Good Morning Nate!

Greetings from Waubeeka
OUR THURSDAY NEWSLETTER

FROM THE GM - Vicki Richardello

The lottery in Massachusetts at one time had tickets called Strike it Rich. In Kentucky, it’s called Rich Strike!  Indeed, it was!  Rich Strike (a very late entry) shocked the horse racing world on Saturday by winning the Kentucky Derby at 80 to 1 odds. The colt was such a late entry he was not included among the souvenir T-shirts sold at Churchill Downs.

Rich Strike was the second longest shot to win the derby after Donerail (91-1) in 1913. The colt earned 1.86 million for his first stakes victory. His faithful followers (with a mere $2.00 investment) were rewarded with a $163.60 payback. Unfortunately, I have money in the stock market.

Speaking of the Derby, Mint Juleps at the track were going for $1000, which included a souvenir cup.  Now, if you had been at Waubeeka, you could have had 125 of them for that price! Amazing what some people will pay for scratching something off their bucket list.

Congratulations to our good friend, Cheryl Bean, who got her first hole-in-one at the Hills on Saturday.  I would like to think that the jacket she was wearing had something to do with her good luck and as she told me, "It kept me warm ‘cuz it was freezing out there.”
















A huge thank you to Sandy and Dan Bourdon for the wonderful job they did restoring the flower garden in front of the pro shop! Your efforts did not go unnoticed!

We were all rooting for Keegan Bradley, a local favorite who entered the last day of the PGA tournament over the weekend 2 shots in the lead.  It’s difficult to win with 2 double bogies in the final round.  Keegan ended up in a three way tie for second. But, hopefully, after a long hiatus for winning, we will see more of him in the coming months and hopefully, will secure that much desired trophy.

The Celtics were up 14 points in the 4th quarter of Game 6 last night, however, it was not enough as the Milwaukee Bucks rallied past the C's to take a 3 - 2 lead jn the best of 7 series!  The games now switch to Milwaukee on Friday at 7:30 PM, where the Bucks will try to end Boston's 2022 dream season.

Sergio Garcia, Greg Norman's buddy, wants to leave the PGA Tour and play for LIV Golf. This could turn into a monumental feud. Stay tuned.

Shirley Spork, one of the original founders of the LPGA passed away last Tuesday in CA. Our condolences to her family.

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT - Brian Bartlett

This week we finished our greens aerification.  Aerating the greens will help send water and air movement to the roots.  

The crew has been hand watering the sod and seed around the ninth green.  It looks amazing!

Next week our goal is to mulch around the flower beds, the club house and putting green.

FROM THE KITCHEN -

FROM THE PRO - Erik Tiele

Range Hours - Now that our leagues have started and we are seeing longer days we will be going to normal seasonal range hours. Monday 9-7, Tuesday thru Saturday 7-7 and Sunday 7-5. We do our weekly clean up on Sunday afternoons for Monday mowing so the early close is a must!

Congratulations to Jerry Bush, who recorded a Hole in One yesterday on the 7th hole!!! Witnesses were Ron Goss, Mike Noyes and Al Goldstein. He used a 5 iron on the 171 yard hole!! This is his third career “Ace”.

Please keep in mind that you can book your tee time online at any time. You just need to set up a customer account. Even if you are a member, you will be prompted for a credit card number but you will never be charged. The system needs the information to hold the time. Give it a try. 

Congratulations to the Ladies’ Spring Cup team for pulling out a win against CC of Pittsfield at Taconic last week, 45.5 to 44.5. Nice job, ladies!

The First Adult Golf School slated for June 14,15 & 16 is full!  Applications for the second school in August are available online.

There is one opening remaining for our first Junior Golf Camp on June 21,22 & 23. The other two Junior Clinics have limited openings remaining so be sure to get your application in ASAP!
 

Dick Syriac (laryoflenox) writes:










 

Cousy and Russell, Lewis and Clark, Peaches and Herb, Mantle and Maris, Burns and Allen, Koufax and Drysdale, Jack and Arnie.

