Snow drifts and duffers

The annual golfing event is over. This year, the course was not plowed on the sea ice as the Municipality had problems obtaining the proper insurance for the event. At least, that is what has been relayed to me. So what does the city do? They plow a golf course atop a frozen lake instead. Somehow, I fail to understand the logic behind this but I do not understand local politics anyway. You cannot get insurance to cover a public event atop the sea ice but it is OK to hold the event atop a frozen lake.
The wind was wild blowing a steady 50K and gusting to 70k. The deep cap of snow covering the tundra was a flowing white sea.The drifting and blowing snow made the game difficult but not impossible. My foursome had all played off the tee to a "green" a mere 60 yards away. All of us landed within putting distance. The only problem was that the snow drifting so quickly, had completly filled the first hole. In fact, half of the "green" was covered in a rapidly advancing snowdrift. We decided that stricking the pin with the ball would count as the ball being holed. The pins were all made of rough cut knotty pine 2X2 lumber, each with it's own particular set of twists and warps. The top portion of each pin was tagged with a red flag. Hitting the pin looked easy but we found that it was harder than we had thought. The first hole was tough. I looked up to the second hole but was unable to locate it. The snow was blowing very hard creating white outs. A short walk reveled that the pin was only a mere 40 yards away. I had only brought a pitching wedge and a putter. The putter turned out to be useless. The pitching wedge should have been left at home and the lob wedge should have been the club of choice. So I pitch the ball up in the air where it promptly dissapears and goes to God knows where. I never found that ball. The ball was a bright fluorescent greenish yellowish colour. I still could not find it in the white sea. So I drop a ball, hit it to the green a foot from the hole. I was pleased. I walked up to the green and waited for the other players to approach. I watched my ball quickly get gobbled up in the drifting snow. I was quite amazed to watch the ball disapear before my very eyes. So i now reasoned that the ball will get buried before you can walk up to it in the blinding wind. I got 4 strokes having to take a one stroke penalty for losing a ball. The third hole held some promise. The wind suddenly decided to let up for a time. This made it much easier to play the remaining holes. I finished the nine hole couse with a nasty 39 strokes. My brother in-law had finished with 24 strokes. He made 4 of 9 holes with 2 strokes. How he did this while fighting snow,wind and wearing a large down parka complete with windpants,dark goggles, hat, scarf and gloves is beyond me.
So ends the spring time golf extraviganza. Now if only the snow would melt before the end of June, then I can play on dry land like I am supposed to do. Can't wait for the Tundra Golf Tourney on July 1, Canada Day!

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.