From Sibbald Point Provincial Park I moved on the Huntsville and stayed at Lagoon Tent & Trailer Park, a nice campground run by three generations of the same family. Their theme color is orange, not one of my favorite colors but effective for their purpose and didn't detract from my enjoyment of the park. The duration of my stay was nine nights from June 10th to the 19th. The park was very busy on the weekends and less so through the week. The soil here is very sandy, which makes it easy for ants to build hills, which were plentiful but I didn't actually see that many ants. A river runs adjacent to the campground and conveniently they rent canoes and kayaks so I took a kayak out for a few hours on my last full day.
I was in Huntsville to play the GTA AM Tour's Major tournament (two day) at Grandview Golf Club. I did quite well, placing 2nd. This is my first season playing on the GTA AM Tour. I started out the season in the Men's A flight, which I was finding rather difficult seeing as they play from tees 6,200 – 6,500 yards, though I did manage to place 4th in one of the events. After several events, my index went up enough for me to qualify to play in the Men's B flight. Grandview was my first event in the new flight and the somewhat shorter yardage, 6,000 – 6,400 yards suits me better.
While in the area I played a couple of other courses, Granite Ridge North and the Lakeside course at Deerhurst. Green fees for both of these courses were purchased through Golf Now.
I found Granite Ridge North to be a lot of fun. I played by myself and rode as the cart was included in the Golf Now price. It is very similar to Grandview, with rocks and trees, narrow fairways and nice bunkering, but at a fraction of the price. It is par 70 and I think that for some reason dissuades some people from playing it. There is a full length driving range with balls available from a dispenser you get the tokens in the pro shop. The quality of the balls ranged from new to old, quite inconsistent. They have "muskoka" chairs on nearly every tee so if play was slow you could wait comfortably and enjoy the view or if it isn't busy you can just take your time. They had a good deal on a hot dog and beer at the turn for those who enjoy such things. The club house with its restaurant overlooks the finishing hole, making a nice setting. I understand the property is for sale, in case anyone is interested in getting into the business.
I was interested in playing at Deerhurst because way back when, my second job out of college I worked on the drawing for the condominiums there. I had never seen the results of my work. I am pleased to report that 30 years later they are still standing and looking great. I chose to play their smaller course. It is quite a challenging walk, but I made it around. I played by myself. I was following several groups of guys attending a stag weekend. They weren't the fastest golfers on earth so I did a lot of waiting but I wasn't in any hurry, it was a nice day and several tees offer views of the lake. The course offers quite a few elevation changes and some interesting holes. The 2nd and 18th are nice holes where you are hitting over water. It is a really long and difficult walk from the 9th green to the 10th tee. It would be nice if they offered a shuttle between them.
There was a French Canadian fellow doing work/camping at the park who is an expert on 5th wheel trailers. I was concerned that they way mine sat (high in front, low in back) when hitched to the truck, it wouldn't be possible to sleep in it without disconnecting the truck and leveling the trailer. He was able to adjust both the hitch and the king pin to help level it out. He didn't charge me very much for doing it considering how long it took and that he had the tools for the job and I didn't. There were a lot of bolts to be moved. I helped out where I could but he did most of the work.
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