Sunday, August 21, 2005

Fly Fish Wisconsin 2005 Hey, long-rodders. If you haven't already heard, Fly Fish Wisconsin 2005 will be held Saturday, Sept. 24, in Sheboygan. There's a great seminar line-up you can check out at the FFF Wisconsin chapter website. You can register online by Sept. 10 and reserve space in any of 15 workshops and seminars. Check it out. Later... 8:59:58 PM    comment []

An ace in the hole The 12th hole, that is. Wednesday, my friend Hack Noyes hit the prettiest golf shot I've ever witnessed. We were playing at The Bull in Sheboygan Falls in an outing sponsored by the Channel 10/36 Friends. Our foursome, which consisted of Hack, Marty Costello, Ralph Stayer and me, was having a lot of fun, but a rather inconsistent round, when Hack stepped to the tee on No. 12, a 210-yard par 3, quite possibly the toughest par 3 I have played. The tee is elevated, which reduces the effective yardage, but by how much? Your drive must carry a wetland, which runs from the foot of the bluff where the tee box is located, almost to the green. The green is well protected by deep sand bunkers. On Wednesday, the pin was forward, just behind a little rise that hides the front part of the green from the tee box. Hack hit a 9 wood, and as I watched his shot tower toward the pin, I said, "Hack, you're gonna like this one." As it turned out, he liked it more than I imagined. We watched as his ball hit the green about 10 feet from the pin and rolled straight into the cup. Then we all turned to Hack and congratulated him on his first hole-in-one. We yelled to the foursome ahead of us, and Dave Peckham drove his cart back to check the cup. "Yup, it's in there," he yelled. Dave waited as the rest of us hit our drives and then photographed Hack celebrating his fantastic shot. Word of Hack's accomplishment beat us back to the clubhouse. Several people, incuding The Bull owner Dave Baumann, congratulated Hack on his ace. Dave told us he knew of only six or eight aces since the course opened a couple years ago. Here's a shot Dave Peckham took of me congratulating Hack on the 12th green. I'm holding his Pinnacle ball, which he planned to keep as a souvenir. Unfortunately, he teed it up by mistake on No. 13 and promptly hit it into the wetland. Dave Baumann said he'd keep an eye out for it. Later... 3:00:47 PM    comment []

Dick Tracy conquers Alaska salmon My high-school pal, Dick Tracy, is having the time of his life this summer.  Dick and his wife, Pat, are exploring Alaska in their RV and blogging their adventures. For the latest on Alaska salmon fishing, howling wolves, Mt. Denali and other fun, log onto their website. Later... 11:21:33 AM    comment []