I Missed Last Week
Weather Looked Great: On the web. I'm down in North Carolina on vacation, so don't know what happened first hand. But let me guess - Pete won the Memorial? Has to be. Who else could shoot a +8 round to catch him? If you know - let me know - What happened? Who went low? Any hawk sighting? - I have a couple other raptor family photos below and hope they'll be a regular part of fall play. Details of the Memorial (unchanged from last week), including hole-by-hole scoring for rounds 1 & 2 are on the Memorial home page.
I saw an email from Andy that announced Closing Day/Fall Classic on the 29th. Yellow Ball format with details to come. What we know so far is on the Fall Classic page.As an unnecessarily harsh reminder of the shortening days and potential for frost, tee times move ahead a full 40 minutes next week. First group is scheduled for 7:30. If it's warmer than 42 degrees there will be enough daylight for us to get off as much as half an hour earlier though.
This
Week
At
A Glance
| From the First Tee | Saturday, October 15th | Play
This Week |
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First Tee Time: 7:30
Forecast: BRISK |
No More Weeklies Just for Fun |
Our New Mascots
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Mama I sent these shots in to the NY
Audubon Society website. They confirmed that so likely the mother. Be Polite - No swearing on the tee. The birders said to keep our eyes open for the male and also to locate the nest if we could. Dad should be sitting in high trees, shoulders hunched and much darker than the others (must be a slicer). He will rarely come to ground level other than to hunt. And the nest would be a useful find as the hawks will try to use it again next year - so it should be protected. The birders will come mark it, if we find it. Below are shots of one of this year's juveniles. I caught him practicing his strikes just off the 13th tee. He would hit the stick and then sit on it for a while. After a bit, he'd lift off and strike again. Seems like everyone takes a couple extra swipes on the par 5s. |
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Junior |
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Got it |
Some more factoids on our new friends:
- Females are heavier - weighing up to 25% more than males - who stay slim for hunting; or at least roaming the golf course.
- Normal flying rate is 20 - 40 mph, while peak diving speeds are closer to DiFiore's swing - 120 mph
- Pairs mate for life and return to the same nesting area for several years.
- This year's chicks will not breed next year, but should return to set up their own nests in 2013.
- When they do, eggs are laid as the course opens in March/April and chicks hatch about a month later.
- Prey is generally smaller mammals, rodents and the occasional other bird. I was hoping they'd take a couple of the geese.
If anyone has an idea of where they are nesting, please let me know. I'd love to get some more shots, closer to home.
