Ladies, are you curious about SNEWGA (Southern New England Women's Golf Association)?  Have you been yearning to play more golf and participate in friendly interclub competitions?  Well SNEWGA just may be the organization for you.

With over 40 member courses, primarily located in CT, you are bound to find a course near your home that is looking for new club members who want to participate in SNEWGA activities.  Most of the clubs are public or semi-private clubs but there are some private clubs that have joined so that their members with higher handicaps will have an opportunity to play more competitive golf.

SNEWGA is very inexpensive to join, only $10 per year, in addition to your local club dues.  Participation in events which run from May through October have different costs based on the location and tournament package (green fees, carts, lunch and prizes are typically included and awarded the same day).

To play in SNEWGA events you must belong to a member club and maintain a USGA handicap.  SNEWGA does not restrict handicap levels for those who wish to join the organization, while some other state organizations limit their memberships to lower handicapped players.

To encourage more women to come out and play golf and learn more about SNEWGA, on March 10th a social will be held at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Below are the details pertaining to the SNEWGA Social and a link to SNEWGA's website to find out more about this fine organization. 

As a member of this organization for almost 30 years, I can attest to the well run events, the ability to meet other golfers and make lifelong friendships while competing in a friendly atmosphere.  Hope to see you at the social.  If you plan on going please remember to RSVP.

 
 Price per person & Menu:

• SNEWGA member:  $10 per person (at the door)
• Non-SNEWGA member:  $15 per person (If they join SNEWGA the day of the event, $5 of their ticket cost will be credited toward their dues!) 
• Appetizers will include Stuffed Mushrooms, Beef Kabobs, Chicken Wings, and a Crudité table, plus there will be Pasta Marinara with Rolls & Butter, Coffee and a Cookie Tray as well. 

 You can’t win if you don’t show!

• ALL attendees receive an exclusive SNEWGA memento
• CASH RAFFLE
• PRIZE RAFFLE (prize raffle tickets can be earned during the Social)

               - Great Prizes:  a foursome of golf, a SNEWGA blanket, and other cool stuff!

• SKILL CONTESTS (Putting, Chipping, Nintendo Wii games, Card Game, Ping Pong Pop, & Darts)

Come to catch up with your SNEWGA buddies and learn more about SNEWGA and how you can become involved, now and in the future.  You are encouraged to bring friends who are prospective SNEWGA members.

IMPORTANT: We must guarantee The Whinstone Tavern an accurate headcount for food, so we absolutely need to know if you are coming & how many prospective SNEWGA members are accompanying you. RSVP via email to lharrison13@comcast.net no later than Friday March 2^nd.
 
The club bringing the most people (members and non-members) will get their home club dues ($30) paid and have a picture of the group on the SNEWGA web site home page. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SNEWGA - http://snewga.org/index.htm

It is with great sadness that I share news of the passing of Florence Ramsey.  Florence had a passion for life.  Her sense of humor was her trademark both off and on the golf course.  Florence was an avid golfer and had served on the SNEWGA Board for many years.  Her leadership helped to mold the direction of SNEWGA.  She will be greatly missed.

