Here's What Happened in a Nutshell

This will be a short one. I was away last week and all I have to report is the sheet with skins.

There were 19 golfers last Wednesday. Skins went on three holes. Winners included Scott Maynes / Charlie McNabb ($20 on #4) and Darcy Kowalchuk ($20 on #7).

Closest to the pins were Blake Hunter on #5 and Jamie McCutchin on #9. Blake, Wes Arnfinson, and Jason Gorrell split the $28.50 deuce pot.

There are two weeks remaining on the ringer board...this Wednesday and next week (August 23rd). Scott Maynes added a birdie and a par to go to -7 with one hole remaining. Jason Gorrell's two birdies jumped him to second place at -6.  Five players are at -5.

Almost...so close

Brad Benton almost dropped a hole-in-one on #9 on Wednesday. Almost.

It's been several years since we have had an ace. Dale Watson had the last one on July 25, 2012.  That is 5 years and 11 days ago.

We now have three hole-in-one pots. Two are capped at $1500. and the third is currently at $615.  If the third gets to $1500. before a winner, we will propose combining the first two for pots of $3000. and $1500.  It will likely take the third pot around 30-35 weeks to get to $1500...so that will not happen until early 2019. My suggestion is for someone to hurry up and get a hole-in-one this year.

Brad's tight pin shot won him closest to the pin and a share of the $67.50 deuce pot with Robin Kimpinski. Closest on #5 was Darcy Kowalchuk.

There were 17 golfers this week.  Skins went on three holes.  Robin combined with Jamie McCutchins for two wins...$33.00 on #2 and $22.50 on #9.  Brad and Jason Gorrell wo $58.00 on #5.

The final night for the ringer board is August 25th. You have three weeks to enter your scores and complete your card.  Scott Maynes still leads at -6 with five golfers one stroke back at -5.

Have a good couple of weeks. I will miss the next two Mens' Nights.

In Search of Missing Golfers

The weather was almost perfect this week. It was sunny and hot and the lake was a sheet of glass. It was a beautiful day at the end of July. However, we only had 28 golfers. That was an improvement over last week's 21 and the 16 from two weeks prior.

It used to be 50 was the magical number to illustrate a great Mens Night turnout. That may have been a bit high because we only have crossed that threshold twice. I think now 40 might be the number.

This year we have had 12 Mens' Night. We have been nowhere near 40 on any evening. Our high for 2017 is 35.  We also had 32 one night and 31 three times.

The 28 that we had this week tied the number that they had last night in Russell...for Ladies Night. I know because my wife attended.

Looking on the positive side, it was an excellent Wednesday this week. Austin Hunter certainly enjoyed himself firing off a sizzling 36 to lead all scorers.  Austin also combined with Hubey for a $24.50 skin on #7.  Other skins went to Brad Benton / Charlie McNabb ($24.50 on #4), Luke Funk / Phil Ostash ($24.50 on #6), and Jason Hunter / Jason Gorrell ($24.50 on #8).

Closest to the pins were Stephen David on #5 and Scott Martin on #9. There were no deuces recorded.

Don't forget the Horse Race is tomorrow...starting at 9:00 am. There are 33 golfers registered to date.

Stay Safe...Stand in the Middle of a Fairway

The picture above is there for three reasons.  Firstly, we have some deer hanging around the golf course that seem pretty comfortable with carts and players.  Secondly, it was posted by Rock Bottom Golf which is really good follow on Twitter or Facebook.  It's an American golf supply store that posts lots of funny and random thoughts and images.  Finally, it epitomizes the typical golf game of many people. Often the safest place to stand if you are in front of most golfers is right up the middle of the fairway.

One person that has little trouble splitting the fairway is Robin Kimpinski.  He paired with the dummy card on Wednesday and won the only two skins.  He cashed in for $20 each on both holes 1 and 9.  This raised his season money leading total to $272.  This is $100 ahead of Scott Maynes in second and $180 in front of Charlie McNabb in third.

Robin is on pace to set the new single season prize money record.  For perspective, the season money winners since we started tracking them have included Stephen David ($262 in 2016), Jason Gorrell ($351 in 2015), and Scott Maynes ($283 in 2014, $234 in 2013).

There were only 21 golfers this past week. This has been an odd year with lower turnouts than usual, especially so far in July. 

Blake Hunter has a good evening. He was closest to the hole on #9 and converted the birdie to share the $38.50 deuce pot with Brad Benton and Brett Griffin.  Blake also birdied 1 and 2 to add three more negative numbers to his ringer board.

