Another Weather Rant

As I write this early on Saturday morning I can't help to think about how much the weather seems to suck.  It did get warm in April and we have had our share of good days, but there have been several bad ones. Even worse, it seems like the coldest days are hitting Mens' Nights and weekends on a regular basis. And it isn't that early in the season anymore either. Monday is June 1st.

On Wednesday, for example, it seemed sunny and almost warm on first impression. Shortly after arriving at the golf course I realized that wasn't the case and regretted not taking a jacket.

Despite the sneaky coolness of the evening, 45 golfers showed up to play. It was an excellent turnout, as high as we normally get in mid-summer.

There was a neat contrast when everyone came in after their rounds. Half the people were bundled up with layers, jackets, and pants. The other half were like me, still in shorts and golf shirts...because we didn't look at the forecast.

Skins were won by Stephen David and Troy Chawluk ($36.50 on #2), Sonny Blackbird and Brett Griffin ($36.50 on #5), and Jason Neufeld ($22.50 on #7). Closest to the pins were Jamie McCutchins on #5 and Robin Kimpinski on #9.

Last week I wrote quite a bit about Jason Gorrell and how awesome he was. Well this week, he didn't add to his ringer board lead and he was not able to win a skin. Many of us are glad he came back to Earth a bit. On an off night, all he could manage was another deuce on the par 4 first hole. Of course, being the great Gorrell that he is, his deuce was worth $109.50. Last week I mentioned that he had a slight money lead. Well, now he is has $205.50 and the person in second place has $46. I need to apologize by stating previously that he would break the $200 barrier by July given that he did it by the end of May.

But enough about Gorrell....I want to talk more about the weather. As I write this today prior to 7:00 am, it is -2 in Oak Island. That is significant because four of us are golfing there later in a scramble. Tee off is at 10:30 am when the temperature will be 6. It will get to a high of 11 but not until 5:00 pm which will be after we finish. Did I mention that the weather sucks? Thank god I love golf.

Young Phenom Rises to the Top

Bobby Jones in 1930, Tiger Woods in 2000, Rory McIlroy in 2013…and now in 2015 we have Jason Gorrell. These are arguably the greatest seasons in golf.

After several years of struggling to find his way, young Gorrell has started off this year in historic form. He has consistently been among the low scorers every week. He leads the ringer board with a score of -4. And he is dressing at a level of coordination and country club sophistication that has John and Dave Gill sitting up and taking notice.

 

Most impressive among Jason's countless accomplishments is how he running away with the money list. After only four weeks of play, he is sitting $50 ahead of his nearest competitor with $96. To give you some perspective on Jason’s money total, last year the full season leader totalled $283 with only one other person over $200. Two years ago, only a single person cracked the $200 barrier. These were after 20 week seasons which extended into mid August. Jason is on pace to crack $200 by July if present trends continue.

Unnamed sources are suggesting that an alleged two week family vacation to Phoenix this past winter was actually an intensive 14 day work session with famed golf instructor Stan Utley.

 

When asked to comment on Jason’s rise to fame, a fellow golfer (who asked to remain anonymous) stated that he was proud of his friend. “Jason isn’t really that athletic so it makes it even more impressive” said his colleague.

 

Former Mens’ Night #1 Brad Benton was unavailable for comment due to the lifetime media ban placed upon him in 2011 by Commisioner Stephen David.  In any case, we are certain that Brad wishes nothing but the best for Jason.
 

Not surprisingly, Jason also had one of the two closest to the holes, hitting it tight on #5. Chris Kimpinski was best on the par 3 ninth hole.

 

The only downfall with Jason's rise to prominence has been a noticeable decline in the number of golfers coming to play. For example, despite the great weather only 28 played this past Wednesday.

 

Several players have stated off the record that they are simply not showing up because they feel they can't beat Jason Gorrell.  Robin Kimpinski's recent comments epitomized the general feeling. "I used to win every week but now it seems just pointless. It really is impacting my self esteem" lamented Kimpinski.

Another Jason (Hunter) partnered with Charlie McNabb to win two skins, taking in $20 for #3 and #9. The only other skin was won by Stephen David and Wes Arnfinson who took home $20 for their combined efforts on #7.
 

To see Jason Gorrell in action, please join us at the Lakeside Golf Club next Wednesday evening. He will be doing a media session at 4:30 pm followed by a meet and greet for fans. Free admission for children under 8 and Prairie Mountain Health employees.

 

Up Yours Golfers...Love Mother Nature

I was determined not to make weather a focal point of blog posts. Each year, usually in the midst of the June rains, I resolve not even to mention weather.

But today as I write this...you have to be kidding me. Compared to right now, Wednesday evening was balmy. It's May 17th and it's -1 C with a windchill of -9 C. It is forecasted for either snow or freezing rain later today. There are wind gusts of 65 km/hr. I just drove to Strathclair and there were waves crashing across the highway from the lake / slew on the north side.

While it was much nicer on Wednesday in comparison to today, it was still cold enough to keep golfers away in droves. Some last minute scrambling got us to 11 golfers which was enough to have an official Mens' Night.

