Things worked out for the best nonetheless and your curious coaches were grateful to use the extra time to finally finish up on editing the music video we shot on Movie Day a few weeks ago. We thereby gleefully replace the previously scheduled Special Guest Day on Monday June 7th with Video Release Party.
After signing in and demolishing Coach Mary's supply of healthy snacks, the LUGGers followed Coach Carol to the practice green for a hazardous afternoon in the bunker (also known as 'sand trap', though no golfer in their right mind would acknowledge the legitimate use of that jinxy word!).
The bunker, like bodies of water on the golf course, is, of course, an official golf 'hazard': one is not allowed to touch the sand with ones hand (testing the surface) or ground the club before one has played the ball completely out of the unfriendly place (Rule 13-4). Naturally, sand-castling, body-burrowing, sand-balls fighting, etc, were not in our play book, though that didn't prevent the resourceful LUGGers from having a very sandy blast in the bunker for much of the afternoon (after all, it really pays to really blow hard at the sand with the sand wedge to get the ball on top of it to fly right out of the mini Sahara while humming a Lady Gaga number to a crowd of enthusiastic audience).
By the way, did you know that 'bunker/sand trap' is trampa de arena in Spanish, ostacolo di sabbia in Italian, γκολφ in Greek, písečná překážka in Czech? (the French boringly just uses 'bunker' and the German dutifully calls it Der Sand)
Coach Pat was also on hand and presided over the putting green until the final half hour when everyone got together for a game of 'Freeze!' Coach Mary was everyone's favorite target though proved herself quite adept at evading incoming putts. 
Our next event on Monday May 31st will be the Family BBQ Memorial Day 9 Hole Scramble Fundraiser at Cottonwood GC. Please contact Coach Mary at (619) 414-4495 or mary.paulson@lpgapro.com if you wish to attend!
Coach Mary even joined the fun in donning the Mad Hatter's top hat before assuming the day's directorial role and bossing us all around Cottonwood Golf Club's picturesque Ivanhoe course, creating many wonderful scenes for the camera.
Aside from hanging out and depleting the Cottonwood restaurant supply of popcorn and soda while they weren't posing for the camera, the LUGGers got to play a bit of speed-golf before settling in at the practice green, pitching a few shots over the tall-lipped bunker. 
The music video of our outing is in the final editing process and should be available for viewing soon. In the meanwhile, though, our next event on Monday May 24th will be 'Beach Party!' 
We will meet at the usual spot on the right end of the Cottonwood GC Driving Range (sign in from 3:30 - 4PM with the event running from 4-6PM) before moving to the practice green where we will learn how conquer the sand with our wedges.
Our channel's url is: www.youtube.com/user/ElCajonLUGG We will be using this account to host video clips from LUGG events.
Time flies when you're having fun, and Monday's event flew like an Air France concord merrily streaking through the air with roars of mother-daughterly delight that were much easier on the ears (and the nerves) than the usual supersonic blast associated with such a flight.
The day started with a bit of a glitch, however. With the unexpected closure of the driving range, the group met at the putting green behind the tent pavilion. Word of the change in location didn't get around soon enough for many of our LUGGers to avoid the anxiety of showing up at the deserted range instead of the green, though. So, in case of future short-notice changes, please check the EC LUGG bulletin board on the left end of the Cottonwood GC clubhouse (between the restrooms) as you arrive to each event.
After a fun round of BrainGym excersizes, the group split into teams of 2 to 4 before taking turns navigating the Blind Holes game with Coach Mary Paulson on the green and going out with Coach Pat Beilke for speed golf - capped by a video session with Coach Jerry Heinz, who effectively turned the middle of the 18th fairway into a driving range for the groups.
Everyone had a blast in many real and figurative senses (thanks to a rather large water hazard running along both sides of the fairway). Moms were able to experience what their daughters have been doing at EC LUGG meetings so far, and daughters got to coach their moms around the putting green for a change. Hitting the balls on the golf course was fun, but getting the ball into the hole proved more challenging (one of the game's built-in curses, to be sure). Luckily, it is a lot easier to practice your putting at home than it is practicing the full swing. A few cats may object to being distracted from their mouse-chasing duty by the rolling little dimply ball, though hopefully the household furniture (along with household humans) will survive without a scratch. 