Closest to the hole on #5 was nobody. ..which doesn't happen very often.

The Horse Race is next Saturday. The list of entrants to date is on the left side of this blog. If you are viewing it on your phone, scroll to the bottom and select "view full site".

A Great Wednesday Evening

Usually when I miss Men's Night I am a little disappointed. This past week I was fine not being there. Instead I was sitting at the Shoal Lake Airport watching the 25th anniversary air show featuring the Canadian Forces 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, commonly known as the Snowbirds.

Some people wondered if we would cancel last week because of the air show.  We decided to run Mens' night as scheduled and allow people to choose how to spend their evening.  I chose to watch the planes while 16 others decided to golf.  I assume that everyone was happy with their choices.

Those people that did play said they had a great vantage with the Snowbirds regrouping after most maneuvers above the seventh hole.  Wes Arnfinson even reported needing to back away from his tee shot on nine because of the noise and spectacle above him.

Skins went on six holes this past week. Winners included Wes Arnfinson / Les Blackbird ($20 on #1), Austin Hunter / Jason Neufeld ($20 on #8, $40.50 on #9), Sonny Blackbird / Blake Hunter ($20 on #4), Wayne Griffin / Terry Brandon ($20 on #6), and Barry Bone / Brad Benton ($40.50 on #7).

In addition to their double skin win, Austin and Neuf were closest to the holes, on #5 and #9 respectively.  Also, they converted their birdies for the only deuces of the evening to split the $24 pot.

There are lots of things happening at the golf course in the next few weeks. There is a Nine and Dine on Friday plus the Yellowhead 150 Tournament on Sunday.  Also, our annual Horse Race tournament is July 29th. The list of registrants to date is shown on the left hand links.  To register for any tournaments contact myself or Scott Maynes.

What the hail?

The weather is finally getting better...except for the hail storm that started just after Mens' Night ended last week. The image above shows the size of what hit Shoal Lake. We were more fortunate than our Birtle neighbours who had twoonie-sized frozen balls of fun.  The car dealer in their town reported 65 vehicles damaged in the storm.

There were 32 golfers last week with skins going on four holes.  Winners included Robin Kimpinski / Jim Geekie ($55.00 on #2), Shane Kimpinski / Chris Kimpinski ($32.50 on #4), Jason Neufeld / Scott Maynes ($20.00 on #6), and Darcy Kowalchuk / Jason Hunter ($20.00 on #8).

Closest to the pins were Wayne Griffin on #5 and Pete Ostash on #9. Pete converted his birdie to share the $48.00 deuce pot with Ron Huberdeau and Mike Susinski.

Don't forget that the Horse Race is scheduled for June 29th. Let me know the names of entrants asap.

Hello July

The picture above doesn't really relate to anything that I am writing about today.  I thought it was funny and appropriate given the experience of many golfers. Hopefully this week you hit a lot of fairways.

I am once again late to update the blog. Since Friday, I have been visiting the in-laws in Winnipegosis. Their internet is Xplorenet which is incredibly slow. With the whole family there, it was difficult enough to get texts and check emails.  I was also away last week. It seems that I am less attentive to the blog when I am away.

There were 31 golfers on Wednesday. Scott Maynes had a sizzling 34 which included one bogey.  He added three more birdies to the ringer board to take the lead with a -6.  He also split a $54.50 skin with Ken Ostash on #6.

Other skin winners included Robin Kimpinski / Kevin Bartram ($20 on #1), Colin Heier and Ron Anderson ($20 on #5), and Jason Gorrell / Bob Moffatt ($39.00 on #8).

Colin Heier had the only deuce and won $49.50 for his efforts.

Closest to the pins were Robby Eastcott on #5 and Dale Martin on #9.

This is a great week for golf. Tomorrow night is a Jack and Jill, Wednesday is Men's Night, and Friday is our Fundraiser Tournament. Have fun and play as well as you can.

Night of the Robin

Wednesday was a pretty good day at Mens' Night.  Most of the 31 golfers had fun and several made some cash.

It was the night of Robin Kimpinski. Not only did he add another $57 to his season leading money total, he won the Chase the Ace and $1200. This was the second time in two years that Robin has won the big prize. Last year he took home around $2200 for finding the ace of spades.

