Golf season begins again!

Some people do not think before speaking .

Apparently, Tiger Woods is now saying he was just following his father's advice.

On his death bed, Earl Woods gave Tiger the following advice:





"Focus on golf. frick everything else."

We played Scotswood Links today, in Elm Creek.

The course was busy but fortunately, we never waited on the players in front of us and the groups behind us weren't waiting on us, much. We walked but I noticed a lot of people in power carts. The cost was $25, which makes it one of the best deals around. During the week, it's only $18 to walk 18 holes.

I was surprised by how much more grass this course had on it, compared to The Meadows. The fairways were quite green and with the exception of the second hole, the greens were in great shape. They did warn us ahead of time that the greens needed to be rolled, as they were a bit long, but it was a welcome relief to play on greens that actually had few dead spots. Putting was a bit tricky with the greens not being as smooth as they could be.

It was darn near a perfect day with no mosquitoes and little wind. It wasn't overly cool or warm, either, just the best golfing weather that we played in this year.

I also scored one of my better games this year. Unlike last year, most of my games this year have been under 100, which is a lot to hoot about when breaking 100 is usually a rare occurrence for me and the average golfer. One of the guys in our group broke 90 and beat me by four strokes but I tied for the lowest putts today. I also tied for the most pars.

The course is fairly wide open but there's a lot of water to land in for errant shots. There are tougher courses out there but we have always enjoyed the challenge of playing this one. It's not so tough that you don't see mom, dad and the kids out for a casual round. I did learn some things today about my swing, what works for me and what doesn't, without having to lose balls in the trees or water. Next up, Lake of the Sandhills, one of the "must-play" courses in Manitoba, in my humble opinion.

Yesterday, we made the two hour drive to Lake of the Sandhills golf course, located in the SE corner of the province, by the US and ON borders.

We teed off at 8am. The weather was the excellent, sunny but not hot and best of all, no mosquitoes. During mosquitoe season, this place is hell but without the skeeters, it's a terrific place to golf.

The course was the in the best shape out of all the courses that we've played so far this year. The greens were consistent. We saw a family of foxes, deer and bald eagles. There's an eagle next on # 17.

Two of us had our best rounds ever. I have never shot under 90 twice in a day. One of my golfing buddies broke 80 for the first time ever and had three birdies. We golf well when there's no one ahead or behind us. You don't often get such luxury on most public courses in the city.

The cost was $25 for the green fee, $16 for a shared power cart. For the second round, they only charged us for the green fee.

If you've never played this course, you should do so. It's in pristine shape and for the time being, not crowded at all. It's tougher than John Blumberg due to the fact that many holes are tree-lined as opposed to being wide-open, but fortunately it's not as tough as Pinawa or Granite Hills. Those are two challenging courses that we love to play, but I never score really well on them.


This is the 17th hole. If you look closely, you can see the eagles' nest on the right-side, at the top of a tall tree.

So, last week my partner and I walked two rounds of 18 holes at Netley Creek Golf Course. It was a very nice day, not too hot and no mosquitos. The other two guys in our foursome took a power cart. I had my two worst games of the year. I would blame the first bad round on not being warmed up enough. The second round was lousy since I was tired. Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them! The greens were recently sanded so they weren't in great shape. Cost was $25 and then $20.

Today, we cancelled our afternoon game at River Oaks by 7:25 am. Who wouldn't cancel, with the intense rain showers and lightening? By 11:30, we tried to rebook but the course decided to close for the day. We booked at Kingswood, but they decided to close as well, due to high water levels. So, we tried the old standby, John Blumberg. It was $30 and $23 for Seniors. I did alright, but I should have broken 90. I came close. Needless to say, the course was pretty much without golfers. It didn't rain on us, so all my co-workers who thought I was crazy go golf this afternoon, were wrong about the weather! Next week, two excellent but tough courses, Granite Hills and Pinawa.

Getting ready to head out to Winkler Centennial Golf Course. Hubby is in a tournament and I am his caddy for the day. We golfed there a few weeks ago together and I must say I was quite impressed with the layout and the difficulty of the course. Will definitely play there again this summer when it is a bit nicer out and drier (we golfed 3 holes in the pouring rain). Hopefully today will be a bit nicer out and not as cool.

It is nice outside right now. Rain is forecast although it may not be for Winkler. Enjoy!

I played Winkler, then Morden, on Friday.

Winkler is farily wide open but it can't be taken for granted. It was windy. There's plenty of water to get lost in. The course was fairly quiet, with no one in front of us or behind us. We played Winkler three times last year and I always enjoy it.

Morden is tougher, with some dramatic elevation changes. It's also busier. They have a new building, housing a restaurant, but the food prices were more expensive than we had hoped. Next time, we will continue our routine of having lunch at Winkler instead. The wind was really blowing hard, which made it hard to get any decent distance on some holes. On other holes, the wind was at our back, which gave us some distance. My longest drive was 270, probably wind assisted, though.

Both courses were in nice shape.

Got home about an 2 hours ago. The course was in great shape considering the amount of rain the area has had in the past 10 days. There was only one bunker with a bit of standing water and none in the fairways. Hubby did well considering he has pulled muscles in his lower back hampering his swing to the point he sometimes looked like Barkley (although he didn't golf that bad). Came in 2nd in flight #2, beat the other 2 guys in his group and they are 5 handicappers. I am proud of the way he handled himself out there, good start to the tournament season and if he can golf like this with a bad back, it can only get better. Looking forward to Morden next Sunday

Triniman wrote: Next week, two excellent but tough courses, Granite Hills and Pinawa.

