Counting Holes Isn't Everything

 

When I do this Men's Night update quickly, I often write a little bit more than just the results. Such is the case this week. If this doesn't appeal to you skip to the last three paragraphs.

This image at the start of this blog is an excellent representation of why most of us golf. It is quite accurate for me other than the walking down the fairway part. I only walk on the golf course when my cart breaks down during the round.

Take this last Wednesday for instance. As is often the case, I got out at 2:00 pm and was joined by three friends. Another joined us for the Men's Night round. When that was finished, we joined five other guys for two-man best ball. We played until it was too dark to see. 

Throughout the afternoon and evening, there were both good and bad shots and small amounts of money changed hands to pay off wagers. At the end of the day, it didn't matter what your score was or how you played. The important was that we got to hang out with some friends on a nice day in July doing something that we enjoyed.

Last year I started tracking the holes that I played. As of Wednesday, I have 1239 holes over 47 times golfing. At the same time last year I had 1125 holes and finished with 1818. While my goal isn't to get to a certain number, it is to play as much as I can. We spend our long and cold winters looking outside wishing the weather was better. We need to take advantage of it when it is good. Also, I don't want to make the hole tracking a competition, especially given that Scott Martin has 1454 holes in as of today.

One noteworthy thing about my 1239 holes this year, only 18 were played on my own. Two times I went out and played nine. On both occasions I found it a bit boring and wished I was playing with someone else.  I tried playing an extra ball but that just seemed to extend the boredom.

On Wednesday I played 51 holes for the day. There were 25 others who joined me for the official Men's Night round. The vast majority of those out played a bit either before or after Men's Night

Skins went on four holes. Jason Gorrell / Noah Street won $20.00 for #4. Jason's win was assisted by his chip in eagle on the par 5 hole. Other winners included Stephen David / Mike Susinski ($39.38) on #7 and Robin Kimpinski / Ron Sopko ($20.00 on #8, $85.63 on # 9).

Closest to the pins were Scott Maynes on #5 and Robin Kimpinski on #9. Both scored twos on the evening to share the $50.75 deuce pot with three others - Cubby Bartram, Brad Benton, and Pete Ostash.

The ringer board ends on August 25 so those involved need to start thinking about locking up some scores. Rob Kimpinski added another birdie to get his season total to -7 with three holes to record. Brad Benton is one stroke behind at -6 while Darcy Kowalchuk and Scott Maynes are both at -5.

Revenge of the Dummy

Last week, the infamous dummy card struck again. It presents itself when we have an odd number of golfers. Sometimes it is helpful and allows someone to win a skin on their own. Other times it isn’t so kind. Such was the case on Wednesday.

Jason Gorrell had a great two on the par 4 first hole. He paired with someone who birdied for a net 5. Normally -3 on a single hole would be a guaranteed win. However, Jason was also the middle score of 37 golfers. As the middle score, we replicated his card and called it the “Dummy”. Jason’s card went to the low pot and his dummy went to the high pot where it also paired with someone who had a birdie on 1. So the two combined 5’s pushed.

On a positive note, the first hole wasn't worth much...just $23.13. Also, Jason also split the $69.38 deuce pot with Keith Martin.

Closest to the holes were Montana Sutherland on #5 and Scott Maynes on #9. 

Skins went on three holes. Winners included Jay Bell / Logan Tanner ($48.13 on #3), Dale Martin / Darcy Kowalchuk ($48.13 on #4), and Theoren Hunter / Sonny Blackbird ($48.13 on # 8.

There are five weeks remaining to get scores entered on the ringer board. If you don't get scores in for particular holes you automatically get assigned triple bogies.

Our annual horse race tournament is Saturday, August 14. We had to move from our regular day in July due to uncertainty about the health orders. We recognize that this may create conflicts for some people. Anyone interested in signing up for the Horse Race is asked to call or text Stephen David at 847-0161.

Holy Smokes!

Since Men's Night is in one day, I need to do this writeup for last week. As I type away, I see that the forecast for tomorrow is "Mainly cloudy. Widespread smoke". Interestingly, the layer of smoke will knock the daytime high down to 22 Celsius despite a humidex of 30. Other than the smell, the smoke doesn't bother me but I am sure that there are others who don't fare so well. It is likely not a fun time to be asthmatic.

