By Joann J. Ordille

On Oct. 3, 2008, members and their guests gathered at the lodge for a weekend of golf, fine food, and fun. "Golf is the best non-ski activity I've ever experienced at the lodge" says Dave Kayhart, a member of 39 years. He went on to say that this was the best golf outing ever. Keith Wilcox agreed, calling it "one of the fun-est weekends we ever had at the lodge."

Everyone seemed particularly impressed by the wonderful cooked breakfasts prepared by Trip Captain Tom Milner and Susan Milner. Tom, himself, admitted to their talents in the kitchen with comments like: "The quiche was notable," and "The pancakes were delicious." Other members supported these claims with enthusiasm. Some raved about the homemade crust on the quiche. Keith Wilcox said that breakfast included "possibly the finest pancakes ever served at the Short Hills Ski Club Lodge."

The Green Mountain National Golf Course, which hosted our event, is approved for professional competition. Perhaps the best description of the course, comes from their website: "Although located in the mountains, you needn't be a Sherpa to play Green Mountain National. Gently sloping fairways that feature generous landing areas, distinctive changes in elevation and undulating greens provide natural beauty." But, our members' description that "the cart girls' bloody mary's were tops" is perhaps more relevant. A sunny, chilly day greeted our competitors. In the end, John Puglise won the longest drive, Dave Kayhart lost the most balls, and Nick Kaltneckar was closet to the pin.

One foursome, consisting of Dave Kayhart, Mike Moran, Keith Wilcox, and Teri Wilcox, felt very pressured by Tom Milner's four to play faster, so finally they all teed off in parallel. They later found that were not as slow as they thought, because Tom's four was actually three having lost one member to the excitement of the club house.

A group dined in the beautiful surroundings of the Huntington House in Rochester, a NY Times 3 star restaurant. Huntington House has an interesting historical link to our club, because it's where we found our cook, Anne Ryan. Anne's friends work at the Huntington House, and they originally recommended Anne to us.

And, about our photo: Does it show great form? unparalleled skill? Well, no matter, it is not a photo of the actual golf weekend. Although it's clearly not the case, the explanation for the lack of photos from John Puglise is: "We golfed so bad, there are no pictures. We wanted no evidence of our golfing." Thanks to Bill Sodomora for supplying the photo which is still evocative of the beautiful season and the fun everyone had golfing.