Virginia Tech Visit

It's been a long journey since Ben was born in October 2005 and I started this blog. I haven't been active here in a number of years, opting to use other social media platforms to post pictures for friends and family. Maybe I'll use this more in the future. 

So here we are. College. 

We took a tour of colleges last Spring and Summer. Earlier this year Ben was accepted into Virginia Tech. We had not seen the campus so with decision time nearing, we took a Spring break road trip to check out the school.

We arrived a day before our tour so we were able to see the nationally ranked Hokies Baseball team in action (Tech beat Pitt 5-3). A couple shots via my phone. Really wish I brought my real camera.

Thursday March 28, 2024

We grabbed dinner after the game and saw more of the campus before heading back to our hotel.

Friday March 29, 2024

We were a part of Tech's Accepted Students tour and had a Q&A session followed by a walking tour of campus. Some pics I took along the way.

Virginia Tech is about a four hour drive from our house, not bad at all. We saw on the tour that students ride the bus from dorms and apartments to their classes and other places (you can see a bus in the last photo). There is an app that tells you the bus number, when it arrives and gets you to your destination. And they run constantly during the day. No real need for a car. Tech runs a shuttle to Roanoke Airport for folks to catch flights home. Since there are a fair number of folks from the DC/MD/VA area, they run busses from Roanoke Airport to Dulles Airport, which is close to our house. 

We believe Ben has found his home for the next four years but we will weigh out all options. Ben also wants to discuss his options with his high school guidance counselor. May 15 is the deadline but we will have our decision made by mid-April.

Overall, a great and productive trip! Beautiful campus. We really enjoyed ourselves.

A Friend Passes On...

 

January 19, 2024

Mike R passed away. Who was Mike? Mike was the one who reached out to me at an AA meeting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Washington DC back in the Spring of 1989.  I was newly sober and struggling with life in sobriety.

Back then I had no direction and idea where I was going as I had very little sobriety time. I was going to meetings but not really getting much out of it. I was not drinking and that was good but I was very unhappy and not sure if sobriety was the right decision. I was a lost cause who needed guidance. I told myself I would give the Saturday night meeting at Annunciation a chance but that it was likely my last meeting and I probably would go back out there drinking as I was comfortable at bars and parties with a drink(s) in my hand.

As the meeting was about to start, Mike pulled up a chair, sat next to me and could probably sense this, I am sure. After the meeting closed, we talked about sports, sobriety and I felt pretty good. I felt comfortable for once and left thinking I found some hope, that I still wanted to give sobriety a chance.

A couple days after we meet, Mike takes me and a couple other folks from the program to an Orioles game. I believe it was the first sporting event I had ever been to sober and during the ride up and during the game we all talked about the program, the Orioles contending and other things. The friendship grew, my meeting attendance increased thanks to Mike taking me everywhere. I did not have a car then and he took me to experience more types of meetings and meet other people. We played golf with others from the program. Mike told me to think of it as a five - hour AA meeting. Through him and his wife Rosalie I got to know folks and my confidence in the program and staying sober grew.

I accumulated time and over the years we would talk a few times a week. We went to a lot of sporting events. I think I was the one who really got him interested in hockey and the Washington Capitals.

Mike was a sponsor in my wedding. He followed my adventures as a dad to my son Ben when I was on Facebook so he knew where I was in life. If I keep my head straight one day at a time, next month I celebrate 35 years of sobriety. I would not be where I am today without him.

In closing, Mike really enjoyed the second chance he had in life thanks to his sobriety. He was someone I really enjoyed being around whether it was at a meeting, sporting event or golf course. RIP Mike, and I know I am not the only one to say this but you saved my life. Thank you for reaching out to a lost cause that Saturday night at Annunciation Catholic Church in the Spring of 1989. Rest easy.

Bill B.

Sterling, VA

Photos by Dad: 1980's Chevy Chase Club

My Dad passed away in March 2021. In going through his belongings, my sister and I came across a bunch of slides. So I had some of them converted digitally.

Dad loved golf and photography. This is Chevy Chase Club taken in the early 1980's.

While my parents and other members of my family belonged there, I caddied, worked in the bag room and on the golf maintenance staff during Summer vacations. I played the course often. I also got to play in several Father - Son tournaments with Dad. 

