Jan 29/12
 

It is a quiet Sunday at the home office today what with hockey on break, a week off before the Super Bowl and basketball, well who cares. The big part of my day today will be watching the golf from Torrey Pines in San Diego and watching some of the world’s best players play this course the ol commish has played twice. Without a doubt Torrey Pines South is in my top 5 courses I have ever had the privilege to tee it up on. The fact it is a public municipal course makes it even more special. When you walk onto the grounds of Torrey Pines a tingly feeling comes over you that you are about to experience a round of golf that millions have enjoyed before you. And it does not disappoint. Every hole is a test, the views are mind boggling, the fees are reasonable, you are well treated, the course was in excellent shape the two times I played it, the bunkers were well maintained and more than fair, it is flat so walking is not an ordeal and they keep the pace of play moving which could grind to a snail’s pace because you have players of all abilities trying to make their way around this world class track. As I contemplate this, it makes me remember my day at the Old Course in St Andrews. Obviously, Torrey Pines design is much more modern in style but everything else is the same. They are golf factories and both are open year round. The Old Course is much harder to play in the winter because it can snow there and they do get a winter, but for hardy Scotsmen it’s no big deal and a few of these hardy souls played it today. I checked the ballots for today and although there were only a few players signed up and the weather was only going to reach a high of 39, they were out there. Sounds like Springfest weather that we get at times and we would easily feel at home there.
 

If you are unaware, seven others and I fulfilled a 20 year in the making quest in 2011. We headed out for 2 weeks of what we called the Ultimate Golf Vacation. We spent time in Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Morocco and England golfing our brains out and enjoying a buddy’s trip of a lifetime. On this odyssey we played some of the world’s best and most well known courses. If you wish to find out what we did I wrote a blog to update our families and friends while we were away. The blogs are available if you click on the side bar Ultimate Golf Vacation on the website and you can read some of our adventures. I know many Springfestors have also gone across the pond to partake in experiencing these tracks and I received many an e-mail from them enjoying reliving their experiences through us. I hope you enjoy the blog and welcome your comments.
 

A week ago I went with Billy Johnson, Doug Westlund, Reid Ferguson, Sportsbook and a friend of Billy’s a chap named Adam whose last name escapes me to the Leaf game against the hated Habbies of Montreal. We all showed up loaded for bear, fully lubricated for lots of cheering and rooting of our favourite team and Canada’s Team, our beloved Leafs decided to take the night off. They stunk. What a bunch of stiffs. Having to sit beside a Hab fan all game and listen to him chirp about how good the Canadians were and how crappy the Leafs were made the night even more miserable. However, we still had a lot of fun and I want to thank Billy for hosting the evening as a memorable time was had by all. And thanks TTC drivers for getting me home safe and sound. I managed to stay awake the whole time which only occurs about half the time.
 

A couple of weeks ago I met up with Ken Kennedy and Bruce McWhinnie of Sportcover International and we went over the giveaways everyone gets at Springfest. They always have a line on some great items and once again they didn’t disappoint. Everyone will enjoy what they receive as a keepsake. Ken`s company also has purchased T Litzen Sports in Waterdown and that is their new headquarters. For those that are involved with any kind of sports and I mean anything, they have it. And all top of the line equipment. Whether you are involved in football, hockey, soccer, track and field, baseball, golf etc., they are the guys to talk to. You will not be able to outfit a team in better gear at the prices they can give you anywhere. They are also the Canadian distributor for Nike and can also hook you up with all their product lines. If you need to talk to them, e-mail me and I’ll get you in touch with them. The only bad part about my visit was that I found out that Ken`s brother Wayne Kennedy has prostate cancer and will be having an operation in March. The prognosis is good for a full recovery; however Wayne will not be in any kind of shape for Springfest. Wayne all us Springfestors wish you well and a speedy recovery.

Entries for Springfest are starting to arrive daily and we are about a third of the way to our number of 100 or so. If you are reading this and are planning on attending, send your entry off and be done with it. Things can get forgotten and I do not want to disappoint anybody. I received an entry from long time Springfestor, Dr Wallace Watson this week and Wallace sent along a little something the ol commish can use to help make the tourney better for all of us. Thanks Wallace from everyone and as always I look forward to meeting up with you again.
 