Manitoba golf conditions are so varied. We hit balls with snow still on the ground while also playing during heat waves. Wind is so frequent that it throws you off a bit when it is calm on the course. But smoke is a whole different thing. From what I have read, it is relatively safe to be out golfing in such conditions as long as you don't have a pre-existing condition or vulnerability.

On a positive note, it has rained fairly steady today and that has the potential to reduce the smoke in the air. Let's hope it continues raining through the night to clean the air and to give farmers a much needed soaking.

Last week, we had a season high of 40 golfers. One neat thing was that the middle score was 44. There were six of them and three went up and three went down. Then after the random draw, all the 44's paired with another 44.

Skins went on four holes. Winners included Jason Gorrell / Ron Huberdeau ($25.00 on #1), Joel Ostash / Troy Chwaluk ($46.25 on #2), Robin Kimpinski / Darren Ostash ($88.75 on #6), and Ron Susinksi / Mike Susinski ($66.25 on #7).

Charles McKay was closest to the pin on #5 while Nathan Nowasad was closest on #9. Charles converted his birdie to share the $75.00 deuce pot with Troy Chwaluk.

Anyone interested in signing up for the Horse Race, please let me know.

No Laying Up on Men's Night

 

How do you approach Men's Night golf? Are you slow, steady and analytical or do you grip it and rip it?

Men's Night is an interesting time for golf. Some people play a composed game while focusing primarily on their score. Others play a little more freely, favouring the big shot over the safe play. Two things seem to be true regarding these varied approaches. Firstly, whatever you choose to do is right for you. Secondly, whatever you choose to do will cause someone to question your choice.

My personal game on a typical Wednesday transitions from Door #1 to #3 from 2:00 to 9:00 pm. I start off taking my time and thinking about my shots before getting a little looser as the day progresses. Usually my end game is a hybrid of caution and aggression. Of course, when I hit a driver on the first hole, I hear how I shouldn't hit that club there. Then when I lay up on #7, I am asked why I don't go for the green in two. 

On Wednesday, we had 34 golfers which seems to be our weekly average this past month. Skins went on five holes. Winners included Rhys Lanouette / Phil Ostash ($41.25 on #1), Robin Kimpinski / Cubby Bartram ($41.25 on #3), Scott Maynes / Theoren Hunter ($21.25 on #4), Alexander Maddess / Kendal Koroscil ($41.25) on #5, and Reegan Kominko / Noah Street ($21.25 on #9).

Closest to #5 was Charles McKay and closest on #9 was Sonny Blackbird. Only Sonny converted his birdie and he shared the $63.75 deuce pot with Nathan Maynes.

If you didn't get your cheque for a prize they will be on the board next week. Usually I go in as soon as my round ends and wait for an hour or so as people slowly turn in cards. Then I do the prizes and drive around the course and deliver cheques to anyone who is still around.

This week I took a different approach. As I finished nine, five kind gentlemen from Wayway allowed me to join them and we played a nine hole scramble. At the end of the day, I played 50 holes in total.

The weekend has a great forecast. Whether you plan on golfing or something else, have a good one.

Hello July

Once July hits there is a lot going on...mainly leisure related. Consequently, my blog updates get briefer and usually focus solely on the results. I am not sure of the readership of the blog but I view it as a historical document. I want my future grandson to know what happened in 2021 in case he is running Men's Night in 2045.

Last week we had 32 golfers. Skins went on five holes. Winners included Sonny Blackbird / Charlie McNabb ($61.25 on # 2), Dale Martin / Keith Martin ($20.00 on #4), Brad Benton / Jamie Kaskiw ($20.00 on #8), and Jason Gorrell / Ron Susinski ($77.50 on #9).

Closest to the pins were Jim Geekie on #5 and Myles Shingoose on #9. Neither converted their birdie.

The $60.00 deuce pot was shared by Scott Maynes and Robin Kimpinski. Robin's two was a chip in eagle on #1.

