The Fifth Green on the Killington Resort Golf Course 

The annual "Goombay Golf Tournament" held by the Grist Mill Restaurant and sponsored by Bacardi went off yesterday afternoon as planned. Unfortunately, instead of playing golf under warm sunny sky's, yesterdays edition of the Goombay took place in a steady, cold rain storm.

Mary and I teed of with some friends, Bill and Carolyn. We played reasonably well over the first few holes, keeping the ball in play and sinking putts. But the food stand at the 11th green turned to be our down fall. Linda from the Grist Mill, sporting a red Bacardi bikini this year instead of traditional tropical coconuts, took care of us well with a nice sandwich, brownies, and beverages. But for the next 4 holes, we could not hit the ball. We took 4 bogies in a row, which if you have ever played golf in a scramble before, you know basically finished the round. By the time we got to the 15th hole on the Killington Golf Course, which was our 9th hole in the tournament, we regrouped. Instead of fighting the pouring rain and the wet golf course, we decided to play ready golf. As soon as one of us got a good shot, we advanced to that ball, instead of everyone taking a shot in turn. That got us back on track for the rest of the round, and helped keep us out of the rain a much as possible.

All in all, it was not one a pretty round of golf but, as they say, it sure beats working...

Great Room back to normal 

You can tell that spring time is coming to an end at Killington, well at least at the Birch Ridge Inn, by the number of spring projects that have been finished. Well, Mary and I got a big one off our list this week.

Great Room without carpet

We have often joked with friends over the last few weeks when we were asked about vacation, that we went to Carpet Warehouse. Actually, it was not far off, although we did spend a few days away last week down on Cape Cod. In early May, we contracted with Carpet Warehouse in Rutland to get about 1000 Sq Ft of new carpet for the inn's Great Room. We were called late last week and informed that it had arrived from the factory, which set this weeks work into motion.

Great Room with new carpet

Mary and I decided that we would save a few bucks by ripping out the old carpet. All I can say is that removing 1000 SQ Ft of old carpet, then doing it again to remove the old carpet pad, with the temperature in the mid 80's with humidity at ~90% was such fun...enough said. After getting over that hurdle, we were very happy when the carpet installer showed up yesterday to install the new carpet. At about 6 PM last night, the new carpet was installed, leaving us with clean up activities to get the Greet Room back into shape to receive guests. But now we are done. One more project off the list.

Hole #7
Green Mountain National Golf Course 

We have had a delightful spring thus far at Killington. Enter the little white ball!

The weather has been so nice over the last few weeks, that Mary and I have been able to spend a good deal of time out on the golf course. Spring tournament season is in full swing. Last Sunday saw the 10th annual Bombay Open, hosted by the Lynch's. Bert and Pete have been running this tournament since it's inception. This year was their last heading the tournament committee. Long time Snow Kats member, and former Birch Ridge bartender Billy Mac will take over the reigns and run the tournament when it returns next year.

Yesterday brought us the Killington Rotary Classic at the Green Mountain National Golf Course. Mary and I played with Pete, substituting for Howie, and local Killington selectman, Norm. Our team score was a very respectable 7 under 64, net 55. After a match of cards, we wound up in 4th place, just out of the money.

Today's picture is the 7th green at Green Mountain. It was playing 148 yards from the Blue tees during yesterdays tournament. I hit an 8 iron 6 feet from the cup.(If you click on the picture, the ball is just below the cup to the right of the pin). Mary knocked in the putt for one of our 7 birdies. A nice day on the course!

Jeff Hadley
PGA Golf professional 

It is with sadness that I must report that former Green Mountain National head professional, Jeff Hadley, passed away yesterday after battling ALS.

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ), also know as Lou Gehrigs's disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens and eventually destroys motor neurons which connect the brain with skeletal muscles, eventually causing complete loss of muscle control.

The original headline I wrote for this posting was that Jeff had lost his battle with ALS. But the more I though about it, nothing could be further from the truth. Jeff LIVED with ALS for some time. Outwardly, he always seemed upbeat and positive about dealing with his affliction. In the last 18 months, as the disease progressed, he spent much of his time involved in various benevolent activities to raise funding for ALS research.

If you are in Killington over this Memorial Day weekend, Jeff's wife, Alice, and family, will be hosting a memorial celebration of Jeff's life at Green Mountain National Golf Course at 4:00 PM on Sunday afternoon, May 28. Jeff Hadley day, a previously scheduled golf tournament to raise funds for ALS research, will be held as planned on June 20th, also at Green Mountain National. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Jeff Hadley ALS Foundation c/o Green Mountain National Golf Course, PO Box 429, Killington VT 05751.

Mary and her baby!
a 1973 Ford Mustang
in mint condition 

Today marked another indication that the summer season of 2006 has arrived. Baby made an appearance!

Baby, in this case, is a 1973 gold Ford Mustang in mint condition. Mary is the original owner, purchasing the pony in 73, and she has kept it looking great ever since.

We retrieved Baby this afternoon from it's winter hiding place in Liecester Vermont. Mary dutifully took the top down for the ride back to Killington, enjoying a beautiful afternoon of cruising through the Green Mountains.

Liberty Hill Inn
on Cape Cod in
Yarmouthport Massachusetts 

After a brief respite, we have reopened the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington for the 2006-2007 travel season. The inn's 10 rooms are currently available for lodging. The restaurant will resume serving evening dinner on Friday, June 23rd.

Last weekend, in the last gasp of our time off after the 2006 ski season, Killingtonblog.com went on a road trip to Massachusetts to visit with family on Cape Cod and in the Boston area. Being innkeepers, Mary and I naturally look for nice inns to stay at when we travel. While on Cape Cod, we stayed at a 9 room inn located in Yarmouthport named the Liberty Hill Inn.

The innkeepers at Liberty Hill, John and Kris, did a great job taking care of us on our visit. We stayed in the Carriage House in the Eldridge room with a queen sized canopy bed and a large bathroom with whirlpool tub. The room was beautiful, the inn was very clean (making Mary very happy), and the breakfasts Kris prepared and John served each morning were great. If you are traveling around New England this summer, after you have stayed with us in Killington Vermont at the Birch Ridge Inn of course, and your travels plans include Cape Cod, we heartily recommend the you include the Liberty Hill Inn in Yarmouthport Massachusetts on your itinerary.

Queen Room Air Conditioner 

Our spring hiatus is approaching an end. Other than the rain which devastated parts of New England this past week, we have had a really nice time off. We have got a lot done, mind you. The list includes removing downed trees from last Octobers snow storm, cleaning out all of the gardens, remodeling the restaurant kitchen, refinishing the restaurant slate floor, installing 3 air conditioners in guest rooms (bringing the total number of air conditioned rooms to 6 out of 10), redesigning the web site, cleaning all of the carpets in the inn, and ordering new carpet for the Great Room (to be installed in early June). But we have also had some time to play a little golf, visit with family and friends, and just hang out for a while.

We have another week to go before the inn reopens for lodging (Wednesday May 24th). After that, we get right into the Killington spring Golf Tournament cycle. Our friends have the Bombay Open scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend. The Killington Rotary tournament is on My 31st. The Grist Mill's Goombay Open is scheduled for June 9th. And the Jeff Hadley tournament for ALS is schedule for June 20th.

Until the next entry, if we don't see you around town, we will see you on the golf course!