Robin reconnected with Charlie McNabb to win skins on two holes. They got $20 for #1 and $95.50 for #7.  Other skins winners included Chris Kimpinski / Ron Susinki ($38 on #4), Blake Hunter / Luke Funk ($50 on #5), and Scott Maynes / Ken Ostash ($74.50 on #9).

The $48 deuce pot was split by Scott Maynes, Darcy Kowalchuk, and Blake Hunter. Scott was closest on the #5 while Darcy did the same on #9.

It was also summer solstice on Wednesday. Several groups took advantage of it being the longest day of the year by playing some extra holes.

This week looks very promising in terms of weather with a forecast of 22 Celsius and sun.

Rain

We have had some funny weather this year. April was too cold for us to get started. May came with high winds about five days out of every seven including almost every weekend. And here we have June with temperatures far below normal and lots of rain.

It rained last week at Men's Night.  It started early and continued steadily all evening. It wasn't necessarily an intense rain but it was constant.  Plus the wind starting whipping about midway through the round.  It may have been the wettest that I ever was on a golf course.  At one point I was standing in a puddle that went over the top of my shoe and didn't realize it.  There were small lakes forming in new places and tee shots were plugging without bouncing.  People were using ball retrievers to recover balls from the fairway.  Clubs were slipping out the hands of anyone who wasn't wearing rain gloves.

In spite of the conditions, there were 13 golfers who made it out for Mens' Night.  Dan Stokes had a nice return from Shamattawa getting closest to the hole on #5 and pairing with the dummy card for the only skins of the night on #1 and 3.  The two skins were worth $39 and $20 respectively.  The other closest to the pin was Steven Shackel on #9. There were no deuces.

Sorry about the delay with the blog.  I went on a golf trip with Dan and Gorrell and didn't get home until late Sunday.  It was lots of fun but it also rained for a bit each of the four days at Hecla.

Let's hope the forecast changes for this Wednesday.

Men's Night is Awesome

There’s a neat website called “1000 Awesome Things”.  They have a list which enables you to click on any one for further explanation. If covers a wide range of things from the smells and sounds around a campfire to the joy of finding two-ply toilet paper in a public washroom.

The #269 thing on the list is the sound of a golf ball falling into a cup.  The person who made the entry described it as the" bounce-a-round sound of hole-finishing satisfaction".  He continued by stating that “Whether you just finished smacking dented balls off tree trunks, chipping through the rough, or twelve-putting your way to the finish line, it really doesn’t matter. Because that final shot always sounds the same. It’s the sound of satisfaction going down the drain”.

This made me think about all the little things that are awesome about Mens’ Night. They include, but are not limited to the following:
- Being able to get to the course early on Wednesday for a practice round or two.
- Following a triple bogey with a birdie…especially if it is a chip-in from a bad lie.
- Getting the 10th guy to show up just before starting time on a cold day at the start or the end of the season just to make the night official.
- The beverage cart that keeps us hydrated on hot days.
- Having to raise my voice during the awarding of prizes, because there are so many people present.
- Finding your ball or any ball when going into the woods.
- Getting closest to the pin.
- Missing the green but still getting a deuce.
- That area between the 7th green and 8th tee box which may be the warmest place in Shoal Lake.
- When there is an occasional card game following the golf.

This past Wednesday we had 31 golfers. Skins went on three holes. Winners included Terry Brandon / Shane Kimpinski ($59.50 on #2), Robin Kimpinski / Keith Martin ($64.50 on #3), and Pete Ostash / Dave Gill ($33.00 on #9).

Closest to the pins were Terry Brandon on #5 and Shane Kimpinski on #9. Of the two, only Terry concerted the birdie.  He shared the $46.50 deuce pot with Scott Maynes and John Boles.

If you are interested in the list I mentioned earlier, you may find it at http://1000awesomethings.com/the-top-1000/

Now that's better

It was a nice Band Concert on Wednesday. All the groups played well and the Grade 8 Band of which my daughter was part sounded really good. It was kind of bittersweet because it might be her last concert. It seems like Band isn't a cool option for kids as they head to Grade 9.

It was also a really good Mens' Night.  I know because I went to the Club House upon returning home from the Bend Theatre. Over the first four weeks our turnout was 15, 14, 0, and 12. This Wednesday we had 35 golfers. There was so much excitement that 10 of them forgot to sign up.

It was also a very nice evening with higher temperatures, sun, and even some reduced wind. It seems that the good weather is here to stay if the last few days are any indication.

