bumblepuppy

 

1. noun The game of nine-holes. from The Century Dictionary.

2. noun In whist, a manner of playing 'either in utter ignorance of all its known principles, or in defiance of them, or both'. from The Century Dictionary.

She was again and publicly invited up to the parlor, and she came, though she said, rather shortly, that she didn't play Five Hundred, but only bumblepuppy bridge, a variety of whist which which Mr. Wrenn instantly resolved to learn. Our Mr. Wrenn, the Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man

And, in performing this task of hers, she has developed a technique of politeness which is to the amateur's technique what the professional golf-player's style is to the form of the mere bumblepuppy. Walter Prichard Eaton, Penguin Persons & Peppermints

The origin of this word is unknown. However, 'bumble' is imitative in origin and influenced by 'bungle' and 'fumble.'

Wordnik Word of the Day for May 18, 2024

Watching Thursday coverage of Amen Corner

So many guys were bailing out right on #11, 

away from the water on the left of the green

that my wife and i started calling it "the sissy side".

Then came Sergio, so natch, he went right at the flag,

(I mean, HE HAS TO, don't he?)

and came up short into the water,

proving something-je-ne-sais-quoi . . . 

ACEs & EAGLEs as of 23-08-21

 

An Undocumented Ace

If you make a hole-in-one, but have no witnesses, does it count?

The short answer is “no”, according to the USGA.

The longer answer is “yes”, if you keep it to yourself . . . 

Scorecard from Harbor Lights GC, 23-08-21

Hole         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Par         4 4 4 5 3 3 4 4 5

Score 3 5 4 6 1 4 6 4 5

#5 is 127 yards, with a smallish green protected by bunkers 

both left and right. 

In between the right bunkers and the green  

that curls around the bunker

which is where the sucker pin was this day.

I’ve made more 5s on this short hole than 3s,

mainly due to the trough 

between those bunkers on the right 

and the green,

like an additional hazard,

a grass bunker, itself, almost, since it is so deep,

that catches any almost-errant shot 

and buries the ball in deep rough, or

throws it into a bunker.

So I hoped just to plonk the ball

into the center of the green 

and two-putt. 

I hit what I would call a half-8 iron

because either I’ve lost a club-length

due to my age, or else the ball just doesn’t carry

as far at sea-level.

The trajectory was medium,

with a fade that made me pessimistic

about being in the rough trough, again,

but the ball bounced straightish,

a little rightish, off the frog hair

toward the pin, 

but I didn’t see it go in –

I thought it had run off the back of the green,

to where I was trudging,

with only a perfunctory look into the hole,

but there it was.

I looked around,

but on Monday early afternoon,

the course was almost deserted.

So, that’s my 3rd hole-in-one,

depending on how you count   

Meanwhile: The Fed's Golf Gaffe - Taibbi

 Next in this parade of calamities: the scourge of inflation, a problem so serious that it touched him and his colleagues personally.

“One of our contacts, for instance, mentioned whopping membership fee increases at his golf club,” Harker said, “suggesting this summer may be a good time to play at your local muni instead.”

https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meanwhile-the-feds-golf-gaffe?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=email&s=r

Villa del Paz prevented Crime.

 The council in October rezoned the course, 18 holes just west of Loop 101 and south of Camelback Road in west Phoenix, to only allow it to be used for a golf course or open space. Before that, zoning would've allowed homes to be built on the land.

Residents living in the neighborhood around the course, who have been trying to preserve it for years, celebrated the decision. But the rezoning was against the will of the property owner, Virtua Partners, who had plans to build homes on the land. A legal battle now brews that will take time to resolve.

This doesn’t bode well for the neighborhood, since the crime there has been skyrocketing since the course closed in April 2018.

Violent crime has more than doubled in the one-mile radius around the course, increasing from 20 homicides, rapes, assaults and robberies in the first six months of 2018 to 45 in the first six months of 2020, according to The Arizona Republic's review of city crime data. Comparatively, citywide violent crime has increased by about 7% since then.

Councilwoman Betty Guardado says the course's closure has contributed to the increase in crime and the deterioration of the neighborhood since the vacant space is not monitored.

AZ Central

Therefore i propose, golf courses be built, simply as crime-prevention measures until there is no crime . . .  funds should be diverted from other areas, in fact to further this ambition.

I mean, Villa del Paz may be an uninspiring track, but even i had underestimated its power.

Election Day Plans

 On Tuesday, the leader of Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, was asked if Trump was headed her way, and what might be her message to him?

At her daily news briefing, Sturgeon said, “I have no idea what Donald Trump’s travel plans are, you’ll be glad to know.” Then she added, “I hope and expect that his immediate travel plan is to exit the White House, but beyond that I don’t know.”

Finally, Sturgeon warned Trump he might be breaking the law if he came: “We are not allowing people to come into Scotland now without an essential purpose, which would apply to him, just as it applies to everybody else. Coming to play golf is not what I would consider an essential purpose.”

Trump v. Scotland

on one hand, like so many other knee-jerks, i want to shout HUZZA! to the doubty Scots giving the finger to the Asshole-in-Chief,

but otoh, like how many others, i do not know, i didn't like the golf-bashing when Obama was president, and not now, either.

You have to remember even King James of Scotland made golf illegal. 

      but there was another time when it was more clearly banned. By decree of a Scottish King. Several Scottish Kings, in fact.

That’s right, way back in 1457(!), King James II was concerned his subjects weren’t practicing their archery enough during Scotland’s ongoing wars with England. Instead, ol “No-fun” James felt people were wasting too much time playing golf and football—AKA soccer to us ugly Americans. So he put a stop to those games by putting it in writing.

Golf Digest

so, like, Intemperate Irrationality is kinduva core trait of the Scots Ethos - I don't think that's controvertible, just is - so i am not surprised that some Scottish Virago has used circumstances in order to deliver a low-blow,

and goodness knows, the Scots have been edging back onto the world stage during the whole Brexit brouhaha, asserting their sovereignty, and good on 'em, is what i say, and well done for the snub to the First Cheater.

But as to the golf-bashing denigration as an in-essential activity, i will only submit this example for consideration:

from Wodehouse, an anecdote between The Oldest Living Member of the Club and a young man fallen into the ill-company of lawn bowlers:

When chastised, the young man replied "that bowls is a super game . . . why even when Drake heard the Spanish Armada had been spotted, he said 'We have time for one more game!'"

"If he had played Golf," the Oldest Living Member rejoins, "he never would have gone at all!"

If you see what I mean.

Friday, March 23, 2007

https://thekokopelligolfstance.blogspot.com/