Night of the birdie

For the second week in a row we had 31 golfers on Mens' Night. That's a good number but we expect we will soon burst out with a 45-50 player night. Maybe next week.

Conditions were great for scoring. It was sunny and warm and the greens were soft and receptive from early morning rain. There were stories of birdies from all over the course by all kinds of guys.

The term birdie comes from the early 20th century American slang term "bird", meaning anything excellent. Eagle, a score of two under par for a given hole, was clearly the extension of the theme of birds for good scores from a birdie. Albatross, of course, is the term for three under par and is a continuation of the birdie and eagle theme, but is in fact a British term. Three under par is a very rare score and an albatross is a very rare bird. Finally, there is the term "emu" which represents a score of 15 over par for a nine hole round. It was first coined on Thursday in Ipswich, Manitoba.

Skins went on four holes. Winners included Luke Funk / Keith Martin ($69.00 on #1), Pete Ostash / Joe Shwaluk ($20 on #2), Scott Martin ($20 on #3), and Stephen David / James G. ($43.50 ON #6).

Scott Martin also posted two more scores on the ringer board to go to the lead at -5 for the season. Brad Benton and Wes Arnfinson are one stroke behind at -4.

Closest to the pins were Jason Gorrell on #5 and Ken Ostash on #9. Gorrell converted his putt to split the $46.50 deuce pot with Pete Ostash and Scott Martin.

Golf rules and penalties

I wasn't at Mens' Night last week. That's why my blog entry is a bit late. I missed playing because I was on a golf trip at Hecla. The course there was in excellent condition, the hotel was great, the weather was perfect, and the deal was awesome.

Given that I was out of town, I can only report the stats of Wednesday. Thanks to Scott Maynes and company for taking care of things in my absence.

I thought I would say a few words on golf penalties after watching what happened to Dustin Johnson yesterday at the US Open. In case you missed it, while Dustin was hovering his putter behind the ball, the ball moved toward him. At the end of the round the USGA gave him a one stroke penalty. He still won despite this.

I will admit that I have on occasion touched my ball prior to putting and caused it to move. I know it is a penalty but usually anyone who is playing with you says not to worry about it. There really is no advantage. It's more of an embarrassment. If someone told me to take a stroke I might do so...but only after I used profanity toward them. But if a ball that I wasn't even touching rolled toward me, I would blame the slope of the green, the wind, or Milt. No way I am adding that one to my tally.

To be fair, while we are competitive enough on Mens' Night we do occasionally take liberties with the rules. It might be fairer to say that we have adjusted rules for speed of play and in the spirit of friendly competition.

For starters, if someone is starting to address their tee shot and the ball falls off the tee, we tell them to hit it again.  Lots of people play winter rules on the fairways even though it is the summer. A few guys adjust their putting line to avoid dead spots. No matter how badly you butcher a hole on a Wednesday, you max out at a triple bogey. People take practice putts away from the hole after they have finished. On occasion, drops from hazards or from the bushes are estimated rather than measured. All of these are USGA rules violations.

There were 31 golfers last week. I am sure that they all enjoyed a good evening while honouring the integrity of the game. Hopefully none of them broke any rules that gave them an unfair advantage.

Skins went on four holes. Ron Huberdeau won a solo $20 for #2 while Joel Ostash teamed with Tim McWhirter for $20 on #7. The big winners of the evening were the dynamic duo of Blake Hunter and Ron Anderson who cashed in for $81 on #3 and another $53.50 on #9.

The closest to the pins were Brendan Brown on #5 and Daryl McCharles on #9. Daryl converted his birdie to share the $84 deuce pot with Chris Kimpinski and Blake Hunter.

Blake's total winnings for the evening was $95.25, bringing his season total to almost $120. Milt trails in second with $79.50.

Brad Benton still tops the ringer board at -4 with Scott Martin, Neuf, and Wes Arnfinson a stroke behind at -3.

Our second hole-in-one pot maxed out, so we now have two at $1500 and a third at $13 and climbing.

In search of a hole in one...or two

Our second hole-in-one pot will likely hit the $1500 level at which we cap the prizes. After this we will have two $1500 prizes and start building a third. If one or more aces occur on one evening they will split the first pot. If the following week has another hole-in-one, then the second pot will be available to them.

We have not had an ace in a few years since Dale Watson scored on  #5. We are definitely due and I predict it will happen soon. If I had to guess, it will be on the ninth hole with a pitching wedge by a guy with glasses.

There were 25 golfers on Wednesday. It was a beautiful evening  but the threat of thunder showers and a less than promising forecast likely kept some people away.

Skins only went on three holes this past week. Winners included Neuf / Keith Martin ($25 on #2), Dan Stokes ($20 on #4), and Milt / Dale Watson ($20 on #7). The third hole will likely be worth $80 or so this week.

With his win on #7, Milt moved into the lead on the season money list at $79.50...just ahead of Brad Benton's $78.00.

Closest to the holes were record by Ken Wowryk on #5 and Doug Koroscil on #9. Neither they nor anyone else recorded a deuce.

Jason is better than Robin

I didn't go the Mens' Night last week. I do know that Jason Gorrell had the lowest score. Also, I know that Robin Kimpinski didn't. I know these things because that is what Jason told me when I asked him how Mens' night went.

Later when I asked additional questions I discovered that there were 25 golfers, which was way better than the seven the previous week.

Skins went on four holes. Winners included Scott Maynes / Wes Arnfinson ($25.50 on #4) and Darren Ostash / Dale Martin ($20 on #7). Joel Ostash and Mike Susinski combined for two wins cashing in for $20 on both #6 and 8.

Closest to the pins were Wes Arnfinson on #5 and Jason Neufeld on #9. Both converted their birdies to get a share of the $37.50 deuce pot along with Darcy Kowalchuk.

That's all I have for this week. Stay tuned for next week's column when I updated you on the Gorrell / Kimpinski rivalry. I think Jay has to give him ten strokes this Wednesday.