That's a nice combo!

I did Pinawa a couple weeks ago. Golfed quite well, actually. My putting is still shaky but striking the ball well for the most part. It was breezy but otherwise very nice, and the course was in good condition. Saw a fox and a bunch of deer (as usual) but no bears this time.

Should I or should I not Pine Ridge ummm friend has offered . Yes think I will been there too many times to not play it .

Hubby and I walked Steinbach Fly In on Friday. Very nice course and not too terribly expensive. It was a challenge to walk, lots of built in elevation for a flat course as well as lots of water to make a straight hole something to think about. Definitely will play again.

We play two rounds at the Steinbach Fly-in Club each year, but haven't played it yet this year. For the third time, we have booked Granite Hills and Pinawa but maybe this time we won't have to cancel due to rain. Played two rounds at Teulon this past Friday. The fairways are too soft for my liking, due to all the rain. Unless you pick the ball clean, you end up taking a huge divot and your ball doesn't fly as far as you had hoped.

Went to Kildonan Park for the first time on Thursday.

It COULD have been a great day of golf, except for two BIG problems.
1) the course was too wet to take a cart, so we had to walk it (i'm a fat guy with bad ankles...not enjoyable)
2) the mosquitoes were so bad...we spent more time hitting ourselves than the ball.

The course claims they spray 2-3 times per week...but I think she meant per MONTH!!

You'd think a place that large would install about 3 dozen bat-boxes. Bring in a natural killer to the mosquito and let them do their hunting. (of course...then there would be a bunch of fat bats flying around).

I'll have to try it again when the course isn't so wet, or mosquito ridden.

Bats dont actually do that great of a job. Sure they take out some.. But not really that much

not that much?

They can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes per feeding...which...on the grand-scale of things would not be "that much"...but it would be 1000 less that I don't have to swat.

But it is true...bats are not an elimination of the problem...in open areas like the golf course though...they may be worth the effort of installing the boxes.

BUT very rarely do bats feast only on mosquitos. They eat many other insects. Same thing with purple martins. Sure they COULD eat mosquitos and IF they do eat mosquitos and only mosquitos its XXXX amount.

But studies have shown that typically its less then 10% skeeter diet.

When we were at Steinbach on Friday, the course was full of dragonflys. Although bats are great consumers of mosquitoes, dragonflys do a much better job of it during the day time hours when the mosquitoes are more of a nuisence to people than when the bats would be eating in the middle of the night.

LAW 1 - No matter how bad your last shot was, the worst
is yet to come. This law does not expire on the 18th hole, since it has
the supernatural tendency to extend over the course of a tournament, a
summer and, eventually, a lifetime.
LAW 2 - Your best round of golf will be followed almost
immediately by your worst round ever. The probability of the latter
increases with the number of people you tell about the former.
LAW 3 - Brand new golf balls are water-magnetic. Though
this cannot be proven in the lab, it is a known fact that the more
expensive the golf ball, the greater its attraction to water.
LAW 4 - Golf balls never bounce off of trees back into
play. If one does, the tree is breaking a law of the universe and should
be cut down.
LAW 5 - No matter what causes a golfer to muff a shot,
all his playing partners must solemnly chant "You looked up," or invoke
the wrath of the universe.
LAW 6 - The higher a golfer's handicap, the more
qualified he deems himself as an instructor.
LAW 7 - Every par-three hole in the world has a secret
desire to humiliate golfers. The shorter the hole, the greater its
desire.
LAW 8 - Topping a 3-iron is the most painful torture
known to man.
LAW 9 - Palm trees eat golf balls.
LAW 10 - Sand is alive. If it isn't, how do you explain
the way it works against you?
LAW 11 - Golf carts always run out of juice at the
farthest point from the clubhouse.
LAW 12 - A golfer hitting into your group will always be
bigger than anyone in your group. Likewise, a group you accidentally hit
into will consist of a football player, a professional wrestler, a
convicted murderer and an IRS agent -- or some similar combination.
LAW 13 - All 3-woods are demon-possessed.
LAW 14 - Golf balls from the same "sleeve" tend to follow
one another, particularly out of bounds or into the water (see Law
three)
LAW 15 - A severe slice is a thing of awesome power and
beauty.
LAW 16 - "Nice lag" can usually be translated to "lousy
putt." Similarly, "tough break" can usually be translated "way to miss
an easy one, sucker."
LAW 17 - The person you would most hate to lose to will
always be the one who beats you.
LAW 18 - The last three holes of a round will
automatically adjust your score to what it really should be.
LAW 19 - Golf should be given up at least twice per
month.
LAW 20 - All vows taken on a golf course shall be valid
only until the sunset of the same day.

Ha! Had my best round ever today. I guess that means that tomorrow's game will be my worst round ever. See Law # 2.

Played Maplewood on Friday. It was formerly known as Rat River.

It's a short course, with 8 par 4s 300 yards or less and two par fives both less than 450 yards.

Greens were in great shape. Lots of mosquitoes. No room for error if you fly most of the greens on your approach shots, just waist-deep grass and thistle.

There are holes where you can hit big driver shots but to score well, you need to be accurate. And bring a can of bug spray.

Next up, two rounds at the Steinbach Fly-In Club.

FINALLY!!! Something exciting to watch in golf: