Welcome back, Dear Reader, to another monthly installment of Fore. I just want to reassure my devoted followers that, even though I am under new management, I promise to continue with my hard hitting investigative reporting style you’ve come to expect from me. I will still expose the soft underbelly of the world of golf no matter what pressures are brought to beat. To be fair, the new guy has been polite, friendly and professional, but when you deal with as much controversy as I do you always have to be prepared to make a stand. So, Dear Reader, I will remain your staunch advocate forever. Until they tell me I have to change, at which time I will perform my groveling defiance. With a little begging and crying thrown in.

And now, as a little change of pace, I am actually going to talk about local golf. Great news at the course…they have opened Mallards, our beloved bar and grill right by the pro shop. Not only is it air conditioned inside seating but the outside seating on the grass is the most beautiful in the area. It was the best kept secret on the mountain until now, but you all know by now that I can’t keep a secret from you, my readership. The course is almost ready to open the Foxglove nine, so get your clubs and hit the links.
In Mount Hood Golf Club news, the Men and Women are up and running. The Men have an eighteen holer on Tuesdays and a nine hole event on Thursday. The Women have eighteen hole and nine hole groups that go out on Wednesday, and I heard a rumor that they are thinking about adding something on Thursday as well. The first big holiday event is coming up on Memorial weekend with a two day tourney on Saturday and Sunday. It will be a ton of fun if the weather holds.

And speaking of the weather, when was the last time we had a normal spring? It seems to go from a cold and wet winter to a tepid and wet spring, and then...Bam…summer heat. A friend asked me to play a two-man scramble in mid-May at Sahalee. I know they don’t have carts there so I was prepared to strap on the sticks and walk. What I wasn’t prepared for was a three and a half hour trudge in 88 degree heat! By the twelfth hole I thought I was on the Bataan death march. I would have swooned but I had enough trouble without having to be carried off the course. At one point I thought I saw a caravan of camels in the shimmering haze. But like any French Legionnaire, I preserved. Not without some intense complaining though. Nuff said.

In closing, I have a hole-in-one to report. Dave Ater hit one on number five Thistle from the blue tees with a four wood. Congratulations, Brother, and welcome to the club. We are the few and the proud. That’s all, folks, so go play and remember when you do to “Hit ‘Em Straight.”