When we got to Harrison we ate at a local diner, met up with some other people who were part of our larger group, checked into our hotel and got dressed for a day on the ice. I was shocked to find how nice the weather was in relation to KC. It was in the mid 30's but plenty of sun. I only wore a hooded sweatshirt and my ball cap. I had gloves, but never used them. Most around us were in light jackets. It was perfect day. The hotel was on the lake so we were able to walk across it to the register for the tournament. It was about a 1/2 mile walk. For the tourney, we were able to bring one club and with our registration, we got a numbered tennis ball to use for the day. I was #60. I know we had a # 98 in our group, so there were at least 100 people on the ice that day. At 1:00 the golf tourney started.
The lake had about 14 inches of ice and another 6-8 inches of snow on top of it. What the event organizers did was take a small plow, create anywheres from 20-50 yard fairways by moving the top layer of snow and then created a circled "green" doing the same thing. The hole was actually cut about 8 inches into the ice so the ball would stay out of the water, but still have a place to drop. The whole was about 6 inches in diameter as well. Doesn't sound like much, but fairways were only about 2-3 feet wide and hitting a tennis ball on ice adds to the complexity and makes this more challenging than one would think. Snow tracks, snow chucks and ice that is not smooth gave us a lot to talk ...and brag about. My team of 3 ended up tied for first out of our larger group. We shot a 4 under for the day. I had a lot of fun and made 2 great shots. The first was the 2 shot on a par 4. I was in the snow, popped the ball into the air and it hit a snow pack, bounced off and went into the hole. On the last whole, I had a 20 yard put that stopped with a small portion of the ball hanging over the edge of the cup.
After the game we got a rid on a snow vehicle back to our hotel. (btw.. there were people driving cars on the ice. It's amazing how solid 14 inches of ice can be..) Everyone was hungry so we grilled burgers and hot dogs before we changed to go to the bars that night. We ended up playing a lot of pool while watching the Olympics and bragging about the days events. About 1:30 in the morning we left the bar to go eat some breakfast. A diner was on the way to the hotel, so along our mile walk back we stopped and had a bite to eat. Diner food is always great.
The next morning I woke at 7am, got ready and we hit the road by 8. The group drove me back to Detroit so I could catch my noon flight. It was a quick weekend, but I'm ready for next year already. I've enclosed some pictures of the day, including a shot of the lake from our hotel. I also enclosed a picture of the plane wing once I landed in KC. I wasn't sure I would make it back with the storm we were having in KC, but we landed. By the time we got to the gate, the wing was covered in snow.
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