Windy Weather Blows

I am not sure if windy golf means you will have a bad time. Definitely the extremely high winds on Wednesday made it interesting. On Men's Night we had 50 km/hr winds gusting to 70 km/hr/.  It affects shots, balance, putting, and conversations. But as is always the case, it was the same weather conditions for everyone. One interesting indicator of how the effect of the wind was no one recording a score on the ringer board.

There's a line from a classic song that says "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows". That was clear on Wednesday. It was a straight west wind...until it became a northwest wind...before it changed to a north wind.

It was so windy that wedges were going an extra 30 yards with the wind and 30 yards less into the breeze. It was so windy that on some holes Gorrell didn't have a slice. It was so windy that most of the birds were walking. It was so windy that if Milt actually played you would have seen his hair move.

Despite the gusty conditions, twelve golfers still made it out for the evening. Unlike last week, several skins went with winners on five holes.  They included Scott Maynes / Norm Verboom ($20 on #1, $21.25 on #7), Robin Kimpinski / Kendal Koroscil ($60.63 on #4), Brad Benton / Phil Ostash ($60.63 on #6), and Wes Arnfinson / Shane Kimpinski ($21.25 on #8).

Closest to the holes were Wes on #5 and Neuf on #9. There were no deuces. Robin had the low round with a 37.

We are certainly looking forward to this coming week. The forecast looks fantastic with a high of 28 Celsius and wind only 30 km/hr gusting to 50 km/hr. Compared to this past week that's almost calm. Also, as of tomorrow restaurants are permitted to have people inside so we will be able to do the prizes inside after our round.

And So It Begins

We had our first Men's Night of the year last night. There were only 10 golfers but that was enough to make it official. The consensus was that farmers and related businesses were all busy with seeding is going full force around the region.

Interestingly, with so few players there was only one skin won. The other eight holes had pushes including four with combined birdies. That simply means that more money carries over  building the pots for next week. The lone skin to go was #9 which was claimed by the duo of Pete Ostash and Jason Neufeld who both carded threes. They won $23.13 for their efforts.

Closet to the pin on #5 was Stephen David. None of the 10 golfers hit the green on #9. The east wind at 40 gusting to 60 proved impossible to defeat. Golfers reported hitting 3-4 more clubs than what they usually played.

There were three scores under 40 including Stephen David with a 37 and Robin Kimpinski and Scott Maynes with 38's.

A few days ago in my first blog entry of the year I explained hypothetical situations that might arise with the COVID-19 restrictions. I asked you to imagine a young golfer named Stephen who chips in for eagle on the first hole. You run to embrace them but realize that you can't...so you congratulate him from 6 feet. Well, that actually happened. I chipped in from the side of #1. That gave me the deuce pot of $56.88. So next week, imagine a hypothetical scenario in which the same young golfer named Stephen gets a hole in one on #5 for $2250.

The ringer board is underway with three players tied at -2. They include Robin Kimpinski, Scott Maynes, and Stephen David.

Given the changes in the COVID-19 measures, we likely can revert to our old format next week. You can turn in scorecards at the end of the round with prizes being awarded shortly thereafter.

Men's Night starts on Wednesday

Men's Night begins this Wednesday after a long winter and an unexpected spring quarantine. While we are excited to get going, it is important that we share some important COVID-19 safety guidelines.

These guidelines are essential not for appropriate social distancing but because of provincial directives for golf courses. It is essential that all golfers adhere to these protocols to minimize risk and to limit exposure for the golf course. Please help us keep the golf safe for all involved.

The guidelines for Men's Night are as follows:

• Golfers showing signs of Covid-19 may not participate.
• Limit to groups of 4 at all times.
• All golfers must have their own power cart unless members of the same household.
• Maintain appropriate social distancing.
• Golfers must not gather in groups of more than 10 before, during, or after the round.
• No touching the flag sticks. The flags must remain in the holes. The ball must stay in cup to be considered holed out.
• No hugging or hand shaking.
• Sign up in Club House. It is recommended that you bring your own pen or pencil.
• Pay your $10 Men’s’ Night fee in container in Club House. Please try to use exact change to minimize handling of money.
• Get a regular course scorecard from the Club House and use this for all players scores. At the end of the round, and no later than midnight, text a picture of the scorecard to Stephen David @ 847-0161. Paper copies of scorecards will not be accepted.
• Scoring will be done no sooner than noon the following day. Prize winners will be notified by text that they have won a prize. Prize winners will also be listed on the Men’s Night blog.
• Our hope is to set up e-transfer for payment of prizes and possibly payment of entry fee.
• Any golfers who do not follow the social distancing / rules of play may use their Men’s’ Night privileges.

To help us prepare for one of the challenges, let's imagine the following scenarios:

• You are about to tee off at 6:30 pm in a group of 4 and a friend pulls up into the parking lot. Let's call him Milt. You contemplate inviting Milt to join you making it a group of 5. Unfortunately you realize that is not possible so you wish Milt a nice evening and good luck in finding a group.
• You actually end up letting Milt join you one week just to be nice. On your third hole someone tells you that you can't golf in groups of 5. You aren't angry on being caught. Instead you are grateful for the reminder and quickly break up into a groups of 2 and 3.
• There is this guy named Darcy who often plays with you who catches a ride each week. This year he either walks or rents a car because you aren't in the same household.
• A young golfer named Stephen chips in for eagle on the first hole. You run to embrace them but realize that you can't...so you congratulate him from 6 feet.
• A guy named Robin pays his fee and lights it up during the round shooting a 34. He thinks he will likely win a few skins. Unfortunately he forgets to text a picture of his scorecard to Stephen. The prizes are done early Thursday afternoon and Robin notes that he didn't win anything. When he inquires about it he realizes his oversight before apologizing to Stephen for being so absent-minded.

We will continue on with the Ringer Board this year. There is a list of rules on this blog that you may reference. If you are interested in participating put your $10 in the collection bucket and note "Ringer Board" after your name on the sign up sheet.

Enjoy the remainder of your long weekend and see you all on Wednesday...from a socially appropriate distance.