Wellness Program

I was on the road recently (as usual) and heard an interesting interview with a writer named Debbie Ford. One of the points she mentioned really stole my attention and has me pondering it ever since. It involves a simple exercise:

Write down the words ILLNESS and WELLNESS. Now, circle the part of each word that is different from the other word. Instantly, you can see (I)llness and (WE)llness.

Think about it. We really NEED other people in our lives…not just to prevent a room from being empty, but also to enhance and improve our own well being. When we feel that we are a part of a healthy, vital group of family and/or friends, we can’t help being energized by the same energy that abounds around us….if we allow it to happen.

The very day I heard this broadcast, I reflected on how many elderly ladies I know who seem to be thirty years younger than they really are. I think it’s their Wellness groups. They are actively involved with other people.

If I try to face things alone, without venting or sharing with others, then I begin to whither and become ill….maybe not physically, but mentally for sure. I went through about seven or eight years of that kind of people-isolation in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, resulting in cancer that was at Stage 4 in 1995. They said I had only 5-7 years to live. It was a wake up call.

I have been so blessed in the last 10+ years by my adopted family, my bowling family, and most assuredly, my golfing family. My physical wellness is perhaps a bit shaky, although lots better than many, many others, but my mental wellness is strong and tremendously happy because of many of you that will be reading this.

Please forgive me for preaching, but I needed to share this concept with you and I wanted to thank you for being part of my “WEllness” program. Kathleen

Senior Olympics Golf

Today Northwood Country Club hosted the Senior Olympics Golf competition. There is good news and bad news.

First the bad news: There were only seven ladies who participated in the event, but that's about four better than last year.

Now, all the good news: All but one of the ladies are SWGA or former SWGA members.

In the 70-74 age group, Marge Snyder got the gold medal shooting a fantastic 83, and Barbara Offer took home the silver.

In the 60-64 age group, Susan Berry took gold, Kathleen McCoy got the silver, and Bobbie Almond won the bronze metal.

Three of the seven ladies qualified for the State Senior Olympics event to be held in the Baton Rouge area in October: Marge Snyder, Susan Berry, and Kathleen McCoy.

Palmetto Classic

The 2009 Palmetto Classic was a huge success. The "Life's a Beach" theme was pretty accurate with the temperatures soaring to the high 80's, but fun was had by all. See the tournament results in the right hand column. Here's SOME of the SWGA ladies that played:

HELP NEEDED: CADILLAC INVITATIONAL

The 19th Annual Cadillac Invitational 4-person scramble is being held at Southern Trace Country Club on Monday, June 29th. The tournament, sponsored by Gregg Orr Auto Collection, benefits the National Kidney Foundation.

Because the winners will be participating in a rather lavish golf tournament in Florida, it is important that the scoring is ACCURATE; therefore, there is a need for at least 20 to 24 tournament “scorers”. A scorer will walk with a foursome to keep score and tally the drives used. This is necessary since the rules require that each golfer’s drive is used a specific number of times during the round.

If walking is a problem and it is known in advance, a private cart can be secured, or one scorer can walk just 9 holes while another walks the remaining 9. Most of the time, the team will invite the scorer to ride and/or there is a player that likes to walk, allowing a spot for the scorer to ride.

It will be a long day for the volunteers, starting at 11:30am with a meeting and lunch, followed by the shotgun start at 1:00pm. Even the meeting and lunch is flexible however.

As a thank you for the volunteers, Southern Trace is giving a free round of golf to each scorer as well as lunch, award ceremony banquet, and beverages on the course. Scorers can also participate in the raffles and silent auctions. Keep in mind that your spouses can also volunteer.

If you are interested or need more information, contact Mary Coker at 798-6261 or email her at meifu8@aol.com by June 8th.

Nikki Patterson Invitational

In case you haven't already heard, the first annual Nikki Patterson Invitational is scheduled for Wednesday, July 1st at Stonebridge, with the practice round on June 30th.

The 4-lady scramble format will be flighted by handicap index, with a maximum of 15 strokes between lowest and highest handicaps. There is an individual player handicap limit of 36 and players 73 and over with a handicap index of 28 or higher may choose to hit from the senior tees.
The $320 per team entry fee includes the practice round (but not the cart), continental breakfast on tournament day, and the awards luncheon.

Tee times for the practice round can be scheduled by calling the Pro Shop after June 17th at (318) 747-2004.

