It took longer than expected to get from the Grand Canyon to Arlington, Texas. We pulled in after dark on Wednesday night and found a campsite at the Arlington campground. It was the worst campground we've ever seen.

Stayed there for the night and headed for the course in the morning. We pulled in, warmed up and headed out to play the regular 18 hole course. The extra nine would be set up the next day to make a 27 hole course. As we walked out onto the first tee we met with the Veterans Park Open Tournament Director Kelly Hicks. He walked us through the first seven holes and answered our questions. Super nice guy.

We completed the loop and met up with Kenny Climo and some other golfers that had made the trip. Webmaster Brian Sullivan surprised us and pulled into town. He made the drive all the way from Michigan to take some pictures and visit his sister a bit further south in Beaumont.

Al and I shot together in the doubles later that day. We shot -11 on the 18 hole course and took second place to Joel Kelly and Justin Landers (1997 Rookie of the Year), who shot -12. Afterward we took off for the hotel where we would stay for the next 3 nights. It was expensive but beat the campgrounds.

Friday we shot the first round of 27 holes. Kenny led the pace after the first day with a -13. Al shot a -9 and I was -8. This put us in 5th and 7th place respectively. The first round finished at about 1pm.

Saturday’s round was played on a tougher setup. Al shot a -10 and tied Stokely for the best round of the day. I was -5 and moved up to 5th place.

Leaders after two rounds:

• Climo and Stokely tied at -21
• Schack at -19
• Russell at -16
• Branch at -13
• Sayre and Craig Leyva at -12
• Landers at -11
• Sinclair and Schultz at -9

Sunday morning came and many of the players (including Climo) were sick. Kenny had been up puking during the night and tossed his breakfast too. Stokely figured his moment had come, and he would finally beat Kenny due to his illness. Wrong.

Sunday’s course was set up to be VERY difficult. Many long tricky holes. Al, Scott, Kenny, and Russell all shot together on the top card. I was on top of the second card with another foursome.

Sick as he was, Kenny broke the course record with a -9. The guy is a machine. Stokely shot -6. Al was -1. Russell was +1. Myself, Sayre, and Craig Leyva at -12 all shot a +2. Barry Schultz shot a -5. Al was now 3rd, Barry made 5th. Russell was 6th and I was 7th. Sue shot a fine round on the big course (+18) and took 3rd behind Juliana and Elaine King.

Next up was the Millineum/Maceman $2000 skins. The four contenders (based on cumulative scores from Waco, Texas States and the VPO) were Stokely, Schultz, Russell, and Joel Kelly. Stokely won $800, Schultz won $1200. Russell and Kelly got blanked.

Al got $900 for 3rd and I won $400 for 7th. Sue got $150 for 3rd. All in all much better than the Vegas payout but with 29 fewer Open players.

After the awards ceremony we headed for St. Louis, planning on stopping at Dave McCormack’s grandparents to play the private course on their property in the Ozarks. We made it to the farm at about 1pm Monday afternoon. After shooting the course we spent the night on the property. It's Tuesday morning now and we're having coffee and getting ready to head to Dave's house about two hours north.

Dave showed up at about 9am to walk us around the Ozark course. He had just held a tournament on Sunday so the course was ready to play. Tough stuff! Many par 4 and 5 holes that require placement drives through tight woods. The three of us shot 69,70 and 71. Dave has the course listed as a par 70 for 18 holes.

After playing the course we headed to Dave’s house in St. Louis. Spent Wednesday doing laundry and cleaning out the Winnebago, which needed it. Wednesday night we went out on the town.

When we got back, Blue (Sue’s dog) had broken a screen out of the back window of the Winnie and gotten out. She was just laying in front of the Winnie waiting for us to get home. Al and Sue took her back inside and spent the night in the camper. I slept in the house and chatted with Dave about his golf discs and other finer points of life.

The next morning Al came in and told me that Blue had died in her sleep during the night. She was fairly old, but rough-housed with Hyzer and played every day. She didn't suffer at all. We are going to bury her in Dave’s backyard. Sue is pretty broken up. I know I would be upset if something happened to Hyzer. A dog is more than just mans best friend. They spend their lives as our companions. They are loved and trusted as much as any person we'll ever know. I only knew Blue for a few months but she had become a part of our little traveling family and I will miss her. I'm not a religious man and don't particularly believe in heaven and hell. I've met several people who aren't deserving of a joyous afterlife but I could never say the same for a faithful dog. Goodbye Blue. You were loved.

-Todd