Season Ending Golf Tournament and Jewish New Year

After the World Junior Girls, I headed to Grand Niagara Golf course for the two day season ending championship golf tournament on the GTA Am tour.  I had contacted the club in advance and they agreed to let me camp out on their grounds.  I headed out from Milton Heights early on Sunday morning.  So early in fact the sun wasn't up yet.  It was the first time I had packed up the trailer and driven in the dark. 

The trip went well and the set up at the golf course couldn't have been better. 

I was invited to park right next to the cart barn.  That meant I had my choice of any of the electrical outlets that would normally be used to charge the electric golf carts to power my trailer.  I got there early enough and was set up with time to spare so I cooked myself a nice brunch and eat it before I had to warm up for the shot gun start.  There was a big rainstorm and a lightning delay, which allowed everyone to view some of the Ryder Cup matches.  The tournament included a banquet dinner and awards presentation.  It was a great wrap up for the season. 

From there I was headed to Hamilton to attend Rosh Hashanah services.  I had arranged to stay at a dairy farm belonging to a member of Hamilton's Jewish community.  I was invited to park rather close to the open sided barn: 

View from dining table window of my curious neighbors.

Camping at the golf course was a bit more pleasant than this spot.  There was a significant odor in the air, so I was sure to keep my windows closed.  The cows were quite talkative, all day and night, so I wore my ear plugs to bed.  A number of "house" and "fruit" flies managed to find their way into the trailer, which took me about a week to exterminate.  I don't think I will boon-dock here again.

I enjoyed the services and my brother and his girl friend provided a nice luncheon, including this lovely challah.  I had never seen one this shape before. 

From Hamilton, I returned to Milton Heights Campground and some non-competitive rounds of golf.   

World Junior Girls Tournament

I returned to Milton Heights Campground to be close to Mississauga Golf course where the 3rd Annual World Junior Girls golf tournament was being played.  I had never been on the property before, so it was a good opportunity to see the course.  Unfortunately the tournament was plagued by cool temperatures, high winds and rain.  The weather conditions made it really tough on the girls.  

On the final day, I found three guys that had worked at Toronto Hydro while I was there.  

Two were walking scorers and one who is from the Philippines was helping to transport the team around.  We had a nice time catching up with each other.

The Canadian teams didn't do well.  The Philippines won it. 

There was plenty of loot to be had:

The closing ceremonies were pretty impressive. 

Back to Huntsville and Lagoon Tent and Trailer Park

I returned to Lagoon Tent and Trailer Park, which I had visited in the spring, in order to be close to the site of the next GTA AM Tour event at Bigwin Island.  

I was supposed to be on a site on the upper portion of the campground with a sewer connection this time, but the people who were supposed to move off the site I was supposed to get decided to stay a bit longer.  This resulted in my having my choice of any site in the lower part of the campground, without a sewer, where I had stayed previously.  I hadn't really loved the site I had the previous time, although I liked the park.  I picked a different site and settled in.  The owner said they would come and drain my trailer if I needed it during the week, but once again, I just made sure I didn't overfill my tanks, by using their shower building on occasion and their recently completed community dish washing building.  

The first night I was there I spoke to a family who were in a rented motor home that were visiting from Germany.  They had 3 kids, a six year old and twins of 3 1/2, two boys and one girl.  From Huntsville they were going to check out Algonquin Park, Ottawa and then Toronto, including a visit to the zoo.  I gave them a few tips.  

The following night I spent some time with a couple around their campfire, talking and toasting marshmallows.  They were returning to their home in Ontario from a trip out to Calgary.  I am not enjoying the shortening of the days, with it getting dark just past 7:00 pm these days.  

In preparation for the event on the island I played North Granite Ridge again and also went to Windermere.  At Windermere, the female associate pro recognized me from playing against her about 7 years ago at Cataraqui's Field Day.  We spent some time catching up with each other's activities.  Windermere, a Stanley Thompson designed course reminded me quite a bit of Ladies'.  It is a good old course with very small greens and tight fairways.  I played with a couple of fellows and had a good time.  

On the way back to the park, I stopped at a farm stand and picked up fresh strawberries. 

On Saturday I visited the Huntsville Fall fair.  I enjoyed seeing the award winning flowers, vegetables and children's artwork.  

