T-2: The NS-ON Championship

Today (Friday), my good friend Jim Greenway invited me to play golf at his course in Burlington.  Actually he was defending the |NS-ON Title that he won the first and second time it was held at Glen Arbour (2006) and Oakfield (2007) in NS. The title was not defended last year, my bad for not coming to Ontario and forcing the issue.Now for some background.  Jim is a great golfer, and plays 80 or so games a year.  I've played about 40 games in the past 3 or so years, 6 of them this year prior to the match.  His index is 11, mine is 13.  So we agreed on 18 strokes for me in a match play format.  Why so many?  Well the 6 games!  Rental clubs, course knowledge, etc etc.  I used 4 irons off the tee, and had to use a 54 degree sand wedge and no access to a 60 degree lob wedge.

The course was beautiful, very reasonable in length, 6500 yards or less, and the greens were 11 on the stimp meter. I never played faster greens.  On the 16 tee, I was up 2.  A 313 yard par 4 off of a cliff.  Hazard to the right.  I elected not to use the 4 iron which I had been pounding down the center of fairways.  I wanted to be sure I could not reach the hazard.  I hit 5 iron to within 80 yards of the green.  Jim drove the green, pin high
on the right side of the pin.  Pressure was on me.  I tip the 54 wedge 1 foot off the back.  I now had a fast downhill putt.  I touched it, it rolled, and rolled, missing the cup and tolled 12 feet down past the hole.  Oh oh.  Jim now had the advantage.  He hit the put and it ran 6 feet past the hole.  My turn.  I drained the putt.  He missed.  Par each.  I get a stroke.  I won 3 and 2.

We played on further and so I then won 4 and 0.  He shot 83, I shot 89.

Jim was (and is) a total gentleman.  He handed over the coveted trophy.  An Oakfield hat. He now has to come to NS to try and win it back.  My next game of golf will be that game, next July.

After the game, we had a drink and salad, went to his house to pick up his lovely wife Angela and off the Bistro 990 where we met Lisa and Karen for dinner.  Great meal, great food, great company.  I had the duck.  All had a great time.