SCJ Rating: 1 star out of 5

Greens Fees: $$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees: 65 Slope 112

Women’s Tees: (Don’t think it was even rated for women?)

The Alamo Golf Club is a hacker’s paradise!!! Jake and I drove by last year … note I said drove by! We didn’t stop even though it is the absolute closest course to our home. Of course, last year San Antonio was in the midst of an awful drought. With the recent rains, we were hoping that the course might be in a little better condition. It was greener but better condition … sad to say … no. There are parts of the course which look like they will never recover. Jake and I had to move our balls as much as 12 feet sometimes to find a blade of grass on which to set our balls. I didn’t mind because Mondays are ladies’ day and we only paid $13 for me to play and lease a cart, but … cannot say that it was even worth that much.

So, as I started to say … it is a hacker’s paradise!!! No need to feel conspicuous about whether you are wearing the right clothing, how nice your swing is or where you hit the ball. If you just want to give golf a try, this is the course to play! I should warn players about the safety concerns on the course though. The holes frequently cross back near each other squarely putting players in danger of being hit by errant tee shots. Golfer … beware!!!

I do have to say that the 16th hole on the course was one of the finest holes I have ever played! Hard to believe, but I thought it was fantastic!!! Placement of the drive and the second shot were critical with out of bounds all along the length of the hole to the left. Not having played the course before, we were hitting blind off the tee. There was a pole in the center of the fairway and yardages to said pole. If you missed this target, your second shot was even more difficult. About 100 yards from the green, there was a huge gulley which obviously swallowed balls by the dozens. Then there was a tree in the middle of the fairway protecting the green. I couldn’t get my ball high enough to clear this tree so had to play the hole out to the right. As with the rest of the course, the fairway was in terrible condition. However, I could easily imagine the hole with a lush fairway and I loved its design and challenge.

Since the club’s driving range is the closest one to our home and one can hit off grass at all times, we will probably find ourselves hitting balls here a little more often. But can’t say that we will ever be playing 18 holes here again. Bottom line … after we finished playing, we just wanted to go play a real course!!!

Here’s a good article about the new groove rules going into effect in professional golf next January 2010. I won’t have to worry about them for a long time. Wouldn’t affect my game anyways! Can you stop a ball on a dime? Neither can I!?!

From Mad Money’s Cramer via this Seeking Alpha post …

“Our business is stabilizing, albeit at lower levels.”

That has been the catchphrase of this earning season, and contains within it good news and the bad news. While this may have been music to the ears of investors when the Dow was at 8,000, at 10,000, a “stabilizing” business is not enough, and the “lower levels” comment may indicate a coming decline. Cramer thinks the Dow’s current level of 10,000 is unsustainable unless companies indicate that business is accelerating; Apple, Google, Amazon, Marvel and Intel have been discussing concrete improvement. Tech is out in front, but other sectors are going to be left behind if they don’t report growth; “I fear the market will soon stabilize, too,” Cramer said, “albeit at lower levels than where we are at this very moment.”

LOVE the Origami folding method! This video shows how to get the diaper snug against baby’s legs … hold in that poo!?!

Here is another video and another.

Buffalo (WY) Golf Course

SCJ Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Greens Fees: $$$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees:

Women’s Tees: ?? Strokes, Slope 118 (?? yds)

I had heard only wonderful things about the municipal course in Buffalo, WY … where Jake was born and raised. Actually, I played it once before … when I was about 8 months pregnant with Missy. A friend convinced me to play in a tournament and I wound up winning it! Very amusing, but … I digress. The town, and thus the course, sits at the base of the Big Horn Mountains in northeastern Wyoming. There is still quite a bit of snow on the mountain peaks and there may be more after the storms which may be coming this weekend. So the course sits at the base of the mountains and half the time you are going uphill looking at the beautiful scenery in the background. SPECTACULAR!!! (Photos to be posted at a later date.)

Then there are also the deer who apparently feel like they own the place. One sat under a tree today and didn’t move while I hit my ball from only 20 feet away. Later we saw a doe with 2 of the cutest little bambis! Those babies just pranced their way across at least 3 fairways just as cute as they could be!!! (Unfortunately NO photos of these cuties.)

The course itself was a decent challenge without being overly so. There were plenty of trees lining the fairways. It was NOT fun when the ball decided to stay under a Blue Spruce!?! The par 3s were a particularly pleasurable mix of various distances … which I have found to be unusual from most forward tees. All in all … I can’t wait to play the course again! The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars … it’s a little hard to get to … by plane, train or automobile, it is a LONG way from nowhere … and they like it that way!?!

DSC_7588, originally uploaded by Stephen & Mary Ruth’s Album.

Baby Watts is starting to grow … really big!?!

Gotta love it …

Appears this is not actually spontaneous (obviously) but rather a T-Mobile commercial? Very entertaining though! Spiced up my dreary, cold Good Friday!?!

In honor of the upcoming Masters which begins on the morrow! Hoping for more memorable moments!?!

Ride a helicopter to get to the tee on this par 3 in South Africa! The ball takes 30 seconds to make it down to the green!?! Spotted on a Devil Ball Golf, a Yahoo Sports Blog.