Lots of Summer Remaining

 

A week in August with cooler rainy weather is a tipping point for some people. It sometimes creates anxiety in some who have been enjoying the great weather. They unfortunately turn into those people who start saying that "Summer is over".

Summer isn't over. It doesn't officially end for over a month. Just because it is the third week of August doesn't mean you have to pack up your bags, put away your deck furniture, and get your winter clothes out. We are often fortunate with nice weather in September.

I have golfed on 59 days this year. As of this time last year I played 54 times. I finished 2020 with 76 golf outings. So if I am fortunate enough to get another 22 rounds in this year, surely summer can't be over on August 21. Let's collectively remember how much winter weather sucks and let's do everything we can to golf, camp, boat, and sit outside as much as possible.

Now my intro aside...the weather wasn't ideal for golf on Wednesday. Consequently, we only had 13 golfers. The curious thing was despite the low numbers, only won skin went. Stephen David / Darcy Kowalchuk won $20 on #3. The positive aspect of that result is that the other holes continue to build in value. The first hole is now worth $76.00 and the fifth $101.27 plus whatever is added next week. There were no deuces. Closest to the holes were Joel Ostash on #5 and Pete Ostash on #9.

Good luck and have fun to everyone going out for Night Golf this evening.

Don't forget the final night for the Ringer Board is Wednesday for anyone needing to enter scores.

No Pictures on a Scorecard

I saw this picture a few days ago and wanted to use it in the blog. Last night's weather makes it work well. Firstly, the high wind required that on some holes, we aimed at different holes. From the back tee on #8 we were taking a driving line toward the centre of the fairway on #5. Secondly, the high wind was doing some funny things with the golf balls and often they were not ending up where we intended.

Even on days when the wind is calm balls can go astray. Not just on other fairways, but on certain locations on certain holes. For example, if you miss off the tee on #6 and your shot goes long and over the trees onto #7, we say "It's in Dan's apartments". That is honouring former resident Dan Stokes, who had a tendency to end up in that area. By the way, Dan is visiting tomorrow for the Horse Race weekend.

Of course, as long as your ball is in play it doesn't matter. As the blog title states, there are no pictures on the scorecard. Many of us have parred holes despite being on the wrong hole on a shot. I thought about it and I have done that on every hole on the course except for #9. I have hit the eighth green once off the 9th tee but I didn't par it. Its a tough second shot into the green over all those trees beside #8.

The most errant shot that I have ever witnessed was about 12 years ago on Men's Night. A guy I was playing with hit it between the green on #8 and the tee box on #9...from the first tee. If I recall correctly, he didn't par the hole. The gentlemen teeing off on #9 did find it amusing.

Golf is a game of both common and uncommon experiences. All of us have made perfect shots but not everyone has a hole-in-one. Hitting errant shots is a common occurrence. Similarly, everyone who played last night shared the common experience of hiding out from the intense rain and wind that hit us for about 12-15 minutes. However, not all groups got to witness a playing partner snap a club after a missed second shot on #7. That experience was likely unique to my group last night.

Due to the weather, we had a very low turnout last night with only 17 golfers braving the forecast. Low numbers usually result in lots of skins being won and such was the case last night with six holes going. 

Kevin "Cubby" Bartram pulled a rare feat which will from here on in be called the "Double Dummy". He was the middle score on an evening where there was an odd number of golfers. So his card was copied as the dummy card. Then when we did the random high / low group pairings, Cubby's card matched with his own dummy card. That worked out well for him as he won two skins alone, $20.00 on #3 and $67.87 on #6.

Other winners included Stephen David / Brad Benton ($67.87 on #2), Reegan Kominko / Charlie McNabb ($20.00 on #4), Pete Ostash / Shane Kimpinski ($28.76 on #7), and Kendal Koroscil / Ron Susinski ($28.76 on #9).

Closest on #5 was Joe Shwaluk and Kendal Koroscil on #9. Neither they nor anyone else made a deuce. I will do a quick shout out to Joe who played really well in my group despite the crazy wind. He had just a single bad hole which he thought related to putting a heavy jacket on to protect him from the elements.

Well that's it for this week. Don't forget the Horse Race is this Saturday with the qualifying round starting at 9:00 am. Also only two more weeks to enter scores on the Ringer Board.

Golf Balls - Do They Matter?

I am doing the blog shortly after Men's Night. As a result, I am starting with some general musings prior to talking about what happened yesterday evening. If this doesn't appeal to you, skip to the end to see the results from last night.

Everyone seems to like different golf balls. Some spend $65 a dozen for premium balls. Others get them by the plastic case at Walmart. Many of us are partial to a particular brand, but others hit whatever comes out of their bag for the next shot.

Ball selection may even change depending on circumstances. For example, many people hit a ball of lesser quality for the first tee shot of the day or on a harder hole. Sometimes the better or newer balls don't come out if it is too windy. Often we use higher quality balls during tournaments. All of those things are reasonable and within the rules of golf. What you can't do is replace a ball mid hole unless it is lost. I bet once a week I see someone hit a distance ball off the tee and swap it out for a different ball for an approach.

Certainly better golf balls perform best under ideal conditions. Maybe they go a little straighter and farther off the tee. The reality is for the slower swing speeds of the average golfer, the difference is negligible. Most of us aren't hitting high spin shots into greens. Few of us are shaping the ball to the left and right at will. Also, if you are someone who loses 3-4 balls an outing, a more expensive golf ball is likely not going to help you.

All I know is when I am standing over a $5 golf ball I feel a little less confident than with a $1 ball. It isn't that I think I will hit it badly. It is simply that I would rather not lose it. There's enough things to think about when hitting a ball. I would rather not care whether or not my next shot results in a missing ball.

My advice to you is to spend as much money as you want on golf balls. Hit what you think suits your game or what makes you feel confidant. Whether you spent $20 a dozen or $60 really doesn't matter. However, feel free to buy those premium balls. I love finding them on the course.

I assume that there were lots of balls lost last night given the wind. Scores ranged from 36 to 59 and there seemed to be lots of use of the Men's Night max. Skins went on only two holes. Brothers Cyril and Derek Patterson teamed up for $34.38 on #3 while Myles Shingoose and Phil Ostash won $20.00 on #4.

Closest to the pins were Blake Hunter on #5 and Scott Maynes on #9. That's three weeks in a row on the same hole for Maynes. Scott shared the $54.38 deuce pot with Cyril Patterson and Stephen David.

Good luck to everyone playing in the Hamiota match play tournament this weekend.