There was lots of guys making their first appearance of the year. John and Dave Gill came as a pair. Neuf showed up having received doctor permission to golf earlier in the day. Pete Ostash made the trek from Brandon.  You could tell the spring farming season was wrapping up when Mike and Ron Susinski visited as did Wes Arnfinson and Jason Hunter.  Ronnie Anderson came and even brought a friend.

The performance of the night belonged to Robin Kimpinski who shot a 33 despite a double on #3.  Robin also had deuces on two holes to grab 2/3 of the $88.50 pot for the week. The other deuce went to Scott Maynes.

Robin's start to June this year was much more promising than last year. The June 6, 2016 blog title was "Jason is better than Robin". Then Gorrell shot the low round of the night and Robin had a 51. He was two strokes a hole better this year.  That simply shows that golf is a fickle game and even the good players get to experience some humility on occasion.

The great thing about having better numbers is the skins don't go as easily. Only two holes were won. The Ostash twins Milt and Joel made $29.50 on #4 while Robin teamed with Wes for $20 on #6. There wasn't a combined par on #2 despite the fact that Robin had a 2 there. His partner Wes had a 7 and was fine with it. The odd triple bogey is easier to take when you are happy just to be golfing with the boys.

Closest to the pins were Scott Maynes on #5 and Ron Anderson on #9.

There's already some buzz for next week with talk of a possible game of cards to follow. Come on out and boost our numbers, enjoy some company, and take a crack at the growing Chase the Ace prize.

Wind Sucks

Golf in the wind can be fun....on occasion. However, we have been in the midst of what seems like a month of wind. Even better, the windiest days seem to be Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday which doesn't help weekend golf or Men's Night. This past Wednesday it was blowing pretty hard.

I will golf in pretty much any conditions other than chain lightning. However, lots of people like the weather to be a bit better. Not surprisingly we only had 12 golfers this week. It was less windy on Tuesday evening and sunny. They actually had more women at Ladies Night than we did the next night.

Even if you are willing to golf on windy days it wears on you when it happens for almost a month.  Blustery days can be frustrating with good shots turning bad and bad shots ending up even worse.  You struggle controlling distance and you start to lose confidence and concentration.  Even when playing your regular course your game strategy basically gets thrown out the window.

There are lots of tips to improve your golf experience in windy conditions. Some people try hitting it lower off the tee.  Others try to punch longer clubs from short distances rather than risk high shots from wedges. Even though windy days are challenging, the majority of golfers would prefer that to rainy days.

Which brings me to today.  I am writing the blog while watching the trees bend outside my window this Sunday morning. It's windy again. Also, the forecast is for rain this afternoon. I have sides for my carts that I can put on if I need to do so.  The problem is I might be scrambling for playing partners if the rain comes.

Back to this past week. Skins went on three holes. Winners included Charlie McNabb / Brad Benton ($31.50 on #1), Milt / Stephen David ($20 on #6), and Blake Hunter / Robin Kimpinski ($31.50 on 8). Closest to the holes were Robin on #5 and Jason Gorrell on #9. There were no deuces.

Have fun this coming Wednesday. I will be at the Strathclair Bend Theatre enjoying the Band Concert. The wind never seems to effect that event. Maybe there is something to be said for occasionally staying indoors.

No Men's Night this week

There was no Men's Night this week. It was cancelled due to poor weather conditions and an expected low turnout of golfers.  I wasn't too upset when I heard because I was heading to Winnipeg the same evening.  However, it sucks when we have to cancel for any reason.

Wednesday was cool. At 6:00 pm when I left for the city it was 7 Celsius with close to a 40 km/hr wind. I guess it makes sense to shut the golf down for an evening. However, cancelling Men's Night is like cancelling your birthday or saying that there will be no Christmas this year. 

On a given year we get 20-22 Wednesdays to play. Most of our wives and significant others would argue that is plenty.  It would feel better to me if we had around another 10 or so.  We have long winters in this province...and spring always seems to take a little more time than it should to arrive.

Cancelling Men's Night is not an easy decision...or so they tell me. Not only are you giving up an important revenue night for the golf course, you also get yourself on the wrong side of Brad Benton. Brad's a diehard who feels that there is no circumstance which justifies a cancellation.  I am not sure of whether this is true, but I heard a story that 55 years ago Brad was scheduled to be born on a Wednesday. His mom's water broke a day early and he came to the world on a Tuesday.  Even then, he didn't want to miss Men's Night.

