That's a Big Hole!

Actual fake picture of hole #7 on Wednesday

I know this blog is supposed to be about Mens’ Night…but I am excited about Saturday so I want to talk about the Horse Race first.

Horse racing is an equestrian sport has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Greece, Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC. In the Roman Empire, chariot and mounted horse racing were major industries. Thoroughbred racing was, and is, popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, earning it the title "Sport of Kings”.

In Shoal Lake, the Horse Race is a new phenomenon. Our version of this ancient tradition pits man against man in the noblest of battlefields...the nine hole, small town golf course. This Saturday is our third annual Horse Race and I am excited about it.  Sure we are on the Desjardins Financial Westman Golf Tour which is cool I guess. Plus we got a mention in the Brandon Sun….which is kind of neat. For me…it is the whole experience. The planning and promoting…followed by the mild anxiety as people sign up, then withdraw, then get replaced by others. I look forward not to just the golf on Saturday, but the Calcutta and the placement of the chipping stakes in between rounds. Heck…I am even excited about going out with Scotty Maynes tomorrow night and repositioning the red stakes on the third hole. The Horse Race is fun!

Mens’ Night is also fun…and this week was no different. We finally hit 40 golfers for the first time in an unusual year in which we have had pretty good turnout every week but not a single instance of great turnout. The conditions initially seemed quite favourable, but the rain around 5:00 pm made the greens really slow and soft. Multiple golfers complained that they hit the front of holes and stopped almost instantly. By the end of the night, the course was littered with countless deep pitch marks.The scoring was actually much worse than anyone would have predicted, with over a quarter of the golfers passing the half century mark.

Skins went on five holes. Winners included Jamie McCutchin / Dick Edgeworth ($20 on #1), Stephen David / Carey Findlay ($103 on #3), Chris Kimpinski / Cubby Bartram ($20 on #4), Ron Huberdeau / Austin Hunter ($20 on #6), and Mike Susinski / Scott Maynes ($20 on #7).

Closest to the pins were recorded by Dwayne Blackbird on #5 and Jim Geekie on #9. Sport is one a Tom Gibson kind of roll, being tightest two weeks in a row. Only Dwayne converted the deuce, which was good for $60.

By the way, while some people complained about how deep the seventh hole was cut, I really enjoyed it. There is something reassuring about putting towards an opening which is twice as large as usual.

One final thing…if you have not heard about the proposed development of an upscale RV park adjacent to the golf course ask a Board member about it.