On tournament day, registration and breakfast starts at 7:30am, with a shotgun start to follow at 9:00am.

If you would like an application, please contact Linda Heins at (318) 742-8913 or Mary Jo Gray at (318) 742-4554.

In addition, if you don't have a full team and would like help filling a team, let Linda or Mary Jo know, and more than likely, a team can be found for you.

Let's make Nikki's tournament a LARGE success!

Wine & Roses Tournament

Alexandria Country Club hosted the Wine & Roses tournament on April 14 & 15th with some of the best weather we've golfed in for awhile. It was a full field for the two-lady scramble, and once again, we had six SWGA members who participated (Mary Coker, Donna Cobb, Christina Parsons, Gayle Gansfuss, Moise Allen, Kathleen McCoy):

Of those, we had one set of winners. Donna Cobb and Kathleen McCoy (that would be me) won first place in our flight with a score of 76. We were ecstatic to win. It would have been wonderful fun, even without the win, but that Dillards Gift Card made it even better.

If you've never been to one of the Wine & Roses tournaments, you've missed alot of good entertainment, wine, and good food. At the awards luncheon, there are all sorts of homemade cakes that everyone gets to sample, not to mention the wine, which everyone gets as a gift. Check out some of these cakes:

SSWGA Crooked Hollow Playday

Results of April 13th SSWGA Playday at Crooked Hollow:














FIRST FLIGHT:
GROSS: Marge Snyder
NET: Jimmie Zey
PUTTS: Kathleen McCoy


SECOND FLIGHT:
GROSS: Sherry Barnes
NET: (TIE) Jeanie Ward & Gayle Gansfuss
PUTTS: Susan Berry


THIRD FLIGHT:
GROSS: Mary Murray
NET: Janet Sabo
PUTTS: Sue Gilley

SSWGA Playday Change

I have been informed by Sue Gilley that the SSWGA playday at Southern Trace has been rescheduled to July 23rd. The playday originally scheduled for July 9th at Crooked Hollow has been cancelled. Please change your calendars to reflect the changes. The schudule listed on this site has the revised dates. Kathleen

Fox Run Golf Course Closed

I regret to inform that Fox Run Golf Course at Barksdale is closed until further notice.

Since Thursday was to be our SWGA playday at Fox Run, it has been cancelled. The Barksdale Golf Course was badly damaged by storms last night causing 50 trees to be uprooted and damaged.

According to our Events Chairman Donna Phillips, it has been decided to play our scheduled playdays as they stand now and reschedule our playday at Barksdale Golf Course at a future date.

LGA State Senior Championship

From sleeveless shirts to three and four layers of clothes....in just 24 hours! The practice round of the State Sr. Tournament at Oakwing Golf Club in Alexandria was a beautiful day, but overnight it turned into a tournament from hell. On Monday the winds howled at least 40 mph with temperatures in the 50's. Brrrrr. The pair of medalists on that first day scored matching 87's. But on Tuesday, the winds calmed, the temperatures rose, and the scores dropped. It was great.

SWGA had a great showing at this LGA event, with about 13 ladies participating (Bobbie Almond is not in photo). Of those thirteen, we had five winners:

Championship Flight: Mary Jo Gray, 1st Low Net; Second Flight: Donna Cobb, 2nd Low Gross; Third Flight: Kathleen McCoy, 1st Low Gross and Charlotte Calhoun, 2nd Low Gross; Fourth Flight: Martha Lawhorne, 2nd Low Gross.

The course at Oakwing was in great shape, with lightning fast greens and lots of newly renovated sand traps (that I got to look at up close and personal). The personnel were extremely helpful and the food was great. Can't wait till next year!!!!

Senior Olympics

Don't forget that the deadline for entering the Senior Olympics events is April 13th. If you need any more info regarding the golfing event on April 24th, contact one of the ladies listed in one of the older posts on this site.

Rules Seminar

On April 1st, the USGA hosted a Rules Seminar at Southern Trace. I didn't get an exact count of the number of our ladies that attended, but we were well represented. I believe we had about 16-20 SWGA members in attendance. The two-hour class was non-stop informational. It seems that no matter how many times you hear something, there is always this one rule that becomes an "Ah ha" moment. Maybe we just need to absorb the rules in small increments...or maybe it's just me and my small memory. But in any event, I felt enlightened....again. Thanks to Southern Trace for hosting the event.