After a swift, secure & civilized opening briefing by Coach Mary on the driving range the group split into two halves; one heading off for a three hole speed-golf play led by Coaches Pat Beilke and Petra Cole as the other half put their pitching wedges to good use on the range under Coach Mary's firing command. The two halves switched their tasks for the second hour. 
The EC LUGGers proved very adept at rapidly paced but injury-free playing while observing complaisant golfing etiquette! The correct order of play was observed (the player whose ball is further from the hole goes first), the flag was attended to while golfers with long putt made their strokes, and everybody froze like vogue statuettes while a shot is being played.... Well, perhaps not quite in that frigidly well-petrified manner, but nobody was more disagreeably distracting than a stationary slumbering mouse would be when their playing partner was trying to play her shot, and that made for a very pleasant time on the golf course!
Having put three solid golf holes and many good pitching shots (and a few go at our customary balancing and ball tossing stations - the latter now done with eyes closed) under their figurative belt the group quite unanimously opted for a replay of the Fast, Safe & Courteous along with Note-In-The-Hole stints for our upcoming 'Mother-Daughter Day' get-together next Monday (May 10th). 
The group will once again meet up between 3:30-4PM (with actual event running from 4-6PM) at the far right end of Cottonwood GC driving range. Happy Mother's Day in advance!
To moms and daughters who are planning on joining us next week; come looking sharp, folks! There will be cameras involved. 
After everyone had put away their cell phones and followed a whirly round of warming up led by Bella, the LUGGers split into two groups with the Power Puff Girls (Cierra, Hayley, Jessika, Kristen, and Savannah) heading first to the practice green for 30 minutes of lag-putting games with Coach Pat; while the Woodstock Golfers (Madison, Bella, Marilee, and Tara) stayed at the range for half an hour of pitching and chipping through hoops, conducted by Coach Carol. Papa Doug and a few moms were also on hand to witness the budding golfers' facility with the golf club.
The groups switched and everybody had a few good half-swing pitches and distance-judging putts under their belt (it does pay to take time and have a good aim before hitting!) by the time we headed to the west putting green for the day's title activity; Best Ball of Partners. The LUGGers split once more to groups of 2 or 3 and deftly navigated 9 green-side holes played to specific instructions. Everybody breezed through the 'aim every shot' hole, but struggled a bit with the 'play each shot with eye closed'. The best score for each hole was counted and fabulously fun prizes were given as the event closed at 6PM (Congrats, Madison & Jessica!).
Our next event (3 May 2010), the Fast, Safe, & Courteous Event, will meet once again at the right end of the driving range at Cottonwood GC in El Cajon, CA.
After a proper warm up led by spry LUGGer Cierra, Coach Mary laid down the safety ground rules before introducing the concept of pitching using half swing and let the LUGGers loose trying to shoot their little white balls into either a blue net or a hoop 20 yards away. It is a bit tough trying to judge where half-swing is when many LUGGers are rather small compared to their clubs and haven't been swinging much aside from the previous EC LUGG events. 
Pitching is quite simple once you've got some practice at it. Keep the leading arm (left arm for right-handers and right arm for lefties) straight and turn your shoulders back until the leading arm is parallel to the ground (with the club pointing straight up), then pivot your body back down and through the ball to finish with the back arm (right arm for right-handers and left arm for lefties) parallel to the ground. A few LUGGers did quite well and not only got a few balls through the net and the hoop but also knocked the latter right off its perches with their pitch, necessitating a dangerous venture by Coach Mary into the range to re-erect the gadget.
Thanks largely to our LUGGers' remarkable restraint from shooting even when unexpectedly presented with such a temptingly colorful moving target our head coach survived the trip and was able to then herd the group along to the chipping and putting greens for the day's flag event: 'Note in the Holes' obstacle course. 
Nine stations were prepared with a balancing course, ball tossing stations, a swing-through station using napkin holders instead of golf balls, putting and chipping holes with a note in the cup asking about golf rules we had covered until now (i.e.; where the safe places to stand are while another golfer is playing her shot, who gets to play first (the best score from the previous hole and the person furthest away from the hole), etc.). Grandpa Doug was again on hand to help along with the coaches as the LUGGers safely navigated the course.
I hope everyone is looking forward to our next event on Monday April 26th, Best Ball of Partners! Please sign-in at the Cottonwood GC driving range between 3:30 - 4PM (event runs from 4-6PM).
