Handicaps posted

Chris has posted the latest round of handicaps. For those keeping track, among our 18 from-time-to-time golfers, Galindo is low handicap with 9 and high-handicap honors go to Burnet and Luna at 28.

Those making the biggest moves among us over the past seven weeks or so was Peterson (dropping 2 strokes to an 11 handicap) and Hill (adding 5 to his previous handicap).

Average handicap for the group appears to be 16. Median handicap hovers between 18 and 19.

Key number to watch from week to week are the number of golfers who net above or below par, which is 71 from Austin Muny's white tees.

If you didn't receive the latest handicap report dated Dec. 3, see Chris.

For posterity (one of these days, we'll have to get a group photo), here's the list from the Dec. 3 report:

Burnet 28
Cunningham 13
Fay 16
Friedrich 12
Galindo 9

Garcia, A. 18
Garcia, P. 13
Graham 19
Hill 25
Lewis 18

Luna 28
Olivarez 17 -- and best when it comes to unprompted BBQ.
Patrick 17
Peterson 11
Saenz 12

Valentino 13
Weiss 15
Yones 13

Long shadows on 18

On a recent outing, this image of sunlight and shadow gracing No. 18 at Lions makes for an arresting photo. As for Art Garcia's chip in birdie on this hole a few weeks back, he should be arrested. [TIMCpix]

Son and father at Lions

At the 18th tee box at Lions on Nov. 28, son Mark Luna and his father, Ferdie, prepare to finish their round as part of Mark's brief visit over the Thanksgiving holiday. [TIMCpix]
TIP: Left click on pix to see larger view.

Brackenridge Tract in news

The future of Lions Municipal is tied to the future of the Brackenridge Tract. Some at UT are weighing whether and how to develop the high-value parcel. The City of Austin is urging options. Here's a link I just came across that adds to the discussion: http://www.impactnews.com/central-austin/news/2518-brackenridge-tract-in-the-balance

Color at Lions Muny

From time to time, usually in spring, Lions Muny can break out in some color as with this red bud just to the right of the first tee. [TIMCpix]

Trouble ahead

From the left side of Hole 17, some challenging shots can occur. Hard-pan lie, through the trees, across the cart path, a bounce and down the slope. Whether on Saturday or Sunday, though, we golfers know it's true: Miracles can happen -- just not very often. [TIMCphoto] TIP: Left-click on photo to open larger size image.

Turtle daze

The pond between the tee box and the green on No. 17 at Lions Muny is ideal for turtles on a sunny day, especially for socializing. The mid-city golf course also features other "wild" life including deer, hawks -- and the occasional (Luna alert!) suicidal squirrel. [TIMCphoto]

S-q-w-a-w-k!

The Parrot Died
[as re-told by Bob Fay]



At dawn the telephone rings, “Hello, Señor Rod? This is Ernesto, the caretaker at your country house.”
“Ah yes, Ernesto. What can I do for you? Is there a problem?”
“Um, I am just calling to advise you, Señor Rod, that your parrot, he is dead.”
“My parrot? Dead? The one that won the International parrot competition?”
“Si, Señor, that’s the one.”

“Damn! That’s a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird. What did he die from?”
“From eating the rotten meat, Señor Rod.”
“Rotten meat? Who the hell fed him rotten meat?”
“Nobody, Señor. He ate the meat of the dead horse.”

“Dead horse? What dead horse?” 
 

“The thoroughbred, Señor Rod.” 

“My prized thoroughbred is dead?” 
 

“Yes, Señor Rod, he died from all that work pulling the water cart.” 
 

“Are you insane? What water cart?” 
 

“The one we used to put out the fire, Señor.”
“Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, man?” 

“The one at your house, Señor! A candle fell and the curtains caught on fire.” 

“What the hell? Are you saying that my mansion is destroyed because of a candle?” 
 

“Yes, Señor Rod.” 
 

“But there’s electricity at the house!! What was the candle for?” 
 

“For the funeral, Señor Rod.” 
 

“WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL??!!” 
 

“Your wife’s, Señor Rod. She showed up very late one night and I thought she was a thief, so I hit her with your new Taylor Made Super Quad 460 golf club.” 
 

[ SILENCE ........... LONG SILENCE ......... ]
 

“Ernesto, if you broke that driver, you’re in deep shit!!” 

It was c-c-c-old!

