Last full day in Canada: Golf @ Kananaskis

What great day of golfing! Dennis had booked a foursome at Kananaskis months in advance for Saturday. So the four was made up of Dennis, me, Kurt, and Patrick, the owner of the Ironwood Stage & Grill.

It was the first time I'd had a chance to talk properly with Pat, since he was always at work when I saw him but, like his friends, he's a smart and engaging guy but with a razor wit.

Kananaskis surely is one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. It takes up a small valley between snow-peaked mountains. It's also regarded as a "challenging" course. Almost every hole runs alongside or over the beautiful fast-flowing river. People don't just talk about their scores but of the number of balls lost. I feel quite proud that I lost only six. The course is so popular that bookings for the season are filled within a week, and the course marshals keep close ties on how long any group takes on the holes to ensure everyone keeps to the schedule. That was until the rain came down about half way through the 8th hole and kept up until the 12th (no gentlemanly drinks break at the 9th - have to keep to the schedule) when the deluge (a real DELUGE, with bits of ice to make certain we knew who was ultimately in charge) stopped as suddenly as it started. By that time everyone had given up and headed back to the clubhouse. We pressed on wearing our rain gear and had the course to ourselves. Our scorecards suggested that our play was not much different in the rain and cold than it was apart from it. It was a challenging course.

That was not helped much by my clubs. Ian had very generously loaned me his clubs. His bag included the following: 2 #1 woods, #5 wood, #3 wood, #5 iron, #3 iron, and 4 putters. That's it. Maybe (a) Ian wasn't paying attention and grabbed the wrong bag, or (b) he played an excellent practical joke, or (c) he is really fussy about putting and doesn't need any lofted clubs because his long game is just so darned good. I'll go with (c).