There was a western horse show and the usual midway rides and games, which I didn't partake in.  They offered a free shuttle bus from a few shopping mall parking lots.  I selected the one closest to the campground, which happened to have a farm market stand in it.  Afterwards I picked up some mushrooms and a selection of green and waxed string beans.  Apparently, not enough of the attendees took advantage of the shuttle and instead were parking, somewhat illegally on the roads close to the fair grounds, restricting traffic flow for the shuttle buses and other traffic.  On the local news that evening the Mayor spoke about trying to improve that situation next year. 

Sunday, late in the afternoon, I played the front 9 holes at Huntsville Downs.  It wasn't in a good shape as the other two courses in the area, and I wasn't made to feel very welcome, as they were watering the greens just before I was playing them and after about 6 holes the starter seemed to be driving around trying to see where I was and how long it would take me to get off the course.  

I was up early Monday morning in anticipation of my round at Bigwin Island.  I have heard lots of great things about the course.  As its name suggests, it is on an island, so a ferry ride is required to access the course.  

Waiting on the dock for a ride. 

Here comes my ride.

The weather forecast wasn't great, chances were good it was going to be a very rainy day, detracting from the beauty of the course.  I didn't have very high expectations for my scoring as I had never played the course before and would be playing it from over 6,400 yards in wet conditions.  Because of the weather forecast and several players canceling or not showing up in time for their rounds, they had us play in twosomes to speed things up in order to try and beat the rain.  Carts were included in the tournament fee, so I was happy enough to ride given the chance for rain.  

Grand Entrance to the Clubhouse.

Unfortunately the fellow I was paired with had some real difficulty on the third hole, a par 5, on which he took 14 strokes.  I managed to par that hole.  The rain didn't start as early as I had expected, but did arrive when we had 5 holes to play.  Once again I struggled with the yardage managing only 5 pars, 9 bogies, 3 doubles and a triple for 90, placing me 14th out of 17.  My playing partner finished last with 106.  

A pretty view, despite the overcast sky.

The highlight of the day was on the 17th hole, with the closest to the hole competition, my shot held up, and for that I won a dozen TaylorMade balls.  I would like to go back and play again from shorter tees, on a bright sunny day. 

The nights in Huntsville had been cold and I managed to burn through all the propane in both my tanks.  The final night, I used my electric heater.  On the way to Milton I had them refilled at Budget Propane near Gravenhurst.  They gave me good service. 

Earl Rowe Provincial Park, Osprey Valley and Mad River

It has been a little over two weeks since I last posted.  I somehow don't think it all that interesting when I am hanging out in Ontario, so there is less urgency to record my activities. 

I quite enjoyed my time at Earl Rowe Provincial Park, which is on the outskirts of Alliston, a community that is growing quickly as there is a relatively new Honda auto plan there. The campsite I had reserved was supposed to be a pull-through, but in my opinion that wasn't the case for a rig my size, unless I wanted it set up right next to the road.  It was better to back in towards one side, and the fact that I found a fellow camper who was happy to do the maneuver for me, very expertly, was a bonus.  As is the case with many of our Provincial Parks, there is no water or sewer connection at the site, only power.  They do have a place to fill your water tank on the way in and a place to dump on the way out, but when I am stationary for a whole week, I have to conserve water use and space in my drain tank to a degree.  For this reason I did use their shower facility a couple of days.  They were quite modern and very clean, seeing as the park was not very busy at this time of year.  I met and spent some time speaking with a couple that have been RVing for about 12 years.  The husband is the handyman for the campground.  They gave some RV lifestyle magazines with me.  I did a couple of loads of laundry on site as their prices were considerably lower than the Laundromat in town.  The campground I was staying in was across the road and down a bit from the main part of the Provincial Park.  I headed over there a couple of times for a good walk.  The park is located around a man made lake, which was created in the early 1960's.  There was a Terry Fox run and a metal detecting club event going on in the park on Sunday morning.  

