“We are seniors, we are happy, we are healthy, and that’s all that counts …”
With those words, Herb Sieben summed up the spirit that defines the Barrhead Seniors Open.
He was sitting in his cart after completing the first nine holes at Barrhead Golf Club’s 18-hole championship course. And he spoke with the broadest of smiles on one of the sunniest days of this rain-filled summer.
“What could be better? It is an excellent day, a perfect day,” he said, prompting murmurs and nods of agreement from his playing partners.
Last Thursday also proved an excellent day in the sun for Wayne Visser and Darlene Smith, who claimed the top prizes.
Neerlandia’s Visser shot 74 to win the men’s side of the contest by one stroke from defending champion Brad Wierranga. Meanwhile, Smith emerged triumphant in a highly competitive ladies’ section, posting a rollercoaster 93.
The pair greeted their success with surprise and delight in equal measure – reactions that underline the capricious nature of golf.
“Everything felt right today, I don’t why,” said Visser, whose handicap is 10. “I got nothing worse than a bogey and managed to get three or four birdies.”
It was quite a turnaround from the last time he played here.
“I shot 90,” he laughed. “I don’t know what the difference was today. It’s hard to explain.”
Smith, who lives north of Stony Plain, was competing in her first Open, making her even more surprised at her success.
She did not feel she had a spectacular round. In fact at one stage, she said, she was shooting horribly. Thankfully, her good shots were ample compensation.
She pointed to her scores over the first and second nine holes as an example of an up and down round: 42 and 51.
“Overall, I thought it was an average performance,” she said.
Nevertheless it was sufficiently average to pip first place from two other ladies, Marlene Fizer and Pat Beaudoin, vying for top honours.
Their victories earned Visser and Smith the right to buy up to $90 worth of goods in the pro shop.
Nearly 70 players aged 50 and over from all over the area took part in the Open, competing for a variety of prizes. One or two of the competitors were in their 80s, some came from as far away as Calgary.
With the sun blazing down, it proved a test of endurance. Yet how much tougher things felt when a driver or putter weren’t working properly.
Players, of course, take the tournament seriously, wanting to do themselves justice, hoping their game will be a credit to the majestic surroundings.
Norm Miller and Bessie Stevens, for instance, were using the event as a warm-up for this week’s Alberta 55-Plus Summer Games.
However, players rarely let a win-at-all-costs mentality take hold, not at the Open. They tend to play with a smile like Sieben so that life seems great, even when a ball lands in a bunker.
General manager and head pro Danny Grant said the Seniors Open had been going for as long as the club, about 40 years.
“I would say the number of entrants this year was slightly higher than average,” he said.
Grant said the weather had smiled on the 2013 edition of the event.
“The course is in supreme shape,” he added.
It was a verdict shared by players.
“I absolutely love the course,” said Brian Ward, from Calgary. “It’s the first time I’ve played in a tournament here and it’s been great.”
After the golf was over, players piled into the clubhouse for a meal and prize-giving ceremony.
Among them was Sieben, who had enjoyed a very consistent round of golf. It wasn’t the reason he was smiling, however.
“Are you still happy and healthy?” he was asked.
“Yes, I am,” he replied.