I met a lot of folks there over the years. Worked with some good friends that I am still in touch with to this day. The course and club will always be special to me.  

 

The 1982 Kemper Open

1982 Kemper Open 
Congressional Country Club 
Bethesda MD 
June 2, 1982

Dad loved golf and he also loved photography. He brought his Nikon in for the Wednesday Pro-Am. My sister and I found some negatives from that day and we had these converted digitally. Using photo editing software, we tried cleaning them up a little. 

The 1982 Kemper Open was won decisively by Craig Stadler. Stadler, the 1981 champion, won the tournament by seven strokes. Seve Ballesteros finished in second while Jack Nicklaus finished in a tie for third with Gil Morgan.

The 42-year-old Nicklaus made his first appearance at Congressional since the PGA Tour returned to the Washington DC area in 1980. He even led the tournament at the midway point, shooting 72-65 to lead by two over Stadler. He couldn’t build off that momentum, finishing in a tie for third.

1982 would be Nicklaus's only Kemper Open appearance. He previously played Congressional in the 1964 U.S. Open and the 1976 PGA.

This tournament though was a combination of Stadler playing well and no one in the field making a challenge. 

Hole #12, 188 yards Par 3

Marshaled by Chevy Chase Club

Jack Nicklaus 

    Seve Ballesteros

Johnny Miller

Gary Player exits the 11th green

Gary Player teeing off 

Ed Fiori

 Washington Redskins QB Joe Theismann teamed with 

defending champion Craig Stadler

Craig Stadler

The tournament was played June 3-6, 1982. What's interesting is looking through the photos Dad took and you see very little sponsorship on hats and shirts. The logo on the bag was the key money maker back then. If you look close at the photo of Gary Player exiting the 11th green, he is wearing a Kemper Open cap one would buy in the pro shop.

After the 1982 Kemper Open...

Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters at age 46 in what was truly one of the best sporting events I've ever watched on TV. Nicklaus would return to Congressional for the 1995 U.S. Senior Open and the 1997 U.S. Open. 

This beauty now sits in my office

Seve Ballesteros would go on to win three more major championships (1983 Masters, 1984, 1988 Open Championships), captain the European Ryder Cup team and gain election to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999. Ballesteros died in 2011 of brain cancer.

Johnny Miller finished his playing career with 36 wins and two majors. He became a golf analyst for NBC Sports and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.

Gary Player won nine major championships. When he turned 50 in 1985, he dominated the Champions Tour. He's been involved in golf course design. A World Golf Hall of Famer in 1974, he won over 150 tournaments over seven decades.

Ed Fiori had three tournament wins to his name when he played in this Kemper. He was 43 in 1996 and set to retire and be a charter boat captain when he beat rookie Tiger Woods by two strokes in the Quad City Classic.

Craig Stadler would win the World Series of Golf later in the Summer of 1982 capping off a year where he won four times, including The Masters, his only major title of his career. He had a decent PGA and later Champions Tour career but never came close to matching his incredible 1982 season.

Joe Theismann helped lead the Washington Redskins to the Super Bowl, capping off the 1982 season with a 27-17 win over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII on January 30, 1983. Theismann would win the NFL MVP award in 1983 as the Redskins returned to the Super Bowl, losing to the Los Angeles Raiders. 

Fast forward to the 2011 Monday U.S. Open practice round. Spectators were allowed to bring cameras in. I grabbed a few shots.

The 18th green and Congressional CC clubhouse

Bubba Watson 

In 1982 this was the 12th hole. For the 2011 U.S. Open, it was the 13th hole

Zach Johnson putts on the 13th hole

The Montgomery Journal did an article on the Chevy Chase Marshaling crew and Dad was featured. We found this in Dad's office. If you click the image you should be able to read the article and view the pairing sheets below as well.

Other items from that tournament include the souvenir program, a pairing sheet from the final round and a ticket from Saturday's third round that a friend let me borrow for this.

Final numbers from the PGA Tour Media Guide. All told, the players who collected checks at the 1982 Kemper Open won a grand total of 50 major championships (15 Masters, 12 U.S. Open's, 9 Open Championships and 14 PGA's).