Old Bears Trip: Christmas in June

NOTE: The Bandon Dunes trip will not be happening this year due to poor planning. An alternative trip will be emailed out in the next week

When: Saturday, June 18th (7:00 am) through Wednesday, June 22nd (8:00 pm)
Where: La Quinta Resort & Club
Who: You
How much (est.): $750 - this includes everything food, golf, gas, drinks, lodging, gambling, etc.

We have booked 3 rooms at the La Quinta Resort and Club for 3 nights (June 19th through June 22nd). The rooms are $205 a night which includes two people per room and UNLIMITED golf with a cart! We plan on leaving on Saturday to head down towards Palm Springs. Once we have the team assembled, we will meet a few times to discuss logistics including the plan for Saturday night (Joshua Tree?). We can start playing golf on Sunday at noon which is the day we will check in.

La Quinta has 5 courses and it will not be crowded because A) it will be pretty damn hot and B) it will be during the week.

There are currently three commitments (J, Kev and me). Please let me know if you plan on attending by January 15th as we want to make tee times and acquire more rooms if needed.

Happy Holidays

T

P.S. Did I mention unlimited golf at a Waldorf Astoria resort and the estimated cost for the entire trip is $750!?

Old Bears Golf Competition: A Whiskey Winter

When: This Sunday - 11:04 and 11:12
Where: Palo Alto Muni
What: A competitive round of "The Old Bear"
Buy In: $5
Golf Round: $42
Who: Me and the first seven people that respond to this email (first three if we can't get 8)

For anyone who has played "The Wolf", this is a very similar game. I will do my best to explain the rules without being too wordy.

* Every hole is best ball

Rules

1) At the start of the round, throw tees to determine the order.

2) The person to tee off last is "The Old Bear" (OB)

3) After the first person tees off, the OB must decide if he is taking that person as his partner. After the second person tees off, the OB can no longer partner with the second golfer. The same rule applies for the subsequent golfers.

4) If the OB has not selected golfer 1 or 2, he can either partner with player 3 or "go lone Bear"

5) After hole #16, the golf order goes in order of highest score to lowest score (the OB has the least amount of points) for holes #17 and #18

Points

1) If the OB selects a partner, there are 2 points up for grabs on the hole. The team with the best INDIVIDUAL score (w/handicap) wins a point for each golfer.

2) IF the OB goes lone Bear, the OB can win 3 points if he has the best score or the other three golfers win one point each.

3) There are no carry overs

4) Before the first person tees off, the OB can chug a beer to double the points. (The beer must be finished by the time the third person is done teeing off

5) The golfer with the most points at the end of the round wins

What does he win?

A bottle of Whiskey which will be paid for with the buy in money. Each player will need to bring their own beer/spirits

This game is a work in progress so we can always improve the rules after the round.

See you there

Reminder - Meeting Tonight

Where: Pedro's
When: 7:00 - Wednesday, Sept 15th
What: Old Bears Meeting / Giants-Dodgers Game Viewing.

The Giants play the Dodgers that night at Pac Bell so the decision to have the meeting by the ballpark could be either really stupid or pretty awesome. In the end, this bar is big and they have a lot of TVs to watch the game on.

Thank you to all of you that responded to my last email and I apologize for the last second change of plans.

I hope to see some of you next Wednesday.

RT

Old Bears Meeting: Reschedule

For a variety of reasons, the meeting has to be rescheduled to next week

Where: Pedro's
When: 7:00 - Wednesday, Sept 15th
What: Old Bears Meeting / Giants-Dodgers Game Viewing.

The Giants play the Dodgers that night at Pac Bell so the decision to have the meeting by the ballpark could be either really stupid or pretty awesome. In the end, this bar is big and they have a lot of TVs to watch the game on.

Thank you to all of you that responded to my last email and I apologize for the last second change of plans.

I hope to see some of you next Wednesday.

RT

Correction

In further proof that I need to get back in the swing of things, we will be discussing the Old Bears Championship for 2010 not 2011.

Thanks

Old Bears Meeting: Back from the Dead

Allow me to apologize to all the OBs. I have had a lot going on and many of you have been wondering when the OBs would return. You now have your answer ... after Labor Day weekend.

What: Old Bears Revival Meeting
Who: You
Where: Pedro's Tavern
When: Thursday, September 9 7:00 (I will be there around 6:30)

The main thing I will want to focus on is the 2011 Old Bears Championship. Please bring ideas, dates that might work and a couple of 20s to tip the waitress.