Thermal underwear, chilled fingers, hot coffee and layers on layers of golf attire were the order of the day to start this Saturday (Nov. 15) at Lions Muny, with everyone complaining of the arrival of cold weather made the more difficult by some biting winds. Well, almost everybody, as Art G. showed up in shorts, the same he wears in the heat of August.

And he came to play, notching the low net of 66 on his gross of 85. When will his handicap change? Chris P. took second spot on the handicap and third place was shared by Dave V. and Jerry L. Notable were the pair of birdies on Hole 18 by Art G. and Tim C. as they shared the proceeds from skins on 6 holes.

Don't know about others, but it should be recorded that Tim C. and Dan G., assisted by a brisk following wind and hard ground, did drive No. 18. Jerry L. easily would have done the same but he was a bit wide to the left and ended 10 yards beyond the green.

Good to see Doc and Don out this morning braving the cold weather, bundled up as they were and fighting off the wind chill that occurs with use of a speeding golf cart. They will warm up, eventually.

Hole 17 proved, again, to be a test of character for one esteemed member of the Saturday group. It was a personal "Tin Cup" moment, with witnesses, but he kept his composure reasonably well under the circumstances to notch a 9 on the par 3 hole. No, it's not necessary to name names here as this mark is not a record. If I recall correctly, the hole informally bears the initials "J.L." in recognition of the achievement of he who holds the record to which nobody aspires.

We're all hoping for a bit of warmer weather next Saturday, Nov. 22. Dan G. will be up very early this coming Tuesday to obtain the tee times. Many thanks to him for his efforts.

Heavenly Day on All-Saints Day

Had a good turnout for two tee times on Saturday, Nov. 1, with lots of highlights. Sun was shining and some of us were even playing golf. For starters, let's note that Group 1 (Bob F., Chris P., Dan P., Doc H., and Don G.) all scored 43 gross on the back 9. Even they admit it's some kind of coincidence. Now, did they all play the day's LOTTO with a "43" and variations (1, 7, 34, 12)?

Let's also note that the previous week's "Tiger Woods" moment achieved by Art G. on Hole 18 was more than surpassed by Dan G. this week on the same hole. Chipping from at least 50 yards from the woods left of the hole, and not all that far from the No. 10 tee box, he hit his ball down the hill, bounced it off the cart path, across a bit of rough and onto the green, where it rolled in a left-to-right arc into the hole in the upper right side of the green -- for an EAGLE! What a letdown for Tim C, who was working a press against Dan, when he chipped in from off the same green for a mere birdie. Dan did have a great day overall, as you might imagine, with a gross 73 (2 over par).

Art G., from Group 2, was the low-net shooter for the day with a 60. He grossed at 79 and his 19 handicap is now under serious review. Congratulations, Art. Conditions were right for the majority of golfers present as 6 of the 10 netted below par with the remaining 4 netting at par for the day.

To top things off, as the round finished, we gathered in the picnic area near the 9th hole. Ruben O., unable to play that day, hosted an unexpected and much enjoyed BBQ. The perfect host, he also provided beverages and golf-appropriate tunes through the Jeep's sound system.

Check out this link for some more photos of the day's event and other views of the course's beauty.

Day after Halloween (Nov. 1, Saturday)

So, here's the deal: 2 tee times, starting at 0745, for Saturday, Nov. 1, at Lions Muny. That means we may have more players than the 10 available spots, so those planning to play should be in place no later than 0730, paid and ready to tee it up.

Weather forecast is seasonal, meaning the day will start on the cool side, but will warm nicely and be sunny. If you plan to play, be sure to confirm your interest with Ferdie or Chris as soon as possible, so we have a good understanding of who will be there.

As of 8 p.m. this evening, the known confirmed are Ferdie, Galindo, Valentino and Cunningham. If interest in playing is greater than the spots available, we have some options to explore, but we need to know for certain who plans to play. Hope to see you there Saturday.

And, should anyone ask, golf attire does NOT count as a costume on the day of nor the day after Halloween.

P.S. -- Thanks to Dan Galindo for doing the bright-and-early walk-in to insure we got the tee times this week.

Lions Muny offers history lesson

OK, so the following is long. For those who follow the ups and downs of the Save Muny movement, it deserves to be long. I could have just put a link here, but I wanted to make sure visitors to this blogsite had a chance to read about an important milestone in the history of the City of Austin. This story says a lot about where Austin has been and how far it has come. By the way, here's the link to today's editorial in the Austin American-Statesman noting Muny's history.

------------------------------
WEST AUSTIN ICON

Austin's Muny might be civil rights landmark

Lions was the first verifiably, fully desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon line, one expert concludes.

