Captain vs. Vice-Captain: Results

Hey gang,

Just a quick note to thank everyone for participating in this match-play trophy tournament.

The teams were all-square up to the final foursome - which included Guenette vs Gilbertson and Mallen vs Carpick. Vice-Captain Gilbertson and his merry men won convincingly in the final two matches, to take the trophy outright.

Nachos and beers awaited the participants, with the VC team gloating about their victory.

NOTABLE: John Dawson hit the closest KP of the day (8’7”) on hole #5 - but didn’t make the putt for birdie. However, on hole #13, he decided to chip-in for the only deuce of the day!! So, two shares of the honey-pot $$ went to JD.

Skins pot went to Mike Mallen (birdie on hole#15), and Ed Nishimura (net eagle on hole#8).

Overall, it was a great day of golf, and the teammates were cheering each other on to win their matches. Love the comraderie!!

Cheers, and we’ll see you at the Wayne Smiley trophy event next weekend!

Best,

Christian.

Some early-mid season musings...

Coming up on June, I’ve been reflecting upon the season so far, and want to give you some of my thoughts.

First and foremost, I appreciate all the patience you guys have provided us in our transition to a new website and event registration system. There were a couple of hiccoughs early on, but we’re starting to get into a rhythm now, and hopefully it will be smooth sailing for the rest of the year. That being said, if you ever have any concerns/questions, feel free to email me at mccleerygolfclub@gmail.com. I usually respond to all messages within 24-hours.

The early season of competitions was created to offer our members a “soft start” to their season. Many of the events were focused on teams - to boost comraderie - and/or Stableford scoring and lift-clean-place rules to give players some leeway in working the rust out of their irons. I hope you got most of your chunks and skulls out of the way now, and are prepared for some summer golf! Upcoming in June, we have 3 individual stroke events, and July sees the Seniors squaring off in their annual championship. Bring your A-game into June/July!

A new tournament, the McCleery Shootout, had some mixed reviews. Some rumbles came trickling in regarding team selection, but overall after Stage I of the event, it seemed like most enjoyed the first round of the 3-event series, with 3 red-hot teams finishing in the 60’s (top-team: Ferley/Breen - 64). Buckle up for some higher scores in the next round, which will be played as a ‘modified alternate shot’ format. All players get to tee off every hole, but after the best drive is selected, teams must alternate shots all the way to the hole. Under par would be a phenomenal score in that format. Let’s see what happens on July 6-7! Teams are fixed for the series, but new players/teams can enter any of the individual stages if they want, as they are designed to be individual contests on their own.

Pictures of some of the teams are included here — click on the image to switch from one photo to the next — I had intentions of getting photos of all teams, but my 50-year old brain couldn’t keep track of organizing and picture-taking combined. Make sure to get some photos taken of your team at the next event. And, please start taking photos at any event to send to our webmaster (Mike Mallen) — we’d love to spice up the website with some of your cheerful mugs, or select photos of golfers and the golf course.

That’s all for now, but look forward to seeing you soon at the course!

Best,

Christian.

NOTE: Click on the photo below to scroll to other pictures/teams.

A golf lesson

2019 – New Rules – A Brief Summary

This is a good summary to get you up to speed. We will be playing by the new rules when the season starts on March 23-24. More to come.

1. Drop from knee height (NOT shoulder height)

2. Measure the area to drop in with the longest club in your bag (except a putter)

3. Drop in and play from the relief area

4. When dropping back-on-the-line, your ball cannot be played from nearer the hole than your chosen reference point

5. Time to search – 3 minutes (NOT 5 minutes)

6. If you accidentally move your ball when searching for it, replace it without penalty

7. No penalty for a double hit – it only counts as one stroke

8. No penalty if your ball hits you or your equipment accidentally after a stroke

9. No penalty if your ball strikes the flag stick when you have chosen to leave it in the hole

10. Spike mark and other shoe damage on the putting green can be repaired

11. Ball accidentally moved on putting green – no penalty and replace

12. Ball marked, lifted and replaced on putting green is moved by wind to another position –replace ball on the original spot

13. Penalty areas replace water hazards, and you can move loose impediments, ground your club and take practice swings in penalty areas without penalty, just as you can on the fairway or in the rough

14. You can’t take relief from a penalty area unless you are at least 95% certain your ball is in the penalty area

15. In bunkers you can move loose impediments

16. In bunkers you cannot touch the sand with your club in the area right in front of or right behind your ball, during your back swing or in taking practice swings