RAMSEY, Florence

Florence (Watson) Ramsey, 78, of Vernon, beloved, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and wife of 57 years to Mathewson Ramsey, passed away Tuesday, (September 20, 2011), at Rockville General Hospital with her family at her side. Florence was born June 2, 1933 in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, daughter of the late Margaret (Hughes) Watson and Joseph Watson. She immigrated with her family to the United States in 1965, first settling in Manchester, Ct, and then moving to Vernon, Ct in 1970. Florence was an avid fan of the UCONN Women's Huskies Basketball and an accomplished golfer, winning the Skungamaug Lady's Classic in 1976, 1977, and 1981, as well as the Founder's Cup. Florence was on the Board of Southern New England Women's Golf Association and served as President from 1989-1991. She was champion of SNEWGA super seniors in 1998 and also represented Connecticut in the US Women's National Public Links Tournament. Florence loved travel and was fortunate to be able to visit many countries in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, as well as the USA and Canada with her husband, Matt. She enjoyed dance and the camaraderie with her friends at the Grossi Dance Academy for eighteen years. Florence was predeceased by her only brother, Harold Watson. She is survived by her sons, Michael and his wife, Carol of Manchester, and Edward and his wife, Myong Cha of Enfield; grandchildren, Shawn, Nathan, Andrew, Mathewson, Alexander, and Sarah; great grandchildren, Mackenzie, Peyton, Eli, Brady, Evangeline, and Noah; niece, Amara Maria Watson (California), cousins, Hazel Turkington, Kenny Jones, Barbara Washburn, Karina Crosby (Australia) Nigel and Keith Crosby (England) and the extended Turkington and Jones families. Special friends, Alma Ramsey (N.Ireland), Kay Lindeman, Loris Fuller, Vicki Flannery, Linda Stuart, Phyllis Fleming (Canada) and May Jameson (Canada). The family wishes to express their gratitude for the special care given by Dr. Richard Orris and his staff, Dr. Faustinus Onyrimba and staff, along with the Emergency room and 2nd floor Bissell staff of the Rockville General Hospital where she was a frequent guest. Florence was a giving, loving and caring wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend with a zest for life, living it to its fullest with a sense of humor. She will be missed by all.

Respecting her wishes, Florence has donated her remains to the University of Connecticut School Of Medicine for Teaching and Medical Research; therefore there will be no visiting hours. A private memorial will be announced at a future date. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Shiners' Hospital for Children 516 Carew Street, Springfield, Ma. 01104.

Congratulations to Debbie Johnson, Ellie Dutch and Mia Landegren on making the Connecticut team heading to The Landings at Skidaway Island in Georgia next month to represent us in the USGA Women's State Team competition.  This will be Debbie's second straight appearance representing CT in the team competition while this will be the inaugural appearance for both Ellie and Mia.

These ladies earned their way onto the team by leading the points standings for their play in numerous golf tournaments over the past two years.

In the alternate spots should any of these ladies not be able to make the trip are Lisa Fern Boros and Kelly Whaley.

To qualify for the State Team, a players performance over a two year period is given points based on how well they played in certain events.  For complete information on the selection process visit http://snewga.org/Selection%20for%20StateTeam.htm

Ellie Dutch was the lead qualifier with 197.50 points
In 2nd place is Mia Landegren with 196.25 points
In 3rd place is Debbie Johnson with 193.75 points

First alternate Lisa Fern Boros tallied 156.88 points
Second alternate Kelly Whalley garnered 142.50 points

How they fared in some of this years competitions:

CT Women's Open - Golf Club at Oxford Greens (event included professional golfers)
     Ellie Dutch - 6th place/top amateur
     Mia Landegren - T11th place

USGA WAPL Qualifier - Tallwood CC
     Mia Landegren - 1st place
     Debbie Johnson - 3rd place

WAPL - Bandon Dunes, OR
     Mia Landegren - T78th in stroke play rounds missing the cut of 64 for match play

SNEWGA Individual Championships - H. Smith Richardson GC
     Debbie Johnson - runner-up

NEWGA (multi-state competition)
     Ellie Dutch - 9th place
     Debbie Johnson - T19th place

CT Women's Amateur - Timberlin GC
     Ellie Dutch - runner-up
     Mia Landegren - 3rd place
     Debbie Johnson - T8th place

MA Women's Open
     Ellie Dutch - winner 

In 2001 I worked at Golf Digest in Trumbull.  When the USGA came out with their US Open catalog commemorating the 2002 event, I liked the Bethpage logo so I decided to buy a couple of their commemorative pins.  Notice behind the golfer the New York skyline, a tribute to the host state.  Notice to the left, the Twin Towers.  Shortly after these pins were released to the public for purchase and probably only weeks after I purchased my two pins, the United States was attacked by cowardly murderous terrorists killing thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001.  The USGA immediately pulled the pins from their website and my understanding is that they destroyed all items that displayed that emblem.  Purchases during that short period of time between release of the catalog and the fall of the buildings quickly became collector items.

On the 10th anniversary of that tragic day in American history, I remember how I first learned of the attacks.  I wasn't feeling well the night before or the morning of September 11th.  I decided that I wouldn't go into work that day and slept in hoping I would feel a little better.  Around 9 a.m. I called into the office to say I wouldn't be in, I wasn't feeling well.  The assistant who answered the phone seemed to have "an attitude" and I thought maybe she got up on the wrong side of the bed and didn't think much of it.  Then I turned on my television.  I was horrified by what I was seeing. 

