The tournament season at the Yellowknife Golf Club may look a bit thin this season due to the Covid-19 pandemic but not all is lost, it would seem.
And if you're mediocre enough, and suck at golf, you're in luck.
The Yellowknife chapter of the Mediocre Golf Association will return in 2020 and it has a full season planned, meaning a total of eight tournaments. It's all scheduled to get underway on June 13 with the Rebel Beach Am-Am, the MGA's riff on the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Shaun Morris, the chapter's leader, said this weekend was supposed to be the original official kickoff but the decision was made to go later in June.
“Phase two allows us to do up to 50 people,” he said. “We usually have just under 50 for our tournaments – usually between 38 to 45, something in that neighbourhood – but we can cap it if we have to. It means if you can't get in a tournament because it's full, you have to sign up earlier.”
photo courtesy of Shaun Morris
The opening weekend is the start of what's going to be a busy opening stretch for the chapter as it plans on playing three tournaments in the span of eight days. One week following the Rebel Beach event, there's the Bastards (Masters) on June 20 and the Fore! Championship the following evening, which is the chapter's version of the Midnight Classic tournament.
“It's a long stretch but we're a hearty bunch,” said Morris. “We'll have people try to play in all eight tournaments if they can.”
As with all of the chapter's tournaments, they will be shotgun starts, meaning every player will start on a pre-determined hole. There's a strict maximum of four players per group at one hole at any time with distancing rules in effect for the duration of the tournament.
The one-person-per-cart rule is also in play for players, added Morris, which is a rule put in this year for anyone who plays at the club.
Morris, who's also president of the golf club itself, said when it comes to the Midnight Classic, there will be some sort of event happening but just not to the scale of previous years.
“We won't have any sort of big gathering, no meal, no big tent or anything like that,” he said. “What we may look at doing is having people register – up to a maximum number – and have them tee off at midnight. It would be simply to keep up with the heritage and tradition of golfing at midnight, which is what's been happening for decades here.”