T for Tennessee and other Tings; Part One

I don't remember the last time I had to get up by 4AM for a 3:00 PM Tee Time but this one was in Tennessee. The men of the TTTTT (Tennessee Turkey Time Trophy Tournament) or something like that don't cotton to ya being late for tee times. I was to find that there were many rules and customs I would have to learn as a "newbie" to this invitational event held the last ten years the 4 days following Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was lowkey and pleasant as we hosted it at our house this year for Mary's family that live nearby. We all got stuffed and I finished packing and prepared for the early arrival of Jimmy C. the next morning in his roomy van. He was on time and we were loaded and headed to pick up Melvis by 4:30. Melvis was ready and waiting so his duds and clubs were thrown in and off we were before 5AM, ahead of the pack of 3 other vehicles as we heard through the glories of nextel.

From here I am just going to highlight some of the more interesting things that occurred on Black Friday and the following days. To explain it all in the detail it really needs would be really long for this blog. If you are still interested in filling in the the details we can talk.

So things I learned this day:

• couple of us had packed turkey sandwiches and other earthly and heavenly delights for the trip


• Jimmy and Melvis both, as I, don't mind stopping for "rest" breaks as needed


• Melvis is much more goal oriented than I thought


• Always make sure the back hatch is down on the van or you will be running around picking up eggs, heaters, propane tanks, and other items in the middle of traffic near Dayton, Ohio


• Pay close attention to the flow and signs of the road or you may end up getting a close up tour of the Bengals Riverfront Stadium that you didn't intend to have


• The GPS gal does not always have the best route, especially on an unannounced detour (swearing at her does little to fix the situation)


• You always want more brownies than you should have


• Your friends are always willing to give you career advice the more beer they have had

>So at this point we were well behind the pack in getting to Baneberry Resort near White Pine, Tennessee. Our road blocks along the way had put us an hour behind the others.

Jimmy and Melvis had their turns at I-75 and the last leg would be mine to drive. I had saved myself for this moment having being co-pilot up to this point. We did the last leg without interruption and got to Baneberry with daylight to spare. It was a balmy 55 degrees and the sun was shining. Of course the golf clubs were on the bottom and we waded through the other stuff to find them and were ready to hit the links by 3:15. Last minute addition Jazzy Jeffrey Lamborghini met us with our room keys and golf carts and we were off. ( we had brought his clubs with us from richland).

The others were only a few holes ahead of us as we realized were not so far behind. We did finish the first 9 holes of the tourney just as darkness made it impossible to see the balls. Time now to begin the fraternizing with 12 other dudes, learn what lay ahead for what would be our little smoky mountain world for the next 4 days. Stay tuned.........