By Kevin Robbins
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, October 26, 2008

A couple of months ago, a few friends with a fondness for Lions Municipal Golf Course casually began to explore whether Lions was the first municipal course in Texas to integrate the races. Layer after layer, the evidence revealed a far more stunning conclusion.

Lions could be the first verifiable desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

That research from the past could affect the future of the West Austin golf course, which is on land owned by the University of Texas System. UT regents are exploring new ways to use the property, which has spurred community efforts to try to preserve the 80-year-old golf course.

Advocates for the course will appear at Lions today to add the land's historical significance to their list of reasons to save the course.

City records suggest that Lions allowed African Americans to play without limits as early as 1951, when two black youths were left undisturbed as they walked the public golf course — long before Oliver Brown petitioned the Topeka Board of Education and Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat on a bus in Alabama.

Until the new information about Lions was found, the earliest documented full desegregation of a Southern municipal course occurred in winter 1955 after a lawsuit brought by black golfers in Atlanta reached the U.S. Supreme Court and forever integrated golf courses in that city.

Other Southern courses permitted African Americans to play for abbreviated periods or on certain days; black caddies, for instance, were allowed to play on days that some country clubs were closed.

But Bob Ozer, Ken Tiemann and General Marshall of Austin say oral histories and City Council minutes that they have assembled show Lions to be the first documented case of African Americans having unfettered access to city golf in a sport long seen as a stubborn bastion of exclusion.

"The city was forward. It was far ahead of other cities," said Marshall, a lifelong resident of Austin.

A University of Miami scholar who researches the integration of golf courses has validated the evidence.

"It's not one piece of evidence that one can single out," said Marvin Dawkins, the Miami sociologist. "It's the corroboration of the pieces of evidence."

Dawkins was unaware of Lions until the sleuthing by the amateur researchers in Austin. They found an oral history on file at the Austin History Center recounted by Taylor Glass, the mayor of Austin in 1951. In the transcript of the interview, Glass said he remembered getting a telephone call about two black youths playing golf at Lions in 1951.

"This was before there was any mixing of the races in restaurants, schools or anywhere," Glass recalled in the interview, dated May 23, 1974.

"I don't see why it ought to bother anybody out there, and I'm for leaving them alone and not even calling the newspaper and see what happens," the oral history continues. "We went on and (let) them play and never heard a word."

Until now, Austin's city courses were thought to have been integrated in 1959. But longtime black players at Lions such as Marshall remembered seeing African Americans from other cities coming to Lions earlier than that year to play.

Marshall, a retired professor at Huston-Tillotson University, played his first round at Lions in the late 1950s, when he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta. But he caddied at Lions as a 10-year-old who walked in the late 1940s from his home in the Clarksville neighborhood to tote bags for 85 cents a round.

"There were a number of white caddies, too. But they could play," Marshall recalled.

The Lions research could create a new dynamic in the dispute about the Brackenridge tract, 346 university-owned acres along Lake Austin Boulevard that include the golf course.

Save Muny, a group of residents pushing to preserve the municipal golf course, plans to pursue a historical designation for Lions, including the possibility that it is eligible to become a National Historic Landmark. Such a distinction might further the group's effort to save Lions from development. A planning firm hired by UT System regents to recommend the best uses for the land will divulge its early ideas Nov. 3. Those ideas could include redevelopment of the entire tract.

"At this point, they're going to reserve comment," Matt Flores, a spokesman for the regents, said of Lions' historical claims. "These are things that Cooper, Robertson (the planning firm) certainly will be taking into account."

The research into the desegregation of Lions started with Save Muny. Its members wanted to certify Lions as the first desegregated course in Texas as a way of furthering their campaign. Their work produced far more than they expected or hoped.

In addition to Glass' oral history, the research produced minutes from City Council meetings in summer 1951 that show that the council approved the construction of a $2,999 "lounge" at Lions. Newspaper accounts of the meeting called the structure a "Negro lounge," but the minutes do not include that description.

The research also included minutes of council meetings in January 1951, when the mayor suggested that the city build a nine-hole golf course in East Austin specifically for African Americans, a Jim Crow-influenced idea that was never realized. According to the minutes, Council Member Emma Long replied "that with other needs in east Austin, a golf course would be too expensive now, and that there were two golf courses already in existence."

"I thought it was unnecessary and said so," Long, now 96, said Wednesday.

Long said she remembers no controversy, deliberation or even awareness among council members that the city was formally desegregating a golf course. Lions was already desegregated, Long said. The city saw no need for a law or proclamation, she said.