Like a few others, I plan my job and my personal life around Men's Night. I try to avoid meetings or commitments Wednesday afternoon or evening.  I plan camping trips often with Thursday departures and Wednesday returns.  If I am gone from a weekend to weekend, I usually come back on Wednesday to check on the house and cut the grass.  Invariably these tasks take a long time so I end up staying home for the night.  This works out great given that the golf course is around 550 yards from my house.

I have had quite a few years with perfect Men's Night attendance for the season.  Last year I missed two, the previous year one, and I didn't make three in 2014.  Even when I am not there I find myself texting someone around 9:30 or so to see who won skins and who was closest to the hole and to ask how many guys showed up.

This year I will miss three...not counting the recent one which was cancelled.  May 31st is my daughter's Band concert.  I am attending a high school graduation on June 28th.  I will be watching the Jays play the Yankees in Toronto one day in August.  I expect that I will be messaging Scott Maynes that last evening to see if anyone got the deuce pot while missing something cool on the ball diamond.

The planning isn't just for the current year.  For example, I know that 2020 is a Leap Year.  That is significant because in 2019 my wife's birthday is a Tuesday but with the Leap Year her special day jumps to Thursday in 2020, thereby avoiding Men's Night.  If not for that extra day on the calendar, I would have been forced to miss that night...and my wife would not like me missing her birthday.

I remember a few years back we had an evening where we had close to 50 golfers.  After the prizes, lots of people hung around and visited. Then around 11:30 pm we decided to leave to go and play cards at another location.  One gentlemen declined, saying that he needed to get home because it was his anniversary.  Now that's dedication to Men's Night.  Plus he still allowed himself at least 25 minutes to celebrate his special day with his spouse.

Right now next Wednesday is projected for 21 Celsius and sunny. I may have to head to the course earlier to make up for this week.

Enjoy your long weekend.

It's Up To You

Okay. I am going to write about something that I have written about two times previously…the importance of being optimistic on the golf course.

This is a longer blog than usual. If you aren’t interested in my ramblings skip to the end to see how Mens’ Night went this week.

I started writing this early Saturday morning, eager to golf at noon with the boys, but listening to the wind howl a bit outside.  I checked two weather sites…one said “partly cloudy” and the other stated “partly sunny”. I think that they mean the same thing but  I made a choice to go with the more positive option.

The thing about being an optimistic person is on rare occasions you don’t feel automatically optimistic. I would like to think it is a dominant trait but sometimes maintaining a positive outlook isn’t easy. When I first awoke, I thought...”Cool, it’s a golf day”. Then I heard the wind and thought “What the heck”. Before getting out of bed I started thinking about how it was windy both days last weekend and here it is was windy again today.  I started thinking how I bought new golf balls yesterday and would need to leave them at home because of the gusts.  I wondered if some people who said that they might play would bail because it was too breezy.

I went to the course for noon. One of the four guys replied quickly to a text and said he wasn’t coming. A second responded in a similar fashion a little while later, The fourth slept in and texted around 2:00 pm as I was on my way back home.

But it wasn’t a wasted trip. I putted and chipped and hit some balls from about 100 yards. It was really windy but not that bad. I even tried to look for some balls…checking the regular spots on holes 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. I found ten balls in about an hour. Three went into the pond. One had a cut in it. Another had a checkerboard pattern that I threw in the cart for my kid. Of the remaining five three were good balls. The best was the TaylorMade with the green putting line that was likely hit by Scott Maynes. It was deep in the middle of the bush on #3.

I wasn’t bummed about finding so few balls. It was warm in the bush with the sun and no wind. Plus I got outside for a couple of hours. A pessimist might suggest that the lack of found balls indicates a slow start to the season. I would like to think everyone is playing well enough to keep their balls in play.

I guess my point is that sometimes being optimistic takes a little work.  For example, the first mens night I had a less than awesome first hole and for the rest of the round I felt like I was waiting for something else bad to happen.  I chose to not have as much fun as I should have.  This past week, I started with a birdie on 6 and was excited about when the next one was coming.  I didn’t score significantly better than week one but I enjoyed the evening way more.  It’s a pretty simple concept I guess…sad face or happy face…you decide.

Think about your own game. You face a long putt…roll it 40 feet across the green and it stops inches away.  Do you get upset that you left another one short or do you think that it is great that you get a gimmie for putting so well?  Do you complain every time your approach shot is short or do you think that it was a nice straight shot but just needed a little more power or one more club?  Do you get bummed when only 14 men show up or are you happy that there is still enough to play?

Speaking of 14 golfers, that is how many that we had this past Wednesday.