Robin added a birdie on #3 to get to -5 on the ringer board. He leads Brad Benton and Maynes by 1 stroke and Darcy Kowalchuk by 2.

A Quick Update

There were 36 golfers on Men's Night which was our highest turnout of the year. Six skins went which is high for over 30 golfers. Winners included Nick Roulette / Theoren Hunter ($41.25 on #1), Brad Benton / Kendal Koroscil ($22.50 on #3), Darcy Kowalchuk / Logan Tanner ($57.50 on #4 and $64.25 on #7), Scott Maynes / Myles Shingoose ($71.25 on #5), and Alex Maddess / Keith Martin ($80.00 on #8).

Closest to the holes were Charles McKay on #5 and Pete Ostash on #9. The $67.50 deuce pot was claimed by Jason Neufeld.

An Unfortunate Delay

Each year we lose 1-2 Men's Nights due to heavy rain. Sometimes numbers are low at the start or end of the season due to cooler temperatures. However, losing four in a row this year due to health orders really sucked. I can't imagine many safer places for viral transmission than having 2-4 guys playing golf on the 70-75 acres that make up our golf course. I understand the need for health orders but it was hard to understand why we couldn't golf when 100's of people could be jammed in Walmarts across the province.

Fortunately, that month-long shutdown is over and we were able to return to play this past Wednesday. There were 30 golfers this week. Scott Maynes had a solid evening, recording a score of 35 with three birdies. Scott also combined with Alexander Maddess for skins on two holes ($48.75 on #3 and $64.38 on #6). Those were the only skins of the evening.

Closest to the hole on #5 was Nathan Maynes and on #9 was Donovin Tanner. The only deuce of the evening was Kendal Koroscil who chipped in from in front of #9. He won $56.25 for his efforts.

Hopefully, sometime in the near future, they will open patios and the restaurant so that we can have some food together after the round and support Francis's business even further.

For the record, I have no idea how big the golf course is. I checked online and it suggested that most golf courses range between 100-180 acres with a typical 9 hole running around 70. I also know the campground is 14 acres so I just estimated.

COVID Restricts Men's Night

There will be no formal Men's Night for the next few weeks. A new provincial health order states that organized team, league play events, or competitions such as Ladies Night, Men’s Night, Club leagues or Match Play events are not allowed at this time under Order 13 (4). Our hope is that this order ends as scheduled on May 30. 

In the interim, we will not be doing Men's Night group skins or prizes for closes to the hole, deuce pot, or hole in one.

You are still permitted to golf on Wednesday. For non-members, we will honour the reduced Men's Night rate of $10 for green fees during this shutdown. Also, if numbers warrant we will also look at running the beer cart on Wednesdays.

There are two additional current measures that impact golf. Firstly, group sizes should not exceed 5 golfers. Secondly, they have reintroduced the restriction from last year which states that you should only share a golf cart with members of your own household.

I suppose we should be grateful that we can even play given that Ontario is currently restricting all golf. This is a small inconvenience that we can easily handle for the greater good.

Last Mens' Night for a While

There were 26 golfers on Wednesday. Conditions weren't bad but a typical windy night for Shoal Lake in May. It started off warm but got progressively windier and cooler.

Skins went on three holes. Winners include Charles McKay / Brandon Cloud ($20.00 on #1), Scott Maynes / Stephen David ($20.00 on #2), and Austin Hunter / Theoren Hunter ($38.75 on #7).

Chad Tanner was closest to the hole on both #5 and #9. He was not able to covert either birdie. There were four deuces by Scott Maynes, Dawson Tanner, and Montanna Sutherland.

This will be our last Mens' Night for a couple of weeks as new public health orders will be preventing outdoor gatherings. Hopefully, we get back at it sooner than later.

Here We (I) Go Again

We have an older crowd generally at Men's Night but it is skewing younger the last year or so. Such was the trend again to start the 2021 season. I didn't do an official count but we had 22 guys for our first Men's Night and likely half were under 25. Therefore I think I need to get the Whitesnake reference in early.