Send me an email directly if you can make it ... rtaylor@gmail.com

Old Bears Social Event: Giants-Marlins Tomorrow

What: See Subject Line
Where: 21st Amendment then Pac Bell Park
When: 5:00 Tuesday, July 27th
Who: Old Bears and Friends (co-ed event)
Cost: $11

We have 21 people going tomorrow and the total cost will be $11 a person

Here is the final list

RT +2
Dave
Brooks
Tino +2
Ben +1
Andrews
Dan
J
Kev
AJ +3
Eric +1
DB

I look forward to seeing you all there.

RT

Old Bears Social Event: Giants-Marlins - Tuesday 7/27

What: See Subject Line
Where: 21st Amendment then Pac Bell Park
When: 5:00 Tuesday, July 27th
Who: Old Bears and Friends (co-ed event)
Cost: $10-$15

The OBs have been in hibernation so I figured the best way to get back in the swing of things is by downing a few beers while watching a future Yankee (Josh Johnson) shut down the Giants.

Please RSVP by Monday the 26th so I know how many tickets to get.

See you there

RT

Last Minute St. Patrick's Day Plan

I am sure all or most of you have something already planned for Wednesday but I figured I would let you know where some of the other OBs will be.

Where: Gestalt Haus (3159 16th St. between Guerrero and Valencia)
When: Wednesday ~6:30
Who: Old Bears and Friends

There is nothing quite like celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a few beers and a brat. I look forward to seeing a couple, a few or some of you there.

(Reminder: The 3rd annual NCAA Tournament and Wings Bash is this Saturday @ NY Wings - 3:00)

OB Social Event: 3rd Annual NCAA Tournament Wings Extravgansa

What: 3rd Annual NCAA Tournament Wing Extravaganza
Where: New Yorker's Buffalo Wings - 665 Valencia St. (Between 17th and 18th)
When: Saturday, March 20th 3:00 pm
Who: Anyone

Some of us lived about two blocks away from this restaurant about 5 years ago and we were the only people that ever went there. Amazingly, they have defied all economic logic and have stayed open. However, a couple of years ago they lost (probably sold) their liquor license so the place is now BYOB!!

Last year, Ben was nice enough to bring a cooler so the ~100 beers we collectively brought remained somewhat cool.

I will be reserving a spot for 20 people in front of the non-HD big screen so we can watch all the NCAA action like they are playing the games in a snow storm.

Everyone is invited so please bring anyone you want (last year, we had an equal mix of women and men)

Please remind everyone that they are in charge of bringing their own refreshments.

There is no need to RSVP or bring an argyle sweater (looking at you Dave)

See you there

RT

Dave Sasson Winter Festival - Update

We had some additional requests to play in this event but Lake Chabot would not let me make more than three tee times. As a result, here is our field:

AJ
KJ
D. Sasson
Dan Barker
Andrew Barker
John "Deer Boy" Jackson
Kevin Stevens
J. Ho
RT
Matt Norton
Andrew Smith
Nick Leahy

I apologize to those of you that tried to get in late last week. If we have any last minute cancellations, I will let you know.

The foursomes will be announced at the event and I am still working on transportation.

Thanks

RT

The Dave Sasson Winter Festival Update

Who: Old Bears
Where: Lake Chabot
When: 8:00 (Tee Times will likely start at 9:00)
What: The Dave Sasson Winter Festival

(Rules can be found on our blog: oldbearsgolf.blogspot.com)

We have 10 brave souls willing to drink it out for golf's greatest winter prize.

Andrew Jeffery
Kevin Jeffery
Dan Barker
Andrew Barker
Nick Leahy
Jarrett Hoffman
Dave Sasson
Kevin Jeffery
John "Deer Boy" Jackson
Me

We need two more poor souls to fill out three foursomes. These two people do not need to be Old Bears. Please don't make me bring my wife again. PLEASE!!

RT

The Dave Sasson Winter Festival

Where: Lake Chabot in Oakland
When: Saturday - Feb. 20 8:30 am
Who: You
What: See Below
Cost: ~$45 which includes greens fee, alcohol and prizes.

Tee times cannot be confirmed until a week ahead of time but I am hoping to get three time starting at 9:00. Rules will be explained again before the round by the two committee members: Dave Sasson and Kevin Jeffery.

PLEASE RSVP by Thursday - Feb 11th!

We are working on appropriate transportation so we are sure this is a safe event.