Jason Gorrell had a solid round, posting the low score of 38 and winning two skins for his efforts ($20 on both #2 and #6). Like his mentor and life coach Scott Maynes last week, Jason paired with the dummy card and took the money for himself. Interestingly, it was not Robin Kimpinski who allowed this to happen as was so often the case previously. Robin was at home under a blanket or something because it was too cold for him.

Dan Stokes just missed holing out on the par 4 first hole before tapping in for the eagle. He won the $20 deuce pot and split the $20 skin on the hole with Neuf.

That was essentially the golf highlights for the evening. Neuf was the only person to hit the fifth green and won closest to the pin honours. No one found the green on the short ninth hole which was playing 3-4 clubs longer than usual.

On a positive note, the meteorological crew are calling from 18 Celsius and sunny for this coming Wednesday. 18 Celsius is the normal daytime high for mid-May. Not -1C !

We may not even have to wait until Wednesday. I just checked and tomorrow looks like a scorcher...7 Celsius. Once the snow melts I may just have to go hit a few balls.

4 H Golf

I don’t miss many Mens’ Nights…but I missed yesterday. My absence was not because it was cool outside nor was it due to the fact that it was raining a bit.  I spent the evening at the 4H Achievement Night in Oakburn…an event that I attended of my own free will, out of love and respect for my daughter and mild, subconscious fear of my wife.

There are many similarities between 4H and Mens' Night. The mission of 4H is to engage youth to reach their full potential. Mens' Night also helps people fulfill their full potential...albeit those people are typically middle-aged men.

4H focuses on four areas of personal development - head, heart, hands, and health. These all have direct applications on Mens' Night. Golfers are often well served by making good decisions (using their heads) as they work around the golf course. Some get ridiculed for using an iron on the first tee while others use their driver and end up in trouble. Some of us wish in our heart that we could hit it over the trees on #7 as readily as others. Hands are critical elements in golf. Nice shots are attributed to "good hands" while bad shots are blamed on poor hand position and grip. Finally there is health. Few people would disagree that regular participation in Mens' Night improves one's overall outlook on life which often leads to better health. However, going to Mens' Night while skipping a family event can lead to poor health, both emotionally and physically, depending on the perceived importance of said event. I knew that last night was important…so I made sure to be in Oakburn instead of on the golf course.

I did drop down for a visit at the Club House shortly after arriving home. I showed up in time to do the prizes and hear about how things went. There were only 13 golfers but all reported a good evening of golf. Apparently they only were rained on for the last two holes. Everyone that I saw looked relatively dry and generally happy.

Robin almost pulled off an extremely rare double feat. He was the “dummy” of the evening and he did so by almost scoring a 5 on every hole except for two of the last few holes.

The “dummy” comes into play when we have an uneven number of players. The middle score goes to the low pot and an exact replica of that person’s card goes to the high pot. This gives someone on the low side a chance to pair up with the dummy and potentially win money on their own.

Scott Maynes benefited from this rule, pairing with the dummy card for a $20 skin on #4. Other skins went to Jamie McCutchins and Neuf ($20 on #1), Jason Gorrell and Milt ($20 on #2), Joe Shwaluk and Brad Benton ($32 on #5), and Blake Hunter and Sonny Blackbird ($20 on #9).

In addition to his shared skin, Brad was closest on #5 where he made the putt for the evening’s only deuce, garnering him another $20.  Dick Edgeworth was closest to the pin on #9.

Fortunately I have no conflicts next Wednesday and the long term weather forecast looks promising. Until then, have a good week…and don’t forget Mothers’ Day is Sunday.

 

Break free from the chains of winter

Finally another cold season is done and another season of Mens’ Night begins. While the past winter were reasonable compared to the previous year’s deep freeze, it has still been six months for most of us since golf.

The inaugural evening of 2015 landed on a warm and sunny April 29^th. Twenty-four golfers played with many of them teeing off for practice well before the 6:30 pm shotgun. Among those present was Scott Martin who came for his first Mens' Night since 1974.

Skins went on six of nine holes with twelve different golfers getting some cash. Winners included Jason Gorrell and Sonny Blackbird (#20 on #1), Scott Martin / Blake Hunter ($20 on #3), Dan Stokes/ Stephen David ($25.50 on #4), Chris Kimpinski / Brad Benton ($20 on #6), Dale Watson / Jason Neufeld ($20 on #7), and John Gill / Ryan Merasty ($20 on #9).

Closest to the pin on #5 was Terry Brandon while Brad Benton hit it the tightest on #9. Jason Gorrell found the green on the par 4 first hole and made the putt, earning $36 for the only deuce of the evening.

We got the ringer board started with four guys entering scores. The goal is to shoot the lowest 9-hole score by recording what you think will be your best score you can on each hole over the course of the summer. In our case, we will have a Ringer Board running on Mens’ Night running for nine weeks from April 29th to August 19^th. If you like your score for a particular hole you lock it in for the year. Darcy Kowalchuk is already -3 with three birdies. Last year’s winner Jason Neufeld finished at -8 for the season so Kowalchuk is off to a good start.

This week the forecast is not ideal…but given that it is only Sunday morning there is lots of time for the weather to turn around for Wednesday. And if it doesn’t get better, there are a few of us who picked up enclosures for our golf carts, so try to find a dry spot to ride.

Good luck to all of you working in farming and agriculture related business. May your seeding get done quickly and your year start off positively…and may we see you at Mens’ Night soon.