For the first time ever, Osprey Links won the Coldwell Cup. This is a home and home friendly with The North Bay Golf and Country Club is steep in tradition for senior players in the area. To win this event is a big deal for the seniors at Osprey Links and we finally have some bragging rights for a year.

With a winning score of 40.5 to 19.5, Osprey Links closed the books early. This year’s team was similar to years past, but the ball rolled our way in many of the matches. Generally, The North Bay Golf and Country Club course is our nemesis. Even though we had a commanding lead heading into yesterday’s action, there was no guarantee that we would win. But, the early pairings produced some great scores and it made the later tee times simpler because there was no pressure to shoot low.

The second day of action saw me paired with Mike Trehan. He had a solid long game and played very well tee to green. He made many key shots that set up our ability to respond to anything Pete and Gord threw at us. I sank many medium length putts to keep us in the match and we eventually wore down our opponents with consistent play and very strong putting. Walking away with 1.5 points was the icing on the cake as the Osprey Links team cruised to victory.

Pete and Gord were solid players. They were always in play (except for 1 hole), made accurate approach shots and putted very well. Considering both teams shot 68, our match was a seesaw battle. The difference was putting for both teams. Gord and Pete were throwing darts during the first three holes of the back nine trying to get off to a quick start. But, Mike and I made 3 difficult putts to take a 1 up lead that held instead of being 2 down. This 1 hole lead lasted for the rest of the round. It seemed that both teams responded very well, but lady luck smiled on our team the most.

Thanks to Ray Duguay for organizing the Osprey Links team again. After many years, Ray is the senior player from both sides. He continues to volunteer his time to ensure everyone participating has a wonderful time. I am glad we were able to give him our first win ever!

I have said many times that golf is a contact sport. Meeting, talking and playing golf with 29 of your like-minded friends is always fun. What also makes this event awesome is the great support we receive from Jeff Rogerson, Osprey Links, and Jeff Mancini, North Bay Golf and Country Club. Without them and their outstanding staff, this would just be another game of golf.

A big shout out to my team mates on a great win. I hope we have a chance to repeat next year!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!