Skins went on three consecutive holes and all won $20 skins. Winners included Robin Kimpinski / Blake Hunter on 5, Darcy Kowalchuk / Charlie McNabb on 6, and Stephen David / Sonny Blackbird on 7.

Darcy Kowalchuk was closest to the hole on #5 and Brad Benton was a repeat winner on #9. Both converted their birdies to share the $21 deuce pot.

Brad and Robin both added another birdie to the ringer board to get to -2.

One more point about today. As I came out of the bush close to 2:00 pm, I saw a cart approaching. I talked to the gentlemen for a minute before heading home. I felt comfortable leaving the course in the hands of another optimist…Mr. Clayton Hunter. I asked him if was too windy and he said “Hell no. I need to get some exercise”.

See you all on Wednesday.  I bet there will be 30 golfers!

Let the Games Begin

So last year I predicted that we would have our first Mens’ Night on April 19th. Due to a prolonged winter / spring transition it took us two weeks later to get started. Nevertheless, the year has begun and we have a whole season of possibilities ahead of us.

Since it is the start of the year, I thought it would be appropriate to start out with some early season swing tips. Please use them as appropriate:

- It has been a long winter. You likely have not touched your clubs since September. It is also very possible that you have not exercised in months. For the first couple of times golfing, disregard your lack of readiness by swinging as hard as possible. This also is an effective reliever of 6 months of pent-up stress.

- Usually you hit someone else’s driver better than your own. Therefore, ask Robin or Milt if you can use their driver for the first couple of weeks.

- Don’t buy a new driver unless you have had a chance to throw it first.

- Try to minimize negative thoughts during your swing. I try to clear my mind prior to teeing off. I would suggest imagining a shirtless Gorrell riding a white horse. When I think of this I totally forget about trees, water, and other hazards.

- There are lots of people who want to give you advice on your swing. They all have suggestions about your tempo, your backswing, or what you are doing with your wrists. When they provide this advice, smile at them as if you are listening…then imagine their face on your ball. Swing hard.

- If you're afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options…you can immediately shank a lay-up, or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there.

- Sometimes hitting a second drive even worse helps you appreciate the first one.

- Often we make a great practice swing but then mess up with the real swing. So it is recommended to walk up to the ball, state aloud that “this is a practice swing”, start your swing, yell “this is now my real shot”, then hit it.

- After “laying up” in front of the trees on seven, you can either go with one more club for the next shot or one more ball for the third shot.

- Finally, if you really want to have a better golf swing, go back in time and start it at a much earlier age.

Fifteen golfers were on hand to open the Mens Night season on a mild but pleasant first Wednesday in May.

Skins went on three holes. Winners included Scott Maynes $36 on #4, Robin Kimpinski / Charlie McNabb $20 on #6, and Jamie McCutchin / Carson McLennan $21 on #9.

Closest to the holes were Jamie McCutchin on #5 and Brad Benton on #9. Brad converted his birdie for the only deuce of the evening and a $37.50 prize.

Jamie’s shot on #5 was quite appropriate given that his business Sandy Lake Locker Plant) sponsors the hole. The ninth hole is jointly sponsored by Kimp Services and Susinski Farms.

We will continue with the Ringer Board this year. Information about it is found on the links to the left. Robin and Brad have jumped out to an early lead at -1.

Welcome back to Hannah Street in the Club House. She was joined on Wednesday by Skylar Arnfinson and Jenna Rupa.

This Wednesday is showing 16 Celsius and sunny on the Weather Network, which is slightly better than Environment Canada. I tend to choose the best forecast.

 

Thanks for a great year!

I am pretty sure the image above is intended for Christmas holidays...but it is fitting as our 2016 Men's Night season draws to a close.

I will quickly do a recap of this past week before taking some time to remember some of the neat things that happened on Wednesdays this spring, summer, and early fall.

Wednesday was our final Men's Night. While only 10 golfers made it was still a fun way to wrap up the year.

Skins went on four holes. Winners included Dan Stokes / Stephen David ($20 on #1), Austin Hunter / Wes Arnfinson ($20 on #3, $20 on #6), and Joe Shwaluk / Brad Benton ($20 on #9).

Closest to the pins were Dan on #5 and Joe on #9. There were no deuces recorded.

