And we’re back! Spring is here, Kimberley’s courses have wintered well, guys are winning career grand slams — the excitement for golf is in the air.
I decided to hold off on publishing my first column of the year to ensure I had a lot of material to discuss, so here we go.
My season this year began a little earlier than usual, with two and a half rounds played while on a five-day family trip to Palm Desert, visiting my wife’s grandma and great aunt and getting to play a club her grandma belongs to.
It’s always nice to get away in the late stages of winter; every day you’re away it seems to get exponentially warmer at home. I had one of my best ski seasons ever this year, getting my 35th day on the hill on the final sunny Sunday of the season.
After a fantastic winter of skiing and a quick desert excursion, I was extremely excited to get the golf season started, so I was thrilled to hear that Kimberley’s courses had wintered well and were set to open nice and early.
I headed down to Purcell Golf to shoot photos of a work party that helped clear off some winter tree debris and was then back to play on April 9; the earliest, I’m told, the course has opened in over a decade. I booked myself in for a solo round and got to the course to find out I was paired up with a couple buddies of mine, always a pleasant surprise.
Those friends invited me to watch the final round of the Masters with them that Sunday. I always seem to miss watching a big chunk of that tournament, but this year I was able to see all of round three (while drinking Azaleas, the signature cocktail of the Masters, with my neighbour) and the final nine holes on Sunday. And wow, am I ever glad I did. That was one of the most exciting, and stressful, sporting events I have ever seen — watching live as the sixth person in history completed the career grand slam was a very cool experience and definitely built up my excitement for the game this year. My buddy also made the Augusta National signature pimento cheese sandwiches, which was a very nice touch.
The following weekend Bootleg Gap opened and I was back on my beloved Gap 9 on opening day, shooting a 42, which up until late last year would have tied my personal best. Then on Sunday, utilizing a pass I was generously gifted from my friend, I took my buddy Austin to play the Championship 18.
Austin had pitched the idea of a season-long friendly match series this year, with the loser buying the winner a case of beer at the end. Austin and I are both extremely evenly matched — he played more in high school, I’ve played more in recent years. We regularly tie each other, or one of us will shoot a stroke or two better.
On my first 18 of the year on home soil, I shot a 96, with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole — the only birdie of the day — to win the first match in the series by one stroke. The series was off to a hot start.
That week I played in the Men’s Night Opening Scramble at Purcell, my first time ever signing up for any kind of golf tournament. I consume a lot of YouTube golf content, so I’ve seen how four-man scrambles work and knew that as the high handicapper, I would just try my best to hit fairways and roll good putts.
As it turns out, two tee shots had to be used from every golfer in the group. Our group’s first hole was number 3, which I aced last year, and I was very pleased to put a good swing on my eight iron, hitting the centre of the green and crossing off one of my two shots for the afternoon.
The other shot we used of mine was also on a par 3, the seventh hole. I hit a seven iron and wound up being the only guy in either group to hit the green, so that was a nice confidence booster. We had a slow, but steady start and were two under with three to play. We wound up getting birdies on our last three holes, which initially looked like it put is into a tie for third.
After everything was calculated, it turned out that we had won. I was jestingly called a sandbagger a couple times by some buddies, but you only have to see me on the course to quickly realize just how painfully accurate my sky-high handicap is. Shout-outs to my teammates Andy, Dana and Dave — all great guys and great golfers. My first ever scramble couldn’t really have gone any better.
This past weekend I played nine holes at Purcell with a good friend and his two boys, then played 18 at Bootleg on Saturday with Austin and again on Sunday with my neighbours. My previous round of 96 wasn't terrible by my current standards, but even then I felt like I was playing poorly. This time, I shot a 103 and it felt like I was playing about as bad as I have in the past two years. Neither of us had our best stuff though, apparently, and it turned out that my double bogey on the 18th hole gave Austin a one-stroke victory in match number two.
I was back on Sunday afternoon and my front nine felt like more of the same, and I shot a 50. Last season's goal was to break 100 and I managed to do that on my first 18 of the season. This year my goal is to break 90, and after firing a 50 on the front nine, my hopes of getting it done that day had effectively been dashed.
I did manage to turn it around on the back nine, playing the best golf I've ever played and shot a five-over 41 to shoot a new personal best score of 91.
The 80s now feel well within reach, which is great considering it's not even May yet. While sub-90 is my overarching goal for the year, the main thing is that every round I've played so far this year has been with great friends or family, creating wonderful memories on the golf course. All I really want is more of that.