On the first round of the year, we had skins go on four holes. Winners included Dawson Tanner / Logan Tanner ($36.88 on #1 and $20.00 on #2), Charles McKay / Reegan Kominko ($36.88 on #4), and high school buds Robin Kimpinski / Milt ($29.38 on #9).

Closest to #5 was Charles McKay and closest on #9 was Milt. I was going to use his last name but he is up there with those single-named celebrities such as Madonna, Adele, and Kermit. Neither Charles nor Milt made their putt and no one else recorded a deuce on the evening.

The Ringer Board started off again with Darcy Kowalchuk jumping out to an early lead at -1. He's technically tied for first but I gave him credit because he's my buddy and he's getting older and I wanted to give him a shout-out. Plus, alphabetically he is first.

It looks like a great day for golf tomorrow. The warm weather is about to begin.

One More Night

 

Well it has been a good run. We started Mens Night back on May 20, which was later than usual due to the pandemic and early restrictions placed upon golf courses. And here we are getting ready to have a Men's Night on September 30 which is the latest that I can remember.

This Wednesday is the final night that the Club House is open. Consequently it will be our final official Men's Night of the year. That doesn't mean that we can't continue golfing on Wednesday.

We had 19 possible Men's Nights but lost two, one due to heavy rain and another due to insufficient players. Some years we get to 20 nights played but that requires a later April or early May start. There were some nights with great turnout and others when we just got past the required 10 golfers.

Last week we had 14 golfers. Skins went on four holes. Darcy Kowalchuk and Donovin Tanner teamed up to win three $20.00 skins, on #2, 3, and 8. The only other skin was on #5 when Nick Roullette and Pete Ostash combined for a $40.01 win. Closest to the pins were Nick on #5 and Phil Ostash on #9. Nick also converted his birdie to claim the $46.86 deuce pot.

So come on out if you are free for the final Men's Night of the year. Tee off is 6:00 pm. We welcome back any of the farmers who have enjoyed the great fall season and have already finished their harvest.

At Least We Have No Hurricanes

Last year our final night of Men’s Night was September 4. For the following two weeks in 2019, we didn’t get enough golfers before the weather went south quickly. I hate to remind you but last year was the second of two Septembers in a row when we had snow. Last September was actually the second wettest on record dating back to 1872.

This year we’ve already played golf into middle of September and plan to keep going as long as the weather holds. The way farming seems to be going we might get some guys back next week if we are lucky.

Last week we had 11 golfers. The lower number was attributable to a cool evening and farming. Despite the low number, skins only went on two holes. Winners included Robin Kimpinski / Blake Hunter ($20.00 on #7) and Jason Gorrell / Sonny Blackbird ($20.00 on #8). Closest to the holes were Pete Ostash on #5 and Reegan Kominko on #9. There were no deuces.

Thinking about tomorrow, there may be a chance of showers but the high is forecasted as 16. Be grateful that conditions are favourable. My home province of Nova Scotia is going to get hit today with either a hurricane or a tropical storm. Tomorrow Shoal Lake may get 1-3 mm. Parts of Nova Scotia may get over 50 mm today. And they also have a storm surge warning which means the winds may be so high that ocean waves might flood the coast. I grew on the east side of the province which today is expected to experience extreme impact of the storm as shown in the map above. So we are doing pretty well for Men’s Night tomorrow.

Almost Missed It

 

I just came on my compter to print out the stuff for Men's Night when I realized I forgot to update the stuff for Men's Night. So here it is in a nutshell. There were twelve golfers last Wednesday. Skins went on four holes. Winner included Darcy Kowalchuk / Robin Kimpinski ($20.00 on #1. $20.00 on #6), Charles McKay / Noah Street ($20.00 on #3), and Brad Benton / Reegan Kominki ($24.38 on #9). Reegan also had the only deuce for the $22.50. Closet to #5 was Jason Gorrell and # was Stephen David.

Men's Night tee off tomorrow evening is 6:00 pm.

Bonus Golf

This is the time for extra golf. Summer is winding down but officially fall doesn't start for a couple of weeks. Despite a couple of cool days the weather looks like it will turn around starting tomorrow. Many people are back to work or school with no vacation time remaining. But we are likely a long time from putting our clubs away. 

So why not take advanatge and get out to Mens Night tomorrow evening. It will be 16 Celsius and sunny with a 6:00 pm tee off to get in ahead of the earlier sunset. You could have a few beverages, hang out with friends, and maybe cash in $2250 for a hole-in-one.

If your recall, we had snow in September the last two years. It will not be long before we are looking outside at a barren white landscape longing for nicer weather. And right now is perfect bonus golf weather. Still warm enough to make it enjoyable but not so cold that you need to spend your evenings putting away deck furniture and other summer items. When it's bonus golf time it almost doesn't require negotiating with your significant other. They understand the need to get out a few more times before it's shut down for the season.

Heck it's going to be way nicer tomorrow than last week when it was cool and rainy. We still got 11 golfers out then. Skins went on the first four holes. Winners included Brad Benton / Joe Shwaluk ($73.76 on #1), Chad Tanner / Brandon Tanner ($20.00 on #2, $26.88 on #3), and Robin Kimpinski ($73.76 on #4).

Closest to the pins were Chad on #5 and Brad on #9. There were no deuces. Robin had the low round of the evening with a 36.

Ringer Board Wrap-up

The ringer board ended this week. I will do a brief recap of the regular Mens Night before providing an update on that.

For the second week in a row we had 16 golfers. Skins went on four holes. Winners incuded Austin Hunter / Randy Brandon Jr. ($44.38 on #2, $20.00 on #7), Scott Maynes / Ribsey Sopka ($20.00 on #6), and Blake Hunter / Randy Brandon Sr. ($44.38 on #8).

Closest to the pins were Brad Benton on #5 and Robin Kimpinski on #9. Maynes won the sol $30 deuce pot and Stephen David had the low round of the evening with a 38.

The four leaders on on the ringer board all dropped strokes on the final evening. Robin lost two strokes, Maynes went down 3, Brad dropped 3, and Stephen lost 2. When all the strokes were counted the flight winners were as follows: first flight: Robin -4, Maynes -3, and Jason Hunter -2 on a count back and second flight: Jason Gorrell 2, Wes Arnfinson 7. Anyone that did not get a final score entered for a hole received the Mens Night triple bogey.

75 Words or Less Update

There were 16 golfers this past Wednesday. Skins went on only two holes with Brad Benton and Ian Paterson winning twice ($34.88 on #5 and $56.80 on #9). Brad was closest on #5 and Phil Ostash hit it tight on #9. They shared the $30. deuce pot. 

Next week is the final week to enter ringer board scores. Any unrecorded holes will be noted as triple bogies.

A Rare August Cancellation

This radar image likely shows why not many people showed up =on Wednesday. In fact, with only eight golfers we did not have enough for Men's Night. I am guessing thatmost people either looked out the window or checked out at the weather forecast and decided not to play. They missed out on a fun evening of golf.

It started to rain about 5:20 pm and went hard until 6:00 pm. Then it stopped. We waited a another 10 minutes to see if someone else might arrive but no one did. As a result, no official Men's Night occured and consequently there is nothing to report. There were no skins awarded, no closest to the pins recorded, and no deuces or holes-in-one.

So the skins for next week are the same as what was projected on Wednesday. One challenge is that the ringer board now only has two weeks remaining. If you have yet to lock in your scores you need to start making some decisions quickly.

Instead of going home, the eight people visited the Club House to load up on essentials and then played golf. We were inspired by a man who simply stated "What the hell else are we supposed to do on a Wednesday night". We decided to have a four-man scramble which took two extra holes to decide. Thanks to Sport, Charlie, Robin, Brad, Darcy, Gorrell, and Hubey for coming out.

For future reference, if the weather is bad on a Men's Night you can often find shelter in the comforatble confines of the maintenance shed. It can accomodate several carts and multiple golfers. And if you enjoy engaging conversation you will hear stories and jokes as well as lots of talk about the weather. Most of those seeking shelter in the maintenance shed show off their skills as amateur meterologists and use advanced computer radar and precipitation models to predict when the rain will stop. Of course, there are also those wiser few who choose not to be weathermen. Instead they become calm and rational philosophers who simply state that "the rain will stop when it stops".

