Bonspiel Season is Here

 

Approximately 50 members attended the annual fall meeting of the Morrisburg Golf Club on Sunday afternoon with much of the discussion this year centering around the summer-long problems with several of the greens.

With three greens severely damaged by blue algae, and several others showing slight damage, it was a long tough season for both the club’s board of directors and the greens staff, as they did their best to work on the problem and provide the members and paying guests the best playing conditions as was possible.

With the season now behind them, and the course officially closed to all play as of this past Monday, October 29, the board members laid out the plans for next spring’s work on the troubled one, two and three greens.

According to treasurer Sean Boulerice, greens two and three are to be sodded in the spring, while the first green which has been showing signs of recovery since it was seeded in September, will continue to be worked on.

Greens chair Shawn Hummel, along with Boulerice and club president Jason Broad, have solicited much appreciated help from several area greens professionals and it is following their advice that the club will proceed next spring.

“We started off pretty tough,” said Hummel in his report. “There was a lot of maintenance required on the equipment and we were looking at a lot of water damage on the fairways. We decided to go ahead and fix the fairway drainage problems (where required).”

Questioned as to how long the second and third greens, could be expected to be out of play after sodding next spring, Boulerice said they were hoping that it would be six weeks max, after the sodding. 

Boulerice said the sodding can be done as soon as the ground reaches a temperature of 50 degrees and that will be dependent on the weather. “So we are hoping to get an early spring and to get at it in April,” he said.

With declining membership, which is being felt throughout the golf industry, and the fear of losing more members due to the problems with the greens, at the advice of the executive, the Morrisburg Golf Club members voted a fairly hefty drop in membership fees for the 2013 season.

“We feel that by lowering our prices, we would be very price competitive,” said Boulerice explaining the board has looked at other clubs’ pricing and what they have been doing to attract members and green fee players. 

The drop sees the fee for single member golfers drop from last year’s $540 to $450 (before applicable taxes and a club levy that is being collected to help pay for the beautiful deck added to the clubhouse two years ago).

All membership categories were adjusted to correspond to the base rate change and come spring reduced green fees will be put into effect.

The club will also have membership gift certificates available immediately for people to purchase as Christmas gifts.

The meeting ended with the annual election of officers for the 2013 season which saw the majority of board members returned.

The main changes in the board are in the club captain positions as Monique Patenaude takes over for Lori-Anne Davies who finished out two terms, and Andy Patenaude replaces Bob Mann who handled the men’s duties in 2012.

Jason Broad was returned as president, Mick Mabo as 1st vice-president and Barry Henderson as second vice-president. Sean Boulerice remained as treasurer, Candace Jamieson as secretary and Shawn Hummel as greens chair. A seniors rep had yet to be found to replace Lawrence Larocque who has stepped down.

[…]

They ranged in age and running ability, and they all had something in common…raising money for the Children’s Playground scheduled to be built in the Earl Baker Park in Morrisburg on Saturday, September 28.

The  ‘Let Them Be Kids’ Fun Run was held this past Sunday morning under perfect weather conditions and when the final runner had crossed the finish line at the Morrisburg dock a total of $1,030 had been raised for the playground build.

“We had a great turnout of runners,” said Isabella Jordan, a volunteer with the playground committe who was the main organizer of the run.

“Our youngest participant was five years old, and we had a variety of runners ranging from five to 65 years.

In addition, the run attracted a number of avid runners, some of whom are training for the Army Run in Ottawa next weekend.

“The race was well-marshalled with the help of many volunteers including OPP Constable John Macpherson who made sure the race course was safe for all.”

Participants were allowed to walk or run their choice of one, two and five km routes.

Jordan expressed her thanks to SDS Beavers Dental for their sponsorship of the run and to everyone who “took the time to participate, be active, and contribute to the success of the new playground.”

“The generous Beavers sponsorship allowed every dollar collected through registration fees to go directly to the playground effort.”
Supporting sponsors, also thanked, included the Morrisburg Lions Club (in kind), Robert Jordan Construction, Cruickshank Construction, South Dundas Recreation and the Cruickshank Amphitheatre committee.

“We had a great network of volunteers who all came out to help and I think that alone was one of the biggest factors in making the event a success.”

[…]

 

The South Dundas Atom B House 2 Lions ended their playoff run with a hard fought battle against the Brockville Braves on Saturday, March 3. 

The two teams went into the fourth and final game of the series tied at three points apiece.

The Braves opened with a 4-3 win but the Lions battled back in game two for a 2-0 win to event the series at two point each.

Game three ended in a 1-1 tie, forcing the fourth game in Brockville on Saturday.

Saturday’s action was again a close affair, and once again ended in a 2-2 tie. That forced the game into overtime, after two period of scoreless sudden death it went to a shoot out.

The Braves prevailed in the shoot out scoring on two out of three opportunities, to eliminate the Lions.

Head coach David Lapier had asked his team to “leave it all on the ice”, and after the game, although disappointed with the shoot out loss, he said, “I’m proud of all the players and how well they played in the playoffs. It was a great team effort.”

The Lions, who finished second in regular season play, opened the four point series against the third place Braves at home on Sunday, February 26. 

The Lions who had received a first round bye, came out flat in the opening game falling behind 3-2 in the third period.

They found inspiration in the spirited play of Sarah Backes who repeatedly out-battled the larger Brockville defenders deep in their own zone, but try as they might to mount a comeback, at the final buzzer the score was 4-3 in favour of the Braves.

Game 2 in Brockville, saw the Lions come out roaring to dominate play in the first period and maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone for most of the period. 

Right winger, Ty DeDekker picked up a loose puck in front of the net and slid it past the Braves keeper to make it 1-0. 

Dean Lapier sent several thundering shots towards the Braves net from the blue line and Brady Smith blocked a clearing attempt with his skate and sent a hard shot on net where Kolby Hamilton converted the rebound. 

Power forward Jack Collins played a solid two way game as the Lions held on for the 2-0 win and the only shutout of the series for Lions goaltender Olivia Salmon.

The series returned to Morrisburg for game three on Thursday, and in front of a large and supportive crowd the Lions strove to eliminate the Braves. 

Colin Minish scored with a back-hander from the crease to put the Lions up 1-0. 

Jayden Rowe repeatedly broke up the Braves attempted advance through the neutral zone, and Nathen Verhey blocked several shots as the Braves attempted to even the score. 

The Lions valiantly defended their lead while Brockville had a 5 on 3 power play, only to have a screen shot slip in seconds after returning to full strength. 

The game ended in a 1-1 tie, to force a fourth and deciding match in Brockville on Saturday, March 4. 

Minish scored twice for the Lions, but again Brockville scored late in the third to tie the game 2-2  and force overtime.

The teams moved to a four on four format for five minutes of sudden death overtime, and although the Lions generated several scoring chances they couldn’t put the puck past the Braves goalkeeper. 

A second sudden death period, this time with three skaters for each side was required.

Several back and forth rushes had the crowd roaring in approval. Brockville’s top goal scorer broke in alone but Dana Domanko used her speed to close the gap and then strip him of the puck as he entered the high slot.  

Once again, the overtime would end without a goal. 

It finally came to a shoot out to settle the game (and series) and with the first two Lions shooters unable to put the puck in the net, the Braves scored on two of three opportunities for the victory.

[…]