As seems to be my habit, I didn't get away from Sibbald Point Provincial Park as early as I should have and the drive took a bit longer than I had expected, so by the time I got to the park and was set up, it was getting kind of late in the afternoon.  In the morning I had called Osprey Valley to see if I would be able to take a look at the golf course.  I was told I could take a cart and drive around for $20.00.  I thought I would get there around 2:00 but instead it was closer to 5:00.  The good thing about that was the fellow who was working in the pro shop at that point gave me a cart key, without charge.  I managed to ride around the course quickly enough to see all the holes and help familiarize myself with it before the tournament the following day.  I did come across the beverage cart girl and though a good way to show my appreciation for the free cart was to purchase a beer, it was so cold it was a bit slushy! The course was not busy at all.  I didn't run into anyone until I reached the 18th hole!  When I returned the cart around dusk, the fellow working in that area shared some local knowledge with me. 

I am not as excited to be playing in the A flight as I was in the spring.  On most of the courses the 6,400 yards (up hill) is just too long for me to be able to score well.  At Osprey, I managed 8 pars, 8 bogies and two doubles, for 84.  I placed 16th out of 21 in the flight.  If I had been in the B flight at this event, I would likely have placed no worse than T2nd as that flight was won with an 80 and second was 84.  I would have been playing a slightly shorter distance so might have managed to shoot 81 or 82.  Oh well.  The course is very nice and well conditioned.  I enjoyed my group and the weather was O.K. 

Friday my preparation for the next tournament at Mad River began.  I was able to arrange a practice round with the former Club President who is also a member of my home club.  She filled me in on all the local knowledge as we went around the course.  I played what I though were my tournament tees and she played the ladies tees she usually plays.  Once again the layout is too long for me, but the course is very nice, though lacking in any effort for beautification and was lacking in visible wild life.  The greens are the fastest I have played anywhere in the world in 2017!  I adjusted my Cure putter accordingly.  

I went back to the course on Sunday to use the practice facilities again and spent some time speaking with Daniel from the pro shop who was going to be playing his first event on the AM tour hoping to leverage his home course knowledge (he ended up coming 12th out of 26).  I could have played the back 9 with the committee but declined their offer. 

I wasn't very happy with my group for this tournament as the other three, two golfers and one caddy were all smokers.  I have become very sensitive to second hand smoke as I am so infrequently subjected to it anymore.  Not that any of them were chain-smoking but when even one was lit up the smoke always seemed to loft towards me, and I didn't feel it was my place to complain to them about it, we were outside after all.  

I wasn't playing my best golf on this day, I think the yardage and the smoke in my lungs was getting to me.  I wasn't very happy while we were playing the 9th hole there were 6 machines working on the adjoining 18th hole, though the operator of one waved to me, none of them stopped while we were playing our approaches or putting.  On the day, I ended up loosing 3 or 4 balls (it is rare for me to loose one in a round), which helped to inflate my score and with 4 holes left, I had pretty much given up, playing the last 4 holes in 10 over par.  I had 3 Pars, 8 Bogies, along with 3 doubles, 3 triples and one quad, for 99, ouch.  I finished 23rd out of 26.  All around it wasn't a very fun day.  

Though I wasn't really in a celebratory mood, on the way back to the Provincial Park I did stop in downtown Creemore to check out the brewery.  They offer 3 small free samples of their craft beers, though I managed to try 4 and purchased a 6 pack to go, split between my two favorites, which were the Lot 9 Pilsner and Altbier.  

Heading Back to Ontario and the GTA AM Tour

The following day I headed north.  Finding campgrounds on the Labor Day long weekend was going to be difficult, so I consulted the Boondockers Welcome website and found a site in Erie, Pennsylvania and another one near Milton, Ontario.  

Crossing the border was a breeze.  There were no other vehicles in the Nexis line up and the guard didn't ask many questions, nor did he want to see inside the trailer!

First stop in Ontario was Niagara-on-the-Lake to have lunch with my nephew, who I hadn't seen in quite some time.  It was great for us to catch up with each other's activities.  He got a chance to see the trailer "closed-up."  

On the way to Milton, I stopped at a farm and picked up an assorted basket of fruit, that included peaches, nectarines, prune plums and pears, all were yummy.  I also bought some corn on the cob, tomatoes and a cucumber.  It is a great time of year for produce in Ontario. 