This non winter continues next week with temps in Toronto reaching as high as 7C. I got thinking that most greenskeepers like a nice layer of snow on their greens to protect them from ice during the winter. I wonder if this phenomenon is going to make for a lot of winterkill on greens in the Northeast. I hope not.
 

I am glad to say goodbye to January as I am not really a winter guy and it was nice to see CBS advertising their coverage of the Masters in April. It just gives one hope. I`ll update again in about a week.

Jan 17 2012
 

Maybe winter has finally arrived. I used my snow blower for the first time on Friday and it has been freezing cold this weekend. However watching golf from Hawaii and the Leafs chase for a playoff spot keeps the ol commish all warmed up. Next Saturday I will be in the crowd when the hated Habbies come to town. I’ll hunker down three hours before game time in the Real Sports Bar beside the ACC with Billy Lars Johnson, Westy Westlund and Svenny Boyd which should get the ol commish all primed for the game. Last year when I did this I was so primed I slept on the subway going home, but I didn’t get rolled so it was all good. In another update I will tell you how this evening went, the parts I remember anyway.
 

Entries for Springfest have already started to roll in and it has only been a week. The Mitchell brothers were first in although they used last year’s entry form so they kind of jumped the gun. Dave and Ryan Young were first in the mail in 2012 with Steve Wakelin’s entry right behind theirs in the next day’s mail. George Harris has also sent in his entry and George was the winner of the Friends of Steve Kerekes closest to the pin and for that he won an A package courtesy of Steve McDonald, Jim Oattes and Alex Kilgour. Steve passed away far too young and he loved coming with his buddies to Bristol Harbour for Springfest. In 2012, in his honour, the trophy and prize will once again be given away to the player hitting one really well struck shot on #15, Bristol’s par 3 from hell. It was Steve’s favourite hole at Bristol Harbour and we Springfestors thank you guys for this wonderful tribute to your great friend.           
 

I have to salute last year’s winners at Springfest. The weather could be best described as trying, so to come out on top through wind, rain, cold and super soaked fairways, the true mudders came to the forefront and walked away with their overall and flight championships. We salute Todd Tsukamoto our 2011 Champion. Welcome to the blue tees Todd. Todd joins his brother Steven on the coveted Waldo trophy. This must have been a satisfying, bitter sweet and memorable moment for Todd when he received his trophy.  Todd has come to previous Springfests with his dad Soc and friends Frank Speight and Lou Lockyer and they have now gone on before him. I imagine warm thoughts of them must have passed through his mind. Life goes by to its eventual finish and in 22 years we Springfestors have been fortunate in that we haven’t had to say goodbye to many of us. Let’s hope this continues for a long while.
 

In the other flights, the A champ was Al Smith who overcame a gross 69 thrown at him by Ken Kennedy in the first round. That 69 is the lowest gross score ever recorded by any Springfestor in our 22 years. Great round Ken. I also want to congratulate Garth Mitchell, our 2009 champ who did his penance on the blue tees and performed most ably by coming third in A flight. Since you did so well I think I’ll keep you in A flight as you must be a good player and that 11 handicap must be inflated. You’re busted pal.  Congrats Al. The B flight champ was Peter Mathews who crushed the field and will also be field promoted to A flight. No whining Doc, you hit it way too far to be playing in B. You took out our resident sandbagger Sportsbook by 5 and no one beats him by that much. To ensure that the books balance I have to take care of SB, so I’ll see ya in A Pete. In C flight Pete Langford held off Ljupcio Joncevski by 1 shot to take down the trophy. Congrats Pete. Todd Tsukamoto came from D so the trophy winner in D was Ian Hilton. Now Ian would have won D for fun any other year, but this year he ran into one hot fireman. Ian was 3^rd overall and fully deserving of the D trophy. Well done Ian. In the E flight Jeff Beetlestone really smoked the E flighters and I am positive his buddies will make sure that his handicap is checked thoroughly. Tony Wouters please make sure Jeff’s handicap is on the up and up. I am kidding Jeff, congrats on your showing. The ol commish has everyone’s scores for the last number of years so trying to get a phony handicap past me is pretty hard.  Good play is what the winners all share in common.

