Golf

JIm and I were were golfing at Sky Mountain Golf Course in mid October back in 2010. We were paired with a couple from Idaho. Gary was a very good golfer and so was Judy.
The course was very busy so there was a lot of chatting as we waited on each T box. Judy suggested that the guys ride on one cart and she would ride with me. So we switched carts and clubs. She loved telling me that she was 80 and Gary was only 78. She also said that coming down to Hurricane to golf was one way they could stay together. She told me that, of course, living together without being married in Idaho was frowned upon!

As I said earlier, she was a very good golfer. And she also said that having her handicap go up from a six was certainly not as much fun as having it go down to a six.

She was very curious about my clubs and I do believe at that time I had a Taylor Made driver with a bright white head. I asked her if she would like to try it. She said, “Oh, Maureen, would you let me?” I said “for sure.” She hit it several times and always far and straight.

I told her that I had bought it at Zion golf in St. George and I knew for a fact they had one more.

We sat and visited in the parking lot for at least a half hour after we finished golfing. We talked about places to golf, golf clubs and places to eat..

As we were saying our goodbyes, Gary piped up to say that for sure they would be heading for Zion golf when they left the course. He also said, as you may have guessed, Judy has her own money!

At Sky Mountain Golf Course the third hole is a dog leg to the left. All along the left side of the fairway is tangled bushes and rocks. The cart path is also there and ends with a large bunker bordering the left side of the green. The fairway slopes dmownward before rising up to the green.

We were booked with another two some the next morning and we’re waiting to tee off on the fourth hole.

Down the cart path coming from the fairway on number three hole are Gary and Judy.

“I got the driver, I got the driver,” Judy shouted as she jumped off the golf cart and gave me a big hug.

Judy had hit her drive right down to the area on the up slope to the green!

“Thank you so much Maureen, if I hadn’t tried your driver, I would never have guessed what an asset a new club could be for my game.”

Glad to have helped, Judy.

Read more

In 1987 while in Maui, I golfed at a course called Waiehu Municipal Golf Course

Starter’s Gate

 

 

I was lucky to get a tee time and had quite a wait because it was foggy. I was amazed at the fivesome running down the fairway and disappearing in the FOG. I played with a NATIVE Hawaiian.  He was a nice golfer and an even nicer man. The course was well maintained and a really nice layout.

The next day I was put with an older threesome, a gentleman and two ladies from Seattle, Washington.   They announced  that they had brought lunch and would be stopping to eat after nine holes.

They said I must not go in and buy lunch as they had brought enough lunch for four.  We parked our carts in the shade of some trees and asked the foursome following us to play through.  Not only did they have fantastic sandwiches, but they had cold beer, too.

After the round, they insisted I play with them again the following day AND DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT BRINGING LUNCH! WE WILL.  It did not take long for me to decide.

We met the next morning and instead of three golf cars we had just two.  I shared the car with one of the ladies.  We had another wonderful day; all three were good golfers, not Par golfers but were never into any trouble. We kept up a good pace and had a lot of visiting.  They were so curious about life in Saskatchewan and they also shared their life stories.  True to their word they brought LUNCH.  Good sandwiches, pickles and fruit as well as beer.  How fun was that?

A great memory.

Read more

Just baked buns to take to Bob and Anne Fleming’s for Christmas Eve dinner. I’ll freeze this batch and maybe make another batch on Wednesday.

I made another wreath for my door this year and I’ll attach my Christmas wishes below.

Read more

My grandson Alexander Verschaeren was working as an assistant Pro at Redwood Meadows Golf and Country Club the summer of 2009. He and I were golfing together as we often did that summer. We were just the two of us that day.

0n Hole #11 there are two bunkers on this dogleg, one on the left and one on the right some 250 or more yards from the tee. The maintenance crew was finishing raking the left bunker and were waiting to rake the right bunker when we teed off. Alexander was hitting from the tips (Black) and sent a towering drive high over the bunker on the right side of the dogleg. I hit a good drive but certainly didn’t make it to a banker but was good and in the fairway. When I hit my second shot and we went down, way down the fairway to Alexander’s ball the two fellows on the maintenance cart came to talk to us.

They said they had worked at Redwood Meadows for TEN years and had NEVER seen anyone hit a ball this far from the black tees. Alexander and i thanked them and with a sand wedge Alexander hit his ball onto the green. Easy Par.

We had a really wonderful day. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and it was such a treat to watch him play. Alexander shot even Par. Not too shabby when he had to wait for me to play 2 shots to his one. To this day Alexander talks about how beautiful and challenging it is to play at the REDWOOD MEADOWS Golf and Country Club,

I wanted to share this memorable day with you all.

Above is a video of Alexander giving me a lesson this summer.

Read more

For those of you who truly love golf I don’t need to explain how we went golfing that Saturday at 1 p.m. For everyone else, I’m sure you would think we were crazy. It is late October and you can already see the snow to the west in the Rocky Mountains. And the forecast was for wind from the west as well at approximately 20 kms. The golf course is closing for the winter. Sunday will be the last day to golf till spring.

My daughter Bridget made the booking a few days earlier and really didn’t think it would be warm enough for us to play with a possible high of 9°C. Then by 11:30 a.m. the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. Bridget called me and said “Let’s go golfing Mom. I’ll pick you up shortly.” In 15 minutes we were at the golf course. Wehit a few balls on the range before our tee time.

On the first hole the wind was at our backs and both of us hit our drives long and straight. I was on the green in two shots and made a Par. Bridget had a Bogey

Bridget said, “Maybe, Mom, just maybe, today is the day l can score less than you”.

Bridget regularly out drives me on every hole. Hole #2 she said that she really loses her”tempo” and misses her shots. Well she ended up with a bogey and I had a double bogey..

The wind came up and was quite strong from the west. We both had a few problems, keeping the ball on the fairway and/or on the proper hole.

After nine holes I told Bridget that she had to play better on the back because she needed to make up more than seven shots.

River Spirit Golf Course, the Birch trees on #8 Millburn Nine

We were joined on the back nine by a man and his son. They were very nice people and good golfers. It turns out that the son had gone to Luther College in Regina, Saskatchewan the same time Bridget was going to Notre Dame College at Wilcox, Saskatchewan. They knew many of the same people so they had lots of conversation at the tee boxes.

On the back nine would you believe Bridget and I had identical total score with only a few holes that were different. We both scored 39 and if it wasn’t for that few holes on the front nine, Bridget probably would have scored less than I did. Maureen 79, Bridget 86

Fast forward to May 29., 2024. We played at River Spirit again. Bridget was the winner on this day by 11 strokes. Maureen 97, Bridget 86 .`

“

Great memories. Bridget is so much fun to golf with. She doesn’t take the game too seriously but tries to get better every time she golfs. Like most of us we need to polish up our short game.

Bridget and Maureen June 8, 2017 Pinebrook, Calgary

Ttyl

Read more