Weather, power outages, and more

As of this writing, we are 16 days into 2023 and the last time I played a round of golf was December 28th, 2022. Weather, power outages, other things. No golf. Today is Monday, January 16th and I am looking forward to playing Wednesday or Friday or both days. The course has been cleaned up nicely by Golf Supervisor Terry Stratton and crew. All the branches, cones, and general debris have been gathered and removed from the fairways. The downed tree on the second fairway has been dissected and piled out of the way and the leaning tree to the right of the eighth green has been skillfully fallen and converted into firewood. We are ready to play, and so is the course.

Sunday, January 15th Darra Williamson held, at her house, a celebration of life for her husband, local golfer Brooks Sheifer. Darra and Brooks, both born and bred New Jersey natives, were married on the Mendocino Headlands in 2007 and moved permanently from the Bay area to the coast in 2015. Brooks departed last April and is dearly missed. Many family members, neighbors, friends, and fellow golfers were in attendance. Brooks primarily played golf with the tres amigos, the three amigos, as they were known on the Little River Course. The three are Brooks, Bill Fletcher, and Charlie Jenkins. Charlie has the distinction of presently being the oldest golfer walking the course. One thing notable about the three is that they are not gamblers. They did not and do not play a money game like many golfing groups. They apply to their round the traditional ethics rule where the lowest score on the previous hole has the honor of teeing off first on the next hole. I asked Charlie if any of the three stood out as the best player. “No.”, Charlie said “One day, Brooks would have three birdies and a good score, and the next round, he would have five double bogies, and then I or Bill would play well, and that’s how it went. Bill is probably the most consistent.” Kathy Shepley, Pro-Shop manager and in attendance, played with the tres a couple of times. I, in fact, also played with the three amigos once or twice. Charlie and Brooks tried playing with the Stableford gang but determined it wasn’t a good fit. Jim McDannold, who used to work at the Pro Shop, played with the trio many times. As the celebration was winding down, Jim played the guitar and sang a tender rendition of the Beatles “In My Life,” a song both Darra and Brooks loved.