So with this Wednesday duly noted, here are some of the interesting happenings of 2016:
- Our season started on April 27 and went to September 28, spanning 23 weeks.
- We had two rain outs...some extremely hot days, some lightning, and a tornado warning.
- Brad Benton edged out Scott Maynes on the last night of the ringer board.
- There were multiple nights when no one recorded closest to on a par 3.
- Robin Kimpinski helped us add the word "emu" to the golf bird-related lexicon.
- I won the season money title, sneaking past Blake Hunter in the final two weeks.
- There were 50 people who won money during the season.
- We didn't have a single night with more than 40 golfers.
- Scott Martin scored the deuce of the year with a 95 yard shot on #2 back in May.
- High score for the year was a 63. That's nine maxes.

Thanks to everyone who came out during the season and thanks to the Club House crew for taking care of us on Wednesdays. Finally, thanks to our wives and significant others for finding ways to fill their Wednesday evenings alone without us. We are going to be home now for the winter. Like us, you'll probably be counting down the days until golf begins again in 2017.

Next year I predict two nights of 50 golfers, two holes in one, and an April 19th start.

Until next year...take care and remember...there's always the Golf Channel.

That was an odd one

The picture above is from a classic episode of Seinfeld called "Bizarro Jerry", The plot references a comic book character named Bizarro who is the polar opposite of Superman. In the Seinfeld version, the gang meets a group of people who are their exact opposites.

It was sort of an odd Mens' Night this week. I am not sure if it was a Bizarro Mens' Night but it seemed a little off.

The weather was reasonable but only 11 golfers showed up. It was even too damp likely to farm but none of those guys played.

One team comprised of Scott Maynes and Blake Hunter won three skins. This doesn't usually happen, even on nights with low attendance. The Maynes and Hunter train was on a roll winning $20 on three separate holes, #1, 2, and 5. They were also the closest to the holes on the par 3's with Blake hitting it tight on #5 and Scott being closest on #9.

There were two deuces, but by the same person. This rarely occurs. Good job Scott Maynes.

Jason Hunter didn't play. He usually is a die hard. I have to assume that he was kidnapped or was on jury duty.

Brad Benton was in the high pot, which almost is never the case. He still won a skin on #3 with Robin Kimpinski for $20.

I had the good fortune of pairing with the dummy card which had never happened to me before. In the end I won two skins on my own, including $77 on #6 and $20 on #8.  A high single winner is rare. Not everyone who pairs with the deuce pot gets lucky. Even odder was the fact that I was the middle score on the evening. The dummy card that I ended up with was a reproduction of my own card.

The $97 combined was the highest individual one-week total of the year, edging out the $95.25 won by Blake Hunter back on June 15th.

These wins put my season money total to $253.50 moving me ahead of Blake  who sits in second at $244.13. Blake had an amazing run of 14 weeks in first place.

Ronin Kimpisnksi also moved to $219 in winnings for the year. This is the first time that I recall we had three people over $200 for the season.

Too bad one of the odd events wasn't a hole in one. Our last one was recorded by Dale Watson on July 25th, 2012. That was 1522 days ago. Currently we have two separate pots capped at $1500 and a third currently at $331. That's over $3300 awaiting a couple of lucky shots. Maybe it will happen on Wednesday.

The Club House closes after this Sunday but we have still lined up staff for one final Mens' Night on Wednesday. After that we will shut it down for another season and start counting the days to next year.

Good bad shots

I have been talking a lot about good bad shots lately. It may be reflective of the current state of my game. I would like to think that it is more indicative of my generally optimistic approach to things.

I have used the phrase "A good bad shot is better than a bad good shot" on multiple occasions in recent weeks. It seems that people with whom I have played have had their fair share of good luck as of late. I have also benefitted from some good bounces on fairways. I have witnessed long putts that should not go in somehow change direction and fall in the hole.  I have had at least a half dozen shots in the past month go 20-30 feet into the bush before somehow hitting the right tree at the right angle and coming out safely. When anything of these things happen you feel grateful, happy, and lucky. Quickly your dismay from a seemingly bad shot is erased with the relief of good fortune or a good break.

Contrast this with the bad good shot. Who hasn't hit a seemingly great tee shot down the middle of the third hole before watching it take that 90 degree bounce into the high grass on the right. And what about that perfect birdie putt from six feet that somehow hits the cup so that the ball kicks out six feet sideways and results in two more putts for bogey. Then there is a demoralizing sprinkler head shot common in small town golf courses. Those round pieces of metal are barely noticed until you hit that 150 yard approach that seems like it could be tight...and then it hits the sprinkler head and flies way over the green into the bush.

