Golfing in Aberdeen: Where the Mosquitoes Carry Your Clubs. by "Bad To The Bone" David Liem

Dean Shortridge Club Pro

Okay, thanks to my parents, I started playing golf in the 5th grade at the old Country Club in Aberdeen SD. I played through high school, mostly with my best friends, Ken Koch and Don Walters. To put it simply, I SUCKED at golf.   I should have taken lessons from Dean Shortridge, the club Pro.  Meanwhile, my friends Rich Vining, Doug Deibert, Guy Walkingstick and Rick Davies, all Shortridge disciples, were scoring in the 70's, I was scoring in the 90's (editor's comment: 90's, Likely in the 100's).

Remember golfing in "The Gloaming" where the mosquitoes literally lifted our golf clubs out of our hands. I remember hitting a golf ball out of the rough and nailing a pheasant on the fly. It was hot and humid and I was sweating like Al Sharpton at a Klan rally. The best golfing comment I ever heard was from Doug Deibert who said the 2 best balls he hit all day was when he stepped on a rake in a sand bunker.

The Old Aberdeen Country Club Clubhouse

Public Golf Course Aberdeen SD

 FYI, we described the old Aberdeen Country Club and Lee Park courses as goat ranches. I'm not saying, but you know what I'm saying, just saying.

Fearsome Foursome: L-R, Curly, Moe, Larry, David

In searching for knowledge and understanding about the game of golf, I turned to three close friends of mine, from whom I have received the guidance and direction that has made me the player I am today.  Incidentally, we happen to share the same sense of wit, humor, wisdom and esprit de corps.  Soitenly!

Golf Defined

• Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
• "I wish I could play my normal game....just once."
• If you do find that you do not mind playing golf in the rain, the snow, even during a hurricane, here's a valuable tip: Your life is in trouble.
• The term "mulligan" is really a contraction of the phrase "maul-it-again."
• A "gimme" can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers...neither of whom can putt very well.
• An interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse.
• Golf's a hard game to figure. One day you'll go out and slice it and shank it, hit into all the traps and miss every green. The next day you go out and for no reason at all you really stink.
• If your best shots are the practice swing and the "gimme putt", you might want to reconsider this game.
• Golf is like marriage: If you take yourself too seriously it won't work....and both are expensive.
• To some golfers, the greatest handicap is the ability to add correctly.
• In golf, some people tend to get confused with all the numbers...they shoot a "six", yell "fore" and write "five".
• Golf! You hit down to make the ball go up. You swing left and the ball goes right. The lowest score wins. And on top of that, the winner buys the drinks. I'm not saying, but you know what I'm saying, just saying.

Classmate Passing; History of New Group; and Remembrances

We've got a lot to tell you since our newsletter last month. Many classmates have weighed in with memories. View this email in your browser Classmate Rick Davies Passes Away Rick was an active and popular class leader at Central, a distinguished student and alumnus of the University of South Dakota, an avid golfer his entire life, and a successful businessman who played an important role in the development of broadband Internet in the nation. He died at St. Simons Island, Georgia, on July 27, 2016. Read his entire obituary here... Read Rory King's, 'As We View Mortality, Expanding the Meaning of Success. A Little Help From Words We Used To Know Mary Stephenson Koury remembers the class and its reunion in familiar song lyrics and titles in this creative blog post. An Old History of "The New Group," Musicians of '66 The Group, The New Group (and possibly The New, New Group) was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band was made up almost entirely of members of the Class of '66. Read the history of the band, including a video link, from its roots at Monroe Junior HIgh School, through Central and into college... Fond Memories of Moccasin Creek, Skating, Fishing and ? We all spent hours down on "The Mog," summers fishing and wading, and winters ice skating at Anderson Recreation Center. David Liem remembers it as "The Worst Creek in Amercia." Memories of Richmond Lake Summers Carole Tonigan takes us back to the cabins and lifestyles of summer life at one of Aberdeen's two favorite lakes... Read Rory King's thanks to Carole for introducing him to his lifelong love of Richmond Lake. Hello, Classmates, From Mike Baldridge Mike Baldridge looks back on his early move to Aberdeen, his first siting of Jan Gesinger, his first and second successful careers, his many classmates and his move to Arizona. High School Summers Were Not Idyllic For Paul Schneider While most of us were spending laid-back summers at the lake during high school, Paul was learning all the things his mother said were bad. An Early History of Transportation in Aberdeen You all remember the trolley cars in Aberdeen. Here's a little history about the early days of your hometown and how people got around. Rory King's Take on The Great Reunion of 2016 Many attendees thought it was the best reunion we've had. Rory King agrees, and in this post he tells why he thinks so... Help Us Find These Classmates We are trying to locate classmates we've lost touch with. If you can help us contact Rudy Martin, Tim Sexton, Joe Schmidt, Vicki Poe Fossum or Marshall Webber, please email us: aberdeenclassof66reunion@gmail.com Trust Us When We say, 'When Carole Calls, You Just Have to Say Yes' By Rick Albrecht and Rochelle (Brack) Albrecht One of the neatest parts about our 50th was seeing how good everyone looked (for 50 additional years tacked on) and how many have stayed in Aberdeen and helped it grow as a community. Carole asked us to write about our reactions to the 50-Year Reunion. Read what we wrote here ... A class of ‘66 Website, a Blog of articles and photos, a YouTube video channel, a Facebook page and this E-Newsletter. If you haven’t already, start by subscribing to this class newsletter by clicking on the button just below. If you'd like to write about your life, your career, an important moment in your life, your classmates, or a teacher who affected you in a meaningful way, please write us at: aberdeenclassof66reunion@gmail.com. If you want to subscribe to this email, click on the orange "subscribe" button below. We have a lot of previous posts about the Class of 66, our 50-Year Reunion and Aberdeen in our time. Read them all on our blog by clicking here and checking out the headlines on the right side of the blog. ... Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*