Another sure sign of spring — golf season is heating up.
Even if you can't play great golf, it's fun to watch it.
At Pheasant Glen this week (Friday through Sunday) are some of the country's top junior golfers, competing in the CN Future Links Pacific Championship.
Just after you think you are doing well in this game, when you finish with a solid par on 18 and admire your scorecard that reads something less than 90, there is always someone in the clubhouse who birdied 18 and carded a 78.
Just after you feel good about a nicely-played bunker shot, the three putt from 15 feet follows.
Just after you stripe a drive right down the middle, 250-plus yards, you chunk an eight iron, overshoot the green with your wedge, chip on lamely and two-putt for a double bogey.
It can be a maddening game. But to paraphrase Winston Churchill when he was speaking about the parliamentary system of government, it's the worst game in the world except for all the others.
We illustrate these frustrations to prepare you for what you will see at Pheasant Glen this week. There will be some 14 year-olds who will shoot rounds in the low 70s, perhaps even the 60s. Some 16-year-old is going to hammer a drive 300 yards. Kids too young for a drivers' licence are going to easily reach the par fives in two.
Try not to be angry, or jealous, or disappointed in your game. This is a time to celebrate youth — it's not about your game, or you, this weekend.
It is, however, a bit about Pheasant Glen.
Rebuffed by the town in its attempts to build housing, a clubhouse and other amenities that would enhance considerably the tourism industry of the region and the tax coffers of the town, the Dutton family has not pouted.
To the contrary. The family continues to spend money on the course, on rebuilding the clubhouse/restaurant, on junior golf programs. If you have any experience or knowledge about golf resorts elsewhere that couldn't get their housing plan going, you know this is not the norm.
Next year, Pheasant Glen will host the most prestigious golf tournament in this province, the B.C. Amateur. But this week it's the young guns. We urge the people of the region to get out on the course to show support for both these young athletes and Pheasant Glen.
— Editorial by John Harding