Back when I was young enough to have a Junior membership at Parry Sound Golf & Country Club I used to play golf about 5 times a week.  These days I’m lucky to get out 5 times in two years.  My high school friends and I play once a year in our annual Disgusta and then there’s usually at least one guy getting married every summer.  This year that one guy is Barry Baldwin.

So off we go to Briar Fox, in Marysville.  I was pretty surprised at the quality of the course.  It’s a budget course but all of the rain this summer has kept it in great shape.  It was very busy, being the Labour Day long weekend, but we weren’t in a hurry.  We played 2-man scramble, which most people call “best ball.”  This is where both partners hit and then you pick the best shot and both hit again from there.  (Best ball is when you take the best score for the hole, after hitting your own ball the entire hole.)

We were one guy short of a full 8 so our team had 3 players, and it’s a good thing.  While I can usually hold my own on the golf course, if you mix together that we had a designated driver, it was about 30 degrees out, and it took us nearly 7 hours to play 18 holes, suffice it to say I wasn’t exactly Tiger Woods on the back 9.  Many crushed cans and a good sunburn later we arrived back at the clubhouse to total up the damage.  If we didn’t win we were a respectable second.

One last game of golf for this season and then it’s time to dust off the skates.  (And congrats to Mike Weir for placing second this past weekend.  I love that his game has come back to him.  He’s a true ambassador for Canadian golfers, and lefties for that matter.)

I promised my wife a week’s vacation in sunny Parry Sound in the last week of August.  We’ve made that a regular thing to do over the last couple of years because it’s cheap (we stay at my parent’s) and it’s always hot, sunny and, compared to other times of year, bug-free.  It doesn’t hurt that we have access to a boat and can cruise the gorgeous Georgian Bay any time we want.  This year, the way the calendar fell, we ended up in Parry Hoot last week.  My sister and brother-in-law were visiting from England and things couldn’t have been better - then the rain started.

The rain really didn’t let up until Thursday.  That was the day when we had decided to escape the rain and take Ella to Science North.  Figures.  Science North was pretty neat.  Maybe a little overpriced for what Ella, a 3.5 year old, was able to take in.  For our family of 3 it was nearly $60 and the kicker is, Ella’s favourite part of the trip was the elevator.  To be fair, it was glass-walled and took us through the rock and past the whale skeleton.  Pretty cool.

I was more than a little annoyed that there seemed to be no assistance in helping you navigate the place.  No brochure with a map.  No painted lines on the floor.  You just wandered through, and up, stopping wherever you felt compelled.  Ella was probably a couple of years too young and Lesley and I a few too old, but all in all it was an enjoyable distraction from the weather.

I did get to golf 3 times over the week.  I played Caistor Golf Club, just outside of Binbrook, Ontario, Deer Run Golf Club, just outside of Parry Sound and the Parry Sound Golf & Country Club.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the PSG&CC is the best value for your money anywhere.  The course is challenging, beautifully kept and picturesque.  They’ve just completed renovations in the club house and the place looks amazing.  I’ve watched the course evolve over the last 15 or so years and I’m proud to call it my home course, even though I’m not a member.  I know all of the nooks and crannies and have probably played over a hundred rounds there.  Doesn’t always help me crack 100, but at least I have that warm, fuzzy feeling when I hit it over a hill and know for sure that the ball is completely irretrievable. 

On a side note, the PSG&CC was one of the first clients I ever pitched a website to.  They rejected my proposal because I couldn’t give them online booking without them having a high speed connection (this was in the year 2000).  They still don’t have online booking…