Hole in 35

The two eldest boys and I ventured forth today to the "31th Annual Arctic Open". The kids were psyched, despite the cold and the snow and the wind. The temp was a balmy 18 degrees, but the wind was pretty fierce and flurries were falling. The lady who registered us inside a snugly-built icehouse told us the course was nine holes in length. Emerging outside, I was able to see four greens (clumps of Christmas trees). The rest of the holes were lost to swirling snow and mist.


In the picture above, the two kidlets on the left are mine and the one on the right is a friend. As you can see, the sign itself was made awhile ago. It gets reused every year with new number placards nailed on the front. I guess the economy is hurting everywhere; apparently the city didn't have enough money to make a 'st', just a '31'.


We started out on the putting white. The holes were made with augers, drilled about a foot deep. The balls were painted red and yellow.


The plows had cleared the putting area, and plowed a fairway and green for each of the nine holes. The holes were quite long -- a par three on a normal course, but a par eight on a frozen lake.


In this picture I am standing at the tee-off point, and the Christmas trees in the distance mark the green. Owen sped off in front, leaving Graham and I behind. Owen took 16 shots to make it into the hole. Graham took 35.

Here are the proud golfers at end of the first hole. After his 35 shots, Graham decided he'd rather head back and play on the enormous mound of plowed snow instead of finishing the course. Owen would have liked to play on, but he soon forgot about golf and became embroiled in a rousing game of King of the Hill. And after that, a snow ball fight.

Finally, after the monkeys had burned enough energy to last me through a month, we drove two blocks to the local cafe for cheeseburgers and hot cocoa. All in all, a good morning spent.