Mid July to Mid August

The week of July 15th I played and practiced at Freedom Oaks for the upcoming Club Championship and attended my weekly card games. The 36 hole Club Championship was held on Saturday and Sunday, July 21st and 22nd. Given the small number of ladies, I decided to play in the Amateur division rather than the Senior. I was able to win, though I didn't play to the best of my ability. 

Nice etched glass Championship Trophy.

Something unique to the Niagara District of Golf Ontario is that they have their own Tournament of Champions, which the Club Champions of each age and gender division can be sent to by their respective clubs. The registration fee is part of your prize package. This year the tournament will be held at Rockway Vineyards on September 8th. Ron and I played "Rockway" quite a few years ago, as I recall it may have been the first item I bought on Groupon, when it first started. We drove over from Toronto and had a delightful round of golf followed by a wine tasting and nice dinner. The only negative on the day was it was early fall, the grapes were ripening on the vines and in order to scare the birds away from eating the grapes, they shot of guns quite frequently, which at first was startling and off putting, but for humans they were at a recognizable interval, so we got used to it.  

My birthday (54th) was going to be low key this year. I decided to take a break from golf and enjoy Dunnville on my own. I booked a massage for the morning, which turned out to be less therapeutic than I am used to although I though I gave the therapist a good idea of what I was looking for during my hour on her table (I won't be going back to this one.) I treated myself to a nice lunch, did some window shopping, then attended a seminar at the library about honey bees, followed by a bite of dinner. Throughout the day I received phone calls, emails and Facebook posts from my friends and relatives, so I was feeling the love.

The following morning I hosted a very small Ladies' Golf Club Reunion at Freedom Oaks as Mary Jane (former Head Pro) and Marion Chapman, a former member who happens to be living near Dunnville these days. Joan joined us, so that Marion could ride with her, while Mary Jane and I walked. I had tried to get Laurie Rybski to play, but she was not available. We had an enjoyable round. Both were pleasantly surprised with the course having never played it before. 

Immediately after our round, I left to head to London to stay with a Maria Reeves in advance of the new Four Ball tournament at Thames Valley. She is also an RVer and we had discussed the option of me parking my trailer in her driveway and staying in it or staying inside the house. I decided just driving over without the trailer for one night would be preferable. I arrived in time for dinner. She had a nice Greek (her heritage) meal of grilled pork, potatoes and salad prepared. Another girlfriend of hers was there as well. We enjoyed the back garden, it was a perfect evening for dining "al fresco." We had a few glasses of wine. It became an impromptu belated birthday party for me, as I was given this wine glass to use:

               

I was beginning to figure out Dawn's concern as Maria's language can get a bit vulgar (she works part time in her brothers auto mechanic shop) and they lit up a medicinal joint (to each their own) for "desert."

The following morning we got up, had a hearty breakfast and headed to the course well in advance of the 10:30 shotgun start. I was playing quite well, Maria not so much and as a result was cursing quite a bit. We were paired with ladies from the local league, so they were pretty much used to her verbiage. (I don't find it very becoming or a good trait to be so well known by.) We played well enough to find ourselves in a playoff for first overall. Due to bad weather in the area and a desire to move on with the meal, it was determined that the playoff would be on the up hill, basically blind tee shot to a short par 3 on the short course that we hadn't played. We lost out, but still won golf shoes! With Maria's help, I decided to go with a pair of all black shoes, something I have never had before, usually preferring lighter shades, usually with a contrasting "saddle." After the meal, we went back to Maria's place, I packed up my things and drove back to Dunnville. There was some rain and lightning in the area, but it was fine for driving. I'm not sure if I will choose to play with Maria again in the future. Perhaps I can support the tournament by introducing another golfer to it. 

The afternoon of Saturday July 28th was the Brantford G. & C.C. Mixed event. My friend Phil Perry and I have played it for a few years, with varying results. Brantford is close enough to Dunnville that I drove there and back the day of the tournament. Over the years they have moved the date around and changed the format. It used to be closer to the first of July and was a Modified Chapman (where you both drive, hit each others tee shot and then choose the best and alternate until it is holed.) It is now a combined stroke play event. The weather was perfect and the course was in great shape. We were paired with a nice couple, Angie and Craig Anderson, though they weren't all that great golfers. To our surprise, we played well enough to win the event, which is based on Net scores, which with our low handicaps can sometimes make it hard to compete successfully. Being a mixed tournament, they sort of expect the team mates to be living together, which obviously isn't the case with Phil and I, so the prizes are mostly on of household items. Over the years we have alternated our prize selection. A few years back Phil selected a knife set with a block to store them in. When we didn't do so well, I got two strings of outdoor lights for the RV. This year we would get first pick! Phil didn't see anything he really wanted and I had my eye on a Six Quart Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. I had read quite a bit about these in the RV Facebook groups I follow. I was thinking I wouldn't buy one until my crock pot stopped working, but winning on was a different matter. Phil was happy to let me take the gift. We also were awarded an embroidered tea towel. I let him take that. 

Tea Towel

Champions dressed for dinner.

Saturday August 4th I traveled to Ft. Erie to play a round a Cherry Hill with Linda Burroughsford. She had arranged a surprise for me, which was that one of the Golf Ontario Rules Officials I knew, Anne Dobbs-Hebron was going to join us. She is a new member at the club seeing as she is working on moving from Brampton to Ft. Erie. The cat was let out of the bag, so to speak, as Anne was running late. We had an enjoyable round and visit afterwards, followed by Sushi. 

Thursday August 9th Lynn, Cathy Chenette, Pat Bradt (organizer) and I went to play a Ladies' Invitational Ladies Scramble at Greystone, a Club Link course in Milton. I had played the course before and the event seemed like a good idea and a good deal. They had a nice lunch before hand with a salad bar and gourmet style protein to top it with. Dinner involved a an antipasto table, passed hors d'oeuvres and then a plated chicken dinner. We shot only 3 under par, because none of us new the course very well. The winners were from Greystone and their score must have been embarrassingly low, because they didn't announce it. 

Sunday August 12th my brother Peter came to Dunnville to visit for the day. We went for a nice walk around the campground and I took him to all the usual nearby spots including the pier. I made a home cooked meal for us, seeing as he frequently cooks for me. 

I got up very early on Monday August 13th to attend my Credit Union's annual golf tournament. It has been quite a few years since I was able to attend, as it usually conflicted with a more competitive tournament I needed to play. I didn't feel too bad about it because I was more often able to attend the Credit Union's annual meeting (fondly referred to as the Credit Union Annual Dinner, because they have abbreviated out most of the business of the annual meeting), in early April, which is attended by pretty much the same crowd. I couldn't have ask to play with a better group: 

Nick Dmytruszko, the supervisor who hired me at Toronto Hydro, Dave Bell one of the supervisors I worked closely with early in my career and John Dolby another supervisor with whom Ron and I and his wife socialized with outside of work. John also caddied for me in some tournaments years ago. 

We didn't play our best golf, but had a great time reminiscing and catching up. I did win Ladies Longest Drive ( a gift card for Golf Town) and was picked in the raffle early enough to get a nice electric string trimmer that I needed to trim the grass on my site at Maitland Shores RV Park.