Marion's Retirement

[Maid Marion]

I like to use yellow balls so I know which one is mine when playing a foursome!

My swing speed isn't high enough to use a 15* 3W off the fairway.
My fitter was genuinely surprised to see that I could hit a 16.5 fairway off the deck that was only a few  yards less than driver off the tee!

They changed the lofts.  My 7 iron is only 27 degrees loft!     

[Petunia]

I wasted a lot of time in my teens looking for golf perfection.
36 holes Saturday, 36 Sunday, time on the driving range plus another 9 holes during the week.

I could play 16 or 17 really good holes and destroy it on the other 1 or 2.

I lost count of the number of times I was par or better for most of the round but it was always a double or triple bogey there somewhere that put even par or better out of reach.

I'm a nicer person without that frustration

[ChrissyRyan]

How are your roses doing?


Chrissy

[Maid Marion]

The old garden roses are doing fabulously this year.  They bloom once in the summer and take the rest of the year off from making  flowers.

The hybrid teas got whacked pretty hard by winter and a late spring freeze.
But, they all came back to life so I have a 100% winter survival rate, even though the plants are smaller that usual. Thus, there are fewer high centered roses on long stems than usual, but this could very well flip in the fall, as the old canes are being replaced by more vigorous new ones!

One plant normal has three big roses in bloom  around now.  Instead it has ten smaller buds to bloom in a few weeks.

Marion

[Stottie Girl]

I do like roses. I have managed to salvage my favourite yellow tea rose and red patio rose from my garden. They are safely stored on my parents patio. I have moved both those roses three times now and when it goes into my new garden that will be 4 times. Experts say you can't move roses but you can!

My mum buys a memorial David Austin rose every time we loose a family member or a close family friend. Sadly her rose garden is growing quite large now.

I have close to twenty plants and 2 fruit trees waiting in pots ready for my new garden. I'm champing at the bit to get started!

[Maid Marion]

After walking 18 holes, the round ended conveniently at noon, so I headed over to Jersey Mike's for my least feminine activity, ordering an 1810 calorie giant sub sandwich for lunch/dinner!

I played really well, making a lot of good shots and smartly managing my way around the course.
My duffed shots often advanced the ball to better locations.

On the 16th hole, a Par 54 with a water hazard running across the fairway 140 yards from the pin, I hit a drive down the middle of the fairway.  One of the guys I was playing with was still gendering me as female!  I told some of the other guys I wear female clothes because they fit me and he had no problem with that.  If someone had an issue with that it was their problem, not mine!
When I play with other seniors we get to share the issues we have, much like someone would talk with a therapist.

One guy got to vent about his car insurance sky rocketing after two accidents that weren't his fault.  One was with an unlicensed driver.

[Stottie Girl]

1,810 calories? In one sandwich? WTF?!!! That sounds like it would be as big as my head!!

[Maid Marion]

13 Giant
The Original Italian
1,810 Cal Provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami, and pepperoni
Yes, half a dozen slices of each!  On wheat bread with lettuce, onions, oil, and vinegar!

[Maid Marion]

I did my first rose show in two years, winning four trophies and 17 blue ribbons.
17 tied for first in the Horticultural part of the show, but the winner took Sweepstakes with one more ribbon in the Floral Arrangements Division. That fact was announced to those in attendance. There were many really good exhibits this year.  They said the weather was great this year.  Even better, they have a couple of young ladies who are really enthused about exhibiting roses and participating in the running of rose societies!  Not only did they win many of the top awards, they wore dresses to the awards ceremony held at the end of the show!

I played at a cheap private golf course during the awards judging. No bunkers.  Some of the small greens are challenging domes.
A large group with three carts waved me through on a 150  yard Par 3.  I pulled driver and put the ball just short of the green.
A chip and two putt for bogey while they watched me play!  One of the toughest mental situations in golf!

I pull driver on Par 3s over 140 yards.  Between 140 and 180 yard I'm able to adjust my swing to put the ball on the green with more consistency that randoms I get paired with!  Sometimes I'm the only one on the green!

Marion

[Lori Dee ✅]

Congrats on the trophies and ribbons, MM! That is awesome.

I would love to visit your rose garden one day, but you live too far away.

[Stottie Girl]

13 Giant
The Original Italian
1,810 Cal Provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami, and pepperoni
Yes, half a dozen slices of each!  On wheat bread with lettuce, onions, oil, and vinegar!

13 slices of each meat??!!! That is obscene Marion ha ha ha! I would probably have to dislocate my jaw to take a bite!🤣🤣

I hate it when people ask me to play through, the pressure is immense, second only to those tee boxes right in front of the golf clubhouse where everyone is watching you tee off!

Very well done in the horticultural show!

