Chapter 13 Bells and Whistles

We were married in St. Mark's Episcopal Church on a beautiful spring Saturday in June. My parents and Catherine's were in attendance, of course. Even though it was my second marriage, I could see the happiness on my mother's face as I stood waiting for my bride. When at last she walked slowly down the aisle arm-in-arm with her beaming father, I realized just how much this meant to both of us.

I had a personal resolve not to allow anything to get in the way of the success of this union. Catherine was embarking on something entirely new for her. She had been an independent woman for some years, living on the road as part of the LPGA tour. This was a big step for her but I never once got the feeling that she had any doubt about her decision to marry me.

We had hired two stretch limousines to carry the wedding party. That included our parents and Scotty, of course. It also included James and his new bride as well and Brett and his lady friend. The champagne would flow freely at the Oak Grove club and I didn't want anyone to overindulge and end up with a DUI. There would be cabs waiting just in case.

I suppose I was on a high that afternoon. I'm not much of a dancer but, by God, I danced the day away. I danced with Catherine, her mother, my mother, Delores Sandoval, John Fortrand's wife Amy, James' wife Cecily, Brett's girlfriend whose name escapes me, and several other women I don't remember names for either. I suppose that was a good thing as it kept me from sitting around drinking champagne.

The club president of Oak Grove stopped by to congratulate us and wish us well with the new Bending Willows. I thought that was a pretty classy thing to do. If he was representative of the people who ran the golf clubs in northwestern Oregon, I was in good company.

I noticed that Delores and Scotty had more than one dance and seemed to be spending some time with each other. Delores had come on her own and I assumed that meant she was unattached. It was only later than I learned her husband had been confined to a long term care facility with Alzheimer's. There was little prospect of him ever going home. She was a fine lady and I thought she and Scotty would make a nice couple.

"I'm surprised you had enough energy to crawl into bed, much less make love," Catherine kidded as we cuddled after our first joining as a married couple.

"I'll always find energy for you, love. That's a promise."

"I'll hold you to that. I'm much younger than you," she giggled. "You'll have to get in shape."

"I didn't think seven years was that much of a difference, and, I'll have you know, I am in good physical condition for my advanced years. However, I will begin tomorrow morning getting myself back in fighting trim for my new bride."

"I'm going to hold you to those promises, you know. I don't want anything to come between us ... especially not the job. I'm going to be right there beside you to make sure you don't fall into that trap again."

"I made myself a promise long before I made that promise to you, love. That's why I'm here with you and not back in Chicago living the life of a lonely bachelor. This is the good life and I want to keep it."

She crawled on top of me and began kissing me while rubbing her body on mine. It took almost no time at all before I was erect again and she guided me into her in one smooth motion. Catherine wasn't a vocal person, but her body movements told me just how she was responding to our lovemaking. In the months that we had been together we had learned a lot about what each of us wanted from our joining. Now, words just didn't seem necessary.

Neither of us was in a hurry. We were going to have the rest of our lives ahead of us, however long that might be. We were both committed to each other and I couldn't see me making another mistake like I had six years ago. I was in complete comfort as I lazily moved in and out of her. She seemed weightless in these moments, and yet she was a voluptuous female that I could spend hours exploring with my hands and mouth. I couldn't imagine being more satisfied than this.

Wilford Contracting, under Garth Kramer's direction, had the clubhouse and pro shop sites cleared and cleaned ready for resumption of construction in less than two weeks. We were fortunate that there was no structural damage to the footings and foundations. While that was going on, the two service buildings were assembled on their pads in what seemed like no time at all. They were pre-fabricated steel and more time would be needed to finish the insides but they would be ready for use within two months.

At the end of each week, Garth would give Catherine, James and me an update on progress. He was very pleased that they had no problem replacing the materials, even the window wall in the front of the clubhouse. There would be no delays due to material shortages.

Scotty was hard at work organizing the inventory for the pro shop and supplies for the services. We had purchased two quad track units for light use around the course. Brett commandeered one of them for supervising the crews on the course rebuild while the other was for general use around the site. Power carts had been ordered for delivery when we had an opening date for the course.

Until the construction was well under way, we couldn't have people wandering about possibly putting themselves in danger of being injured. I meant it would be August before we could open the course to play and even then, access would be quite limited for safety reasons. Just the same, at that time we would be open for business.