The first tower had already been hit and as I was listening to the reports and seeing the building on fire I witnessed the second plane slam into the other building.  I never left the TV that day.  I watched as news came in about the plane crashing into the Pentagon and another plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.  Were there more targets, more deaths to come?

I watched as the first tower crumbled to the ground in seconds and covered streets with rolling clouds of dust reminiscent of a volcano spewing its lava.  Then the second tower coming down and in a haze wondering if this was a replay or reality. People were in the street covered in the dust of the obliterated concrete looking more like characters out of Michael Jackson's Thriller Video than hard working employees.  There were no black, white, hispanic or asian people coming out of those buildings - they were gray.  Seeing the tapes being replayed over and over, burning the images into my mind forever.

The only other image I have in my mind that even comes close to that is seeing Lee Harvey Oswald gunned down in cold blood by Jack Ruby after the Kennedy assassination.  My grandmother had watched the Kennedy procession live on TV and I'm glad to say that I was fortunate as a child not to see that incident live, even though we have all seen the rebroadcasts so many times that it seems as though we saw it happening in real time.

Even though the incidents  of 9/11 were well away from my home, I began thinking of my friends who lived and worked in those areas.  Our parent company, New York Times was headquartered in New York.  Were those people in jeopardy?  All modes of transportation were closed down, people were stranded with no way to get home but to walk.  A friends son slept on the street in NY that night because he couldn't get back home to Stratford.  Could I possibly know anyone who worked in those towers?  Maybe a friend of a friend or a distant relative.  Thankfully I can say no but so many people in this country weren't so lucky that day. 

Then I thought about my Mother living alone in Florida and wondering if Connecticut might also see an attack in my neighboring town of Stratford, home to Sikorsky Aircraft, supplier of military helicopters, or possibly up in Groton, home of the nuclear submarine base.  Connecticut had always been known as a defense state until factories began closing up.  Avco Lycoming in Stratford produced tank engines.  Remington Arms in Bridgeport produced weapons.  During WW2 Bridgeport played a key role in supporting the war efforts through all of the defense manufacturing and even had underground tunnels within the city borders so items could move to shipping locations without detection.

Then my thoughts went to all those innocent people who lost their lives, workers in the Towers and the Pentagon, people on those planes, and of course all the brave men and women who were the First Responders who never returned to their families that night.

Yesterday I played golf in SNEWGA's Macmillan Cup, a two-day match play event (see earlier blog), and on Saturday evening before the dinner we had a moment of silence and prayer for our country and all those effected by the tragedy, especially for those who lost their lives and the families that must continue on without their loved ones.  It was a somber moment, capped off by the singing of God Bless America by the 80 plus women in attendance.

But what really made the hair stand on the back of my neck the morning of September 11, 2011 was when I plugged my Ipod into my car and put it on shuffle. Out of over 3,000 songs, the first song it started playing was Alan Jackson's Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning, his beautiful tribute to 9/11.  If you've never heard the song, check it out on Itunes or YouTube.

I shall always remember where I was that day ten years ago and will cherish the USGA pin as a rememberance of the tragedy.  It's a day no American should ever forget.  And I truly hope we will never have to witness something like that ever again.  God Bless America!

9/11/2001 Timeline

8:46 a.m. - North Tower struck by plane

9:03 a.m. - South Tower struck by plane

9:37 a.m. - Pentagon struck by plane

9:54 a.m. - South Tower falls

10:03 a.m. - Plane crashes in Pennsylvania field

10:28 a.m. - North Tower falls

While kids lament going back to school after Labor Day and teachers realize their three months of vacation are over, I look forward to fall with open arms.  I've never been one who likes to play in really hot weather and this summer was a beast.  I'd much rather be playing in a crisp breeze with a light sweater on and watching the New England leaves change into their vibrant color schemes.

