CyberZahm

Albert organized a great mini-reunion hosted at his home in Hampton Bays, Long Island and centered around the nearby US Open at Shinnecock Hills. Albert, wife Florence, Fox, Jack, Mags, and Sobo, with special guest appearances by Guy (brother), Larry (brother-in-law), and Blair (friend) all enjoyed mostly good weather, always good beverages and company, easy access to the Open, nice local courses, restaurants, wineries, beaches and more. All in all a fantastic get together.

The notes below are mostly Sobo's, created during his Saturday afternoon wait at the Islip airport. I've sprinkled in some commentary from the rest of us throughout as I deemed appropriate, with mine in [brackets] and others labeled. Everyone donated photos.

Fox

Diary

So I'm sitting in the Islip Airport, watching Phil take a whack at a putt that was still moving, and take a ten. And I'm thinking "Wow!! What a great few days here in Long Island. How lucky are we all to have friendships like this that stand the test of time."

Phil laughing as Al says "nice shot!".

I'm calling it DanzaFest for two reasons: 1) to distinguish it from my last trip out to Long Island at Al's parent's compound, and 2) to remember what a gracious hostess Florence was, and the feast she prepared for us Friday night.

The days are running together, but here are a few things running through my feeble brain:

Tuesday - An all day trip for me. Even though I had a three hour layover in Baltimore, it was a nice way to catch up on a few odds and ends. Jack graciously offered to pick me up at the Islip Airport, and we had a chance to catch up during the 40 minute drive out to Hampton Bays. Upon arriving at Al's abode, we caught up with Fox, who had already gotten into Al's beer cooler after he and Al played a quick 9 holes at Cherry Creek. [Al and I planned to play 9 holes, the back 9 it turned out, so we set up two 4-hole matches. We split. Al says "ok, last hole tie-breaker". I looked ... it was 612 freaking yards long ... a par 6!! I said "no" but eventually gave in .. and lost of course, I mean a hole that long and I forget what game I am playing before I finish.]

The house tour made it obvious why Al and Florence picked this home: it is perfect for entertaining, and they are masters at it. Plenty of bedrooms, a great backyard/patio/pool/hot tub/outdoor tv/grill and everything a person could imagine. After a quick cocktail, we went into town for dinner at a terrific Italian bistro. Great food, and portions large enough that Florence brought all the dessert cookies home for us to nibble on the next day. When we got back, we adjourned to the outdoor patio for what became a nightly ritual of conversations and cocktails into the night hours.

Wednesday - I must admit, Albert would make a wonderful wife. Either that, or he should turn the place into a B&B and be the Executive Chef. Before we got up, he had already gone to the local bagel shop for fresh bagels, and then proceeded to make a breakfast of eggs, Canadian bacon, juice and coffee.

I think we could have been persuaded to stay the morning at Chateau Danza, but Shinnecock Hills awaited, so Al, ferried Fox, Jack, and me to the course so we could scope it out during the practice round. Television doesn't do the course justice. Very hilly, tough to walk, but we got an idea of what the pros would face that week. It was a good idea, but a slight mist turned into a heavy rain about two hours in, so we hit the souvenir tent and then called Al for a ride back. As Murphy would expect, by the time we were leaving, the rain had stopped, but it was time to go back to base camp to get ready for an afternoon round of golf at Cherry Creek, one of Al's regular courses.

By then Mags had arrived, and after helping ourselves to the delicious deli lunch Al set out we headed to the course. Cherry Creek is a nice, sporty course, but the drizzle we had for the first several holes made a juicy rough play even harder. We caught up with bro-in-law Larry at the course to fill out two threesomes, and then hacked our way around the course for the next few hours. The handicaps Al assigned turned out to be highly accurate relative to everyone's score, even though we all played several shots worse than projected. The multiple wagers were a bit more difficult to calculate, but hopefully Jack and Mags have settled with everyone.

Back to the house, cocktails (do you see a pattern emerging?), a quick dip in the hot tub to relax, and then a mixed grill feast that could have fed a small army. Al broke out the good reds, and after dinner we again retired out to the outdoor patio to recreate the day and hear how depressing it is to be a Mets fan. The wine turned into manhattans and scotch, so I will leave the conversation to your imagination. Let's just say a good time was had by all.

