Some of us got to get in some practice at the driving range.  Benita sure needed it.  I can think she missed the ball!
 

Now lets meet the Director of the Takeda Cup.  Bill has done a great job of organizing and making the day fun.  He divides the teams to be competitive and takes it upon himself to give out the prizes.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    The first team to win the Takeda Cup was Team Hapa.  I had them pegged as the odds on favorite to win the cup, but some mis-information about location left one of their golfers in Pueblo.  Team Captain Bob holds the token driver for Rich who thought the match was being played in Pueblo.  That meant more pressure on Mom to play and Bob played  two shots to make up for Rich's absence.  They had the best team on paper, but you have to play the game to win the cup.  Had Rich been there finishing order might have been different.
 
 

    Team Sakura won the last Takeda Cup and was looking forward to defending the cup.  Bill is like a martial arts master with his two students.  For Team Sakura to win,, Bill must have a great day and Benita must be consistent with her short game.  John  will provide the comic relief this year for Team Sakura.
 
 

    The previous two cups had this team pick as the favorite.  After fading both years on the back 18, nobody was picking them this year.  The talent is there but putting it all together on tourney day has been a problem for this team.  Hopefully this year they can put all phases of the game together for their first Takeda Cup.
 
 

     You guessed it,,,the perfect swing belongs to the cartoon character.  Looks like the only smart one is Mom.  She posed with her club instead of showing off a flawed swing as the rest of us did.  From looking at the pictures who do you think won the longest drive contest?

   Through the first nine holes it was really close.  Team Hapa had the lead by one stroke over Team Ichiban and Team Sukura was just down one stroke.  The look on the faces of the Teams might tell you how they felt their game was going.
 
 

Team Sukura showed mixed emotions.  Benita and Bill were thumbs up to find they were just down two strokes.  While John was starting to tire and was finding it hard to concentrate.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Team Ichiban was in total disarray.  One look at this photo tells it all.  David was so ashamed with the team's game he could not show his face.  Steve hunched over with no smile to be found showed the agony of going yet another year with out winning the cup.  Karen looks down on her two teammates with disgust.  Her teams lack of consistency let many oppurtunities fall by the wayside.  Yet they were only one stroke off the lead.  This bunch did not look like they would make any move in the second nine.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Same picture as above...The look says it all.  Team Hapa is surprised they are still in it.  Mom looks like she can't believe they are up by one at the front nine.  Bob is trying to keep hydrated for the next nine.  Hot weather and playing not only for himself but also Rich is starting to wear him out.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It happens to  us all at sometime or another.  Bob's shorts rode up on him and I took this candid shot of him pulling them out.
 
 

   Judging from the sequence of photos above,  Bob had trouble with his chipper.  Picture 1 shows Bob chipping, but notice in picture 2 the ball is next to Mom's foot (just on the fringe).  Chipping would prove to be the difference in the tourney.  Picture 3&4 shows Hapa finishing out the final hole.  Now all there was to do was add up the scores.

    After the scores were tallied, it was a tie between Team Hapa and Team Ichiban.  The tie breaker would be a chip off from the small hill to the side of the green.  The winning chip was approx.  3 feet from the pin by Team Ichiban.  Team Hapa could not get inside the 3 feet circle so Team Ichiban won the match and their first Takeda Cup.
 
 

    The Master of Ceremonies was Uncle Bill.  I think he will have this job for as long as he wants it.  He does such a good job of putting the game together and making sure we all enjoyed the tourney.
 
 

LONGEST DRIVE WINNER  -  Karen was hitting her drives a mile that day.  Not only did she save us on a lot of the holes on the back nine,  she also made the big hit when it counted.  Hole #8 was the longball hole and her ball sat at the furthest point on the fairway.  Bill said he hit one further, but it was off the fairway.....so too bad!
  Look at these two....did you ever notice that they have similiar smiles?  That's not all they have in common. When it comes to putting someone in the barrel, these to are dangerous to be around.

CLOSESTS TO THE PIN WINNER -  Benita kept Team Sakura from going home empty handed.  She knocked her ball closest to the pin on Hole #7.  I give her a lot of credit for winning this contest.  I can't remember the last time I was on the green on this little par 3.  Her prize was a highly coveted Ichiro baseball cap.  Ichiro is not a long ball hitter. He won the batting title and has a accurate arm, so this prize goes well with the award.

   We showed that teamwork does payoff.  After a disasterous front nine we somehow pulled it together to win the Cup.  I think if you asked each of us how we golfed that day  the answer would be "very bad!".   On the holes that counted and on the shots that counted....one of us stepped up their game and came up with a big shot.  It was the closest finish ever, but more importantly .....we get our name on the trophy!

  The most popular award not to win is the Benjo Award given to either the last place team or the most foolish thing done on the golf course.   Karen is the first person to win the triple crown of the tourney.  She won the longest drive, Takeda Cup and Benjo Award.  She will have to share the award with Rich.  Their miscommunication led to the late start and one less teammate on Team Hapa.  The sad face and Bill's grin say it all.  Had not this event happened,  Bill would be the one with the award on his head.