Argonne69

Wow. Stepped outside to grab something from inside the Honda, and it's 95 degrees out there with a heat index of 105. Brutal Booked Reading Country Club for Saturday morning. Had to book through GolfNow as there were no early tee times on the course's booking engine. Hate to prepay, but the weather should be fine.

Uneventful two hour drive to Allentown today, minus the usual crummy Pennsylvania roads. I swear they can't seem to repair an expansion joint. It was actually 90 minutes of driving, but the check in time wasn't until 1 pm, so after filling Bessie's gas tank near the RV park I parked her in the station's parking lot for a half hour with the generator running to get some AC. Both ACs have been running for the past hour since arriving, and it's still 85 in here. Small but nice RV park 20 miles west of town. Usual uneven gravel site, but at least I have a clear view for the satellite. The current forecast for Friday looks crummy, so I might wind up taking the day off and playing Saturday and Sunday. No plans today. It's so hot that I'm just going to hang out inside. Plenty of time to hit the brewpubs over the next five days. I was considering a change to my route in late August that would have skipped Pittsburgh, Akron, and Columbus in favor of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, but there just don't seem to be many decent golf courses on the new route. I'll drive an hour south to play Stonewall Resort in West Virginia when I'm in Morgantown. Still trying to time my arrival in Cincinnati so that I can attend the LPGA tournament there in mid-September.

It's the middle of summer, and we're already at the final major of the year. Sigh. Lol. Can't disagree that Lottie is the favorite. Two wins and a T3 in her last three starts is quite the feat. Hopefully we get some British Open weather, but that it's fair to both the morning and afternoon waves. Note that coverage is on USA Network in addition to NBC.

Race to the CME Globe: 650 Points Format: 72 holes Purse: $9,500,000 Location: Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan, Wales Par: 72 Yardage: 6,580 yds History: This is the 32nd year for the event. In 2024, Lydia Ko shot a final round 69 to win by two strokes over Lilia Vu, Jiyai Shin, Nelly Korda and Ruoning Yin at the Old Course at St Andrews to claim her third major title. Coverage: Jul 31: USA Network 7:00 am - 2:00 pm (EDT) Aug 01: USA Network 7:00 am - 2:00 pm (EDT) Aug 02: USA Network 7:00 am - 12:00 pm (EDT) Aug 02: NBC 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm (EDT) Aug 03: USA Network 7:00 am - 12:00 pm (EDT) Aug 03: NBC 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm (EDT)

I'd kill for a little dry desert heat right now. Lol.

Lol. I'm a sucker for a good tripel. Didn't plan to stop for a brew today, but Victory Brewing's in Downingtown was on the way back to the RV park, so... the Golden Monkey never disappoints. The Downingtown facility is original Victory Brewing location.

Broad Run Golfer's Club, West Chester, PA (#11 Start. ?) Go or no-go on the par 5 1st Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/at1cdnh8nfr19xi7vhfaw/AOC01QQ13FLIvUqSlxq3Ufc?rlkey=exk4ydh8y533hfy3vts9i6gls&st=vlq55u3g&dl=0

Bah. I had an impressive stretch of 29 straight walking rounds broken today. Would have been a tough walk, but it was certainly walkable. Warm and humid, but teed off early before it got too miserable. Joined another single, and after playing through a foursome on our second hole, had clear sailing for the most part. Nice three hour round. Did the usual walking in from the fairway gig thanks to a great playing partner. Broad Run Golfer's Club today. Don't recall ever playing a "Golfer's Club" before. Lol. The very hilly parkland layout was designed by Rees Jones. Could have fooled me. 'Didn't realize it until I looked at the scorecard just now. Very little of his characteristic design elements, especially the greens. Fairway bunkering was light. Greenside was OK. Water in play one seven holes. Only two holes with gentle left/right movement. Homes lined a couple of holes, but overall it was nicely isolated out there. Fairly easy off the tee with the light bunkering and only a couple of short forced carries. A couple of holes would steal distance if you didn't clear the upslope. Minor misses would catch the rather penal rough. Big misses were big trouble. Zero room left/right. Approaches were fairly tough. Most holes seemed to be playing uphill or downhill, often from uneven lies. Greens had gentle contouring for a Rees Jones design. It sure wasn't Dubs. Up and downs were a mixed bag. Plenty of holes had little trouble short, and left a straightforward chip or Texas wedge. Missing pin high was a different matter. Uneven lies out of the thick rough. Par 3s were pretty good with just enough trouble to require one to think. The 17th with its elevated teebox was probably the best of the bunch. Variety of length was meh playing 9i to 5i. Other than the 1st, the par 5s were benign. Just not a lot of trouble. The short 1st was a gem, though. Reachable with a good drive, the elevated green was well protected with numerous front bunkers. Laying up was no picnic with a forced carry over a crossing creek to a shallow diagonal fairway. Nice. The pair of short 4s needed fangs. Conditions were decent. Rain yesterday left the fairways quite soft with several holes playing cart path only. Turf was in good shape for the most part. Sadly there were way too many unfilled divot holes. C'mon, if you hit a shot that launches a beaver pelt sized divot five yards from your one inch deep divot hole, please do everyone the favor of walking your lazy behind to pick up the beaver pelt and replace it, or at least grab the sand bottle off your cart and fill in the crater. I picked up a half dozen pelts today and found their holes. Sheesh. Rough was thick, but cut to a good height. Bunkers were mostly washed out, but still had enough sand to slip a sand wedge under. Greens weren't bad, but were sluggish in the early morning dew. Might have reached 10 late in the round. Played the Blue tees at 6380 yds (71.6/136). Better than average day ballstriking. Driver was solid. Irons were very good. The hybrid won a gold medal. Lol. Putter's speed control was spot on, but was cool on the ones you'd like to make. Two birdies, two bogies, and a double. Shot of the day was a hybrid on the par 4 6th that settled 4' from the cup. The same (choked down) hybrid also stuffed one close on the downhill par 3 17th. Highlight of the round was my local playing partner. We had a blast trading stories as we sailed around. Solid game for an old timer. Lol. Being stingy and going with 6 cows again. This Rees design looked great, but left me wanting from a design standpoint. Needs more bunkering, more contouring on the greens, and a short and long par 3. No drinking water on the course was annoying given that there was no beverage cart. The $70 senior weekday rate wasn't bad. Not a must play, but nits aside, it's worth a visit.