(Al has this to add about the evenings poolside: I dropped off for a snooze on the patio with a lit cigar on Tues night.... and Larry pretty much did the same the next night with a cigar and his third (or was it his fourth?) martini. [I was very impressed with how patient Larry was listening to our boring stories apparently with rapt attention! Not sure what was going through his head of course.] Mags thought he was a kid again.... and he was mixing beer, bourbon and gin thru one evening. [I believe it was Tuesday and Wednesday Mags declared "I'm not drinking much today" hehe].

Sobo was enjoying some R&R in the hot tub after some cocktails... in fact, he brought one in with him as well... and as he shouts out across the backyard to me something along the lines of: "This is all I need, Babs, you can call off the Hookers", Florence was in the house... in the bedroom, with an open window which faces the hot tub, and could hear everything. No worries, Gary.... she just saw it as a bunch of old guys back in the dorm once again. )

Thursday - As you might imagine, people were moving a bit slow for breakfast. But don't kid yourself - steak and eggs can make anyone come alive, so after a good meal (pick up on another trend?) Al dropped Fox, Mags, Jack, and me off at the Open.

We knew the wind was blowing, but I don't think anyone expected the carnage we saw that day. Several times we looked at each other, thinking "I could hit THAT shot", and Shinnecock had the world's best players completed baffled. [Just for the record, I never once thought that!! In fact there were a few holes (9 and 18) that I think I would still be playing had I started that day, if not for my famous "double par" rule.]

We were there for almost five hours, and saw two- repeat TWO- birdies the entire day. [It felt like someone played a REALLY good hole if they made par.] The average score was almost seven strokes over par, and some poor schmuck was +22.

And as I said, it is a tough course to walk, with not much in the way of grandstands, so by the end of the day we were all dragging. Despite that, we stood on number 3 for almost an hour [I sat on ground -- dehydrated - still looking for the hydration station I was promised], and caught Fleetwood, Molinari, Rahm, DJ, and Tiger come through. Tiger and DJ played with Justin Thomas, and the mass of humanity walking around with that group made us feel smart that we had gotten ahead of them and could actually see what was going on. After that group putted out we hightailed it back to the exit where Al picked us up and then gave us a nice tour of the countryside. [Some amazing mansions]

We stopped at a beach so Mags [and Fox] could put his feet in the ocean ...

and we all enjoyed the local scenery [have to look between Al and Jack ha! Fact is the talent on this sparsely populated beach was better than it was at the Open -- stupid wind]. The beach was pretty, too.

Fox bought us a round at a local watering hole [I think I was suffering from sun poison],

and then we headed back to Al's for (guess what?) cocktails, another dip in the hot tub, and some R&R.

Recovery was in order, as Florence was joining us for a lovely dinner at Cowfish [see first photo at top of page], a seafood restaurant on the water with a spectacular patio bar and a few cougars who took a liking to Fox [the one really was hitting on me I'll tell you about it sometime -- if you ask and I remember -- later at the same place Jack tried to convince me I should read and reflect on the gospels -- if the lady had been as persistent as Jack, I might still be on LI (just kidding!)]

Another wonderful meal, and with some of us fading fast, we headed home. Shortly after we made it back Guy showed up, and the party picked back up again. I, however, needed some sleep, so I will leave it to someone else to let us know which of the world's problems were solved that night.

[We solved most of the world's problems but the details are hazy and no one took notes.]

Friday - Jack departs early, as he has to get to Louisville for a wedding. Al heads to Shinnecock with Guy,

[holy crap Al, look at all that paraphernalia, I'm surprised they let you in.]

and Mags, Fox and I set out for a course called Great Rock. Beautiful course, and we play a Fox-inspired version of skins, which is a combination of match play, medal play, handicaps, and double pars. Ask him about it because I'm not sure I can describe it. We all suck the front side, but then Fox and I start getting it together the back side. I win three skins out of four to start, and feeling good, offer a press to the other boys so it would be two against one. Fox then plays his best five holes [I was just waiting for the press] so they kick my ass, but I manage to hang on in the first bet so it all ends up in a push. The highlight was par four #11 where I hit my best drive of the day, and then a sand wedge in the hole for an eagle. Simply indescribable.

