Never met a weed she didn't like......

Killin' Poison Ivy

We have sort of adopted a local golf course that is long on potential but short on manpower.  I will occasionally spend a day working with other volunteers to remove downed trees, tree limbs, and brush around the course.  Then I feel content and play away.

Mary, on the other hand,  has a personal vendetta for weeds of any kind and a serious hatred of poison ivy and oak.  She never met a weed she didn't want to pull.

Clip, Cut and Pull

It has gotten so that about the only way I can get her to to play golf with me is to promise to let her play in the weeds for an hour or so after we finish our round.  We had an acre in Winston-Salem and that kept her satisfied but here in Tennessee, we have only a postage stamp sized lot so she needs to go elsewhere for her weed gratification and Baily Links has become her target.  (At least I get to play more golf this way.)

Nationwide Tour Golf in Knoxville

Big John Daly the Fashion Maven!

The Nationwide Golf Tour's News Sentinel Open is held in the Knoxville area every year and Mary & I decided to get tickets for the week.

This year, the tournament is being held at the Fox Den Country Club in Farragut, Tennessee (only about 15 miles from our house) so it is easy for us to attend and watch how the up and coming stars of PGA golf  play the game.  It also allowed us to see some of the folks we have watched on TV over the years.

We arrived about an hour after the lead-off group hit the first tee and walked  to the junction of the 7th green and 8th tee.  Not much of a crowd and a great place to watch.

Sunghoon Kang's Birdie Putt on 7.

John Daly put in his appearance wearing his trademark LOUD pants and posted a respectable -2 but he'll need to do better today if he wants to play on the weekend.

Rookie Sunghoon Kang made this beautiful birdie at 7 on his way to a -9 round and a share of the day one lead.

After a couple of hours at our 7/8 station, we were getting too hot so we ambled back to the clubhouse and walked around to 18 where we actually found seats in the public grandstand in the shade!  Instead of heading home, we passed another couple of hours watching more golf.  Lunch was great cheesburgers and cold beer while watching the pros hit into the green surrounding lake (I can do that!)

Home in the mid afternoon and the end of another wonderful day in retirement.

A Golf Milestone!

Strokin' it!

One of my retirement goals was to break out of my perpetual bad golfing posture and break 100. 

I got close last month with a 104 on our 6023 yard Kahiti course here in the village.  Then I got in a rut posting 4 116 scores in a row. 

My play has been improving for several months with a lot of practice but one day the long game is good, the next  time the short is great then putting is good.  Finally, all 3 were acceptable and while I am certainly not ready for the tour, my 5th round of the week was a winner.

Today at Kahiti, playing with Mary and Bill and Phyllis Adams, I finally not only hit my sub 100 goal, I shattered it with an unprecedented 92!  This included a par on the monster 586 yard 9th hole.  I have killed my handicap but it is worth it.

A typical week in paradise.

Hwy 321 bridge

We decided to stick closer to home this year as our 16 weeks on the road last year was really taxing and we had little time to enjoy East Tennessee.  After all, we did move here to retire and enjoy life.

While many people consider "Retirement" to be sitting on the porch in a rocking chair and watching the world go bye, we have found it to be something very different for us.  I did sit in the red rocker on the porch for a few minutes but that was to recover from laying concrete blocks in our newly tamed area to the left of the driveway.  

 

Mary picking wildflowers

If you leave out the medical appointments (a more regular part of out lives since we retired), this past week is a fairly typical one.

The week began with our special Sunday breakfast of blueberry pancakes and watching Sunday Morning on CBS.  We have been fans for many years as we enjoy the upbeat news presented more than the depressing day-to-day world presented by the regular news media.

Then off to Bailey links for a round of golf in the afternoon - Mary has hooked up with a couple of new women friends and they are beginning to play regularly.  I get to play by myself on these excursions.  I don't mind as it gives me a chance to work on my game without the distractions of playing with a group.

Dinner at Key Largo

Then off to Key Largo Grill so Mary can sample the shrimp & grits and try to steal my flounder sandwich.

Monday found us on the spillway from Tellico Lake and Mary picked wildflowers while we walked along the shore.  Then in the afternoon, I played golf on out Toqua course with our neighbor Karl.

Tuesday through Thursday morning, we stayed close to home and worked on the yard, cleaned house, played the banjo, watched movies and did the laundry then Thursday night more golf for Mary & friends and more practice for me.  Friday found us grocery shopping and then taking a trip to Madisonvile just to check things out.  We bought a Keyboard for Mary (she has been hinting for some time) driving by the Kahiti course where we will be playing this coming Monday and just exploring.

Satur morning - golf, what else?  Then lunch at the Tanasi clubhouse, home to watch a bit of golf and then off to the yacht club for a late afternoon sail.

Life is good!  Now, if only we had more time......