Video: Flyover Of Raveneaux Country Club Post Rain Event

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Thanks to Tom Kirkendall for the sobering and shocking drone footage shot above Houston's Raveneaux Golf Club following April 18th's 17-inches of rain event.

The course sits on the other side of the Cypress Creek from Champions Golf Club. I think I speak for all of you that our thoughts are with all of the people and critters trying to manage this awful situation. Seven have died, billions done in damage and more rain is expected.

The flyover:

30 For 30 Short: "His clubs are used. His golf balls are milk cartons. His course is Manhattan."

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The pitch was promising, the execution solid though I'm not sure I really sensed how golf saved the life of Patrick Q.F. Barr in this 30 for 30 Short.

In the first of several shorts to be released by ESPN in the next few weeks, director Christopher Andre’ Marks tells the story of “Tiger Hood” and a Barr finding new purpose in life through his makeshift Manhattan golf. He hearkens a bit to old featherie makers, only his medium: old milk cartons.

There are worse ways to lose 7 minutes of your life you'll never get back...though I'd say Gene Wojciechowski's report from Korea on Sang Moon Bae is a better watch.

Trashed: Don't You Dare Do This After Your Awful Round...

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Geezers Rule: Back(84)-To-Back(79) Aces!

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The Daily Journal's Dennis Yohnka reports that Joe McCourt and Don Sawyer made back to back aces in front of a third witness.

The freak occurrence came at Illinois' Manteno Golf Club in front of Lee Hahn. They were playing the 135-yard 5th.

"Joe hit first and it looked like it went screaming over the green, but we couldn't see it too good. Don hit next and it looked like he went past the green, too. Then, I shot and I was feeling pretty good: My shot landed about 10 feet from the cup," Hahn said.

McCourt and Sawyer were in the same cart and they headed straight for the area behind the green, looking for what they assumed were less-than-ideal tee shots. McCourt had used a seven wood, but didn't get much loft. Sawyer used a three iron.

"I couldn't find anything back there, so I was walking back toward the hole and looked in," McCourt said. "I saw the two balls in there. The logos on the balls were facing straight up. I knew they were ours. But I didn't take them out. I wanted the other guys to see them."

Glenn Frey The Golfer

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Tim Rosaforte reviews the life of Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, who passed away last week after a long bout with various cruel diseases.

Frey was very active in the west coast swing pro-ams and at several west coast clubs, including Bel-Air and The Madison Club.

Rosaforte writes:

Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade befriended Frey by playing in the singer’s pro-am in Aspen, Colo. As a return favor, Frey provided entertainment at their charity event every summer in Rhode Island. “Glenn would always say, ‘Ever see me at the piano, I’ve had too much to drink,’ ” Faxon said. “Inevitably he’d be at the piano singing with Joe Pesci.”

Above the desk in Faxon’s office is a photograph of Frey as his caddie in overalls at the Masters Par-3 Contest. Faxon remembers asking Frey why he didn’t start playing golf until the 1990s. “I had to wait,” Frey joked, “until the clothes got better.”

Rosaforte also reminds us that in 2002's Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Frey "made enough net birdies to win the inaugural Jack Lemmon Award, given to the amateur that helped his pro the most, aiding Stadler 31 shots over 72 holes."

On the charitable side, Dale Strode writes about Frey's fondness for Aspen Junior Golf and his willingness to call in a favor with Tiger Woods.

At the height of his golfing glory, Tiger Woods made a pair of visits to Aspen to fulfill a promise he had made to Glenn Frey.

“Tiger was in his prime then. That was a major coup,” Rohrbaugh said. “Everyone wanted a piece of him. But for us, it was huge.”

Woods’ presence alone raised $400,000 in two years for the charities as benefactors bid to play a round with Tiger Woods in Aspen.

