Introduction

Hello there,

This golf trip was not in the plans but those were changed on Monday, August 26 when I received an e-mail telling me that I had won a 30 day trial Associate Gold Membership to ClubLink golf courses. As soon as I won it, I sent all the requested application forms and pictures to a fine lady at the Fontainebleau Golf course, Louise Regimbal. Within 36 hours, I was given online access to the Clublink website and I could reserve tee-off times. Immediately, I booked a round at Ilesmere for the next day, Wednesday.

Before the I received my access, the wheels were busy spinning on how I could take full advantage of this great prize. I quickly phoned my long time golf buddy Ron Potter and told him that I could play for free at over 40 golf courses. The 4 courses in the Montreal area are very nice but there are 40 more courses calling out my name in Ontario including 5 in the Ottawa area (see mini trip on left). He agreed to join me on my adventure even though it could cost him over a thousand dollars in green fees to follow me.

OK, you are wondering how I won this membership. On August 12, Danny Klimas, a well respected member of the fabulous Fontainebleau golf course, invited 11 golfers to join him in a member appreciation day which only cost us $90. Considering the quality and condition of this course, this price is a steal. Before the round, Danny handed us cards with a pin number and said that if we went online and answered a very short survey we would be entered to win a 30 day full membership to Clublink. The survey had to be entered within 48 hours of playing. I almost forgot about it but the next day I decided to enter 'for fun'. Lo and behold, two weeks later I get the email saying that I indeed won the prize.

The rest will be history. Now here is the twist that makes everything sweeter. I was really anxious to tell Danny that I won and to thank him again for inviting me on the member/guest day but he was out West on business. I sent him an email to tell him I won. He might have already known that fact because as the member he won the same prize because one of his guests had been chosen. Danny was in a quandary as to whom to nominate to get this membership, which by the way had to be validated within 5 days or it would be void. He wanted to make sure that it was going to be used to the fullest. When he heard that Ron Potter had agreed to follow me around on my discovery tour, he suggested Ron. He thought it was a natural choice since Ron had attended all the previous member/guest outings and had also supported the Drive For The Cure for many years.

So now, Ron and I will be golf buddy's for the next month and will be discovering a plethora of golf courses. As you can see by the map below, most of the courses are in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area for we Quebecers), but there are 4 (actually 5 as there are 2 at Grey Hawk) in what they call the National Capital Area. This is where the mini trip comes in. To see if we are compatible, Ron and I are going to Ottawa on Sunday September 1st for a trial run. We will stay in Ottawa for 2 nights and 3 days and play both Grey Hawk courses and Eagle Creek.

On Tuesday September 10th, we are off on the grand tour. Since it's mid week, we are going to start with the 3 Muskoka region courses and try to stay at Rocky Crest Resort which is owned by ClubLink. As a member, we can get rooms at 50% off if we book 48 hours in advance. That's why we are going to Muskoka mid week as it looks like there will be availability. From there, we will head down towards Oakville with a stop at the Golf at Bond Head. Why Oakville? We want to try to play Glen Abbey which is the only course we will have to pay $55 to play. We also would like to play Glencairn where our buddies Brad Gleeson and Jody Scott are members. After the weekend, we will head east to the large concentration of courses near Newmarket. We will end with Wyndance on Thursday and stay somewhere near Smith Falls on Thursday night so that we may play Kanata on the way home, and I can still make my 5pm Friday hockey game. Should I have any bad memories from the previous 11 days of golf and travel, playing hockey will erase them from my mind or at the very least, give me something else to think about for a short while.

I will be documenting our trials and tribulations on and off the courses along with reviews of the facilities which can be found on the fourth ball on the left. I will also be relaying the fine quotes from the Yogi Berra of Two-Mountains, Mr. Ronald 'Arnie' Potter who I am sure will be in fine form as we take in the local spirits. An example of his wisdom came as I was setting up his ClubLink web account. The quote: 'why do we need all those passwords? Are we going on a space trip?'.

You are welcome to follow along this dream trip which we all know could become a nightmare considering the antics. Of course, there will be lots of pictures and perhaps a few snippets of video which may feature my golf partner dosing off after a fine day in the late summer air.