What I also like about Fall golf is it seems to be the season of Match Play golf.  The weekend of September 10th-11th is the playing of the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen.  From September 23rd to 25th is one of my most favorite tournaments to watch, the Solheim Cup played this year over in Ireland.  Then in November we will get to see the Presidents Cup in Australia.

But this coming weekend (Sept 10-11) right here in the good old U.S. of A. ladies from SNEWGA will be playing the annual Macmillan Cup at Elmridge Golf Course in Pawcatuck.  What started out many years ago as the SNEWGA Cup where teams from the NorthEast would battle teams from the SouthWest over the two day weekend, eventually became the Macmillan Cup on the 10th anniversary of the event founded by Myra Macmillan.  This has been one of the most successful SNEWGA events every year and is always fully subscribed.  It's true match play.

While some may be watching the Walker Cup the ladies of SNEWGA will be conducting their own battle on the links.  The win margin has favored the SouthWest but the NorthEast has come on strong in the latter years so this year should prove to be another interesting tester. 

The first day pits two players from each team against each other.  One nine is played as better ball and the other nine alternate shot.  The tricky part is pairing the right partners together so that they compliment each others game and hopefully gain the most points for their team.  On day two it's head to head play and that's always the nail biting day waiting for those last groups to come in to see which side will hoist the trophy in victory.

No matter which side wins, there's always a huge party at Elmridge after that last team sinks the final putt.  Good sportsmanship and a lot of friendly ribbing is what you'll see and hear.

But I would be remiss not to point out that this weekend will also be a very sad time for many families as we all remember the 10th anniversary of the 911 disaster.  Golf will probably be the last thing on their minds.  So if you are out on the course this Sunday, take a moment to remember the events of 10 years ago, those families who are missing their loved ones, and just how fortunate we are to live in such a great country.

Joyce Curran shot a four over par round of 76 on Monday, August 8th, at Tashua Knolls to take her first title in the SNEWGA Seniors event.  Curran lead the field winning by four strokes over Debbie Jamgochian.  Curran plays out of Richter Park in Danbury.

Tashua Knolls in Trumbull is a course filled with variety - doglegs, small and large greens, elevation changes and lots of ponds and creeks to capture errant shots.  The day was steamy but not as hot as Curran was with her play on the par 72, 5,454 yard tester.

The SNEWGA Seniors Championship is open to any member age 50 or older. 

Championship Flight Results - 32 competitors (handicaps 0 - 17.4)

Champion/First Gross - Joyce Curran (75)
2nd Gross - Debbie Jamgochian (79)
3rd Gross - Jo Rasmussen (80)
4th Gross - Sue Sawyer (83)
5th Gross - Mary Mesek (84 MC)
6th Gross - Tania Stenberg (84 MC)

1st Net - Kaia James (69)
2nd Net - Susan Casey (70)
3rd Net - Kathy Collier (73 MC)
4th Net - Sandy Fisette (73 MC)
5th Net - Marian Michnowicz (74)
6th Net - Diane Vieira (75)

First Flight Results - 43 competitors (handicaps 17.5 - 26.4)

1st Gross - Cindy Tulloch (94)
2nd Gross - Lorraine Pettola (95)
3rd Gross - Robin Schemansky (96)
4th Gross - Karen Debartolo (97 MC)
5th Gross - Sheridan Moore (97 MC)
6th Gross - Elaine Corris (99)
7th Gross - Barbara Depalo (100 MC)
8th Gross - Jenny Duffany (100 MC)

1st Net -  Donna Pauze (70)
2nd Net - Laurie Masciandaro (73 MC)
3rd Net - Carolee Joerman (73 MC)
4th Net - Suzanne Keyes (74)
5th Net - Janet Kalas (75)
6th Net - Marianne Roggemann (76 MC)
7th Net - Joy Brewster (76 MC)
8th Net - Fran Grant (76 MC)

Second Flight - 21 competitors (handicaps 26.5 - 40.4)

1st Gross - Norma Maclean (99)
2nd Gross - Alice Honcharik (104)
3rd Gross - Pat Archer (105)

1st Net - Kathy Davidson (71 MC)
2nd Net - Susan Seigars (71 MC)
3rd Net - Eileen Carleton (73)

Complete field results can be found on the SNEWGA website -  http://snewga.org/2011-seniors-results.pdf