In the 5 Man Scramble Rick Bishop’s team played with just four of them and was still able to win it with a 60. He was most ably assisted by Colin Kinsman, Dave Young and Jeff Beetlestone. Well done boys. That is one hell of score for 4 guys to produce. All the rest of our results are on the web site and I’ll update them with Bob in a few days.

Once you send your entry in, watch for your name to show in the entries received section of the web site. That ensures that your entry has been received and that your spot is secure. From the e-mails I have received it looks like we have some returning Springfestors that were not at Bristol last year and I imagine we will get to our number of 100 without a problem. Alf Merson told me they have a buddy arriving from England on Wednesday and he will join them at Springfest on Thursday. He is setting a new long distance record for our group and we should all buy him a drink to welcome him. We might as well let him experience how we all feel every year, either we are getting loaded, loaded or hung-over. He’ll quickly learn that he will never hear, “anybody want a drink, no thanks”. I wonder if he has ever had a White Russian or Caesar, our official Springfest cocktails. I love seeing rookies getting broken in as it is most painful and funny to watch. I can just imagine the looks of disbelief his buddies back in England will give him when he describes his experiences at Springfest. What other tourneys have guys cranking out their stereos while playing, towing duct taped coolers of beer behind their cart, caring not at all what the weather is doing and going 5 days on 6 hours of sleep?
 

The group of Hooves and Manly Men of Scotland that operate inside Springfest began their annual e-bashing of each other a month ago and it is now in full swing. The Hooves have been the champs for the last three years and the MMOS are looking at making a trade or two. It looks like the ol commish (Mats Walkerslund) may be sought out by the MMOS as I was once part of their team, but was traded away. Bad move by them. It will cost them dearly, but since I have never lost these matches, no matter which team I have been on, they may pay any price to get me back. I’ll let you know if this happens and what they had to pay.
 

Lastly, every year for the last 10 or so, I have played a match against Dug Westlund and Robby Mitchell with Doug Smith aka the Blade as my partner in the big JD challenge match. We always win including last year when the Blade couldn’t make it and my pal John Doucette stepped in with his wide shoulders that he could carry me on. Thanks Douce for helping me carry on the winning tradition. Crushed them like bugs we did. Well the Blade is back and they have accepted the annual challenge so if you hear some loud moans and groans late Wednesday afternoon at Springfest, you’ll know the annual ass kicking is in progress. You’ll know where we are on the course because Mitchells jabbering can be heard for miles. Good luck gentlemen, maybe just maybe, this will be your year. NOT.

We are now in the dog days of winter but thankfully the days are slowly getting longer. Keep the faith spring is on the way. I’ll update again in about a week or so.
 

13 weeks and counting

Jan 1 2012
 

Happy New Year one and all. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and holiday time with your family and friends. The ol commish did and the annual, usually unsuccessful, diet starts today. Springfest 2012 will be held from April 25^th to April 28^th. For no particular reason, I am a little late getting going on Springfest, but I do have to address a couple of changes we are implementing at Springfest 2012. I am hopeful that you will see the merits of the changes and agree that your attendance at Springfest will be the spring buddies get-away you have always enjoyed in the past. My hope is that the experience and memories you take away from Springfest are as memorable as days past.

Okay commish, so what changes are we talking about. Well last year due to Easters late arrival on our usual final Sunday we decided to wrap things up on the Saturday night and Sunday would be an optional golf day. If you decided to stay over on Saturday night, Bristol Harbour did not charge anyone for their round on Sunday so if you wanted to play, the course was yours. I think that was good of them and they have offered us the same arrangement this year. I believe that wrapping the event up on Saturday night is to everyone’s benefit. Those that need to be away Saturday night or very early Sunday can do so and not miss any of Springfest events. If Sunday turns out to be a great weather day, those that want to play can get up, pack, play a quick 9 or 18 and then head directly home. Everyone can arrive home at a time that suits them and that should appease wives that are holding dinner for your arrival. There is nothing better than coming home from a four day boy’s getaway to a significant other that is happy to see you arriving at a decent hour. It just makes life easier and that is a beautiful thing. So you have the option, jet after the prize presentation around 7 on Saturday night or hang out on Saturday night, party with the boys and decide if you are playing Sunday. Last year the weather was lousy so almost everyone that stayed over Saturday night bolted Sunday morning, although I was told a few hardy souls tipped it up on Sunday morning. We did this last year it worked out so well we are going to keep this going. Nobody complained so this has to be the right thing to do.
 