"Once-popular golf course falls victim to controversial border wall, drug cartel battles"

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Thanks to reader Daniel for this sadder-than-normal golf course closure story from Brownsville, Texas, where the historic Fort Brown Memorial has been closed in what its owner Robert Lucio says is a product of the border debate, drug cartel battles in Mexico and a temporary fence installed across the Rio Grande Valley.

Aaron Nelsen reports.

Yet the demise of Lucio’s business is seen by observers as a poignant reminder of the enduring effect the fence has had on border communities, especially as leading Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has rekindled the contentious debate with his proposal to continue building a wall along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

“I think it’s really unfortunate that the community’s recreational spaces were sacrificed for a symbolic effort to look tough on immigration,” said Denise Gilman, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and a member of the UT Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall. “It takes its toll on people’s psyche.”

Laid on the ruins of Fort Brown, the 6,000-yard, 165-acre course debuted in the 1950s as a reasonably priced alternative to the Brownsville country club. It quickly became the training ground for generations of Brownsville golfers, including Lucio, and home to the Pan American Golf Association, which promoted the sport in the impoverished and predominantly Hispanic community.

Nine Days Of Christmas: Buy A Book From Peter Yagi For 20% Off

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To recap, so far we've had deals on between Seamus, Johnnie-O, St Andrews, Lululemon pants, Wybranski major art, Photobucket printing to canvas for your golf pics, Mack Daddy wedges and Sun Mountain's travel cover glider.

Our year-end nine hole round concludes with no specific gift you can buy yourself, but instead, an introduction to one of the few trusted golf booksellers left: Peter Yagi Golf Books. His catalog must be requested by email (pete@moneytolend.com) or via his mailing list for those who enjoy receiving Peter's twice-a-year printed catalog by mail.

As a courtesy to GeoffShackelford.com readers, Peter is extending his After-Christmas 20% off sale a little early, so email him now for the catalog and buy yourself a classy addition to the shelves in the form of a great golf book. Oh sure you're relatives might have spotted one of these...but I doubt it.

Just a few that caught my eye on Peter's current list, which includes a strong collection of Darwins. Merry Christmas!

13)AITCHISON, THOMAS S., LORIMER, GEORGE.  Reminiscences of the Old Bruntsfield Links Golf Club.   1866-1874.  1902, printed for private circulation.  Contains some of their Lays (poems) and early golf history.  $995

61)BAHTO, GEORGE.  The Evangelist of Golf.  The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald.  2002.  Fine, DJ.  Bahto inscribed.  MacDonald article laid in.  A spectacular book, quickly has become extremely collectible and scarce.  $495

167)BOLT, TOMMY.  How to Keep Your Temper on the Golf Course.  1969.  VG, DJ.  By ‘Tempestuous Tommy’.  $20

335)COREN, ALAN.  Golfing for Cats.  1975.  VG, DJ.  Has the notorious swastika jacket.  $45

414)DARWIN, BERNARD.  Every Idle Dream.  1948.  VG, owner plate.  $15  And 1948.  VG, DJ edge wear.  $25

490)DOBEREINER, PETER.  Dobereiner on Golf…and more.  Foreword Seve Ballesteros. 1998.  Fine, DJ. Posthumous print.  $20

528)DYE, PETE.  Bury Me in a Pot Bunker.  Foreword Greg Norman.  1995.  Fine, DJ.  Inscribed by Dye.  $45

608)FINEGAN, JAMES W.  Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens. Pilgrimage Courses of Scotland.  1996.  VG, DJ. JF signed. $30

834)HARRIS, ROBERT.  Sixty Years of Golf.  1953.  VG, DJ.  Top Scottish amateur reflections. Ross Goodner signed. $65

957)HUTCHINSON, HORACE G.  Fifty Years of Golf.  Intro Peter Ryde. 1919, 1985, USGA.  Fine, slipcase.  $45

1007)JOHNSTON, ALASTAIR J, JOHNSTON, JAMES F.  The Chronicles of Golf: 1457 to 1857.  1993.  Fine, DJ, pictorial label slipcase.  Numbered limited edition of 900, signed by authors.  An instant classic, important reference of the early history. $795