After Ozer and the others involved in the research found the evidence thatLions had been integrated long before they had thought, they contacted Dawkins, the Miami sociologist. Dawkins, who co-wrote a book published in 2000 called "African American Golfers During the Jim Crow Era," reviewed the evidence.

He said last week that it "clearly established" that Lions was the first recorded municipal course in the South to allow black players to play without limitation.

Dawkins said he planned to attend a public unveiling of the research at 2 p.m. today at Lions. A golf outing sponsored by the Austin branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Texas Civil Rights Project, Huston-Tillotson University and some churches will follow.

"This discovery represents a need for a corrective" addition to the official history of the desegregation of American golf, Dawkins said.

Nelson Linder, the president of the local branch of the NAACP, agreed that the research casts a new light on a page in American history. "It's very significant," he said.

But he added that Austin was still a segregated city with segregated schools at the time.

"Let's give it credit," Linder said. "But let's not ignore that the city of Austin had a lot more battles going on at the time."

Many American cities did, especially those in the South. Northern cities such as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington built separate golf courses for African Americans long before 1951. They integrated other courses earlier, too.

In the South, some courses allowed black golfers to play on special occasions or on designated days. Dawkins draws a distinction between those courses and the desegregation of Lions.

Dawkins said the integration of Lions probably happened in the spirit of the landmark Supreme Court case involving Houston postal worker Heman Sweatt and his effort to be admitted to UT's law school. The court ruled in favor of Sweatt in 1950.

Dawkins said he believes "it was in the context of Sweatt that led the policymakers (in Austin) to say, 'Let's let them play.' "

Save Muny members see opportunity in the research.

"I would hope UT sees a great opportunity to get on board and preserve" Lions, said Tiemann, an advertising salesman who lives in the Tarrytown neighborhood that surrounds Lions.

Tiemann said that as a boy, he walked the forested golf course with his grandfather, hunting for arrowheads. "It holds a special place in my heart because of that."

He got involved in the desegregation research after a summer event at Lions to raise money and awareness for Save Muny. That's where he heard that Lions might be the first municipal course in Texas to integrate. At the Austin History Center, he found newspaper clippings, oral histories and council minutes that, stitched together, told a story that he had never heard.

"It all ties in," Tiemann said.

Lions was more than he imagined: "The birthplace of equal-access golf in the South."

krobbins@statesman.com; 445-3602

Find this article at:
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/news/stories/local/10/26/1026lions.html?cxntlid=inform_artr

What a weekend!

Turnout for the 0830 tee time was a bit light Oct. 24, but the cool-weather start that turned to sun-shiny warm made for a great morning of golf for Dan Patrick, Dan Galindo, Art Garcia, Doc Hill and Tim Cunningham. Everyone was done in time to get home and relaxed for the Texas football team's win over Oklahoma State in Austin.

More importantly, though, be sure to ask Art about the dramatic timing of his final putt on 18. We think we counted to 9 as the ball dropped from the edge of the hole into the cup, giving him a much-desired par. That putt alone will keep Art coming back to the game of golf for many weeks.

Busy Saturday

Dan Galindo was successful in getting 3 tee times for us.
Thanks, Dan.
Here are the details: Lions Muny, 0730, 0737, 0745 ... Saturday, Oct. 11

Yes, the fine folks at Lions permitted us three times.
It's important that we use all three of them, if possible.
And it's important that we show up on time.
On time is defined as not later than 0720.

Yes, it promises to be a busy Saturday, especially with a certain football game having been scheduled.
As you may know, however, it may be your best opportunity to welcome the "Ferdie for President" campaign.
You haven't heard about that?
Saturday morning at Lions offers a good chance to learn more.
Or, you could just click here.

To confirm your intent to play, you can leave a comment on this blog.
Or, as soon as possible, you can email or phone Chris P. or Ferdie L. as you have done in the past.
However you do it, Chris and Ferdie need to have some good idea of how many players we should expect to be present.

Hope to see y'all Saturday.

Lions Muny: REMINDERS TO ALL

Reminder: We need to have confirmations BY THURSDAY NIGHT from players who plan to be present on Saturday morning. Also, all who plan to play should be present at least 15 minutes before the FIRST tee time. Latecomers run the risk of having made the trip for nothing.

Here's my contact info.
Please note the new email address and update your records as needed.
Tim Cunningham
stratcommtim@gmail.com
512-940-4820 (cell)