Calgary Revisited

I'm back in Canada for 6 days and I'm hoping that we're able to play our tournament in Calgary this time.  I was here about 6 weeks ago and a ton of rain flooded downtown Calgary and we weren't able to play our tournament.  They rescheduled it for this week, Tuesday through Friday, and we have completed at least one round.  I play round 2 on Wednesday morning, but the forecast is for rain all day, which shouldn't be a surprise because it's been raining on me all summer.

Follow along at home or work as I tee of at 9am CST.

Neil

Back into the USA for 2 weeks

After playing in Winnipeg I've had 2 weeks back in the US and I "spent my vacation" playing golf tournaments.  First off, I went to Marshall, MN to play a Dakotas Tour event there.  Then I snuck in a CVGA on the weekend at Whispering Pines GC in Cadott, WI.  Finally I went to Yankton, SD to defend my title at the Hillcrest Pro-Am.

Marshalls event was one that I really wanted to play.  I have always enjoyed playing Marshall GC and I have a great family to stay with when I'm in town.  It's a tournament that I've won before so it's fun to go back and try to win again.

I didn't win, but I was happy with the consistency of my game.  71-71-66 put me in a tie for 6th and earned $1485 for the week.  The difference between the first two rounds and the final round were making putts.  I didn't make much during the first two days, but it wasn't because of bad strokes/putts.  During the second round I had a handful of putts curl around the edge of the cup and end up 6 inches past the hole, directly behind it.  All of the putts looked like they were going to go in and rolled beautifully, but they just failed to catch the cup.  All of those putts went in during the final round - especially on the front nine where I shot a 5-under 31.  The putter cooled down on the back.  An unfortunate 3-putt on 10 was my only bogey of the day, but I finished the day with a birdie on the final hole.

A few days later, I played a CVGA event, something I haven't done since 2008.  The weather was very fall like.  Temps didn't even approach 70 degrees, the wind was blowing all day, and we even got some rain on the back nine.  I played well through the difficult conditions and won with a 3-under 69.  My putting was really solid throughout the day, but especially early when my ball striking was trying to figure out the wind.

My last tournament before returning to Calgary was the Hillcrest Pro-Am in Yankton, SD, which was the site of my big win last summer.  Just like Marshall, I was really glad that I could return to this tournament because it's always been a favorite for me.  The course is a great test - you can't just bomb the ball like some other courses and it's a long 4 round tournament that turns into a week long marathon.  I also have a great host family that puts up with me for the week.  Every year I kick one of the kids out of their bedroom and they don't seem to resent me for it.

The tournament started out on Tuesday with the Ladies day Pro-Am.  This wasn't part of the actual tournament, but just another chance to get a practice round and a chance to win some money.  I finished  T-2 and won $550.  The ladies I played with became fans and they recruited their husbands to cheer for me so I was winning over the crowd one marriage at a time.

Thursday was the first round and I got off to a slow start, but finished with a 31 on the back nine, which included a hole out from 88 yards on #4.

Day 2 was a stormy day and I didn't tee off until about 7pm, but I got really lucky.  The players who teed of in the morning had to play through a lot of rain and it was perfect by the time I teed off.  I only played 7 holes on Friday night, but I took advantage of the scoring conditions with birdies on the first 3 holes.  I resumed played on Saturday morning at 7am with 11 holes to finish in round 2 and 18 to play in round 3.  I battled for the rest of the 2nd round and stole a couple of late birdies (#16 and #17) to shoot 68.  I had to time between the 2nd and 3rd round - in fact, I was teeing off on #18 when they announced my 7 minute call to the 10th tee.  The quick turn around didn't bother me and I had a great 3rd round.  I was really hot in the middle of the round playing holes 17-3 6-under par!  One more birdie on #7 after I knocked a wedge to 5 feet and I had a 3rd round 64 and a one shot lead heading into the final round.

I was extremely confident going into the final round, but I knew I had some good players close enough to catch me.  I didn't play as freely as I did in the first 3 rounds and that resulted in a bulky putter.  I didn't make anything and left a lot of putts short.  That opened the door for a bunch of players and Brady Schnell came from behind and caught me by the 10th hole.  I watched Brady make a lot of putts or at least barely miss and that added to my pressure.  I hung close and had a chance with 4 holes to go, but a missed 5 footer for birdie on 15, followed by a lip out on #16 and #17 left me 3 back on the 72nd tee.  I drove it hole high, got up and down for birdie, but had to settle for a T-2nd place finish.

I've been traveling with Brady all summer up in Canada and I knew how well he has been playing.  In the back of my mind I figured he would be the one guy outside of the last group who could catch me.

No break for me.  I'm flying to Calgary on Monday morning to play a PGA Tour Canada event that is Tuesday through Friday.

Neil

Syncrude Oil Sands - Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

Three weeks ago I traveled to Fort McMurray, Alberta for a golf tournament and was able to take a tour of the oil sands.  My host family took me, as he has worked there since the mid-80s.  Prior to the tour, my knowledge of the oil sands and the process of getting oil from the ground and into our cars was at a 1st grade level.  After the tour, I had only advanced to junior high, but it was a lot of fun to learn the process and see some of the heavy machinery.

Proof that I was there.  My tour guide, "host dad", worked on the fire crew for years and now he trains the volunteer firemen.  He gave me a tour of the firehall and showed me all of the trucks.  The beast in the picture is their emergency response vehicle that has 8-wheel drive and can navigate the mines with speed.

In my hand is a chunk of oil that is mixed with sand.  Didn't feel much different than a chunk of dried mud, but up close it looks quite different and gets your hands very dirty.  The process of separating the oil and begins by adding hot water and moving the sludge into big spinning tubs and eventually the sand falls to the bottom.  After the separation, some very complicated chemical processes are used to refine the oil into Syncrude Sweet Blend.  Simple enough.

One of the many byproducts of the chemical process is sulfur.  They build pyramids of sulfur and plan to turn it into fertilizer.

When mining is completed on a section, Syncrude has to reclaim the land to the way it was before they started.  Some areas are reclaimed as a forrest and pine trees are planted.  Look at the first sulfur picture and you can see a thick green forrest on the horizon.  Those pine trees are all about 10 feet tall.  Another option for reclamation is turning the land into a buffalo ranch.

Dirty

Huge hauling trucks - costs about 5 million dollars

Another huge hauler

'67 Dodge Hemi Charger - how we got to oil sands.

I really had a fun time in Fort McMurray.  That is as far north as I had ever been, but it's a very pretty part of North America.  The town is all about the oil sands.  Nothing else is up there, but the town has a a huge recreation facility - with ice rinks, curling lanes, badminton, floor hockey, fitness center, lap pools, swimming pools, and a water park.

MacDonald Island Park

Pools!

Neil