The above list is among many famous pairs where it is difficult to mention one without thinking of the other .

If you were around Pittsfield in the fifties and sixties you were certainly aware of a couple of athletes referred to as "Scago and Southard". It wasn't Frank and Dave, it was Scago and Southard.

Both were outstanding multiple sport athletes who were connected to each other from a very young age. Same neighborhood, same interests and best of friends for life. 

We lost Dave Southard on March 6th of this year and it is a major loss of a giant of a man who was a sports legend in the county. His buddy, Frank Scago died in 2010 at the age of 62. 

Scago was considered by many as the best basketball player to ever play in Berkshire County. He played only 3 seasons at St. Joseph HS and had over 1500 points. Yes, three seasons with no 3 point line. He also played quarterback for the Crusaders well enough to attract the interest of University of Notre Dame and other schools.

Dave "Bear" Southard was a more in the trenches type of football player playing D-Line and fullback. If you needed someone to play "smash mouth football," Dave was your guy. He played four years of hoops at Pittsfield High School and again was one of those guys who brought his lunch pail to each game and did the dirty work on some very talented teams. He holds the school record for throwing a shot put further than  anyone in school history, something that I did not know until recently.

Bill Sarmuk now of Canton CT who played hoops with "Bear" at PHS weighed in on his friend's passing. "Dave was a great guy and great teammate, whenever we chose up sides he was the first guy taken, it was not fun to play against him. My condolences to Millie and the family".

I played on basketball teams both with and against Scago and Southard and it was more fun and easier when we wore the same jersey. One Saturday morning at the Boys Club a team that I was on  (Pittsfield CYC) clashed with an Emily's  team that featured Scago and Southard along with Sarmuk, Joe Woitkowski and Paul Dubois. My lucky day, Southard  guarded  me the entire game. He outweighed me by about 40 lbs, it was probably 20 but it seemed like 60. He beat me up so bad that at games end  I was looking for a whirlpool to sit in for a while so I could get my body parts to function.

That is when Dick Taglieri, coach of Emily's,  said "Get in the car, we have a game in Troy NY at 2:30. " I didn't know I was on his roster nor did I know where Troy NY was, nor did I know Dick Taglieri . That was how Coach Tag recruited back then.  Once in the car I learned that Southard was also making the trip as a teammate. Upon arrival I noticed some familiar faces wearing Emily's uniforms including Frank Zoltek, Mike Mancivalano, Dubois and Willie Green, virtually a who's who of Berkshire County players at the time. How "Tag" got these guys together in Troy NY is beyond me.  We won the game  and eventually the tournament 112 - 111 beating Hudson Valley as Dubois of Adams made two foul shots with little time left.  Coach Tag did not have too many defensive drills in those days. From that day forward, I was Dave Southard's friend and it was a good feeling.

Well, a lot of people lost a friend on March 6th. Dave Southard was a sports encyclopedia and would not have ever missed a question on Sports for $1000, Alex. He loved to camp out at The Soda Chef on North Street in his later years and talk sports. Don't test him; you'll lose.

When we lost Cathy Procopio a few years ago, Dave was at the service. He found Henry Payne of AIC and Springfield Commerce fame in the crowd and wheeled his rig up to Payne. Southard recalled playing against one of Henry's teams in a 10-12 basketball tournament at the Ludlow Boys Club in the 50s. Dave knew the score and how many points Payne had. "John Dawley did a great job on you, you were a fantastic player, but we won the game.”  

Even Henry Payne learned something that day, don't test Dave Southard, you will lose.

Rest in Peace,  Bear, we are all better people for knowing you.

LPGA Tour

The Cognizant Founders, in honor of Shiney Soorks, tees off today from upper Montclair,  NJ.

PGA Tour

DEEP Thoughts 

Yesterday I moved from Mass General to Hope Lodge in Jamaica Plains, a short distance from the hospital.  I will finish out my 13 radiation treatments and then I hope to come home to gain a little more strength before starting the third phase of my treatments.  This beautiful weather has me longing to return to Waubeeka. I know it is in good hands and I’m thankful for all of you!