Night of the Robin

Wednesday was a pretty good day at Mens' Night.  Most of the 31 golfers had fun and several made some cash.

It was the night of Robin Kimpinski. Not only did he add another $57 to his season leading money total, he won the Chase the Ace and $1200. This was the second time in two years that Robin has won the big prize. Last year he took home around $2200 for finding the ace of spades.

Robin reconnected with Charlie McNabb to win skins on two holes. They got $20 for #1 and $95.50 for #7.  Other skins winners included Chris Kimpinski / Ron Susinki ($38 on #4), Blake Hunter / Luke Funk ($50 on #5), and Scott Maynes / Ken Ostash ($74.50 on #9).

The $48 deuce pot was split by Scott Maynes, Darcy Kowalchuk, and Blake Hunter. Scott was closest on the #5 while Darcy did the same on #9.

It was also summer solstice on Wednesday. Several groups took advantage of it being the longest day of the year by playing some extra holes.

This week looks very promising in terms of weather with a forecast of 22 Celsius and sun.

Rain

We have had some funny weather this year. April was too cold for us to get started. May came with high winds about five days out of every seven including almost every weekend. And here we have June with temperatures far below normal and lots of rain.

It rained last week at Men's Night.  It started early and continued steadily all evening. It wasn't necessarily an intense rain but it was constant.  Plus the wind starting whipping about midway through the round.  It may have been the wettest that I ever was on a golf course.  At one point I was standing in a puddle that went over the top of my shoe and didn't realize it.  There were small lakes forming in new places and tee shots were plugging without bouncing.  People were using ball retrievers to recover balls from the fairway.  Clubs were slipping out the hands of anyone who wasn't wearing rain gloves.

In spite of the conditions, there were 13 golfers who made it out for Mens' Night.  Dan Stokes had a nice return from Shamattawa getting closest to the hole on #5 and pairing with the dummy card for the only skins of the night on #1 and 3.  The two skins were worth $39 and $20 respectively.  The other closest to the pin was Steven Shackel on #9. There were no deuces.

Sorry about the delay with the blog.  I went on a golf trip with Dan and Gorrell and didn't get home until late Sunday.  It was lots of fun but it also rained for a bit each of the four days at Hecla.

Let's hope the forecast changes for this Wednesday.

Men's Night is Awesome

There’s a neat website called “1000 Awesome Things”.  They have a list which enables you to click on any one for further explanation. If covers a wide range of things from the smells and sounds around a campfire to the joy of finding two-ply toilet paper in a public washroom.

The #269 thing on the list is the sound of a golf ball falling into a cup.  The person who made the entry described it as the" bounce-a-round sound of hole-finishing satisfaction".  He continued by stating that “Whether you just finished smacking dented balls off tree trunks, chipping through the rough, or twelve-putting your way to the finish line, it really doesn’t matter. Because that final shot always sounds the same. It’s the sound of satisfaction going down the drain”.

This made me think about all the little things that are awesome about Mens’ Night. They include, but are not limited to the following:
- Being able to get to the course early on Wednesday for a practice round or two.
- Following a triple bogey with a birdie…especially if it is a chip-in from a bad lie.
- Getting the 10th guy to show up just before starting time on a cold day at the start or the end of the season just to make the night official.
- The beverage cart that keeps us hydrated on hot days.
- Having to raise my voice during the awarding of prizes, because there are so many people present.
- Finding your ball or any ball when going into the woods.
- Getting closest to the pin.
- Missing the green but still getting a deuce.
- That area between the 7th green and 8th tee box which may be the warmest place in Shoal Lake.
- When there is an occasional card game following the golf.

This past Wednesday we had 31 golfers. Skins went on three holes. Winners included Terry Brandon / Shane Kimpinski ($59.50 on #2), Robin Kimpinski / Keith Martin ($64.50 on #3), and Pete Ostash / Dave Gill ($33.00 on #9).

Closest to the pins were Terry Brandon on #5 and Shane Kimpinski on #9. Of the two, only Terry concerted the birdie.  He shared the $46.50 deuce pot with Scott Maynes and John Boles.

If you are interested in the list I mentioned earlier, you may find it at http://1000awesomethings.com/the-top-1000/

Now that's better

It was a nice Band Concert on Wednesday. All the groups played well and the Grade 8 Band of which my daughter was part sounded really good. It was kind of bittersweet because it might be her last concert. It seems like Band isn't a cool option for kids as they head to Grade 9.

It was also a really good Mens' Night.  I know because I went to the Club House upon returning home from the Bend Theatre. Over the first four weeks our turnout was 15, 14, 0, and 12. This Wednesday we had 35 golfers. There was so much excitement that 10 of them forgot to sign up.

It was also a very nice evening with higher temperatures, sun, and even some reduced wind. It seems that the good weather is here to stay if the last few days are any indication.

There was lots of guys making their first appearance of the year. John and Dave Gill came as a pair. Neuf showed up having received doctor permission to golf earlier in the day. Pete Ostash made the trek from Brandon.  You could tell the spring farming season was wrapping up when Mike and Ron Susinski visited as did Wes Arnfinson and Jason Hunter.  Ronnie Anderson came and even brought a friend.

The performance of the night belonged to Robin Kimpinski who shot a 33 despite a double on #3.  Robin also had deuces on two holes to grab 2/3 of the $88.50 pot for the week. The other deuce went to Scott Maynes.

Robin's start to June this year was much more promising than last year. The June 6, 2016 blog title was "Jason is better than Robin". Then Gorrell shot the low round of the night and Robin had a 51. He was two strokes a hole better this year.  That simply shows that golf is a fickle game and even the good players get to experience some humility on occasion.

The great thing about having better numbers is the skins don't go as easily. Only two holes were won. The Ostash twins Milt and Joel made $29.50 on #4 while Robin teamed with Wes for $20 on #6. There wasn't a combined par on #2 despite the fact that Robin had a 2 there. His partner Wes had a 7 and was fine with it. The odd triple bogey is easier to take when you are happy just to be golfing with the boys.

Closest to the pins were Scott Maynes on #5 and Ron Anderson on #9.

There's already some buzz for next week with talk of a possible game of cards to follow. Come on out and boost our numbers, enjoy some company, and take a crack at the growing Chase the Ace prize.