The other change is the 2Man Granny’s Crotch Scramble. We have run this on Thursday morning and it has been sponsored by Al Smith, Don Smith, John Doucette, Pete Matthews and Arno Hobart. We have run this for about ten years and it was a popular event at Springfest. However, in 2011 we had the perfect storm weather-wise and although it did not rain on the Thursday of this event it was cold and the course was soaked. It was so wet that carts could not go on the fairways and thus guys had to do a ton of walking on heavy, wet fairways. Coupled with the 5Man Scramble on Thursday afternoon it made for one really long day. I got a number of complaints that it was too much for that early in the season. After spending a lot of time thinking this over and getting some feedback from my inner circle, I realized a few things. First off, even with the influx of some Springfest participant’s sons and their pals, the main group of us are getting older. Much older. The ol commish was 38 when I started Springfest and this year I turned 60. Many of our long time participants are in their nearly 60’s, 60’s and 70 plus. Springfest has morphed into many things through its 22 years and I have always tried to go with the flow and keep the tourney as fresh as I can. The initial reason that Springfest was born was so that I would get to see my old ball team buddies once a year. Yes, a buddy’s golf trip and nothing else. As others came to join us and brought along their pals, Springfest grew and grew and grew until we maxed out one year at 147 players. It became a little more competitive during the years but I have always tried to keep the buddy’s trip purpose always in mind. I have forged some wonderful friendships with the guys and always look forward to catching up with them at Springfest. Springfest is about friends getting together, playing some golf and catching up with each other. With that in mind, I am leaving Thursday morning for exactly that. Breakfast will be supplied and there will still be an 8.45 shotgun start, but you will make up your own groups, you can play as many holes as you want and if the weather is a little rough you can sleep in and then prepare for the 5Man Scramble that will go at 2 that afternoon. Sportsbook and I realized that we have known some of the guys that have attended Springfest for years and have never played with them. We both will welcome the opportunity to play with some of these guys and hopefully they will want to play with us. So for this year we are suspending the Granny’s 2Man and see how this change works out. If guys want this competition back in I can do that, but for this year we are going back to our roots, buddy golf.  I cannot thank Al, Don, John, Pete and Arno enough for sponsoring this event. It was a great idea on how to meet other guys that attend Springfest, be a competitive event as well and it was truly a successful event. Kudos to you five from all of us.
 

So this year’s event will start on Wednesday April 25^th with lunch at 12, the skins and hidden partner round in the afternoon and a free wing night that evening. Thursday morning will be breakfast starting at 7, a shotgun start for those that want to play at 8.30, lunch starting at 1, the 5Man scramble at 2.30 and Texas no limit poker at 8.30. Friday will have the Big and Little Boppers at 11, lunch starting at 12 and the first round of the tourney at 1.30. Saturday will have the second round of the tourney at 8.30, lunch at 1, the Shootout at 2.30, wings and beer at 5 and the prize presentation at 6. For those that stay over Saturday night the golf course is yours on Sunday so enjoy. Everything you see above plus accommodation is included in your entry fee. Some may notice that the basic package starts on Thursday as opposed to Friday and that is correct. You must now take Thursday and Friday off work if you want to attend but we figure if you can’t take the two days off at our age, you have to be in the wrong profession or you love work too much. Both are bad things. Bristol has kept their rates comparable to last year, the dollar has held steady and looks to do so in the coming months and hopefully my sponsors or wannabe sponsors step up and help out once again, therefore, I am leaving the costs virtually the same as 2011. Lastly, we only have accommodations for about 100, so if you plan on attending get your entries in early, we just do not have the available room anymore and from guys telling me they are coming back and bringing some others I expect to fill by March. Don’t be disappointed if your buddies are here and you aren’t because you dallied.

Winter has now fully arrived but the days are getting longer so we now have hope. I’ll update in about a week.