by Bruce Braun
“Golf is a game of inches. The most important are the six inches between your ears.” Arnold Palmer.
It was a picture-perfect day at Beauty Bay Golf Course. This would be our ninth Tuesday since the season began, but only our fifth time golfing as we have had such a wet run of weather. It was very nice to see so many smiling and squinting faces!
A big kudos to all of you men who have contributed to this weekly newsletter with your pictures and anecdotes. This week was particularly strong, and I apologize if I did not use all of the submissions, but you will see several of them below.
Today was our barbecue day. Post round hungry golfers gathered to enjoy a hamburger or a hotdog (some had both!) with a big serving of potato salad. Good stuff! A big thank you to all of you who got the food ready for us to enjoy.
For your information, there are currently 87 members in the BB senior men’s league. It’s not too late to consider joining. Summer is just getting started! This week we had 72 golfers and 8 guests enjoying these fine fairways and the bright sunshine. Some schedule shuffling has been required due to the rain. Our memorial service will now be on July 23. There will also be a sign up for BB senior men’s league to join the interclub competition with the Kenora Golf Course which will take place on Wednesday, July 17. They will come here on Tuesday, July 30. We are expected to be nice both days.
A reminder to the Matchplay competitors to get your rounds in now that the rain has taken a bit of a break. The latest standings are posted in two places: the BB Clubhouse and the challonge.com website. You can also contact Dan Anderson or Keith Lake.
Story time… On winter travels I have often arrived at a golf course as a single and almost always had no difficulty joining another group. On one particular day we were four singles in search of a game. The starter sent us out to the first tee where we did the usual head nod, name exchange, and greeting and off we went. As in most rounds of golf conversations are brief, interrupted by playing the game. This means it takes several holes before one might gather some details. Turns out one of the gentlemen, Michael, worked for corporate McDonald’s at their headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. He was super friendly. The other two guys were nice, just not as memorable. We’re on the sixth hole. We were all near the green, and Michael was chipping from just off the fringe. It was an excellent shot, and his ball traveled to about 2 feet from the hole. One of the guys said, “Great shot,” and knocked Michael’s ball back towards him. There hadn’t been any gimme’s up to that point. Michael exclaimed, “It’s about time!” He reached into his fat wallet and pulled out a certificate for a free McDonald’s meal and handed it to the giver of the gimme. Let’s just say that I took notice. The next hole was a par five. Three of us were already standing on the green and, once again, Michael was pitching from about 10 yards off the green. He left his approach shot about 12 feet short. Unrehearsed, the three of us, in unison, exclaimed, “That’s good!” Raucous laughter ensued. Without missing a beat Michael reached into his wallet and handed us each a couple of certificates. To his credit, Michael didn’t accept the gimme. The four of us had a wonderful day on the golf course with plenty of laughs. Afterwards, you guessed it, we went to McDonald’s.
Results for the league on July 9 are as follows:
Front nine scramble winners were Darren Ainsworth, Bill MacDonald, Rick Strain and Duncan Calder with a -3 score of 32. Congratulations!
Other achievements:
Closest to the pole on number 10: Al “Laying Up” Pekarchuk.
Longest putt on number 12: Phil “From Afar” Hanstead.
Closest to the cup first shot on number 14: Jay “Tap In” Ford.
Longest drive on number 16: “Smokin’” Paul Warkentin.
Longest putt on number 18: Mario “Slam Dunk” Catacuten.
Flight winners:
Flight 1: Bruce Braun, 39.
Flight 2: Randy Smith, 38. Eagle on 11!
Flight 3: Leo Heyens, 41.
Flight 4: Grant Lawrence, 42.
Flight 5: Brian Jones, 49.
See you next week!