17. Free relief is allowed if your ball is embedded on the fairway or in the rough (but “embedded” means that part of your ball is below the level of the ground)

18. Unplayable ball in bunker – extra option to drop outside the bunker for 2 penalty strokes

19. You cannot have your caddie or your partner standing behind you once you begin taking your stance

20. Pace of Play - it is recommended that you take no longer than 40 seconds to make a stroke (and usually you should be able to play more quickly than that) and Ready Golf in stroke play is encouraged

2019 Season – Club Captain’s Welcome Message

Hello gentlemen, and welcome to the 2018-2019 season of the McCleery Men’s Club! In case you missed the 2018 AGM, let me introduce myself: I am Dr. Christian Guenette, and will have the great pleasure of leading the charge as your McCleery Men’s Club Captain for 2019.

Before I begin with my welcome message, I’d like to remind you, in case you’ve been putting it off, stop procrastinating (you know who you are), and click on the following link to RENEW NOW – in order to come up with an accurate budget for the upcoming season, you need to “put your money where your membership intentions are.”

OK, reminders provided. Now, on to my 2019 welcome message:

Formed in 1959, the club is entering its 60th season! If you want to see some of the history of this great club, glance over at all the trophies on display at the McCleery golf course, and read the plaques for the names of those who have come and gone. Last year, we had a great core group of guys, and look forward to another year of competitive and social golf with the same, and hopefully larger number of golf enthusiasts as new members join in on the fun!

As your Club Captain for the 2019, my goal is to maximize participation from all club members – with something in it for everyone: Stroke play, Match play, Stableford, Best ball, Better ball, etc.

When you look at the tournament schedule (posted soon), you will notice a couple of things that might tweak your interest: 1) on net-only tournaments, I’ve added a prize for top-gross score (to keep the lower handicappers competing for the “best golfer” award in each of these tournaments); 2) more trophies: I’ve re-activated of a number of dormant pieces of hardware, so you get more chances to have your name immortalized on one of our trophies; 3) a new, 2-man team event (2 flights) that will be played in 3 stages – similar to the QBE shootout. Prizes will be awarded for each stage, plus the best aggregate score for the 54-hole tournament will be awarded the Molsons Cup trophy.

NOTE: In order to make this 2-man team event as fair as possible, we will be splitting the club members into 2 flights, based on handicaps. Once the list is posted, you can either select your own partner (minimum aggregate handicap factor), or sign up as a single and a partner will be provided. Take a look at the dates of all 3 stages, and make sure you and your partner can make it out to all three events, so you are in the running for the Molson’s Cup trophy at the end of the season!

Finally, a bit of housekeeping tidbits:

Similar to last year, Parks Board has granted us 3 tee times on Saturdays (12 players), and 7 tee times on Sundays (28 players). Deadlines to sign up for the next weekend’s tournament will be Monday (at noon). If you don’t sign up early enough, you will probably miss a chance to play. Please be sure to get your name in to as many tournaments as possible, to increase the prize-pools, and stay in touch with the Mcleery Men! NOTE: if we get more sign-ups than allocated tee-times, the ProShop may be able to accommodate us (but no promises) – so, the earlier we have the numbers, the better.

NEW for 2019: New formats for KPs and Skins will be announced at the beginning of the season – that will see more $$ allocated to players from weekend to weekend – keeping us all in the game and awarding some excellent shot-making! As a hint to what’s coming up, expect more KP markers on the course, and less random lottery winnings based on Siri’s hole-selections…

ALSO NEW – some rule changes for the 2019 season will be taking effect starting January. We encourage all members to become familiar with these changes, and act accordingly in the tournaments. We play by the official rules of golf, with only a few “local rules” exceptions. The rules will be enforced to ensure fair play and prize allocation – AND if you don’t know the rules, it is not a valid excuse when you break them. Remember: if you’re in a precarious position and are not sure what to do, ask one of your playing partners for a ruling before proceeding. If both of you are not sure, play 2 balls, then ask the Committee at the end of the round to determine the correct course of action.

Looking forward to serving you as your Captain this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please forward them to my email address (mccleerygolfclub@gmail.com), and I will do my best to respond within 24-48 hours.

As I mentioned near the beginning of this message, a tentative Tournament Schedule will be posted soon, so you can see the full range of events that are proposed during the 2019 season.

PLEASE NOTE: The Committee reserves the right to alter the dates/formats/prizes for these events whenever budgetary, weather, or other considerations make it necessary or preferred to do so in the interest of the Club.

Best,
Christian.