The Dave Sasson Winter Festival Rules

Rule #1: A beer is defined as 12 fluid oz. of beer in an aluminum can

Rule #2: This is an individual tournament so nobody can bring their sandbagging wife as a partner and win the tournament

Rule #3: All drinking is completely optional

Rule #4: The max you can get on a hole is 10

Rule #5: Put everything out

Basic Scoring

All players fall into 1 of 2 groups

Group #1: Handicaps <14

Beer “Value” = The # beer consumed x -1

Example: Your 2nd beer consumed is worth 2 x -1 = -2 strokes off your total

At the end of each nine, each player will count the number of strokes they have taken and subtract the number of beers they have consumed.

Example: If a player in group #1 consumes 3 beers on the front nine he would have a total stroke discount of -6

- Beer #1 = -1 stroke
- Beer #2 = -2 strokes
- Beer #3 = -3 strokes

Total Stroke Discount = -6.

IMPORTANT: The beer count starts over at the end of nine so the first beer consumed on the back nine is counts as beer #1 regardless of how many beers you had on the front nine.

Group #2: Handicaps >14

Beer “Value” = (The # beer consumed + 1) x -1

Example: Your 2nd beer consumed is worth (2+1) x -1 = -3 strokes off your total

At the end of each nine, each player will count the number of strokes they have taken and subtract the number of beers they have consumed.

Example: If a player in group #1 consumes 3 beers on the front nine he would have a total stroke discount of -6

- Beer #1 = -2 stroke
- Beer #2 = -3 strokes
- Beer #3 = -4 strokes

Total Stroke Discount = -9.

BONUS SCORING

Chug and Rip

There will be two pre-selected par 3s that provide the player the opportunity to shotgun a beer for a bonus point to your stroke total.

Example: If a player from group #1 was to decide to take the Chug and Rip challenge and that chugged beer was his third that beer would be worth -4 instead of -3.

NOTE: One of the big advantages of taking the “Chug and Rip” challenge is your opportunity to kill a beer quickly and get compensation for doing so.

Shot Putt (aka the great equalizer)

On each nine, a player will provided the option of announcing on the tee that this will be his “Shot Putt” hole. The physical act is quite simple – take a shot before you take your first put.

However, the reward for exercising this option is quite substantial.

For any beer finished on the hole in which you perform your shot put, you will be able to multiply the stroke value of that beer or beers by 2.

Example: If a player from group #2 finishes his third beer on the shot put hole, he will receive 8 stokes off his score … -4 x 2 = -8

NOTE: The shot will be determined by the committee the day of the event.

Dave Sasson Economics

For those players looking to maximize the value of their alcohol consumption, the player should elect to take his “Shot Putt” hole on the “Chug and Rip” hole.

Here is what the scoring would look like if a player from group #2 took his “Shot Putt” hole on the “Chug and Rip” hole and that chugged beer was his 4th beer of the nine.

4th Beer = -5
Chug and Rip Bonus = -1
Shot Put Multiplier = 2x

(-5 + -1) x 2 = -12 strokes

I look forward to seeing you all there

Old Bears Social Event: Conference Championship Football

What: Conference Championship Party
Where: Dave's place 660 King St. (The gate is right next to Starbucks)
When: Sunday - January 24th 11:00
Who: Old Bears, Bearettes and other assorted friends
How much: $20

Please RSVP to me or Dave so we can plan on having enough supplies.

FAQ:

* Are girls invited? Yes
* Will there be food provided? Yes (Pizza, snacks and other goodies - we encourage suggestions)
* Does my admission fee include beer? No (It includes beer, spirits and bloody mary mix.)
* Will the Jeffery brothers be there? Unfortunately
* What time is the first game? 12:00

Old Bears Meeting Reminder

Where: The Old Ship Saloon - 298 Pacific Ave (at Battery)
When: Thursday, January 14th - 6:30
What: Old Bears Meeting

See you there

Old Bears Meeting: Return from Hibernation

Where: The Old Ship Saloon
When: Thursday, January 14 - 6:30
Who: The Old Bears

The holidays are finally over so we can get back to enjoying ourselves again. The first step to proper enjoyment is an evening with the Old Bears at The Old Ship Saloon.

Also, I will be making a tee time(s) for Saturday January 16th at Presdio Golf Course. It is $49 (for residents of SF) and $55 (for residents of the Bay Area) after 12:00 and this includes a cart. Please let me know if you plan on planning so I can make the proper number of reservations. I will do my best to get a time(s) before 1:00.

Finally, the DAVID SASSON WINTER FESTIVAL is on Feb 20th at Lake Chabot. It will be an all day event that will start around 8:00. Please put it on your calendar now.

See you a week from Thursday.

RT

(If anyone is interested in watching the clash this Thursday that will finally determine which is a better state Texas or Alabama, Deer Boy and I are trying to get something together)