Vibe Check: Links to Leadership
SLAH ventures to Albany to learn how to golf. PLUS: the Milton commute is restored, Van Gogh finally retires, and the reigning national mullet champ returns.
After my exhilarating introduction to the sport of polo last Friday, I figured I would keep the first-time athletic experiences rolling into this week with an activity that is considerably less dangerous. Yep—before Monday I had never played golf.
Six days later, I still can’t technically say I’ve played golf, but I can say I’m a pro at gripping a golf club. “You all know something about golf already,” hall of fame golfer and golf instructor Kay McMahon said to a group of 30 newbies on Monday, raising a club in the air. “This is the end you hold on to.”
Kay was speaking at this week’s Links to Leadership golf tournament and clinic held at Albany Country Club. The annual event came about three years ago when cochair Georgia Kelly went to a golf tourney and noticed there was only one woman participating. She set out to create an inclusive women’s golf tournament that raises money for women’s causes; this year’s beneficiaries were Capital District Women’s Employment & Resource Center and Girls Inc. To make it so that anyone who wanted to be involved could be, regardless of golf ability, she added a clinic component. That, obviously, is where I found myself.
“There are only two rules,” said Kay, who teaches golf through her eduKaytion Golf 8.5 Academy. “You’ve gotta look good. The other 1 percent we’ll call golf.” While wardrobe is included in the looking good category (one attendee told me she almost went to Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy a shirt for the day before finding an old polo at the bottom of her drawer) Kay mostly meant that you should look like you know what you’re doing—no penguin waddling up to the ball allowed. For that reason, most of the day was dedicated to GCAP, an acronym for grip, club head, align, posture. Only when we mastered our approach to the ball were we allowed to begin learning how to swing, a movement Kay has broken down into 8.5 easy(ish) parts.
Throughout the afternoon, she taught us valuable tools for succeeding on the golf course: that there are only two things to consider in golf (distance and direction), that if you get the ball in the bunker you’re allowed one swing and one throw, that it’s your game and you can use a tee wherever you want, and to beware advice from “Helpful Harrys” on the golf course who may instruct you to keep your head down, among other things. “Everyone tells you to keep your head down,” she says. “That’s garbage, garbage and more garbage. If someone says ‘You lifted your head, I’ll watch the ball for you,’ tell them to go to hell.”
—Natalie
Quote of the Week
“I forgot to put on shoes. Hopefully it’s not gross in here.”
—Overheard in the SPAC bathroom at the Ne-Yo concert
For the ‘Gram
After three extensions, the uber-popular “Van Gogh: the Immersive Experience” exhibit (yes, the dreamy world that has been adding color to local Instagram feeds for the past year and a half) at Schenectady’s Armory Studios is finally retiring (it officially shutters October 1)—to make room for the next photogenic activity for the art-inclined and social media-minded. “Claude Monet: the Immersive Experience,” like its sister Van Gogh exhibit, will pick up on the “immersive” bandwagon, using 4K digital mapping techniques to envelope guests in Monet’s world-renowned works of art. His atelier and lush gardens at Giverny will also get the 3D treatment, and the exhibit’s grand finale is a mind-bending virtual reality (VR) journey through the stunning landscapes that inspired the French impressionist.
Road to Success
Milton residents—especially those who work in Saratoga—rejoiced yesterday when the north end of Rowland Street reopened, making their commute home detour-free. It had been three long months since the road between Adams Road and Grand Avenue had been closed to cars (a culvert needed extensive repairs) while the Saratoga County Department of Public Works did their thing. The news of the much-used stretch of road’s reopening was met with funfare on the Nextdoor app and on Facebook, where the Town of Milton’s announcement racked up 124 comments and 526 likes in a matter of hours.
Hallelujah in the Back
Scott “The Lord’s Drapes” Salvadore is hoping to defend his title as the USA Mullet Champion. The Stillwater resident rose to fame last year after being announced the winner on the TODAY show, live from our very own Hideaway bar at 7am. Get involved (wife Ashley serves as Scott’s unofficial PR rep, agent and campaign manager), and read about last year’s competition to get caught up in the fury of the “serious in the front, party in the back” championship. This is serious, folks.
Grand Opening
The Saratoga Senior Center’s new space at 290 West Avenue is officially open! Adjacent to the Saratoga Branch of the YMCA, the space covers more than 14,000 square feet, and will allow for increased programming for seniors in Saratoga County.
Ribbon Cutting, Part Deux
Waterfront Park also enjoyed its recent time in the spotlight, celebrating its improvements and renovations this week at its own ribbon cutting this week. The four-acre public park off Crescent Avenue, which opened in 2015, now has a new playground, handicap accessible ramps, and renovated bathrooms and gazebo. The bathrooms, Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub said, hadn’t been operational in a year. So check it out—this perfect, crisp fall weather couldn’t be a better time for enjoying the great outdoors.