Category — Golf

Well it’s hard to believe but the golfing season has begun in Kamloops. This is definitely one of the earliest starts that I can remember. My golfing buddy Dave and I went to Sun Rivers on Friday Feb 26/10. We had to walk since no power carts were allowed which makes for quite a hike as the course has some pretty good elevation changes….. at least that’s our excuse for playing in the mid 90’s. The memorable moment was that we were the very first golfers out for the 2010 season. Weather was a little windy but the hiking and work out kept us warm. Today we went to Eagle Point which is our home course for the first round of the season. The weather was perfect for this early and our scores were much improved… we shot in the low 80’s……… but who’s counting it’s just great to be back on the links.

It’s been an up and down season for my golf game this year. I started off the year around a 9 – 10 handicap; clearly I was playing over my head. Then I just could not get off the tee box with my drive and my handicap slowly crept up to a 12 – 13. Nearing mid August I started to put some good games together……. thankfully I can scramble from the worst lies and places you can imagine. Anyway my handicap is now 10 – 11, so not too bad; however I still have that one or two stupid double bogie’s somewhere in the round. Oh Well; the company is great and it beats working!

This past week was my annual golfing adventure; “The Better Husbands Tour”. It’s a long story how the tour got this name, but trust me you really don’t have to be a better husband to get on the tour. But you do have to have a understanding better wife. Anyways, this is the 13th year for the tour and this year there was 30 guys; in the past there has been as many as 48. The tour started last Sunday at Osoyoos Desert Course, Monday we played Inkameep, Tuesday back to Osoyoos Park/Meadows, Wednesday and Thursday at Fairview and we finished Friday at Tobiano. Between golf rounds we drank a few beers, played some poker, sang some guitar songs had a group dinner and then drank a few more beers. My golf game was not at it’s top but i did manage to win a couple bucks. All in all it was a great week.

Well, as you may have read earlier the golf season has officially begun in the Kamloops region. All the courses are open and they are in varying states of readiness depending on elevation, how they wintered and of course general course care and condition. My home course, which is Eagle Point is in very good shape for this early in the year. We are playing regulation rounds and entering our scores and except for the first round of the year we have not had “winter rules”. There is a “lot of rust” on my golf swing and I have shot from a high of 91 into the mid 80’s. However today I got it going pretty well and ended up scoring an even 80; so I was really happy with that score and how I struck the ball except for a couple of drives. My index is 9.1 so my handicap is between a 9 and a 10 depending on the tee box and the course rating. I’ll provide more updates as the season progresses.

Well today was the first day of golf for 2009. I went to Sun Rivers with Dave H. and Bart B., the front nine was open with push carts only. It was fairly windy (as it always is at that course), however the temperature was quite warm and overall it was a great day. Quite a few big horn sheep on the course and in the hills surrounding the course. They have caused a bit of damage to the greens with their sharp hooves, but no too bad. Although we paid for 18 holes we only did 9 hole because when we came around to do the second nine there was a group of 7 lady golfers in front of us and they had just let a foursome go in front of them, so it was going to be a pretty slow round. Anyway, we took a rain check for 9 holes and are headed back tomorrow.

Well today was the final game for 2008 at Eagle Point…….. well for me at least. The course is closing next Monday November 2/08 and we are headed off to Calgary this week, so today was the last round for the year. Now, we may get lucky and get a game or two in at some other courses, but with winter coming that’s about it.

Today we had our usual foursome. From left to right it’s Dave H., myself, Bart B. and Al J. Brian S. joined up with us to make a fivesome, so I got Brian to take a picture on my cellphone. At the end of the day I shot an 82 and my index for the year was an even 9.0…………. which I believe is excellent when you consider where I started this year, which was at a 17.2. Now it’s time to focus on grandkids, curling and other fun activities.

