Toonik Tyme ice golf

April in Nunavut means Toonik Tyme spring festival. Inuit games, competitions and other activities will abound throughout the second week of April. My favourite of course is the sea ice golfing. The course is plowed on the ice a week before the event. The course is nine holes, all of which can be played with a nine iron. The "cup" is a full 6 inches in diameter as that is the size of the smallest ice auger bit in town. If the weather co-operates, the ice conditions will play well. A hard ice foundation with a 1/2" coating of hardend sea ice slush allows for the golfer to hit the ball with the same feel as if hitting off of grass. The sun must be shining and the temperatures must be around -5C. More than likely, the temperatures will be closer to -20C. Several years ago, the weather was wicked indeed. High winds and extreme wind chills made it difficult to make a short putt. This is not your regular round of golf here, it is more of a spring party for us arctic people.
Some of the other events will include snow mobile drag racing, uphill racing competitions, traditional games like the one foot high kick as well as inuktitut dancing and music. Many of the community elders participate in cooking bannock and making tea. Some of the women will compete in the skinning of seals or the cooking of caribou stew. Many artists will come to Iqaluit to sell carvings or to sing a few songs for us. The children always have events going on through the week. Many of the events are arranged by the schools so that the kids can enjoy toonik tyme during the class hours. The winter has been long, cold and dark. It is great once again to see the sun rise in the sky and stick around for longer than a couple of hours. Soon, the days will bring 22 hours of sunshine every day. I will be on the tundra course playing golf. I can start a game at 8PM and play until midnight. It never gets dark in June and July. First, I must get some practice on the sea ice. There are too many good golfers here for me to get lazy. Practice makes perfect.