July  2021 Golf News
 
We have a few aces to report, so let’s get right to it. On May 29, Judy Darnell recorded her 8^th career ace on #16 at Outlaw with her pitching wedge. Judy was playing with Barry Hansen who, by the way, was celebrating his 80 the birthday that very day…quite a day for them! Then on June 3, Steve Schuetze aced #10 at Outlaw with his Gap Wedge. Steve was playing with Forrest Boyd, Greg Wilmore, Roy Reynolds, and Mac Landrum.
 
Then on the next day June 4, Sue Sprouse aced #16 at Outlaw (her second career ace) while playing with hubby Lester. Now, check this out; Sue Sprouse does it again but this time on #3 at Alto on June 19 using her 26-degree hybrid again playing with Lester for her 3^rd career ace. I don’t recall anyone having 2 aces in the same month in my nearly 20 years here. Then on June 22, Joe Bob Mayo recorded his first career Ace when he knocked in his  Gap Wedge on #17 at Alto. Joe Bob was playing with Roy Webb, Mackey Hancock, Bill Preece, and Fred Southard. Well done to all our sharpshooters!
 
Our weather report for May and early June was severely dry and a little windy from time to time. Both courses are showing the signs but still quite enjoyable to play. Seemed to rain everywhere else and in some pretty impressive amounts but not here.
Also on the subject of weather, we are very fortunate to have the ThorGuard Lightning System at both courses, both of which are stand-alone systems, as we do sometime see big differences over only the 3 miles or so separating our courses. This was installed over the winter and is absolutely state of the art and updated regularly. When it detects an atmospheric Force (a “juicy atmosphere” prone to lightning) of 3.0, the horns will blow a 10 second single blast to warn you of impending danger. They are very loud and sound similar to a higher pitched train horn. There are also strobe lights on the various weather station pedestals around the course and on top of each clubhouse and when you see it flashing yellow (the top bulb), the alarm is on. All clear sounds when the Force falls below 0.9 and is 3 consecutive 5 second blasts and the yellow strobe goes out. If you’d like to keep up with our weather here at Alto just plug in http://360.thormobile.net/altolakesgolf/ to keep up with conditions at Alto, and http://360.thormobile.net/altolakesgolf-outlaw/ to keep up with Outlaw. You can use these addresses on anything internet capable including your phone and you can see alerts, current weather station info, and current radar. An app is in the works from ThorGuard and we’ll let you know when that’s ready but for now, just plug in the above addresses and bookmark them for convenience. Let me appeal to you to heed the warnings. While you must cease play in any Club organized event, it only makes good sense to heed them any time you’re on the course and hear the alarm.
 
We have a TaylorMade demo day scheduled for you on Friday, July 16 at the Outlaw where we can hit drivers. The TM rep will have all the new Sim and Sim Max line for men, ladies and of course lefty as well. So, visit the Outlaw range on the 16^th starting about 10 and check out some new “weapons”
 
Let us make a quick reminder about cancelling yourself out of a tee time; if you need to cancel just yourself, just log in to your time and use the “Erase” feature just to the left of your name(s) and then submit. This will only remove you and leave the others in the time as before. We’ve had a couple of instances of late where a person needed to cancel and just cancelled the whole time which leaves those you were with high and dry…so remember to just use the erase feature if you need to leave a time.
 
One reminder about golf carts; Club rules state clearly that any driver must be at least 16 years of age with a valid full driver’s license (no learner’s permits). This applies whether a club owned cart or a private cart and is done for safety and insurance reasons in addition to common sense. I would also like to add a warning to those who might put a toddler in their lap to let them turn the steering wheel, whether on the course or not. This is unbelievably dangerous as any sudden stop or impact can and will crush the toddler between the adult and the steering wheel. Please do not allow this either on or off Club facilities, and if you see someone else doing this, give them a friendly heads up about the dangers. Thanks for your cooperation!
 
One last reminder on our dress code for the golf facilities; men are required to have a collared shirt (whether conventional button or mock neck of at least an inch tall) when on the course, and also when using any of the practice facilities. This includes both the driving range and the chipping area. We have had a few people of late, who leave the workout facilities and go over to the range still wearing workout clothing. Tee shirts are not proper attire when using any golf facility. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.