FOUR!!!

Well, we did it!! Here we are *after* playing 18 holes while sweating in the hot sun, getting dripped on by a light rain that fell and after a delicious meal (which we were excited we didn't have to cook!)

When we got there, all the golf carts were lined up in order of where we were to start. We were 12A starting at the 12th hole. There was a 12B, a group of men who were obviously big on women trying their hand at golf. They managed to reach the 12th hole before us and tee off before we got there - which was fine with us. We had a few mishaps on the way to the 12th hole. As you can see below, the other cart had some problems strapping their golf bags onto the back of the carts. My cart buddy and I had some good laughs over this one - but not before checking to make sure ours were securely strapped in...oh man, did we laugh! Good times! Good times!!

These 3 gals are part of the group I go to the beach with in June. We tried thinking of a group name and came up with Sandy Sisters...thinking of the beach as well as any sand bunkers we may be stuck in throughout the day!

Here comes the rain!! Not only did I take this to show the rain drops on the water, but I wanted to show you that if you'd be in need of some golf balls, you can find several at the bottom of this pond courtesy of our group!!

But for every ball we lost, we'd find more!! I guess that is the penny pincher in each of us - we had to at least try and look for our lost balls - and we'd find many more from those before us that didn't bother to look! Worked for us!!

We played near our state capital and were very close to it airport - I enjoyed watching the huge plans go by. I tried not to let it disturb my game though. "Ok, ladies, who's ... Oh look, another plane!"

Beautiful form and talent was displayed by all!!!!!!! This first picture is the organization behind our team - she is the one who asked us to play and she serves on the Farm Show Committee organizing the Wednesday night parade during Farm Show week every October.

We had such a blast - playing all 18 holes was tough work, but we managed to keep our game moving that we didn't have anyone waiting on us. When we got to the pavilion after our round, we enjoyed a wonderful meal. As we lined up for the meal, they were giving door prizes. Their goal was to have a prize for each golfer. They had separate prizes for the ladies. One in our group left with a small silk flower arrangement, two left with coupons for flower arrangements (right, Zimmey?) and I got a $20 gift card to a local restaurant - woohoo, date night here we come!!!

Then came the prizes for longest drive and so on. As well as prizes for the lowest score. This was a "better ball tournament," meaning that we each hit from the tee, but 3 of us picked up our balls and dropped them were the furthest ball was. And we did this the whole game. We ended up with a nice score of 92 - which is a desirable score for a beginning to intermediate golfer...we were pleased! As they announced the top team with the lowest score, we heard 56 - Oh my!! That was 16 UNDER par...we were 20 OVER! They went on through announcing the top teams and then he paused...he said they had 10 lady golfers this year...we looked at one another. He continued saying that there was one foursome of ladies this year...and we were in ... last ... ahem ... place! We left with a nice tote bag, a small flashlight, 2 sleeves of balls, tees and a pen. Hey, I'll take last place any day! We parted ways yesterday saying that our story is "We were 8 under" and we're sticking to it. Our hope is that no one will ask "8 under what? Par? Or 100?"

God was certainly with us and I thought it was pretty awesome that they started out the event with a word of prayer. Praying that if it rain, we be thankful for it and recognize it as water for the corn (remember, I live in a HUGE farming area...and this was for the benefit of the FARM show). The rain we did have was very minimal and didn't keep us from finishing. 45 minutes away, at home, there was heavy rain - Praise God for keeping us dry to complete our fun day!

While we were at the end of a few fingers pointing and laughing - we held our own. There were several people who were very nice to us and we were just proud of ourselves for getting out and doing it and FINISHING! So there - MEN! I'm thankful we each married into families with encouraging men who don't think it is a sport just for the guys! So, I think next July we may be doing this again! It was a blast!!

Anyone want to set up a tee time with me before next July? I'll need the practice!!