Well it’s getting very close to the end of the golf season and I am trying to squeeze in the last few rounds. This past week we did not golf on Monday, since it was cool and windy. That gave me chance to get the winter tires on our Subaru. On Tuesday Dave H., Bart B. Al J. and I went to Eagle Point and the weather was great, a slight wind but sunny and I shot a smooth 80. On Wednesday the four of us went to Rivershore and the sun was out but the wind was a lot stronger. Rivershore is not my favorite course and I never really play that well there, however on Wednesday I shot an 85 with a triple somewhere in the round, so that wasn’t too bad. Then on Thursday we had a fivesome at Eagle Point and I shot a 78, which could have been a 76 if not for one small pine tree that managed to deflect my ball back into the rough and I ended up taking a double on the 16th hole. I recovered nicely on hole 17 which is the number 1 stroke hole, got my best drive of the season, my approach was just right on the fringe and I 2 putted for an even par, which is really difficult to do on that hole. On Friday just Bart B. and myself went out and I shot an 84 so alright but not great. As it sits now my index is 9.1……. the lowest I have ever golfed. YAHOO!

As far as curling, I am struggling. I guess it’s only my first year and I don’t get a chance to practise, however I am having trouble with my draw weight. On Thursday the ice on the left was faster than the ice on the right and that threw us off for a little while until we got a few rocks down it. Our team has not won a game so far, but we are not expecting too much in our first year. As a team we need to find a time to just go practise throwing rocks, sweeping and getting into a groove. Oh Well, it’s still great to try out a new sport and meet some new folks.

October is the month for “The Hope Challenge”. Basically it is the same group of guys from the May “Better  Husbands Tour”, plus a few extras from Hope to round out the teams. This year we had 60 golfers, so it was a great turnout.

The format is a team play, Ryder Cup type challenge. The Hope/Clearwater Boys take on the 100 Mile House/Kamloops team for a 2 day, winner take all points challenge. It is Match Play, plus stroke play so everything is putted out and nothing is conceded….. well almost nothing. In addition there are 3 flights and individual prizes for 1st to 4th and K.P., Long Drives and Deuces. This year Hope/Clearwater got 99 points to 100 Mile House/Kamloops’ 88 points! Ouch! Better luck next year.

My game for the weekend was both a low point and a high point. On Saturday we played Rivershore and I shot an even 100 for a net 89. On Sunday I shot a 79 at Eagle Point which was made up of a 35 on the from nine and a 44 on the back nine, for a net 68 and I won 1st place in the 1st flight. My index factor went down to a 9.6 so that is the good news.

All in all it was a great weekend of friends and golf.

Last night was our second game of curling this season. We ended up losing by 1 point as the other team stole 2 points in the 8th end, so that kind of sucked as we had “the hammer”, but none of us threw any good shots in the final frame. We had a lot of fun, a few laughs and we feel we certainly did a lot better.

As far as golf my last two games have been very interesting. Thursday I shot an 87 which is pretty good, however it does not help to get my handicap index any lower. Still had a few laughs and a lot of fun with my regular golfing buddies. Today ( Friday) I shot a 78 which is outstanding. The most interesting part was I started with a double bogie and ended with a double bogie and still shot a 78! After entering this score my index is down to a 9.8, so I have achieved a goal I set at the start of the season and that was to get into a single index factor by year end. The fun part and challenge will be retaining this low index factor.

Congratulations to my golfing buddy Dave H. He was crowned as the “King Fossil” at the Eagle Point Seniors Club Championship. Dave shot a smooth 76 and that was with an errant ball mix-up that cost him a 2 stroke penalty. Way to go “Buddy”!

It was a great day, weather was perfect, food was alright, golfing was okay and our foursome was a lot of fun. I shot an 84 which is 1 above my handicap, so that was not too bad. However the real story is what I shot the day before. A very exciting – “High and Low” -  real “Up and Down” 79…….. WOW! That includes 2 doubles, 3 birdies and a bunch of other stuff. Today I shot another 84 so I am settling into a pretty comfortable playing pattern and around an 11 – 12 handicap. I still need to go an entire round without a double bogie somewhere……. perhaps tomorrow as we are off to Rivershore Golf Course.