1208)LOW, JOHN L.  F.G. Tait a Record.  Being his Life, Letters, and Golfing Diary.  1901.  VG, gilt dec cover, stunning!  $245

1232)MACKENZIE, ALISTER J.  The Spirit of St. Andrews.  The Lost Manuscript.  Foreword Bobby Jones.  1995.  VG, DJ.  $20  And 1995.  Fine, leather, padded clamshell case.  Numbered limited edition of 1500.  Has additional photos, text, gorgeous.  $295

1400)MURDOCH, JOSEPH S.F.  The Library of Golf.  1743-1966 revised, 1967-1977 added.  1978.  VG, PB, lots of pen and brio marks as owner noted books he owned, still very scarce.  Numbered limited edition 13 of only 150. With clean photocopy.  $95

1634)PRICE, CHARLES.  The World of Golf.  A Panorama of Six Centuries of the Game’s History.  Foreword by Bobby Jones.  One of the game’s premier reading histories. 1962.  VG, DJ.  $25

1965)STOWERS, CARLTON.  The Unsinkable Titanic Thompson.  A Gold Ole Boy Who Became a World Super Star Gambler and Hustler.  1982.  Fine, DJ.   $145

2011)THOMAS, GEORGE C.  Golf Architecture in America.  Its Strategy and Construction.  1927.  VG, dec cover.  $495  And 1927, 1997.  Fine, DJ.  Faithful reprint, excellent!  $145

2061)TUFTS, RICHARD S.  The Principles Behind the Rules of Golf.  1960, 2000.  Fine.  $25  And1960.  VG, DJ.  $245  Also 1960, 1989 USGA.  Intro by P.J. Boatwright, Jr.  Fine, slipcase, owner label.  Limited edition of 1500.  $125

2194)WETHERED, H.N. SIMPSON, T.  Design for Golf.  Preface J.C. Squire.  1929, 1952.  VG.  ‘Architectural Side’ reprint.  $65

2235)WIND, HERBERT WARREN.  An Introduction to the Literature of Golf.  1996.  Fine.  37 forewords to CG.  $25

2260)WODEHOUSE, P.G.  The Heart of a Goof.  1926, 4th.  VG, dec cover, some fade, facsimile DJ.  $45

Nine Days Of Christmas: Sun Mountain's Club Glider

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First World Problem Alert!!!

So far my suggested holiday gift items that you'll never receive from relatives have been kept at a fairly sane price tag, unless you consider $150 books, $98 pants (but before 25% FARANDSURE discount!) and $128 polyester-ish pants expensive (they are, but both are worth it).

For the second-to-last product that I enjoyed this year, we go up the price ladder a bit with Sun Mountain's Club Glider Travel Bag. Granted, as more folks use Luggage Forward and Ship Sticks, a travel cover doesn't seem like a priority any longer. But knowing how fragile clubs can be, you can never be too safe.

That said, after years of my R2D2-inspired Sun Mountain droid of a travel bag--which thankfully protected my clubs every time they traveled--it was time for an updated travel cover after a wheel finally came off during what was undoubtedly an unusually rough journey. After just one trip using the Sun Mountain "glider" I'm all in (I also bought their suitcase with the same glider wheels and loved it).

The glider is a simple metal bar you push down and pull out, propping your bag up to that you eliminate bending over to pick up the bag and even better, for the times you have a couple of bags and are dragging the clubs along. With the stand down, you simply glide now instead of strain pulling the clubs. First world issues extraordinaire, I grant you, but the difference when you go through the misery of baggage claim, car rental, etc... is significant. Oh and the bag is well-constructed with thick canvas, plenty of padding around clubheads, shoe pockets and Sun Mountain's solid warranty.

One last thing: keep the box if you buy one. The bag folds up very nicely into a small, easily storeable package.

Edwin Watts has a few left of the popular seller here. They also have some nice deals on shipping.

Merry Christmas!