Yesterday, I played in a four person scramble at Laurentide Golf Course in Sturgeon Falls. The tournament was set up my the 22 Wing PSP staff so that serving members at 22 Wing and retired veterans could tee it up for some fun in the sun. The tournament was very well organized and a great time was had by all. The only thing that the PSP staff could not control was the crazy weather. Despite their best efforts we playing in the sun, rain and hail; regardless of the crazy weather we had a great time.

Rick, Blair, Fernando and I quickly joined the tournament when the call letter was sent out. We enjoyed playing in these events when we are serving members and love playing against our old friends now that we are veterans. The intent of the 22 Wing golf tournament is to build camaraderie and offer an opportunity of everyone to enjoy the company of their brothers and sisters in arms away from work. That goal was achieved and exceeded everyone’s expectations.

The day before our fun tournament, it rain a great deal. So much so, that power carts were not allowed during our event. After walking down the first fairway, we were not surprised by the decision. There was standing water everywhere and as the day unfolded, mother nature decided to add more moisture to our challenges.

As we started on our first hole the sun was shining and we thought we were in for a fantastic day. looking at the first hole from the tee box, all was green a lush. It was difficult to see any standing water, but as soon as Rick hit the first ball a huge splash from a puddle of standing water. This trend continued for the rest of the round. In fact the ground was so wet, we were challenge to find spots that would not be considered standing water. The result of all the water forced us to club up on all approach shots. There was zero roll on any iron shot. Personally, I found it very challenging to hit any iron shot because of the type of divot I take; it took me a few holes to adjust, but I eventually got there.

As we continued to loop around, we were dumped on twice and the rain was almost torrential. Both times we had to seek refuge under the trees until it let up. We had to do this even though we had umbrellas and wet gear.

Through the a four hole stretch, the course became even more challenging to play. The amount of water that fell was crazy. The funny thing about all the water, the only hole we birdied was right after the second deluge let up and the hole was completely full of water.

As we looped around Laurentide, we just could not hit any of our approach shots close. We putted for birdie on 12 holes, but none of our putts were within 12 feet. the one birdie putt we made (made by Blair) was from 20 feet and hammered the ball on a completely soaked green. We did lip out 5 times, but nothing fell. We finished our round one under with one birdie and 17 pars. It was a completely underwhelming score from our perspective, but we all agree that we had a fantastic time.

With six holes to go, the sun came out and humidity rose. It was actually very comfortable. On our last hole, we played in weather like this:

Although the course was wet, it played well. The greens, in my opinion, are the best in the area. The ball rolled well and greens were very consistent. I think I will play Laurentide again this year, but when the course has dried out. 😉

Our fun tournament hosted by 22 Wing was a great time. We played well enough to shoot zero bogeys, but not good enough to win. In the big scheme of things, reconnecting with old friends was the real prize. The crazy weather only added to the fun, honest! It is very rare that we play golf in the sun, pouring rain and hail within the space of 30 minutes. Yesterday’s golf tournament was fantastic and I am grateful I was able to participate.

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