Game On

 

The skins game is now part of the Bandon tradition. The majority of players come in a day early to play and this is followed by a welcoming dinner. A chance to see who is back from previous years and catch up. This year Pete Wlodkowski, the tournament organizer recognized the new participants, (it looked like 30% were new), those who had played in all events over the last 12 years and graciously introduced the Canadian table. Mcguire has played in 11 of the 12 years!Again Jake Weise, a Bandon native acted as the Tournament Director. He recounted a charming tail of being a caddy for the forst 4 some which included Mike Kaiser, The Mayor, the chief of police and the fire chief from Bandon.

 

This year, the skins were worth $250.00 and Ivan, who I have nicknamed Rodney (caddie shack), won 2 of them ! We naturally informed him of the ruling that sharing was mandatory and after dinner Mcguire and I escorted him to the bar in a scene reminiscent of how the speaker of the House of Commons is introduced. Each of us took an arm and marched him into the main clubhouse. He graciously funded a fine bottle of champagne.

Above Ivan Holding Court

 

Round 1 was played at Old Macdonald. We of course played it yesterday and with the the same caddie,Rob, things should have been familiar. Of course the wind was blowing from a different direction and it was literally a different course! We were hot , 3 under after nine but the struggled. We were not alone, scores were high and we are 6 back, and not out of it.

We had a most unusual experience. We started at 10:20 am, the first 5 holes were balmy, light wind and temperature about 20 degrees C. As we walked onto the 5^th green, the temperature dropped by 20 degrees without a change in the wind. It was if we had walked into a meat cooler! This weather persisted for the rest of the round with a fog drifting in. I have never experienced such a weather phenomenon.

On the third hole there is an ancient and dead tree which acts as a target for the drive which needs to clear a 40 foot hill. One of the players hit the tree dead on, the ball bounced straight back and everyone in the foursome swore a puff of smoke emanated from the tree. One of the caddies known for his understanding of native American spirits yelled “oh No! You have awakened the spirits!” As the foursome mounted the hill they encountered the weather change.

Forecasts remain optimistic as we do.