"Impact" by Shiela Cavalluzzi

I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful staff behind the counter at the starter station.  I think some people have a favorite starter.

I played with some great guys today: Steve, Ben and Bill (Bill not shown).

A shot of the empty parking lot on New Year's Eve 2008. (Note the color temperature difference in the new lights for the parking lot.)

The new bar with great TVs and sound.

After the round today, I sat down at the bar and chatted with a nice lady named Christine.  We made small talk about the new building and she asked me how long did it take to build.  At the time I couldn’t honestly remember, but I did tell her that I was the author of a blog on the subject.  She found that extremely amusing.  Christine, if you’re out there, it took about 13 months.  The planning stages were much long than that.  I seem to remember the city having meetings about it at least 3 years ago.

Imaging my pleasant surprise when I saw that not only was our old favorite Amberbock on tap, but also my real favorite, Bass Ale.

This is Mike who survived Campsite 19. (Campsite 19 is completely gone. Apparently they made quick work of dismantling it.)

Lou was kind enough to take us on a little tour of the kitchen and the rest of the building.

Since it was scarcely above 55 degrees today, it was too cold to enjoy the outdoor patio overlooking the 18th green. I know I'll enjoy it when the warm summer evenings come back.

Sam and I played with a great guy from Oregon named Hawkeye. He suffered cold weather and difficult pin placements with us today.

By the way, I happened to see Scott and we complained about the pin placements.  He explained that this is to be expected from the groundskeeper who has to work the day after Christmas.

It would seem the employees, new and old, get along very well.

Here's another view of the standard shot I've been taking. This will be the last one for a while.

Now that the construction is complete, should the construction blog continue?  I have no idea.  Someone will have to let me know.  Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed doing it and learning about blogs.  So best wishes from the author, David Rickett.  See you at the clubhouse (be certain to try the Bass Ale).

The finishing touches are being put on the new clubhouse

Get ready to say good-bye to Campsite 19

The green tents formerly housing the electric carts is gone. The street is prepared for reopening.

The carts and cart staff are the first to move in to the new clubhouse.

Chris and Rick were visiting. It was good to see them. It'll be even better when Chris is pouring us beers at the new bar.

It's hard to tell from just peeking into the windows, but the interior appears to be pleasing and comfortable.

The first shot of the clubhouse from the 18th fairway (at the end of a late round).

Matt played with us for the first time in while. It was good to see him again.

Meanwhile, the course is in good shape.  Things seem to be coming together.  I’m looking forward to posting photos of the finished clubhouse.

The concrete for the driveway is poured.

I overheard Mike saying  the inside of the new clubhouse was “awesome.”  Also Shelly assured me the new clubhouse would be open at the beginning of the year since the city has already scheduled a grand opening party.

John the newlywed was back from Connecticut so it was good to have our regular foursome back together.

There was a beautiful sunset over the parking lot.

Because of the construction, the path to the 10th tee was diverted the other way.

It won't be long now.

It was too dark for us to finish our round this week but I did have an eagle on 13.  The ball went in from about 130 yards after a fortunate bounce.

The standard view; not that much different that two weeks ago.

As mentioned above, I played in the BMGC Turkey Shoot today.  I had the honor of being teamed with Larry Hilmo Dave Shafer and Todd Starks.  We came in tied for 5th.  I don’t know if that wins a turkey but I was happy to have a chance.  I expect you’ll be able to see the results on the BMGC Website and then clicking “results” (for a limited time only).

Since I rarely play on a Saturday, I was also able to shoot a small bit of video of men working on the clubhouse.  It’s not much to see, but you can click here to go to the De Bell Golf YouTube.com page to see it.

The facade is on.

Larry Hilmo walks down the 18th fairway with the clubhouse under construction in the background. He won the better ball tournament last week.

There's something odd about those windows.

Index 14.1, 13.0, 12.6

The standard angle.

The stone facades are being intalled.

I must comment that the course condition is pretty good.  The greens are not what we’re accustomed to after playing other places, but I like them.  Too bad they’re going to be aerated tomorrow and Tuesday.  We’ll come back in two weeks and see how they’ve recovered.

Craig from the 18th fairway.

Sam chips on to the 18th green with the new clubhouse in the background.

As you can see, the whiteboard remains blank because of some naughty wise-guy.

By the way, I did another one of those little videos of us playing today.  Click here to see it if you dare. I’m still not certain what Chico Escuela has to do with it.

Also, I’m in the process of making a YouTube.com page for these videos so they’ll be easier for people to find.  I’ll put up a page with the link when it’s ready.