FWGCC Practice Round

I arrived in Thunder Bay Thursday morning to a light drizzle, but it did not last too long.

As we drove to the golf course, up the road we saw a little black bear cross the road and it was then that I realized "Toto,we're not in Kansas anymore are we"?

The spectacular backdrop at the Fort William course is the Rock formation which is adjacent to the Provincial Park highlighted by the Sleeping Giant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giant_(Ontario)

The backdrop is awe inspiring.

http://www.fwcc.ca/article/gallery-7.asp#

Stuart and I were excited to see each other again, but more importantly we wanted to golf. I wanted to show the young fellow I could still beat him while he wanted to show his home course advantage would take him to victory. My first tee shot striped the fairway...take that punk, it was Game on! The course was not busy, so the front nine went by quickly. It was time to tally the score, Stuart 49. Dad 44. I can coast on the back nine, the day was mine.

The next four holes, Stu picked up four strokes...oops...what was happening?
Of course, for those of you that know us, there is now some chirping going on. I could see the tide changing a bit, so I thought I should mention to my son that my Achilles tendon is quite sore, from all the lacrosse I had been playing...after all 6 games in 7 days for a guy that is 40-13 years old...not easy.

I dropped another shot and mentioned my sore hip.

"I can't believe I have a blister on my finger Stu, it is quite sore"!

We made it to 18 and I was down by two. We both hit our best drive of the day. Stu put his second shot long and I plopped mine on the green, I had my chance.

Stu's third shot was not bad, but he caught a slope...and rolled outside my ball. I had him, I thought...but he hit a great putt, and my excitement was over. We both took a five, and the final was Stu 92. Mike 94. I reminded him about all my ailments, he said, ya, you are moving kind of slow. Ouch that hurt.

When we sat in the clubhouse, waiting for Tracy to pick us up the reality of our games came to light. At the end of the day, when you are a 16 - 18 handicap, you always, always, always have the opportunity to shoot a big score, you don't know when, but it lurks...and my snowman (8) on the back nine was the difference.

Today, the tournament starts...and Stu and I are a team. That makes me happy.