Attention Summer Students! Now hiring students for summer 2024. Find your summer job here.
Beauty Bay Golf Course, Senior Men’s League, Season Opener, 2024
by Bruce Braun
“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.” – Arnold Palmer.
So here it is folks. Spring! Hooray! The days are getting longer, which means you probably woke up one morning not too long ago and the sun was blinding you. “Hmmm,” you think, “it used to be pleasantly dark at the same time not that long ago.” Now the birds are chirping. You’ve even cracked the window open a little bit at night. Sometimes daytime temperatures are actually warm. What used to be snow on the streets is now dust, sand, and other things. My goodness, you’ve even hooked up the garden hose and washed the car, then you pulled your golf clubs out cleaned out the grooves from that fat shot you made in your final round last year. You even cleaned the grips! You’ve talked to some golf buddies. You are so stoked! And the next morning you wake up to snow on the ground. Insert your own expletive here. Welcome to spring! My all-time favorite storyteller, Garrison Keillor, explains spring this way, “Spring was designed for people that don’t drink so they would have the benefit of knowing what a hangover is like!”
The Beauty Bay Senior Men’s League (BBSML) will begin their season on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 with a shotgun start at 8:30 AM. Please arrive early enough to sign in, pay your dues, and find your playing partners. You can sign up in advance by calling the golf course at 807-548-4777 or stop by the golf course. Please sign up before Sunday evening, May 12. If you are age 50 or above, and a little bit friendly, this could be what you’re looking for.
BB Golf Course opened its doors for this season on May 6. There has been a changing of the guard. Nicole has stepped down and Bea McClintock is our new general manager. Be sure to give her a warm welcome! As well, golf course superintendent, Greg Haus, and his team are working to keep almost 100 acres of property in top-notch condition. We are ready for a wonderful season!
I am pleased to announce that the executive committee of the BBSML is already in full swing. Returning is our fearless president, Richard Cone. We are grateful for his dedicated leadership and being the man in the driver seat of this well-oiled machine. Second in command, Jay Ford is Mr. Background. If anything needs doing Jay gets it done. Next up, Marvin Koski, will be putting in his last year of being called the “Stats Guy.” We are searching for a new person to fill this role. Would you be interested? The job includes collecting scorecards, checking addition, recording and reporting winners and maintaining individual handicaps. Next up, Orlo Mejia and slightly taller, Dean Carrie, are the financiers of the league. In addition to handling the books they will routinely be handing out precious BB bucks to our weekly winners. AJ Giardin will continue organizing the weekly teams and assigning holes with the help of Lee Belanger. Marty Poirier is returning as the collector of your loonies to participate in the weekly prizes. Finally, yours truly, Bruce Braun, will put ink to paper (more accurately yammering at my iPad and pushing the ‘send’ button) on a regular basis in an attempt to inform, entertain and ply your regular participation. As a member you will receive weekly articles in your email. Online newspaper, KenoraOnline, will continue including our news in their digital paper. We will also post our articles on Beauty Bays Facebook page. Simply go to your Facebook app and type Beauty Bay Senior Men in the search bar.
Here are some things that are helpful to know…
This year‘s membership dues are $30 for the season. You won’t find a better deal anywhere! Your dues include a picnic in July and a season wrap up and dinner in September. You can also choose to become a member of the golf course to cover your green fees and cart fees, or you can pay as you go. Current rates can be found on the Beauty Bay website.
Tuesday mornings start like this. Once you check in you will find out who your playing partners are. There will be an opportunity to drop a coin into the loony pot and also the 50-50 draw. The loony pot allows you a chance to collect some Beauty Bay loot. Each Tuesday certain holes are designated with challenges, such as closest to the pin or longest putt. The 50-50 draw gives you a chance of putting some cash in your pocket and to also bolster the league coffers. The caveat is winners are asked to man the 50-50 station the following Tuesday.
Teams are assembled fairly to account for handicap. A shotgun start means that you will be assigned a hole on which to start with your group. On a typical Tuesday President Cone will share a few words of wisdom, and then point you towards the hills. Typically you will be playing a scramble for nine holes and stroke play for the other nine holes. The nines alternate weekly. Occasionally a fun twist is added to a Tuesday morning. In the scramble, the rules require each player to contribute a minimum of two tee shots each. From there the best shots are chosen until the hole is completed. The rules are generally relaxed. By this I mean penalty strokes are limited to one stroke. We also allow preferred lies, or winter rules, which permits you to move or adjust the ball slightly but no nearer the hole. This has been deemed a good choice for not only enjoyment of the game, but also to help speed up play! When playing in the scramble players are allowed to move the ball up to one club length, no nearer the hole, but it has to stay in the condition that the chosen ball landed. That is to say if your ball is in the rough you cannot take a club length to put the ball on the fairway. Your ball has to stay in the rough. Likewise, you cannot use the one club length rule to take a ball out of the sand trap. Each team is expected to turn in one scorecard at the end of the round. Winners will be reported weekly. Marvin gives me the numbers and then I’ll get them to you.
One last item… I’d like to get a group picture of last year’s trophy winners on the morning of May 21. Details in the next newsletter.
All of us are looking forward to seeing you on May 14.