The place in Milton was a small farm, which has on offer doves for releasing at weddings and funerals and white horses for Indian grooms to ride to their wedding celebrations.  They also produce some honey and grow hay for the horses.  The property has some woods and trails, so I went for a bit of a walk about.  Part of the property had been expropriated for the 407 construction.  Developers are interested in the remaining part but so far the offers are not high enough to suit the owner.  They were very hospitable to me. 

Over the next several days I was able to get reacquainted with some friends and play a few rounds of casual as opposed to competitive golf. 

Friday, I headed back to Sibbald Point Provincial Park, where I was in early June, to once again be close to The Briars Golf Club.  

Enjoying the sunset and the sound of waves against the rocks.

It is there that I will play my first tournament back on the GTA Amateur Tour.  I played 18 holes, partially in the rain on Saturday and the back 9 on Sunday.  

Today was the tournament and I didn't do as well as I would have liked.  I had a couple of very bad holes, as I wasn't hitting the ball as straight as usual.  The morning started off a bit cool, but warmed up very nicely under clear skies.  I was paired with a couple of 22 year old fellows.  

One Rickey Fowler wannabe.

One was in his first game on tour and the other had played a few times but not recently.  Both needed help with the rules. 

This little fellow was hanging around the water and dumping stations.

It is an unusual week for the GTA Amateur Tour as they have two events, this one and another one on Wednesday.  I will be heading to Earl Rowe Provincial Park for a one week stay, to cover the tournament at Ospry Valley Hoot course and the one this coming Monday at Mad River. 

There, I'm up to date again!

USGA Senior Women's Amateur Qualifier

The whole reason I was in the DC area was to try and qualify for my second USGA Senior Women's Amateur.  The qualifier was scheduled for Thursday September 1 at Argyle Country Club.  I played a practice round on August 30th.  I really liked the course and played it well.  There are a few blind shots but not as many as at the Mid-Am qualifier site.  

Unfortunately the morning of the qualifier it was raining.  I was once again in a twosome. On the second hole, which has a steep hill, with the wet grass and poor breaks on the cart, it spun around.  There was a moment where I thought it might flip over and wasn't sure if I should jump out or stay put.  I chose to stay put and it didn't flip but spun around 180 degrees, whereby I ended up facing up the hill.  Needless to say that was a bit off putting.
At the end of the day I hadn't play my best and failed to qualify. 

The good thing about not successfully qualifying for either USGA Championship is I can head back to Ontario and play the last few events on the GTA Amatuer Tour and spend an extra month in the USA during the winter time, and be away from the snow and cold for a longer period of time.  

Visiting Relatives

While still staying at Cherry Hill, my cousins who live in DC came out to see my RV and then take me back to their place for the afternoon/evening.  I hadn't seen them in about 5 years.  

They were quite impressed with the trailer, having never really been inside one before.  They arrived with a dog that needed a bit of a walk, which gave me the chance to explain to them about the different kinds of equipment that were parked there and how they compare to mine.  

The three of them and the dog were the largest party I have hosted in the trailer to date.  We enjoyed a cold drink and then headed to their place.

They live in a gated community with a community pool, which we availed ourselves of after I got my laundry started.  It was quite busy at the pool as this was the last Sunday before the children return to school (grade 5) the following day (August 29th).   We all had a nice swim, the water was just the right temperature to be comfortable yet refreshing on a rather hot and humid day. 

By the time their daughter and I got back to the house their son and another couple (that parents of the dog) were back from the baseball game.  Prior to dinner being laid out (Indian food) I played some ping pong with the younger generation. 

The son is quite a good chess player so after dinner and before bedtime we played one game of chess.  I brushed about 35 years of dust from my chess memory and although I didn't win the game, it lasted quite a while.  He said I was pretty good at both ping pong and chess. 

I enjoyed the day and especially the family bed-time ritual, which involved getting up to the bed loft (award winning piece of architecture) and prayer.  I vowed to see them again, in less than 5 years.

Once my laundry was done, I was returned to Cherry Hill by Uber, my first time in an Uber car.  It was a bit harrowing as the driver, though admittedly tired, displayed some road rage, and his gas needle appeared to me to be on empty, so I wasn't sure we would make it back without running out of gas.  Thankfully, I was delivered safely, right to the door of my RV.