[Maid Marion]

I finally wore my Golftini ruffle skirt.  It is their normal skirt with another 3 inches added so it reaches my knees.  Also adds volume for girls who need that.  It has one small pocket in front for my car key and two in the back I don't use.  I put my stuff in a blingy white Victoria's Secret purse.

I wore it with a lime yellow golf shirt.  The zipper only goes up half way.  And golf shoes that are labeled "golf."  Which makes perfect sense if you have dozens of shoes and only golf occasionally!

Marion

[Maid Marion]

I finally wore my Golftini ruffle skirt.  It is their normal skirt with another 3 inches added so it reaches my knees.  Also adds volume for girls who need that.  It has one small pocket in front for my car key and two in the back I don't use.  I put my stuff in a blingy white Victoria's Secret purse.
I have have a half a dozen Golftini skirts but rarely use them due to the pocket issues.

I wore it with a lime yellow golf shirt.  The zipper only goes up half way.  And brightly colored golf shoes that are labeled "golf."  Which makes perfect sense if you have dozens of shoes and only golf occasionally!

Marion

[Petunia]

I used to hate those courses with the small domed greens. I used to call them pimples. Any shot that lands just off the edge of them gets kicked away and unfairly punished.

[Stottie Girl]

I used to hate those courses with the small domed greens. I used to call them pimples. Any shot that lands just off the edge of them gets kicked away and unfairly punished.

You probably won't like UK Links courses then. It's not just the greens that do that, the fairways do it too! You have to know every bump and hillock to know exactly where to land the ball. At least that is the case with the local ones I've played on. Add to that a strong cross wind off the North Sea! It's wild stuff!

[Maid Marion]

I learned to play on a tricky little executive course.  It had nasty fairways that were narrow and sloped.  You could hit the right side of the fairway and have it roll down to the left and off into a slope and into the high grass!  But, they provided a nice overlook of the green, about half the size of a normal green.
It was a great ball collector if you could hit it.

I learned to hit the ball high and straight.  I'd hit the ball into a bunker or depressed land fronting the green, then swing hard with a 58 degree lob wedge to land the ball on a pimple and get it to stay there! 

[Petunia]

Sarah and Marion,

I have played so many courses over the years and even though I threw away my anger many years ago, my obsesive side still remembers the courses and holes.

I used to crank out a fair drive, was able to hit every green in regulation or close enough that it was an easy up and down.

I found the secret to links golf lay in never trying to hit the green but land the ball short enough that it could funnel up to the green.

I could have been ok at golf if it was a 9 hole game.

18 was too hard for me to concentrate.

I do kind of miss it but I can't go back because I'm never satisfied with my effort.

[Stottie Girl]

I found the secret to links golf lay in never trying to hit the green but land the ball short enough that it could funnel up to the green.

100% that is exactly the right strategy for Links golf. lay up short then read the surface like you're putting and bump and run. (That is unless you're a pro who can stop the ball on a sixpence)

[Petunia]

One thing I was good at was controlling the trajectory of my ball. On links type courses this is perhaps the greatest skill you can have.

I once caddied for a friend when our club played in a state final for junior golfers.

My mate was a far better player than me but we wear on a windswept links course that I had played a few times before.

It was a matchplay event, played on holes not overall score.

I advised him on strategy and club selection. He doubted me at first and despite falling behind early when a shot went out of bounds, he began to trust me and we finished the match in 12 holes.

I still remember him wanting to play a 5 iron punch shot downwind on a 160m hole but I said no, it won't stop. He took out his wedge and hit a high spinning shot that stopped right next to the hole for a gimme.

He was yelling out in laughter.   Good times

[Maid Marion]

Petunia, I have a much better mental attitude than most.😀
I get to pick out my outfit for the day to get in a good mood.

I was overdressed for the "goat track" I played the other day.
I used that to spread good Karma!  I mentioned that I played here a couple years ago!
In other words, I thought their course was good enough to play there again!
I also mentioned that I had a few hours to kill. 
I was nearby for some other event which explains why I was overdressed.
When you look good as a female people value your opinion.
Especially when you have thin hourglass figure that obviously comes from diet and exercise.

Yesterday our threesome was the first group of the day!  It was great until the 12th hole, when we caught up with an elderly couple that started on the back nine.   At least we had a great  eleven holes.   The doctor in our group remarked that old age happens to all of us. He found a drive for the guy that went no more than 100yards.  He and his brother were already in their 70s.  The doctor recently retired and was the best by far, making four pars in a row.  While we were waiting he gave his brother lessons in swinging his driver faster.

We did the turn in 1hrs 45 minutes as a threesome.  The  slow 2nd nine was 2hrs 35 minutes.

Marion