire our out the window
this week and due to the severity of this track, you may also use a small carry
bag if so desired. Made it as far as the middle of the eighteenth fairway
before play was suspended due to impending thunderstorms. It's the rainy
season and storms are expected every day.
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Surprise, surprise; The
tournament was "hot on the trail" of the errant bags and word came in that
delivery to the hotels were completed. Kim Brozer and I made the
rounds to the official hotels but nothing had showed as of yet.
Another hour or so we were told. We had had enough and headed back to our
hotel, The
Posada Vista Bella. To my astonishment, the bag was waiting for me in
the room but Kim was not so fortunate. She did get notification hers was definitely
on the way over though.
My roommate for the week, Steve
Kulchar, also was awaiting delivery. We were both on the same flight but
his had not arrived. Really pissed is an appropriate description of his demeanor.
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Not so fast; You would think culmination
of "the voyage of the baggage" would be a satisfying consequence,
but for a couple caderos the nightmare continued. "Motorcycle
Jim" and "Jaybird" had their stuffed ransacked somewhere in
transit. Jim had some hats and shirts stolen and Jay an alarm clock. But
there was an added touch with Jay's bag as what looked like a baby's
blanket was left neatly folded atop his clothes. Probably some kind of
inside joke.
Wednesday:
Spent $50 of my allotment on shirts and sox then caught a ride with
Marilyn Lovander to the course. She had arrived last night due to weather
delay and without her clubs of course. Having not played here last
year, she could be in heap big doo-doo. So it continues.
Thursday:
Playing "ball in hand" and the wind howling, we had it going
early but gave 'em all back plus one. Shot one over.
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Almost out of time;
Took us 5:45 to touch all the bases and, even with a field of only 102
players, just got it in before dark.
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Get me out o' here;
The seventeenth hole was a bugaboo all-around. I tripped over the tee
marker then slipped twice walking down the hill. To top it off, we bogeyed the hole form 75 yards out. I was just glad to get to the next
tee.
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Don't touch that button;
I was a click away from booking my non-refundable room for Thailand
(looping for Mrs. Maloney) when word came down that an emergency
meeting was scheduled at 4 PM to determine whether to cancel the
whole shebang or not. Never did hear what was decided upon.
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Are we royalty? Hospitality
South of the boarder is second to none. Full use of the facilities including
private lockers, gym and pool privileges and dining in the players
lounge are just a few of the perks this week.
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Hey amigo; Our hotel is isolated from the
hustle and bustle of the city and a 50 Peso ($5) taxi ride is required to
the course. The other day, Jeff Steffler caught one early in the AM but a
direct route was not in the driver's agenda. Once he realized an
Americano was in the backseat, an opportunity to practice his English was
impossible to pass up. A circuitous path was chosen with plenty of
chit-chat thrown in. I'm sure Jeff was an endearing participant.
Friday:
Plenty of chances but couldn't convert. Shot another one over.
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It's a go;
Thailand is on but everyone must stay at the tournament hotel for
security reasons.
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I have a crush on you;
But not the amorous variety. "Stick-puller" narrowly missed
getting stuck "between a bumper and a hard place" this
morning as he unloaded his player's clubs (Jimin Kang) from the
shuttle van. Failure to engage the transmission in the park position
sent it backwards and caught him in the middle between another van. He
managed to get out of the way in the nick of time but, in an effort to
save the clubs, must have injured his back. The pain kicked in on the
second hole and has no idea how he made it all the way around.
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Nice present!
Greg Sheridan, (Natalie's looper) also added on another year yesterday
but his was not so joyous. Failure to sign her scorecard sent them to
the airport early. Heard she made an effort to go back but it was too
late.
Saturday:
Best weather so far but all we could do was even. We did par seventeen for
the first time.
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Street scenes; No
shortage of entertainment when the traffic stops. So far I've spotted
a flaming baton twirler (only dropped it a couple times), a juggler
(had the dropsies also) and a mime (pretending to wash our windows).
All were trying
for a small remittance of spare change. They did constitute an avenue of merriment
during our journey home.
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Cheap eats;
Directly across the street from our hotel is a small "mamá y papá"
establishment serving simple and inexpensive fare. Tacos and
quesadillas were our selections last night and we made it out of there
for around $20 which included a half dozen sodas to temper the bite from the
salsa. No cerveza but you may bring your own.
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Tacos "R" Us |
Downing a few "hot ones". Definitely
needs cerveza. |
Sunday:
Gave a couple away at the end but still shot -2. The seventeenth got
us by "the short hairs" again with a double bogey.
It was a nail biter to the end
with the home team victorious 3-2. The game had a bit of everything
including two penalty kicks for goals, a corner kick goal seconds
before the half and a bit of fisticuffs as tensions rose near the end. One
of the more interesting developments was located just below and to the
right of us in the visitors section of the grandstand. Early on, the fans repeatedly
charged the fence then retreated in what can best be described as a Mexican
version of a mosh pit. The bedlam continued till the "men in
black" dressed in riot gear with full shields made their appearance.
It settled down till the end when a fire erupted between a couple rows
as a brave soul or two even gave their impression of fire walkers
running back and forth through the flames.
Super
Footie Saturday
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