Date: April 25, 2006

Issue #:12

The
Chronicling the play and behavior of the ATAG
Tour

CHAD’S SWAN SONG !

April 25, 2006
Ansley Tuesday Afternoon Golf Tour (ATAG)
By: Don Nichols

Another gorgeous day saw a more manageable size group of 20 players take on the back nine in
quest of the complimentary cold one and to offer best wishes to departing assistant pro Chad
Purgason . As they arrived, players were assembled into the following five teams:

Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4

Doug Gooding Russ Jobosn Tom Kisgen Marty Arnold
Tim Martin Frank Corrigan Doug Healy Brooks Cowles
Mike Gutt Richard Batelaan Craig Sellner DonNichols
Bill Meagher Guy Thomson Randy Knight* Chad Purgason
Score: -8 Score: -8 Score: -9 Score: -11

Team 5
Tom Player
Jimmy Matthew
Rick Eaton
Ron Majors
Score -11

*indicates visitor or not a member of the ATAG roster which is closed to new members

WILD CARD AND TIE BREAKERS SETTLE THE SCORE!

Prior to the match, it was announced that the team with the worst score would be able to
replace the score of one hole with the score of Chad Purgason on that hole. Team 1
used that wild card to their advantage by improving from 7 under to 8 under,
(fortunately they picked a hole that Chad managed to par--more on this later--putting
them in a tie with Team 2 for the right to provide the barley. Meanwhile, both Team 4
and Team 5 reported scores of 11 under, setting the stage for the first time this year for
Continued from above
the tie breaker method (best two ball score on the lowest handicap hole) to determine
both the purveyor and the consumer of the beverage of choice. Coming out victorious
was the team of Marty Arnold, Brooks Cowles, Don Nichols, and Chad Purgason
who were 1 under on the decisive # 16 compared to Team 5’s best ball score of even par.
(The winning Team 4 was especially proud that they never had to rely on any of Chad’s
scores--again, more on this later.) Having to pony up was Team 2 who made net par
compared to Team 1’s score of 1 under on the tie breaker hole.

MEAGHER WINS LOW GROSS ! REBOUNDS FROM LAST WEEK’S DEBACLE!

Bill Meagher returned to form after last week’s score of 43 to fire a resounding 37, topping
fellow single digiter Rick Eaton and assistant pro Chad Purgason (again, more on this later).
Meagher now joins Bernhardt and Kennon as co leaders in the clubhouse.

COWLES POSTS 5 UNDER NET! NEW LEADER IN THE CLUB HOUSE!

Brooks Cowles, a 22 handicapper, blew away the field in the net category by firing an impressive
42, for a net score of 5 under, making him the new leader in the clubhouse and automatically
on the Handicap Committee Watch List. At the other end of the spectrum, “Lucky Frank”
Corrigan reinforced the validity of his 24 handicap by posting the day’s high score of 54.

THOMSON HAS SHOT OF THE DAY!

Shot of the day went to 10 handicapper Guy Thomson who, on # 11, managed to finesse a 3-
wood 189 yards from the practice range onto the green pin high and then two putted to save par.
The shot worthy of mention originated from just in front of the plastic mats on the practice tee
where his tee ball ended up after dancing around in the concrete culvert. Honorable mention
went to Ron Majors who placed his approach shot on # 10 within 4 feet to make birdie, and to
Don Nichols who recovered from a disastrous tee shot into the trees on #18 by lofting his second
shot over the trap to land within 6 inches of the cup on the all-important, three ball counting last
hole.

BIRDIE CLUB ADMITS MORE NEW MEMBERS!

Richard Batelaan and Ron Majors joined the Birdie Club with birdies on # 10 and #13, and
Bill Meagher added two tweeters to his cumulative total of three, which ties him with C. J.
Young as co leader in the clubhouse.

OTHER TIDBITS
It was another beautiful evening on the porch as players discussed their rounds and told stories
and breathlessly waited for the outcome of the tie breaker results.

Henry Sawyer made a cameo appearance on the first tee but was unable to play due to a prior
commitment. Richard Gilmore showed up to play, but found there was no room left since all
slots in the five tee times had been already assigned, and all subsequent tee times had already
been booked by other Ansley Club members.
Continued from above
Mike Gaddis sat out this week’s match in protest of his not being recognized in last week’s
Nickelodeon for having been a co-winner of the low net award and for not getting credit for his
birdie on # 8. His appeal for a special e-mail correction was rejected by the Commissioner who
faulted his team’s score keeper (it was Gaddis himself) for not circling the birdies and putting the
handicaps by each player’s name. ( The Commissioner refuses to incur extra brain damage to
figure out each player’s score and instead relies on the score cards as presented.)

Team 3 was fined for slow play—this time by team members Tom Kisgen, Doug Healy, Craig
Sellner and Randy Knight-- after slowing down play on several holes, especially # 16, where
Tom Kisgen (imitating Henry Sawyer from the week before) stood in the dried up lake bed
contemplating his shot as the bell was ringing from the group ahead on # 17. (as someone later
remarked, if you are going to play slow, it is better not to be in the group that is in front of the
Commissioner, especially if he is suffering from a painful groin injury.)

Low Net Winner Brooks Cowles, downing more than one brewsky while humming the song
“For a Moment Like This”, shared stories with fellow ATAGers about the funeral home
business, inspiring Metro Marty and Tom Kisgen to tell a couple of morbid jokes about the
dearly departed. Apparently Cowles makes a living by buying and selling these parlors for the
dead, and is the man to contact if you need to rent a casket.

Russ Jobson earned the graces of the Chief Editor and the Commissioner by presenting plaintiff
Metro Marty Arnold the agreed upon glass of chardonnay on behalf of ATAG and the
Nickelodeon as settlement for the “trans sexual snafu”.

Richard Batelaan has proposed that ATAG matches be played from the new Chairmen’s tees
which would have a slope of 136 (vs 135) and would be from the gold tees on holes # 3, 4, 8, 9,
12, 17, and 18 and from the blues on all of the other holes. This matter will be brought before the
ATAG Supreme Council, but it is this writer’s opinion that only the single digit handicappers
(and Batelaan for suggesting it) should be required to play from these tee boxes.

Tim Martin revealed that he has quit drinking and smoking (well, at least on Tuesdays), causing
him to now leave earlier than usual and causing some to remark that they hope he surely does
eliminate the smoking part of the pledge.

And, finally, departing Assistant Pro Chad Purgason , either thinking of surfboards and/or
California girls, or perhaps just showing his gracious nature, played like a fellow mid
handicapper ATAGer with a 5 over round, making bogeys on #12, #16, and # 18, and a double
bogey on #13 when his tee shot took a direct bee line over the railroad tracks. The affable
Purgason was nonplussed about it, and enjoyed experiencing first hand the famed ATAG
camaraderie, as player after player made a point to personally wish him well. He never had to buy
a drink that night and was later treated to dinner by Rick Eaton and Jimmy Matthew, with the
latter ATAG regular making his debut appearance for the 2006 season.
Box Scores (back nine)
Meagher 37 M.Arnold 42 Gooding 46
Eaton 39 Majors 43 Healy 46
Batelaan 41 Jobson 44 Martin 47
Cowles 42 Gutt 44 Sellner 50
Nichols 42 Kisgen 44 Corrigan 54
Player 42 Knight 44
Thomson 42 Matthew 46