[Let me fill in the gap by describing Sobo's "indescribable" shot for eagle ... short wedge to a relatively flat open green, slanting a little left to right. Sobo sets up, swings, the ball flies up in the air and he promptly shouts out a sarcastic "Great shot!" as the ball is on a high arch headed towards the left sandtrap 20 yards from the pin ... he watches it hit the side of the trap and turns away in disgust walking back to the cart ... next thing we know the ball is rolling across the green heading straight to the pin .. Mags yells out "its rolling towards the pin" ... I yell out "its still rolling" .. and Sobo is oblivious - he sees none of this .. Mags yells "it hit the pin you lucky bastard" and when we arrive at the green I have to tell Sobo three times that yes the ball wedged between the pin and the side of the cup is his.]

[During the round Jimmy says to me "these big rocks are not from around here" and I have images of the course designers trucking in these huge mammoth rocks from somewhere to "pretty up" the course. I ask "where are they from" and Mags says "well glaciers carried them here from the northeast, Maine or Canada" ... say what? "how long they been here?" ... "over 20,000 years" .. "then they ARE from here!!!" .. geologists sheesh.]

(Mags' statement about Gary's recap and the golf on Friday: Yes, this is a great summary of a wonderful week in Hampton Bays. The company, food, and golf activities were great. Hanging out at Al's little villa with the gang was the highlight. Great storytelling, especially by Guy and Al's buddy Blair. As to our golf rounds, we played two nice courses; loved the Great Rock course with the big glacial erratics dispersed around the hilly terrain. Those rocks are "from away" as they say in Maine. My golf game was away too. You heard the saying "no matter how bad you are playing, there's always a guy playing worse on the course"; well I was that guy! [It wasn't that bad .. I think he was distracted cause some of those rocks moved a few millimeters more south during his backswing]. )

After the round, we go to a little cafe (the Sound Bistro) down the street Al recommended for a great lunch served by a comely young wench who played hoops at her local college (LIU/C.W. Post). We told her we were visiting and wanted to hit a few of the local breweries/wineries, so we took her suggestion and headed down the road.

First stop was a farm brewery, which means they grow their own hops and barley. We had a quick taste, and then headed out to three different vineyards. [Saw a great sign at the farm brewery, one of those small tin signs you can hang in your den: "I only drink to make you seem interesting" - really struck me as funny!] We each bought flights at the first one (Martha Clara, recommended by the comely young wench), and then impressed ourselves and absolutely no one else with our expert commentary. But we did enjoy ourselves, especially when the barmaid told us their rose had a tendency to induce girls to take off their pants. Unfortunately, that was not on the sample list, so we headed down the road to an Al recommendation named Macari's. After some small talk - and a glass of Chardonnay for Fox [since I was driving I was the only one who bought a glass at this place] - we headed to our last stop, Jamesport Vineyard, another of Al's suggestions. When we got there, the barkeep promptly told us he was closing in 20 minutes, and then took pity on us, pouring samples of their two most popular vintages. They were tasty to the point Mags took home one of each. [All four of the places we stopped at were very "cool", with a lot of space to move around in and interesting things to look at while sampling.]

Then we ambled back to Al's for (guess what?) cocktails on the patio. Shortly after we got there one of AL's NetApp buddies arrived from DC. He proceeded to regal us with some great stories about golf, including those he experienced as a member of Trump National [the one near DC].

While we were relaxing, Florence was preparing an Italian feast- pasta, sausage, gravy, bread, and her famous meatballs. With copious amounts of wine, we were like the fatted calves by the end of the meal. [Without a doubt this was better Italian dinner than the one I had at the "fancy" Italian bistro we went to Tuesday night. Kudos to Florence.]

And then, guess what? Out to the patio for wine, cigars, good conversation, and general camaraderie. A good night was had by all. [I finally tried the hot tub with massage jets on Saturday ... OMG!!! Although I think I kinda freaked Sobo out a little bit when I turned to him in the tub after about 3 minutes and said "wow, it's starting to tickle my junk". What? It was! ].

(Al adds: it is worth mentioning that I egged Guy on that night to once again tell his famous story. His brush with a star.... and the evening that he performed on Caesar's Palace stage with his heartthrob, Shania Twain. Andy knows the story well.... and it never disappoints a new audience. Blair, Fox and Mags were all duly impressed.)

