Week of Decatur, Illinois
June 18, 2001

From Lima, Ohio, we traveled 300 miles west to Decatur, Illinois. It is a similar sized town with local residents who are equally enthusiastic about the Futures.

We drove up to Hickory Point Golf Course and were shocked to see a beautiful new clubhouse. The course is one of five owned by the park district, and now Hickory Point's new clubhouse can host weddings, parties, and banquets for large golf outings.

This is the 17th year for the JWA/Michelob Light Futures Classic which makes it the oldest tournament on the Futures Schedule. It is unique in that it still has the two day pro-am format where sponsors play Wednesday and Thursday with two different pros. This makes tournament registration day Tuesday from 10-2 where each pro must be present or call to confirm her entry into the event. It happens that our leading money winner this year, Beth Bauer, did not register, and was unable to play in the event. I have not heard the full story, but since registration for most of the first nine events has been on Wednesday, it seems she got the day wrong, and an alternate was given her spot in the field. We all learn from this error.

I had the privilege of playing with John Skeffington in Wednesday's 2-person scramble format. John is the main sponsor as the local Budweiser/Michelob distributor and he plays a nice game of golf. But in this format, we both hit a couple of bad shots at the same time and found ourselves +1 after 4 holes. We were also paired with Joellyn Erdmann and her amateur partner and they were -2 early in the day. We whittled our way back making 5 birdies to finish -4 to our playing partners' -2. They were good company and the event finished up with lunch in the clubhouse.

"JWA" in the tournament title refers to the Junior Welfare Association - a local band of dedicated volunteers who provide hundreds of hours of service to this event. They drive carts, park guests, organize the range, and staff the huge outdoor Budweiser/Michelob Light tent. The tent is a huge central meeting place for all players, caddies, sponsors and guests and each day's food is donated by 5-10 local businesses. I would say when we had lunch on Sunday at 1 pm, nearly 300 people were seated at the cloth tablecloth covered picnic tables. Hamburgers, bratwurst, chicken sandwiches, a variety of salads and desserts and beverages were served. A real class event and a compliment to the whole community.

My rounds of 73-75-71 probably do not reflect that this was one of my best ball-striking weeks of the year. Every 9, 15, and 24 foot putt that didn't go in sat within inches of the cup. Tap ins all week, very close, but my +3 finish was a bit behind the winner of -13 and the runner-up of -12. That was great scoring for the week for sure.

The week was a special one as Val's family from Quincy, IL drove the 2 ¼ hours east to Decatur to spectate and visit us. Her parents Jerry and Paula, her sister Babs, and kids Laurel and Jake were all devoted fans in the heat and the wind. We had fun with Laurel's 11th birthday on Thursday - Val and I decorated her hotel room prior to their arrival that night with crepe paper and balloons. We filled 50 more water balloons so we could toss them to one another on the grass in the heat. The pool at the Comfort Inn was convenient for diving for weighted sticks and playing with the new "Toypedo". The kids love the water, and loved splashing their Aunt Val. They sure are growing up fast, and they get along very well for 8 and 11. We even noticed that right across the street from the course was the annual Decatur Food Fest, complete with carnival rides - Big slide, the Scrambler, the Round-Up, all for free, and with great fireworks to cap Saturday's fair finale. A fun weekend and so nice that they could come for 3 days and visit with Val and trek the miles at the course both Friday and Saturday.

Judy Kalkwarf is one of University Park's members who lives in the central Illinois area and who brought one of her talented players from the high school golf team she coaches in the fall. Thanks to them for taking the time to follow and visit with Val's family along the fairways on Friday.

We drove Sunday afternoon to Grand Rapids, Michigan and are staying with my mom (Carol) this week as we compete only15 minutes from her home. Tuesday night will be a fun get-together at my brother Jay and his wife Barb's home. I love to see everyone in the beautiful summer on the lake. Many of them will follow this week, so hopefully all of those putts will fall. It would be great if I can have another hole-in-one as my niece predicts!

Sue E.

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