A Slight Delay

Men's Night is later today. I am just updating the blog this morning with last week's information. It is what it is. Sometimes we get busy and distracted. Such was the case for me these past seven days.

Last week we had another solid turnout with 39 golfers in attendance. Low score of the evening was a 36 by Terry Brandon who was making his first Men's Night appearance of the season.

Skins went on three holes. Winners included Ron Huberdeau / Randy Turner Jr. ($74.38 on #3), Jason Gorrell / Dion Brandon (#$24.38 on #6), and Robin Kimpinski / Blake Hunter (#94.38 on #7).

Closest to the holes were Theoren Hunter on #5 and Ron Sopako on #9. Both converted their birdies to share the $73.14 deuce pot with Reegan Kominko.

Including tonight, there are three more weeks to add scores to the ringer board. Currently Robin Kimpinski and Scott Maynes lead at -6.

Nice Wednesday...plus No Fire Ants

People often complain about things when they golf. Many bad shots are blamed on the lie of the ball or the high wind. Ocassionally people take liberties and ask for drops when they shouldn't. I have heard people asked if a small patch of dirt on our course was ground under repair. It wasn't. It was just dirt. Also there are people who have difficulty making a straight line between two points when those two points are white stakes for out-of-bounds areas.

But you got to hand it to Bryson DeChambeau for going a step further. Yesterday he attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to get a free drop because of fire ants. He said he saw a couple of red ants nearby and seriously tried to make a case that his personal safety was in jeopardy. The PGA official was not buying it. Like anyone who saw the video of the incident, the official likely thought Bryson was simply trying to dodge a bad lie which included some small sticks upon which the ball was sitting and could not be removed.

On Men's Night we had 36 golfers and no fire ants. Conditions were perfect and the vast majority of scores reflected this. Robin Kimpinski had the round of the night with a 35 that included two lost balls. He also added two scores to the ringer board bringing him to a season leading -6. Scott Maynes is one stroke behind at -5.

Robin paired with Blake Hunter for two skins ($22.50 on #2 and $70 on #5). Robin also had 2 of the 5 deuces of the evening to claim 40% of the $67.50 deuce pot. Other two's were recorded by Kory Stebeleski, Chris Malchuk, and Charles McKay.

Other skins included Larry Oakden / Branden Tanner ($22.50 on #6) and Pete Ostash / Chris Malchuk ($22.50 on #8).

Closest to the holes were Joel Ostash on #5 and Charles McKay on #9.

Hot and Humid Golf

It was a great week for golf included a full Men's Night, a Nine and Dine, and a Horse Race. This was a combination of multiple events and nice weather. The end of July is a busy time at the golf course and this certainly is the case this year. We also have experienced an increase in both our memberships and daily golfers.

Some people might argue that Thursday to Saturday were almost too hot for golf. It certainly was warm and humid. Just ask Jason Gorrell who had about ten gloves hanging on a clothesline attached to his cart.

Last week was our biggest turnout for Men's Night this season with 44 golfers. Usually when we get higher numbers fewer skins are won. This was not the case with six out of 9 holes going. Winners included Charles Blackbird / Wes Arnfinson ($70 on #1), Braeden Allen / Dan Wowryk ($27.50 on #2), Donovin Tanner / Shane Kimpinski ($169.37 on #4), Jason Neufeld / Jim Geekie /9$163.12 on #6),  Scott Maynes / Randy Tanner ($22.50 on #8), and Noah Street / Reegan Kominko ($82.50 on #9).

Closest to the pins were Troy Chwaluk on #5 and Robin Kimpinski on #9. Troy converted his birdie to split the $82.50 deuce pot with Braeden Allen who score his deuce on the par 4 second hole.

Scott Maynes currently leads the ringer board at --5 with a one stroke lead on Robin and Stephen David. You have five more weeks to post scores up to and including August 26.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Horse Race tournament on Saturday. It was the tenth time we held this tournament and the 53 that played represented the most entrants ever.