Where have all the farmers gone?

What happens if you schedule mens' night...but almost no one comes? Those who show up play anyway. Twelve of us came out on Wednesday. We hit some balls, had a few drinks, and even stayed for a good game of cards.

Unfortunately, twelve is an extremely low turnout. While it makes for a really quiet room when we do the prizes, it also makes for pretty low prize values. Plus, mens' night is one of those social activities where the phrase "the more the merrier" applies. So on behalf of those who were there on Wednesday, I have one request. Please try to finish all of your faming quickly because we need you back.

Last week I mentioned how low attendance often translates into lots of skins being won. Well that trend lasted for one week, because only a single skin was captured this week.  Scott Maynes and Clayton Hunter struck paydirt on #1 winning $20 for their combined -7 score. There was a $120 pot on #6 that went unclaimed despite three birdies. Of the six groups, five scored an 8 to push the hole.

The Anderson twins (Rob and Ron) were closest on #5 and 9 respectively. Neither they, nor anyone else scored a deuce. Speaking of Rob, congratulations on your recent marriage. We have a support group for married men that meets in the club house after mens' night. We gather to talk about our wedded experiences while occasionally playing some cards. You are welcome to join us.

The twelve in attendance did make an important decision about the season money list. We decided that any cash won for a hole-in-one does not count toward the money list. This is the same as we do for the PGA tournament drafts and the ringer board. So the money list has been reset...and Benton is in the lead.

Back to my appeal to the farmers. We need you and your farming friends out for mens' night. I am even willing to drive one of your tractors if it gets you out sooner. I should mention that I know nothing about farming, I cannot distinguish between different types of crops, and I can't drive a standard. I am also allergic to flax and I am uncomfortable around livestock. But if you are willing to take a day or two to teach me how to be a farmer, I am willing to spend an hour or two some morning driving your most expensive piece of farm equipment around one of your fields. Given that it is quite humid lately, it would need to be something with an air conditioned cabin...and maybe satellite radio.

Ringer board results

The Ringer Board can’t end at the same time next year. The middle of August is a time when my work group has their annual conference. For some reason back in April, that seemed like a nice time to have the final ringer scores due. So not only did I miss out on an extra week to complete my own card, I also missed out on the confusion regarding how to wrap up the leader board. After several texts back and forth, it was resolved by the group in attendance that any unfilled scores would be triples.

When final numbers were tallied, Scott Maynes won the championship flight with a score of -7, followed by Brad Benton’s -6, and Jason Neufeld’s -4.  Neuf won on a countback against Joel Ostash. In the first flight, Mike Susinski won with a +2 followed by Austin Hunter at +3. All money will be returned to participants with 70% to Flight 1 (40, 20, 10) and 30% to Flight 2 (20, 10)...or cash values of Flight 1 ($100, 50, 25) and Flight 2 ($50, 25).

In the regular golf, eighteen golfers battled it out for prizes.  Usually, the fewer the golfers the more skins get paid.  That was the case last week, as five holes went.  Winners included Mike Susinski / Chris Kimpinski ($20 on #1) and two sets of double winners -  Jason Neufeld / Ron Anderson ($20 on #4, $49.50 on #5) and Jason Hunter / Jamie McCutchins ($25 on #2, $20 on #7). Fortunately, bigger skins on #6, 8, and 9 made it through the week.  The sixth hole will likely be around $125 tomorrow night.

Closest to the pins were Neuf on #5 and Benton on #9. Only Brad converted the 2 and he and Scott Maynes scored the evenings only deuces.  They allowed the $27.50 pot to carry on for this coming week.

See you tomorrow evening.

Apologies for my lateness

Well...the fact that I am updating the blog the night before the next mens' night shows how nice our summer has been this year. It has been too nice to this past week to sit at the computer and spend the hour or so it takes to update everything. I am always reluctant to say this because I am not sure what constitutes a good summer for farmers. Hot weather can be just right for some and too dry for others. Rain can bring much needed moisture or cause overly wet fields. I am not saying that farmers are finicky. Instead, I am coming to understand that farming is a relative thing and good conditions for one person may mean less than ideal conditions for a neighbour. All I understand is that sunny and dry weather is great for golfing. The only bad thing with recent weather is we are losing golfers who also farm...as was the case last week when we dropped down to 33 golfers.

Skins went on three holes. Winners included Jim Geekie / Jason Gorrell ($20 on #1), Ron Huberdeau / Jamie McCutchins ($20 on #4), and Mike Heatherington / Jamie Huberdeau ($20 on #7). The skin on #1 was noteworthy in that it was won with a combined score of -3.  Gorrell made a long deuce and Sport helped out with a birdie.  The other deuce was recorded by Neuf and the two Jason"s split the $121.50 pot.  Closest to the pins were recorded by Brad Swereda on #5 and Neuf on #9.

After having eight sub forty rounds in the previous week, only three golfers went low this week.  Robin Kimpinski led the way with a 38 followed by Benton and Neuf with 39's. There were an unusual number of high scores with multiple 49's and several over 50.

Don't forget that tomorrow night is the last night for the ringer board. Given that I am away tomorrow, I had to lock in a couple of bogies last Wednesday. Best of luck for birdies for all those with holes remaining.  Good luck to Maynes and Benton who will go head-to-head tomorrow at -7 and -8 respectively.

Don't diss the rookies!

It was a disappointing night on the golf course as no one recorded a hole in one. However, the weather continued to be great and we had a season high of 49 golfers.

Scoring conditions were perfect with eight golfers coming in with sub 40 rounds, led by Robin and Benton with 34’s.

Four skins were won on Wednesday including Wes / Keith Martin ($24.50 on #1), Doug Koroscil / Blake Hunter ($24.50 on #2), Jason Wowryk / Jason Gorrell ($66 on #4), and Robin / Dylan Kimpinski ($24.50 on #7). Hole number 6 will be the big one this coming week, checking in at an estimated $120. Our second hole in one pot is also closing in on $1100.

There were four deuces recorded on the evening. Congratulations to Ron Susinski, Ken Stewart, Brad Benton, and Jason Wowryk. It is worth noting that these generous individuals chose to throw back the $73.50 pot for next week.

Closest to the pins were recorded by Robin Kimpinski on #5 and Jason Wowryk on #9. Not content to simply win the prize, Robin also wrote a “FU Maynes” on the sheet, mocking the poor golfer who was previously closest. We have worked so hard to get Scott interested in golf and his game is finally coming around. We can’t do things to discourage him. On behalf of the whole Mens’ Night crew, I apologize on behalf of Robin. We hope that Scott doesn’t choose to give up the game as a result of this.

Speaking of Mr. Maynes...great job on organizing and facilitating the horse race tournament. I would also like to formally register for next year's tournament now. Hopefully I am the first.

We only have two weeks remaining on the ringer board – August 8 and 15. If you have holes remaining you need to get busy filling in your score card.

In case you are wondering, the forecast for this week looks good!