THE SAGA OF SMILING BOB.............

    At the time; no one in the six man golf group knew the fate of old Smiling Bob. We have to go back to last year to see how old Bob started. A golfer in the six man Senior Day group liked to hit a yellow golf ball during his rounds. He named his ball BOb. When he did good on his shots he praised Bob. Many times his words were harsh to old Bob. One day he hit a wayward shot that flew far to the left, over the fence and into the woods. BOb took a tongue lashing that day. Not to be out done Joe pulled another yellow ball from his golf bag and named it BOb Junior. Junior lasted two or three rounds before he too went sailing over a fence and deep into a cow pasture.
    Another Bob, Bob II went into action and did great for several rounds before meeting his fate. Bob soon became a joke with the golfing group. Joe got heckles from his competitors when Bob preformed poorly and praises when he pulled off a good shot. Over a period of time several Bobs meet their fate out of bounds or lost. Out would come another Bob in the golfer's arsenal and some where along the line when Joe made a good shot he call him Smiling Bob. We all have seen the Smiling Bob commerical on TV.
   An idea for a smiling Bob golf ball for Joe as a gag enters into the story. I had several yellow balls in a bucket I had found over the years. Most were found while I worked on a remodeling project near a golf course. You could walk out the back door and  about 75 feet lay the fairway with a water hazard near. A yellow ball and a black magic marker and Smiling Bob was born. The ball was given to Joe one day before we started playing. I had talked to Bob and tried to hex the ball to do bad shots. He did some bad shots but did a lot of great shots.  All the other golfers praised Smiling Bob when he didn't do good. Several weeks later poor old smiling Bob meet the same fate as his kinfolks. Joe hit him into a pond and we all knew that smiling Bob drown. But wait, Joe playing later with a friend found Smiling Bob at the pond when the water had gone down. Man was Joe happy to have old smiling Bob back to hit time and time again. No matter how hard Joe would hit Bob he would always be smiling when Joe found him for the next shot. He would hit him into a tree; Bob still showed that smiling face. Joe just couldn't knock that smile off the ball's face.
   Smiling Bob was about to go on the ride of his life. The match was all even going into the final hole that eventful day. Joe was using his deceased brother's set of Ping clubs for the second time that he inherited. Joe teed up Bob and with a 5 iron and a perfect swing and contact smiling Bob went flying through the air toward the green some 140 yards away. Nice shot said his partner John as the ball hit softly onto the green, rolled on and disappeared into the cup for a hole in one. We all were excited for Joe's hole in one. Joe upon arriving at the green looked to the back of the green where his ball could have been, not there as he hesitated to walk up to the cup. Joe finally bends over and picks up Bob and says he's still smiling.
   Congrads from all of us on Joe's hole in one. A moment in time none of us will ever forget. What's going to happen to Smiling Bob?? When one scores a hole in one usually the ball is mounted on a plaque to be viewed at the golfer's home as his trophy. I'm sure that big smile on Bob's face will last forever as will the smile on Joe's face each time he looks at SMILING BOB.