USGA Senoir Amateur Championship

Team Hayduke travelled to the Midwest this weekend in support of their elder statesman Robert Cloud, as he competed in the USGA Senior Amateur Championship. The tournament took place at the Beverly Country Club on the south side of Chicago, IL. Bob's son and daughter Aaron and Anne made the trip to serve in a dual capacity as caddy and cheering section. The course was immaculate and the weather was absolutely perfect for this national championship, which featured 150 of the best senior amateur golfers from the United States and Canada.

The tournament began with two days of stroke play to determine which golfers would move on to head-to-head competition. On Saturday Bob carded a 78, leaving him three strokes beyond the projected cut-line, but still well within striking distance for the second day. On Sunday difficult afternoon conditions, coupled with a handful of unlucky breaks led to a score of 80, and left Bob on the outside looking in as the field was whittled to 64 competitors for the match-play phase of the tournament. Even though he was hoping to make the matches, in his eternally optimistic style, Bob never showed a hint of disappointment or regret. He wished the other players well, and thanked the employees and volunteers of the USGA for an amazing week of competition.

Playing in a USGA event has been a life-long aspiration for Bob, and it was an incredible weekend for the Cloud family to enjoy together. Here's the PICTURE GALLERY, and the MONTAGE is live! I know he was hoping for a better result, but even if he had won the whole thing we couldn't possibly be any prouder of our old-man. We love you Dad!

Lander, WY

We headed out last weekend with our friends Steve and Rebecca for some fun in Lander, Wyoming. Lander is a great little town tucked on the southeast side of the Wind River range, in my opinion one of the prettiest places in Wyoming. The Lander Bar is in my top 5.

We did some sport climbing in Wild Iris, which has to be one of the most scenic climbing areas in the U.S., and also boasts some fantastic dolomite. The camping is fantastic and you can walk to the cliffs. In camp Olympics Aaron was unstoppable, building a 2-0 record in Kick-Catch, and nailing the furthest two camp targets with the pellet gun. Up the road a few miles we found a perfect little meadow for shooting some skeet, which Rebecca says "is almost as much fun as trundling".

On our last day we day-hiked in the Dickinson Park area of the Popo Agie Wilderness. While not quite as spectacular as approaching the Winds from the west, it was still a beautiful hike. I think we saw two other party's the whole day. The Final competition of the trip was the "Split Rock 3k" footrace back to the truck. Steve was suffering from a self-diagnosed stress fracture, so could not participate, but his girlfriend held their banner high with a first place finish, beating Meredith by 20 seconds and Aaron by 5 minutes.

View the PICTURE GALLERY! Watch the MONTAGE!!!