The model of the new facilities was finished except for painting and would be delivered before we opened. The picture storyboard was well along thanks to Catherine and Brett. They would continue to add photos as construction progressed. I was interviewing staff for the grounds crew and maintenance department, naturally with Scotty's help. There was no shortage of people looking for work. We had canvassed the other clubs to find out what the pay rates were so that we wouldn't under or overpay our people.

The new scorecards were printed and all of us were happy with them. Our website would be done by a local professional that James knew. It even included a virtual tour of the course showing the clubhouse, pro shop and facilities. It looked fantastic and it got me excited all over again about opening the course to public play.

We settled on Friday, August 26^th as our first day welcoming the playing public. Actually, we had invited a number of press and golf-related people including our suppliers earlier in the week to play the course and give us their opinion. No one turned us down, even knowing it would be some time before all the facilities were in place. We wanted their opinion on the course itself.

Catherine, Brett and Scotty would be a big feature of those preview rounds. Brett could answer to the design of the course, Scotty to assess the feedback from his suppliers, and of course Catherine to play with the members of the media as a special treat. The plan was that she would play six holes with each of three foursomes but when word got out she would end up playing two days with three foursomes each day. Everyone wanted a round with the beautiful Administrative Manager and professional golfer.

As the opening week approached, I was on pins and needles. I can't count the number of times I toured the course to make sure everything was in good order. From the ball washers to the benches on the tee box to the signage: it had to be just right. We even brought in a mobile food service van to look after hungry or thirsty players. There would be no charge for our invited guests.

The model of the facilities was finished and it was spectacular. The roofs were removable to show the inside configuration of both the pro shop and the clubhouse. They had even placed the models on a landscaped setting showing the position of the two buildings in relation to the course. They had done a hell of a job. It was worth the cost.

The power carts arrived on time, complete with decals bearing the course name. I really liked that touch. They would be stored in one of the maintenance buildings under lock and key each night. We had hired four maintenance people, three of whom had previous experience. Scotty would be the manager of that department for the time being. Our new greenskeeper would arrive from Helena in September.

We had tested the computerized watering system and it was working as planned. The gang mowers were in place and we were cutting every second day at present. We didn't want to scalp the fairways and greens, especially during the hot summer weather. We weren't setting up for competition conditions. We were catering to the average golfer.

We scheduled the media and supplier events for the Tuesday and Wednesday, hoping that if there were any glitches that we would have time to rectify them before we opened on the Friday. I held a briefing for our guests, explaining that the three new greens would be a bit sandy to start with and therefore a bit slow. I also went over the models to show them the clubhouse and pro shop configurations.

My presentation was apparently well received even as I emphasized the hazard tape around the construction area was a no-go zone. I wanted them to assess the course on its own merits and we welcomed feedback, even if it wasn't positive. I introduced Scotty, which proved to be unnecessary as everyone knew him. I then introduced Catherine and again, most of our guests knew her from her golfing exploits. I was told more than once that I had chosen my staff well, even if I did have to marry one of them.

I had planned to include myself in one of the media foursomes but the demand was greater than the room, so I played both days with the suppliers. I was glad I did in the end. I got to know the people who would be important to the success of Bending Willows and I think I made some new friends. They were liberal with their accolades on our achievement and said it was exactly the kind of course families would enjoy. Not too demanding unless they were playing from the gold tees, but not so easy as to reward poor shots. I felt good about that since it was our objective.

I had played a couple of rounds before our guests had been scheduled and I was satisfied with the layout and the features. Catherine agreed with our suppliers' judgment but proof of the comments would be when prospective members played the course.

Catherine was a big hit with the media people. She was upbeat and confident as she mixed with the people who would judge and inform the public on the merits of our efforts. She put no pressure on them or herself, she just played golf and gave help and hints only when asked. I was immensely proud of her and I think she did us a world of good those two days.

When the two days were over and Catherine, Scotty, Brett, James and I got together for a post-mortem, the consensus was that we had a hit on our hands. There were few if any criticisms. We did hear that it would probably be a little too easy for professionals, but I could live with that. That wasn't our target market. Brett was beaming from ear to ear with the positive feedback he got on the course layout and condition. He had something to add to his résumé and a boost to his career. James would hear his accolades when the new facilities were opened, but the response to the models was all positive. He would have something to brag about as well.

Scotty, with his inimitable placid demeanor, watched the proceedings with a satisfied expression but little comment. His comment to me afterwards was all I wanted to hear.