The opening of the golf course, with all the new social distancing rules in place, went off without a hitch. Kudos to our staff - greenskeeping, pro shop, and kitchen all went above and beyond to keep us safe and able to play.

Temporary Rule Change:

The bridge on #15 is closed. A pace of play issue has come up and our Games Captain Anne Parks and Handicap Convenor Dale Hodge are in favour of making a temporary rule change until the bridge is repaired.

Under normal circumstances, if you hit your drive from #15 tee but you are unsure if you have successfully cleared the creek, you would have to check the other side (or your playing partners would) before you drop a ball and play from the east side of the creek. With the long walk over the #10 bridge, we should not wait to see if the ball is playable on the west side of the creek.

Therefore we will bring in a temporary rule until the bridge is repaired: you may hit a "provisional ball" from the east side of the creek. (A provisional ball would not be allowed normally, if your ball has entered a hazard.) If you find your ball is playable on the west side, you can play it and pick up your provisional with no penalty.

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A sign of spring! There was a lot of hissing to make sure I didn't get any closer.

It is with sadness that we recognize the passing of Stan Morris, golf professional at Dalewood GC, from 1974 to the late 80's and Cobourg Golf and Curling Club prior to that. 

Stan and his wife Betty moved back to Cobourg in the last 20 years and he would occasionally be seen working on his game on the range.

Stanley James MorrisAugust 16, 1929
-
April 22, 2020

View Notice at maccoubrey.com

Sandi MacDonald says the course is starting to green up nicely with new growth. She sent a picture of the new red tee on #13.

Port Hope and Cobourg are well represented at Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach: 

 Patty, Shirley, Yvonne, Tracey

Tracey, their friend Joyce from Port Hope, Shirley, and Yvonne by the ruins on the Love Course at Barefoot.

Thanks for sending, Tracey.

A sunny, windy day in New Smyrna Beach, FL with the Ebbrells. Thank you for hosting us:

The obligatory gator picture - this was one was a 12-15 footer (we didn't measure) on Fripp Island, SC. The sign ironically says "Alligators may be present in these waters."

A cute addition to an interesting tree at La Cita Golf Club in Titusville:

"After many, many tries (poor Cliff), we finally achieved a Grace and Barb approved picture. This was taken after a scrumptious dinner at the spacious Rivers hacienda, just outside Bucerías, Mexico. As you can tell, a fun night was had by all, and only a slight bit of tequila and considerably more wine was consumed during the making of this pic!" - Barb P.  Thanks for sharing!

Some Florida pictures from Diane Moffat's holiday visiting Betty and Jack Bright. Looks like great weather and some birdies!!

Thanks for sharing!

The Handicap 2020 tab above is ready for viewing.

New Handicap Rules

The Canadian golf season may not have started here, but the new World Handicap System has, as of January 1. It was an effort of the USGA and R&A to bring the six different handicap systems used across the world under one umbrella. The changes for us here are not as great as in many places in the world.

However, there are some changes we should note:

1. Equitable Stroke Control for maximum score on a hole has been replaced by Net Double Bogey. NDB is par (for the hole) + 2 + any handicap strokes applied on that hole. For example, a 39 handicap golfer on hole #1 will take 5 (par) + 2 + 3 = 10. On hole #8 she will take 3 (par) + 2 + 2 = 7. Previously she would have taken 9 on every hole as her adjusted maximum. Now she could take 7, 8, 9, or 10 depending on the par and the stroke allowance of the hole.

Don't worry too much about doing the math. We will have a chart to carry with you. Also, on a really positive note, if you enter your score "hole by hole" into the computer at the club or at home, the program will do the calculation to catch any errors. Tuesdays will use adjusted maximum for entry on the sheet.

2. The calculation of your index is now based on your best 8 scores (previously 10) out of 20. If you look up your index now, you may notice that it has gone down since you finished playing. So, that really high score is even less likely to have an impact on your handicap.

3. It is very important that players enter their scores on the day of play. There is a Playing Condition Calculation done if enough people (at least 8) enter scores that are unusually high because of weather.   This would rarely apply to us and is more for seaside courses with high winds.

4. There is no "Tournament" entry anymore, but unusually high or low scores will be noted.

At the spring meeting we will try to explain the new system and hopefully answer all your questions.

Dale Hodge
Handicap and Match Play Convenor

A group of Dalewood women went with Craig Pitt to the Caribbean International Pro-Am at Casa De Campo Resort in Dominican Republic. Diane Moffat, Gail Richards, and Sandy Young had a great week in the sunny south, playing four rounds on three different courses.

In the background is a flag for the pelicans to "hit".

Sandy won two closest to the pin prizes. 

This one she beat out another Dalewood golfer Ron Johnston.

Both Dalewood teams together.

One of the scenic par 3's.

Craig hitting on the same par 3 - look closely - Sandy managed to get the ball in flight!

Diane with the statue of course designer Pete Dye.

Congrats to our Dalewood men who placed first net in their flight and to Brad who won low pro both weeks. Brad, Ron Johnston, Pat Bowen, and Terry Richards. 

Our women placed fourth net.

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Any vacation pictures you'd like to share are welcome.