Hello, I love you, Won't you tell me your name? - The Doors

Lottie was ranked #62 in the Rolex coming into the tournament. 'Will be curious to see how many spots she moved up. Top 25?

A raw JWST image of Saturn that hasn't been fully processed. Image: JWST

Finished watching the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open while enjoying a nice Thundertaker. I think I'm becoming a bit of a fatalist. After several days driving these crazy narrow roads with blind curves and corners, I'm not going to meet my maker with a half case of good imperial stouts in the fridge. Lol. Booked an RV park near Cumberland for mid-August. The only RV park in the immediate area has no showers, so it looks like I'll be hauling the beer and cleaning supplies out of Bessie's shower. Book a round at Golden Oaks near Allentown for Friday. Gotta run out and close the cracked sunroof on the Honda. Looks like another storm on its way.

That was impressive. Averaging 5 under a round? It's not like she started the day with a six shot lead and had zero pressure. At least Hyo Joo showed up today and made it interesting. Lottie's week was outstanding, but when you throw in her play at the Irish Open and the Evian it's quite amazing. Big congrats and welcome to the professional ranks. Disappointed that she didn't get the traditional champagne shower for her first victory. Most celebrations are over the top, but surely a 1st win on tour deserves at least a bottle of water. Lol. Hyo Joo stumbled at the wrong time. Solid week, though. Nothing nice to say about Nanna. Complete meltdown. Even the commentators were complaining about her not being ready to hit after standing around in the fairway for over 5 minutes. Don't know why Sei Young can't string together four good rounds. A double on the easily reachable 18th was a shocker, and very costly. Nelly needs to join the L.A.B. Brigade. Nothing to lose at this point. Should be fine heading into next week's major. Julia has been impressive. Fun week. Move over, Rose, you have company.

Yes, a Mizz.1 Max.

Yes, I believe so.

Final stop on Train Day was at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Very nice indoor collection of steam engines, diesel locomotives, passenger cars, rolling stock, MOW vehicles, and model trains. Unfortunately the outdoor train yard was closed as it's being prepped for renovation. Bummer. From the highway it looked like it had a number of interesting pieces. Most of the collection is from the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Highlight was probably the rare electric streamlined GG1 that used to pull freight and passengers on the elecrified northeast corridor and Harrisburg branch. The EMD E9 was pretty sweet. It probably led the Broadway Limited from New York's Penn Station to Chicago's Union Station for decades. The EMD GP30 in Conrail colors looked to be in great condition. Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/uth01pya7mpro9nnj8b9s/AGn3DdcDGCdOuy3pn-EoKvE?rlkey=685fwu65dqp19m8uw06itjlc0&st=a9rw5n7d&dl=0

Definitely a train day. Lol. Sitting in the 1st class lounge car on the Strasburg Rail Road waiting to depart on a 45 minute ride through the countryside. I'll stop at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania across the street after the train ride.

Stumbled across the Red Caboose Motel adjacent to the museum. Looks like they have several dozen old cabooses that have been converted to motel rooms. Cool concept. Would have loved this as a kid. Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d8u8kmkbdw9l2wmzxb50d/AK6K-vhlDOi1lInoWD4yFW0?rlkey=9en605pnuaov6u7tj1mig1clw&st=k3iqe817&dl=0

Took an actual day off today. Started with a short visit to the National Toy Train Museum in Ronks. Mostly O scale given that Lionel is huge in the toy train community. Brought back happy childhood memories Always been a fan of the Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme. For years I lived in Chicago's South Loop near the old Dearborn Station. The station was the Chicago Terminal for Santa Fe's Super Chief and El Capitan trains to Los Angeles. Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eg9c5donccnq9ojmg7gfp/AIEP32PvC0kWa0VISsdjk8I?rlkey=q76qx93tuw60x3u1qp8ypi83g&st=jjby94q5&dl=0

Well, Nelly's charge sure came to a crashing halt. 'Needs a new putter.

Sei Young heading in the wrong direction. Hmmmm.

Nelly with a fast start. 'Could get interesting...

Is Nanna taking ready-golf lessons from Carlota? Sheesh.

You gotta love Scotland in late July.

Lottie kept her foot on the gas, but so did Sei Young, Nanna, and Hyo Joo. Going to be a tight finish tomorrow. Nelly still has a chance I guess, but she'll need a 63 and a whole lotta carnage behind her.