Turn that frown upside down

Robin cries a little every time Milt reminds him that he put him out of the Horse Race. Milt gets sad when the fish aren't biting. Neuf gets teary eyed whenever he and his mom watch "The Notebook".  Gorrell gets welled-up when he has to leave people unattended in his garage on a Saturday night.

For me, the thing that gets me the most is the end of summer, epitomized by the final Mens' Night of the year. Wednesday night certainly had an end-of-season feel. Only 16 golfers showed up and it was a extremely cool and windy fall evening.

I have lived in Manitoba over half my life and I am still not used to the winters here. We generally have good summers with enough long, warm days to make it worthwhile. It just seems like it passes so darn quickly. The weather the last two years has not been ideal. It seems as if we are in a pattern of six months of winter, three months of  rain, and three months of summer.

I know that we will still have a few days to hit around golf balls. The next week looks especially promising, except for the rain that is falling right now. However, if recent trends hold true it will be eight months before Mens' Night resumes Eight months is a pretty long time.

I could continue to bemoan the loss of summer or end of Mens' Night...but complaining takes too much effort. Instead, I think it appropriate to celebrate the season that we had. Here are some highlights:
- We had 19 Mens' Nights...and a good majority of them were sunny and warm.
- Scott Maynes topped the season money list with a big night early in
September.
- On our first evening in May, only 7 of 15 golfers scored under 50. Maybe not a highlight, but still noteworthy.
- The machine shed was a welcome refuge and place to hang out during a couple of mid-round thunder storms.
- We had 51 golfers on August 3rd.
- Although no one claimed the hole-in-one prize, the accumulated pots built to over $2300.
- Neuf's blistering -8 score claimed the ringer board.
- Many nights we could see the volunteer crew working away on the new campground development.
- We were nearly lifted away one night in mid-July by a plague of mosquitoes and black flies.
- As recently mentioned, we paid out over $3000 in prize money to over 50 golfers.

The last highlights of the year will be the acknowledgment of those golfers who did well on the final night of Mens' Night.

- Ryan Merasty had his round of the summer, combining eight pars with a birdie for a 35.

- Brad Benton was closest on #5 and Neuf closest on #9. Only Neuf finished with a two so he claimed the $24 deuce pot on his own.

- Skins went on three holes. Winners included Stephen David / Wes Arfinson ($20 on #2), Ryan Merasty / Blake Hunter ($23 on #2), and Neuf / Jason Hunter ($20 on #9).

Thanks to all of the golfers for another great season. Thanks also to the Club House staff, Jenn and Natasha, for their excellent work this year...and thanks to Tracy K. for helping us out the last few weeks.

Remember the final day at the Club House is Sunday. However, our greenskeeper works until the end of the month and the weather for the next little while looks excellent.

See you for the next Mens' Night...on April 22, 2015. If I can't be optimistic, what's the point.

Only my body was cold

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these golfers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. By only changing a single word from the US Postal Service creed, I aptly described this past Wednesday.

On a rather cool fall evening, we needed to make a few last minute phone calls to get us to past the ten players required to have Mens' Night. When all was said and done we had eleven golfers. Good job Jason, Scott, Robin, Wes, Brett, Neuf, Brad, Ron A., Denny, Hubey, and Stephen.

Once we started playing it actually felt a little warmer out. I am not saying it was getting hot or anything, but many of us stopped wearing gloves in between shots and I am pretty sure at least one person removed their toque. Once we added a bit of antifreeze to our blood, we played almost enthusiastically, although extra holes were not an option for anyone.

Jason Gorrell and Brad Benton teamed up on three holes, winning $20 skins on #1 and #2 and another $28.50 for #6. Other skins went to Brett Griffin / Robin Kimpinski ($20 on #7), Dennis Green / Jason Neufeld ($49.50 on #8), and Stephen David ($20 on #9).

Hubey had closest on #5 and Stephen was closest on #9. Neither they nor any other golfer scored a deuce.

The forecast looks promising for this week so come out if you can. Two more Mens' Nights and we hit 20 for the season which is as good a measure of success as we have.

Who's the Dummy Now?

Robin Kimpinski is a dummy. Perhaps I should have said he was the dummy on Wednesday, but I think the message was clear. Robin's score on Mens' Night was the middle one of 19 cards so he went to the low pot and a replicate of his card went to the high pot as the dummy card.

Scott Maynes is one lucky dummy...because he paired with Robin's dummy card. The benefit of pairing up in this fashion means you need not split your winnings with anyone. As the result of his good fortune, Scott won a $20 skin on #1, a $133.50 skin on #5, and a $23 skin on #7. Ever the gracious winner, Scott purchased a round for the Club House before leaving for the evening.

With his big week, Scott has jumped ahead of Neuf in the season money list. In case anyone is interested, this year we have already paid out more than $3300 in prize money to over 50 golfers.

Two other skins were won. Brad Benton and Ron Anderson picked up $117.50 for #4 while John Gill and Hubey got $20 for #9. Ron suggested the par that he contributed on the par 5 fourth hole was his first in many years.

Closest to the pin on #5 was Jason Gorrell. On #9, we had our first ever tie...or at least the first since I have been involved with Mens' Night. After a reported four different measurements, it was deemed that Brad Benton and John Gill were equidistant from the hole.

I will resist the urge to comment too much about the weather conditions this past week because of a previous commitment to deemphasize the meteorological influences on Mens' Night. Let me simply suggest that the phrase "Wet Wes Whiffs Woefully" helps paint a picture.

This forecast for this weekend looks great for golf. Unfortunately, the change of season appears to have our wives and significant others in job assignment mode. Already there are a few of us trying to coordinate one day of golf against one day of work around the house. We have the classic chores versus scores dilemma. For the most part, it seems that the plan is work today and play tomorrow.