Trading Complaints for Gratitude

I am going to change things up a bit this week and focus on all of the good things that we have at our golf course, including Men’s Night. Before I do that, I will do a quick recap of this past Wednesday.

Scott Maynes had the low round of 36. The highest score of 50 was recorded by four people. Scott was closest to the pin on #9 while Reegan Kominko was closest on #5.

Reegan also had a good night with prizes, winning the $52.50 deuce pot and sharing a $20 skin on #2 with Eric Bossuyt. This bumped him up to the third spot on the season money list.

Skins went on three other holes. Winners included Sean Blackbird/Orin McKay ($30.63 on #1), Phil Ostash/Brett Griffin ($20 on #6), and Darren Ostash/Ken Knuff ($60.63 on #9).

Brett and Phil's win on #6 was noteworthy in that they both scored a birdie. Brett’s three improved his ringer board score to -4 for the season, tying him for first place with Ryden Lanouette and Stephen David. Phil went to -3 on the ringer board.

We are now up to 24 golfers for the Horse Race on July 25. If you want to enter, contact me by text at (204) 847-0161 or by email at sdavid@pwsd.ca.

So now for my weekly musings beyond the golf scores.

Generally, I am an optimistic and patient person. It has been somewhat challenging to sustain that perspective as of late. Like most people in Manitoba, I have been frustrated by the weather. It has resulted in the postponement of our Fundraiser and the loss of a Men’s Night. I will also admit I have not loved the temporary greens. And recently, I have joined in some conversations about the potential shrinking of our regular greens.

But the weather has improved significantly, the temporary greens may not last much longer, and the club has decided to make the regular greens larger than initially planned. Also, the Fundraiser has been rescheduled to August 14-15. So, I am not going to mention these any further in my blogs, other than celebrating when the new greens return.

I want to focus this week on things for which I am grateful. And going forward, I resolve not to complain about things over which we have no control.

I have a couple of sayings that I use often. Firstly, I occasionally note that my three favourite days in my life are my wedding, the arrival of my daughter, and every Wednesday in the summer. Obviously, the first two things are hugely significant. But Men’s Night is really important.

We have long winters in Manitoba, and sometimes the transition to nice weather takes longer than it should. But when it gets nice out, there are few better things to do than hit some golf balls at our local course.

My other saying is that there are three things that matter in golf: where you play, how you play, and who you play with, and the first two don’t matter. Even this past Wednesday, I didn’t play or score as well as I usually do. While the golf wasn’t as fun as it has been, I still got to hang out with five good friends.

The majority of people who play on Men’s Night don’t win skins, hit consistently great shots, or turn in scorecards with sub-40 scores. But most of us get to spend an evening, and an afternoon if we are lucky, with some fine people. There are lots of laughs and conversation, and we celebrate each other’s good shots while giving each other a hard time about the occasional errant ball flight.

And when the Men’s Night round ends, we gather in the Clubhouse for the prizes, some food and drink, and continued visiting. Thanks also to Francis, Nathan, and Taylor for taking care of all of our food and beverage needs.

One other thing that has been great in recent years is the emergence of so many additional golfers. We have new people joining us from the campground and from other towns. However, it is the 18-25 year old crowd that really has added to our numbers. The mix of younger and older players enhances the weekly experience.

Speaking of the prizes, I want to thank those guys who help with the scorecards. Ryden Lanouette has been the most regular this year, but others like Scott Maynes, Blake Hunter, Jason Neufeld, Joe Shwaluk, and Darcy Kowalchuk have provided assistance. Jason Gorrell used to be a consistent helper, but now he departs early to prepare for his hosting of the evening poker game.

Thanks to the golf club executive and maintenance crew for their efforts on improving the course. With the conditions this year, it has been easy to be critical, but those are the people putting in the effort. I was on the Board for several years. For the most part, it was fun and engaging. Sometimes it was challenging, especially when people shared their concerns. I haven’t served for three years but still get the occasional complaint from people who think I am still on the Board.

And thanks to the many volunteers who planted trees, maintain the planters, run tournaments, and organize other events. Even this morning, there was a work crew tidying things up around the Club House. Our maintenance team is working hard but several other members have been out there putting time in on the greens and fairways.

I think it is better to trade complaints for gratitude. So, if you golf with me in the near future, I hope you will not hear me complaining about anything. Let’s try to go out and simply enjoy each other’s company and hopefully hit more good shots than bad ones.