Most golfers have great memories about their good shots but seem to forget their good fortune. They lament how their round was spoiled by a bad hop or a lost ball that shouldn't have been. Few of us talk about how their round was saved by a members bounce or a couple of putts that we had no business making.

I prefer hearing from those golfers who shot a 45 while admitting that it should have been a 50.  I try not to roll my eyes when I hear others say they shot 38 but are disappointed because it should have been 36. I wonder if they truly feel disappointed in their round or if they just want to tell others that they are even better than their score suggests.

Driving on the fifth hole yesterday, I passed a gentleman searching for a ball hit from the eight tee. He quickly stated that he was looking for his brother's ball again. I assume he didn't want a stranger to think he hit an errant shot. I replied by suggesting that he look on the green because I had hit a similar errant shot on multiple occasions. I wanted the stranger to know that what his brother did wasn't so uncommon.

This past Wednesday, we had 16 golfers.  I shot a 42 which was about right. I had a couple of bad good shots evened out by a few good bad shots. I likely didn't deserve to break 40. I also wouldn't have deserved to be over 45.

Blake Hunter had enough good shots to card a 38 which was the low round of the evening.  He  had consecutive birdies on 6, 7, and 8. He also cashed in for two skins with Jason Gorrell. They won $20 on #7 and $34 on #8. Blake's additions to his season money total put him back in first place ahead of Robin Kimpinski.

Skins went on two other holes. Neuf and Ian got $20 for their efforts on #3 while Scott Maynes and Wes Arfinson won $44 for #5.  Scott's tee shot on the par 3 fifth was good for closest to for the evening.

Sonny Blackbird scored the only 2 of the evening to win the $54 deuce pot. I had a birdie putt on #9 stop at the edge of the hole which would have tied Sonny. That was a bad good shot. However, I hit a less than perfect tee shot that somehow stopped eight feet from the hole. It was good for closest to the hole for the night. That was a good bad shot...so I can't complain.

The forecast for Wednesday looks promising...15 Celsius and sunny which would be pretty darn good for September 21.  If you can't make it because of farming or work or family commitments, I wish you well in doing whatever it is that you will be doing. If you don't want to come because that forecast is too cool for you, imagine how you will feel in a couple of months.

6 - 1 = 5

Three Septembers ago, I wrote a blog entry entitled "Seven Alone" which noted a cold and damp evening in which only 7 golfers showed up for Mens' Night.

This past week it was more like the Final 5. While we did not get enough for an official Mens' Night, we did play 9 holes in the cold and the steady rain. Thanks to Jason Hunter, Neuf, Brad Benton, and Blake Hunter for the round.

We actually started with 6 but Sonny Blackbird didn't have any rain gear. He hit a pretty good tee shot on 5, then went home. For what it's worth, I have his ball in my bag.

Thanks also to Bev Eastcott-Leach who hung around in the Club House for when we finished around 8:00 pm.

Just for the record, it was Robin Kimpinski, Brad Benton, Jason Hunter, Wes Arnfinson, Dan Stokes, Milt, and I who comprised the 7 three years ago.

This Wednesday looks much more promising with the weather. Remember we need 10 golfers to make it an official Mens' Night. See you at 6:00 pm for tee-off.

NHL Hat Auction

Even though this blog is supposed to be a weekly chronicle of what happens at Mens' Night, occasionally I do some general golf club promotion.

So I would like to take a moment to tell you about the NHL Hat Auction fundraiser that we are planning for October 7th.

Following a supper, hats from all NHL teams will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Payouts are awarded at the end of the season to division winners, the Presidents Cup recipient, and the Stanley Cup champion. There is even a prize for the last place team in the regular season.  More information will follow as we get closer to the event.

Now back to the regular Mens' Night stuff.

This past week we had only 20 golfers. Most of the people in the agricultural industry were busy combining or providing services to farmers.

Skins went on five foles. Winners included Sonny Blackbird / Wes Arnfinson ($20 on #1), Jason Gorrell / Brad Lucy ($20 on #2), Stephen David / Blake Cramer ($103.50 on #3), Terry Brandon / Robin Kimpinski ($20 on #7), and Brad Benton / Ron Huberdeau ($20 on #9).

Closest to the pins were Brad Benton on #5 and Scott Maynes on #9. There were no deuces recorded by them or anyone else.

Remember we are now at 6:00 pm tee offs. Mens' Night will continue as long as the weather and numbers permit. This coming Wednesday will be our 20th so far this season.