Pace of play from one extreme to the other

Obviously, the group in front of us at the Riverside Golf Course the other afternoon didn’t read last week’s story on slow play. These guys were slower than a slug with a bad limp.

They went from one ball to another to another. One of the guys in the group had a swing so bad, it looked like he was chopping wood with a dull axe. On the first tee, he hit three balls into the trees. I’m sure he must have gone through a dozen balls.

Another member of the group came back to ask if we had found his hat, while yet another came back to see if we had found his sand wedge. And then there was the human rain delay character who checked his putts from all four directions while probably trying to save a triple bogey.

There was nobody in front of them. Three holes clear and, of course, everything backing up behind us like the exit routes out of downtown at rush hour.

The next day I played Fort In View for the first time in a zillion years. Playing with pro shop leader Dave McIntyre, we played 18 holes in 2-1/2 hours. And when we met up with a couple that was a tad slow, they cheerfully waved us through. Now that’s how to play golf.

Scene

Wetaskiwin’s Brett Hawken, 18, made a birdie on his final hole to win the junior division (ages 17-19) of the Boston Pizza-presented Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s Nationwide Series at The Links at Spruce Grove with a first round 70 and a final round 77.

First-round leader Patrick Gobran, 17, of Edmonton was second after opening with a 68 but falling to an 80 in the second round, when the wind started howling. Camrose’s Michael Harrison, 18, shot 7774 to finish third.

A bigger story took place in the juvenile division (ages 15-16). Red Deer’s Brett Pasula came up with rounds of 69-76 to edge both St. Albert’s Noah Lubberding (74-72) and Calgary’s Alex Corrigan (75-71) by a single stroke. All three would have won the older division.

Camrose’s Andrew Harrison (76-71) finished fourth in the 15-16 juvenile division while another Edmonton golfer, Jason Martens, 16, also rallied (77-71) to finish fifth.

Noted

If you want a hole-in-one, you apparently have to play the Highlands Golf Club. Matt Zacharias aced No. 16 from 129 yards with his pitching wedge for the course’s sixth hole-inone this season.

Other holes-in-one saw Kelsie Enright ace No. 4 from 125 yards at Camrose; Cardiff club president Roger Fritz got the job done on his home course with a nine-iron from 152 yards on hole No. 4; Thomas Higa used a 50degree wedge from 112 yards to hole out at the Derrick’s seventh hole while playing with Wayne Berney, Dean Mah and Myung Lee; and Don Cook aced No. 8 on men’s night at River Ridge with a seven-iron from 158 yards.

Meanwhile, Joyce Carrington aced her favourite hole — No. 3 at Windermere from 100 yards with an eight-iron. It was Joyce’s third ace on that hole and her fifth at Windermere. Meanwhile, her husband, golf professional Bill Carrington, is still looking for his first.

Jeff Robbins also obviously likes Windermere’s third hole. He aced it from 140 yards with a big sand wedge while playing with Sean Heidebrecht and Justin Nekechuk.