We'd been out at a BBQ with friends on Friday night and just as the burgers, sausages and hot dogs were coming off the BBQ, the debate centred around whether we should eat indoors or stay out, as there was a fine mist starting and the mosquitos were descending. We decided for indoors. But, there wasn't much rain and when we left about 2 hours later there was only enough rain on the windshield to make one pass at it with the wipers. Little did we know that in Brudenell, in Kings County (only some 50 km away) there had been rain of biblical proportions for about 3 hours Friday night.
When I had tried to book Brudenell for Saturday morning, I'd been told that the club championship was on both Saturday and Sunday, so no tee off times were available until after 2:30. We've been enjoying our earlier morning golf in July, so I asked about Dundarave next door. Yes, we could get a 8:36 a.m. tee off there. So off we set on Saturday morning, with a forecast that indicated that the early morning fog was going to burn off quickly and the day was going to be hot and sunny, so thankfully we had an early tee off. Arriving in Brudenell, we noted that the fog had not started to lift and, in fact, a fine mist had started to fall. Our next clue should have been that golf carts were being not just made available for free, but they were being almost forced upon us and the mosquitos were very thick.
We were paired up with Jim and Brad, two fellows from Hamilton, Ontario and it became quickly apparent that they had not played much golf. Dundarave is a challenging course for most and extremely challenging for some. On the first green, it was apparent how much rain had fallen the night before (the bunkers were showing signs of erosion at the edges and were mini-lakes at the bottoms) - some fool had tried to hit out of the "sand" and had left his foot prints and shot marks as if in quick dry cement! We drove off on the second, but left and returned to the clubhouse for a "rain" check, as the rain got heavier and the shouts from the foursome behind ("Slow" "too slow") rained down upon us.
We tried to get a tee off time at the next door Divine Nine, but the starter there really discouraged us. We set off for the eastern end of the Island and one of our favourite little 9-hole courses, Rollo Bay Greens, where the sun was shining and the course pro Darren was, as always, welcoming and helpful. We had a quick 9-holes there and although lots of mosquitos were out (they too had had 3 hours of rain and thunderstorms the night before), the conditions were much better for play and we nearly had the course to ourselves. As we were finishing up, the fog rolled in again from Rollo Bay. It was as if there had been a window for us to play our nine holes and that was it! The sounds of birds and bullfrogs (they have a couple of wonderful ponds where the bullfrogs serenade you) greet you everywhere. At the clubhouse, there is a neat little pub/canteen named after the family's dog (Fidel's Pub).
So despite the adversity of bad weather the night before, and three strikes with the Green Card courses, we still managed to get in a golf game this weekend. Besides, nine holes were just fine for me, as I'd also played nine holes with Ladies League in town on Thursday - which included more rain than a person wants while playing golf.
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