Damn Matt, a little tear in my eye on that post. I refrain from posting that detailed of stuff because it almost seems unbelievable.Matt_The_Lawyer said:
Finding this posting tonight made my week.
I worked there (thanks to Stone) from '94-97. The old names. Boz. Ruffin. Stacey. Stone. JB. Billy Bob. EZ.E.
We were happy on cold rainy February days cuz we would close the shop and go to chicken oil and drink beer by the fire all afternoon.
We had the lunch game every Friday-Sunday. Bad-guys. Boz taught me all I needed to do was birdie 9 and 18. Lot of money changed hands on those crappy white tables by the huge weenie roaster thing. JB you loved those things. DB and Harold Swanzie would do the math. Some summer fridays it would take 30 minutes to get thru bad guys, skins, and the $5 or $10 medal bet.
Then "the fix" would show up with free Pizza Hut on closing nights. Courtesy of JB.
There was the time JB got the Ben Hogan trailer and sold everyone new Hogans for a month or two. At least the face tape was cool.
One time I got pissed in a round and threw a club and DB yelled at me and said to quit. He said "you're not that ing good" to get that mad. He was right and I never forgot it.
The summers when Darren Newhouse was back in town was some hard damn golf. He never shot higher than 70 the summer of 96 I believe. They said he could putt with a broomstick. Birdied 17 half the time. Him and Ruffin would battle it out and I was lucky to just be in the 5-some and watch.
Ruffin gave me two of his old Hogan wedges. A lob wedge and a 56. I still play with them. Best lob wedge ever. The grooves are flat in the center. So I found a pristine set on eBay 5 yrs ago just in case.
Eric the surfing geologist Ph.D from California with a mop for hairdude could play.
Hotard and his smokes.
Francis Scott Key. That guy had a heckuva swing.
Those were great times and crazy times.
The summer Dat Nguyen worked in the shop. Every time he answered the phone: "thanks for calling Bryan Municipal golf course, this is Dat Nguyen. [Long pause.]. Yes, that Dat Nguyen."
Great guy too.
One year in the Bryan City championship Stone started the first round by 5 putting 1. Hard to do. And he is a great putter. Flag was on the steep part near front. He hit it all way to back in 2. So fast he was afraid and left first putt 12' shortbefore it catches the steep part. Then ran it off front (anyone would have it was so steep) then hit it 3 feet past and above, missed that, made a 5. Still remind him of that today. Wasn't funny that day.
Ruffin taught me how to play that course. Driver on 1 left of the green. Even if left of the cart path easy shot.
Stacey is (was at least) head of the entire Texas Golf ASS'N.
Two favorite memories were:
1) during one of the sorority tournaments we set the teams out so there would be an extra gap for us to play. So we sent the players out shotgun and we started on 1 like we owned the place. But we were out of carts so we had to walk. EZ.E doubled bagged a dozen natty lights. By the time we get to 7 we tee off and a gust of wind comes down thru the trees from the maintenance barn and starts a dust devil. EZ hauls ass from the tee box carrying his AGC white bags with beer and ice into the middle of the dust devil and then throws his head back and sticks his arms out like he had died and gone to heaven. Sunshine shining behind him. Funniest thing ever.
One other time EZ took a golf cart across Villa Maria and old college to the EZ MART there at the corner to get a few cases of Natty light. Jumping curbs and all the things. That dude.
2) Wednesday night bud league. One Wednesday morning in spring break, me, Trey D the lefty, and JB go in somebody's Camero to play Pecan Valley in S.A. Then come back. We stopped in some small town and get beer on our way back from pecan. Probably an hour or so from Bryan. I get two Mickeys malts. I'm not driving so I drink them and we haul ass back to BGC in time for bud league. I feel like Trey was driving but whoever it was we were going about 90 to be back in time. We make it, jump out of the car, head to 1 T. Trey is my partner. I swing and literally whiff on first tee. May have fallen over. Can't remember but it was hilarious. Trey is pretty drunk too and I'm quite certain we are gonna make 8 on 1. But He smokes one, we birdie 1 and we ended up winning that night. Took me 2 or 3 holes to see straight.
Years later when I was in law school Jeremy and I went up to play the lunch game one daywe were at a friends house at lake Conroe. Jennifer Newhouse and another friend of ours was the 4th. can't recall who played with me and Stone.
All the years working there I never shot lower than 68. This day in 2000 I shot 63. 21 putts. Bogeyed 9 and 10.3 putted both. 15 putts on the other 16 holes. Holed out for 2 on 14. Chipped in for 3 on 18. Just a crazy day. Jeremy shot 70 and Jennifer shot 69. She was home from Tech for summer. DB and others were in the group ahead of us and were tired of hearing us making so much noise. After the round Jeremy re-did the whole card in his perfect handwriting so I could keep it.
Jennifer and I played a "couples" tournament in Floydada later that summer when we were both back in school in Lubbock and we won. Bunch of the mad old lady regulars there called the Tech golf coach to complain.
Those were the good ole days. I wish it was still open so I could show my kids.
I think J Stone still keeps up with Wilgonowski. Think He still goes elk hunting in CO every fall.
stone and I still play several tournaments a year and he still hits it an unreal distance and I still don't know how. His health is great. Just some back stiffness.
Thanks for the memories.
It was my Camero that we drove back from Pecan Valley and Trey was driving because he was the most sober. We almost got lost coming back because we took the back roads from SA to avoid the police. I want to say that my brother was with us.
Frances Scott Key. Man Hoot. He taught me how to sell the "AGC memberships" and for entertainment would just sit and enter his member number in all day. Well, you would qualify for free clubs, etc with enough points. He never cashed any in, but one day Matt Landreu came in from Houston and fired him on the spot for fraud. I was devastated. It think Scott Manda was the GM at the time and he pleaded for Hoot to not be fired. It didn't work. I hired Scott's sister Angie as a beverage cart girl to spite Matt L. He was not happy.
Somehow, I won the sales award for AGC memberships and Ruffin and I went to Vegas for 3 nights. I took $50 to gamble with! Ruffin and I had never been to Vegas before. We sit down at a blackjack table and I had turned my $50 into about $400. They switch dealers. I didn't know you could get up and take your chips with you. She cleaned me and Ruffin out in about 30 mins. No more gambling for Johnny on that trip.
EF chasing the tornado was just a classic burned into my memory.
Dat. I am sitting in the pro shop and Ruffin walks in. He said, "Hey we are hiring Dat, find something for him to do." I was like, "Dat Nyguen?" Ruffin just smiled. I put Dat on the pit and we sold a crap load of burgers and dogs. Brilliant! There was a flare up on the pit one day and he comes in and says, "Enough of that." So, we moved him into the pro shop.
Dat and I got along and he invited me to a "party" at his apartment. Me and David B head over that night and we were pumped to be partying with Dat. We walk in with a case of beer at about 9pm. There are 5 Vietnamese kids sitting on one couch doing karaoke. Nobody was drinking. Dat was in the kitchen doing dishes, so Dave B and I sat on the floor drinking beer while Dat washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen. That was my wild party with Dat.
We should have a Bryan Muni reunion. Too bad most of the prime characters are dead.
**Edit: The hotdog machine. I cleaned it with simple green one night. When I turned it on the next morning it gave off a foul smell. I was hungover as usual and loaded up some dogs. I probably contributed to the death of several people who ate hotdogs that day.***
Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022