[I've actually heard it several times before but Guy, as always, makes you smile and enjoy life ... am always glad to see him. The story involves the time he was at a Shania Twain show in Vegas (I think) and ended up being invited up on stage. Not sure how he ended up on stage but she asked him to tell her "everything about" himself and he proceeded to tell the audience how amazing Shania is and that they should read her biography. Later in the show she called him back upstage for a duet, I am not kidding, follow the links (hopefully they work) one of the greatest stories ever.]

(Mags adds "Along with Guy's stories about Shania Twain, and getting Jack Klugman's autograph on flight home from Kentucky Derby, Al's friend Blair relayed several interesting stories about the legendary Canadian golfer (from Blair's hometown) Moe Norman. Google it - Moe was amazing.")

Saturday - D Day, for Departure. One more delicious breakfast of made to order omelets, Canadian bacon, and toast, and we were off. Al and Blair to Shinnecock dropped off by Fox who was then headed to Philly. Guy back to Brooklyn, and Mags graciously dropping me at Islip on his way back to Saratoga. Florence likely saying a prayer of thanks that she had her home back to normal.

They are calling my Gate, so time to close out the bar tab and scram. But not without again thanking God for the good fortune of friends like we have and the many years of memories.

Those you for who couldn't make it, we missed you. Willo - you were in our prayers. And Happy Father's Day to all. [Amen to all of that!]

Best,

Sobo

The Open

Albert writes:

As for the Open.... My day w Blair at Shinnecock on Saturday was interesting as we were there from 10:00 to 6:00 pm, and u could see and feel the course change in difficulty thru the long, warm, dry and windy day. The 66's fired by Berger and Finau in the am could not be approached by the leaders playing 4 hours later. Interesting stat for DJ, BTW: He shot 69-67 first two days, taking 27 and 26 (53) putts. The last two days he shot 77-70... taking 38 and 35 (73) putts. Meanwhile, Justin Rose on Sat went out and, on his first 5 holes, did not hit a single green in regulation.... yet was ONE UNDER after 5. 4 one putts and a chip-in. Drive for show and putt for dough, for sure. And I got a happy ending on Sunday when Brooks Koepka won his second consecutive Open, playing the last 10 holes even par to beat Fleetwood by 1. Gutty performance. I'm sure that my Roto-Golf standings would be much better if I had him From Jan instead of late April!

[The recap from our pool is here. Note that both Sobo and myself (Fox) had Koepka in the "Roulette" pool and we have vaulted into 2nd and 3rd place in the overall standings ... for now ... based on his payday.]

Hostess: Need to give a special thanks to our hostess Florence. Al wrote this: " Warm kudos and big hugs go out to my wife Florence. I think we all know how wives can stress leading up to being a hostess and having overnight guests. I joke that I like having people over because it creates deadlines on getting things done around the house that can otherwise slip for far too long.... u can imagine how funny she thinks that joke is. :-) But she was a trooper, had everything set up perfectly for the boys arrival and stay, and her offer to prepare a traditional Sun Italian meal for Fri evening was too good to pass up. And she was duly impressed with how respectful and neat all were... with beds made every day, no towels lying around, etc. That went a long way, boys, much appreciated."

[Meanwhile, when I arrived Tuesday I noticed an interesting looking book on the coffee table ... picked it up and read a few pages. Florence announces proudly that her dad wrote it! Recently. She lost her mom, and he his wife, last Fall and to help handle the grieving process he wrote a note about how they had first met. Someone at their church with ties to publishing read it and suggested he write more. Apparently it just poured out of him, the story of his life (he was an NYC policeman), and is already available, on Amazon, in book form. I Was Growed Up Lucky - follow the link and order your copy today.]

The Host

Albert writes:

It was my honor to host this, and I do wish that more could have made it. Hopefully a great time was had by all. For those that didn't make it, I will point out that the Open returns to Shinnecock in 2026. But I've already told Florence that I am far more likely to rent the house for the week for BIG $$$ than ask her to go thru this again in her early 70's! :-) However.... next year the PGA Championship is at Bethpage in its new slot, May. Bethpage is only an hour from my house.... so maybe we can consider doing a version of this next year w/o the trappings of Father's Day.