Geek Training Camp 2007
The Geeks took their show on the road to a different golf venue this year as part of their annual training camp. Although the location changed, the results were much the same. There were some indications of a real training camp however – with Croteau and the Parnojas going for an early morning run on Saturday (thankfully sparing us from a viewing of their spandex outfits – I suppose with conditioning like that, every bit of streamlining helps).
We were also educated by new “Men’s Health” subscriber Ken Hoy, who described his training regimen (which amounted to reading about free weights and treadmills). However, Hoy’s Bisa card was up to the task and was well exercised throughout the weekend (including Saturday night dinner, for which we are all grateful).
The keeners golfed Friday at Batteaux Creek (in drizzly weather), while the full contingent golfed Saturday at “Raven at Lora Bay”. Although there is still a fair bit of landscaping being down at the latter, it is a spectacular course. It is somewhat of a crime to waste a course like that on on a mixed bag of golfers such as ourselves, but we gave it a good shot in any event.
Alber could be heard several holes away, expressing his delight with each shot (of which there were many). Marchand gave Higgins a run again this year in the second round (102 to 99, although there was clearly a very liberal interpretation of the rules by one of these players). Marchand was the belle of the ball, using his newly rented CallowayTaylormade Burner – again a clear waste of talent.
Geek attendees included Juri and Erik Parnoja, Geoff Woolley, John Croteau, Herbie Rieschl, Rob Marchand, Ken Hoy, Mike Alber, Steven McLeod and Mike Northey. We also had a semi-regular out-of-towner – Bruce Labelle, who was rounding up contributions for his new house.
However, the true highlight of the second round was our pickup of a a former McMaster buddy – Conor Lynch – who was in town visiting his significant other, and whom we ran into while having dinner at an Irish pub in the Village at Blue. Conor chose to join us for Friday evening, and Saturday on the course, no doubt impressing his girlfriend no end.
In the midst of all the havoc, “Old Geeks Inc.” held a formal board meeting. Alas, the results remain unclear, as it was held on the patio at the Rave, and was a rather festive affair.
The windup of the second evening included testing the hours of the local food establishments – this amounted to six pizzas at 2:30am.
The result of the post-camp review indicated a resounding success, as always. Thanks to Erik Parnoja for arranging the accommodations.