July 13, 2009

LOUISA, KY — A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object—a puppet—in real time to create the illusion of life. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, or electronics. For the first time in puppetry, a rookie puppeteer controlled an animate object with incredible results. It all happened in toothless eastern Kentucky on a very warm Saturday.

Bobby Owens, Jr. joined Brian Long, Dave Osborne, and Greg Long in eastern Kentucky for a round of golf at Eagle Ridge at Yatesville State Park. The course in 2005 was recognized by Golf Digest as the #3 Most Affordable New Public Golf Course in America.

The very sunny round started at 8:20AM with the Bosch Power Box and empty parking lot. They decided to play from 6,177 yards, which normally would make Greg Long, a.k.a. Slick, and his short game fly into a rage.

"The front nine has a USGA Slope Rating of 153," says Long. "Moving back might be very damaging to our Eagle Ridge rookies. I will sting my 3-iron instead."

Bobby Owens opened with 3 bogeys after being unable to find the greens in regulation. Then the tough 4th hole arrived. "I have never seen someone so good get screwed over and over and over again in my life," said Long. "He was hitting good shots, but the bounces were horrible. You cannot play conservative at Eagle Ridge. You must play ultra-conservative or be penalized."

Owens took a double-bogey at the 4th hole, triple-bogey at the 5th hole, and triple-bogey at the very difficult 7th hole. He finished the front nine with 12-over 48 and just 14 points.

He played the much easier back nine with just one triple-bogey at the legendary 13th hole. He also carded two pars and a birdie, which propelled him upward to 59 points.

"That was an extremely fun course," said Owens after his round. "I wanted another crack at the front nine and was really excited to jump right back in there."

Owens returned to the 1st tee and never considered the tips, which is the traditional Carl Spackler Open 6,430 yards. He proceeded to the same tee for additional punishment.

Bobby took the dreaded double-bogey again at the extremely difficult 4th hole, but this time saved double-bogey with a great approach and sinking a very long-putt.

He birdied the 5th hole after yielding some great advice to 'stay left'. "A great approach to very difficult green," said Dave Osborne. "It was the Bobby Owens that I remembered."

It was short lived when Owens took two double-bogeys and a triple-bogey at the 6th, 7th, and 9th holes. He turned the corner at the very easy 10th hole and took another double-bogey. "He was playing like Gibson," said Greg Long. "He needs to keep his head down. He is much too good to play this poorly."

The group moved over to the very difficult 11th hole. The Bosch Power Box was hanging in there all day. It had moved to its 92nd track and playing Dave Matthews "So Much to Say" song when Bobby Owens day changed.

The song blared, "I find sometimes it's easy to be myself. Sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else. Open up my head and let me out."

Bobby Owens said to the group, "It is time Bobby Owens be someone else." The group agreed, "Let's try being Bobby Ridgeway. Let yourself go and be someone else."

Jason Ridgeway of Galloway, OH is a scratch golfer and personal computer technician. He became an amateur puppeteer on Saturday without even knowing it.

Bobby took the name, and with a positive spring to his step, the march to greatness was on. "The transformation was incredible," says Captains Club member Brian Long. "It was one great shot after another. It was amazing and 28 holes overdue."

Owens finished the last 8 holes 1-over par. He birdied the 14th hole and scored 28 points through those 8 holes. "A low number here at Eagle Ridge over a period of holes takes some strong golf," said Greg Long. "We may never get Bobby Owens back, but Bobby Ridgeway will be just fine. We will have to see if he changes his name officially."

Bobby Ridgeway managed to score 59 and 68 points with several lone birdies throughout the day. He holds 7th position in the 2009 Virtual Tournament with 64.8 points per round.

In other news, the Carl Spackler Open made an announcement over the weekend regarding senior member Dave Osborne. The 5-foot 4-inch Osborne is 'too long' for the 12th hole at Eagle Ridge. "There are special occasions," said Captains Club member Brian Long. "This is one of them. We are formally announcing that Osborne is way too long off the tee for the 65-yard 12th hole."

In other related news, Greg Long hit a record setting 290-yard 3-iron that hopped 2 feet backwards on Saturday at the 13th hole.

Brother Brian played the 313-yard 15th hole twice on Saturday. Both drives were 280 yards down the middle of the fairway. Both rounds were scored with 5 and 9 strokes respectively.