From June 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025 In ReFinement Inc. is Hard at Work

 

On June 1, 2025 we begin our latest post. The above photograph is me on stage about to sing Puccini's aria Nessun Dorma after the audience left the theatre. We were on an Azamara Cruise Ship somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea when I posed for this picture taken by Terryl who went along with my charade.

We are currently planning another cruise from Barcelona on October 17, 2025 to Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga Spain and on to Gibraltar United Kingdom, and then to Seville Spain and disembark at Lisbon Portugal on October 25, 2025. 

I'm sure we will fly into Europe perhaps on October 12 or 13 and settle somewhere like Nirja or Malaga for several days and then head back to Barcelona to catch the Cruise Ship's departure on October 17th.

But for the time being Terryl will do a little research with Ray Paradis who knows quite a bit about Spain and its surrounds.

The golf game today was wonderful, all because I turned my left hand's thumb up on the through swing and that forced a really nice follow through after a sweeping action at the ball instead of a hit at the ball.

Remember that one boys. 

On June 9, 2025 the swing tips noted above are still working and I added another: grip with left hand has the handle running through the palm's pad, this position I feel has allowed the wrist break prior to contact, as well as a more positive shoulder turn into the back swing.

Two days ago we drove to Steve and Ruth's place in Niagara On The Lake for a very pleasant 24 hours that included lots of enjoyable conversation, a lovely meal at the Gris Restaurant in St. David and one only movie called Flight Risk that no one of us would recommend to anyone. 

On Sunday the roads were clear and dry for a pleasant ride home to catch the Gentlemen's Singles Final at Roland-Garros in Paris with Yannik Sinner (seeded #1) and Carlos Alcaraz (seeded #2). The great John McEnroe tennis champion and tennis broadcaster summed it all up when he said, "This has been possibly the best tennis match I have ever seen in thirty years of broadcasting major tennis matches."

Sinner had triple match points in the third set and couldn't complete the win. Alcaraz played on to win the third and fourth sets with the fifth and final set going to a ten point tiebreaker to win the title after 5 1/2 hours of some of the hardest hitting, incredible timing and just plain sporting guts that I have ever seen in any sport.

On June 8, 2025 Ryan Fox of New Zealand wins our RBC Canadian Open Golf Championship played at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley after matching Sam Burns of the USA with 18 under par for the 72 hole tournament. They then played an additional 4 holes of sudden death to seal the deal for Ryan Fox who fired (his words), "The best shot I've ever hit." [It was a fairway medal/wood 255 yards over a small lake stopping on the 18th green four feet from the hole and made the Eagle Putt and be declared the winner.] Fox walks away with the 126th Canadian Open Annual Championship Trophy and a bag full of 1,760,000 US dollars for his second win of the year on the current PGA Tour.

Ray Coole and I were there on the first day of the tournament (June 5) and enjoyed it all accept for the soggy ground due to the Wednesday night rain that flooded our B Parking Lot. We understand that this venue will be the home of many Canadian Open golf championships to follow 2025. 

The Osprey Valley Golf course first opened in 1992 with the Heathlands Course of 18 holes of Links Style architecture and tall Fescue Grass. Now it has three courses: the North, Hoot, and Heathlands. They have built many homes for stay and play guests and a hotel is in future plans as well. It is definitely a place to go and play around (golf that is.)

The morning of June 12, 2025 is a beautiful summer day with a high of 25 Celsius degrees. We will see Terryl's dentist at 14:30, visit Canadian Tire for their sales feature, Rob and I will have dinner tonight and I'll be home before dark. After a few seated exercises and perhaps a movie with the Pudster and a good night's sleep, I'll be ready for another crack at shooting my age at Brampton GC.

On June 15, 2025 we learned from Bob Little that a forward press before the putt will smooth out the backswing as well as the through swing. Put that in practise right now! And if you wish do it with every club, not just the putter.

The next day on my first hole I used the forward press and touched my 20 footer on a slippery down hiller and rolled it as straight as a dye right into the jar on hole #10 for a parr 4. Bingo!

Terryl's brother Blake arrives on Wednesday June 18, 2025 after spending several weeks at his son Dana's place in Peterborough helping Gabe and Dana renovate their recently purchased home. Blake, Terryl and myself are planning a trip to IKEA to purchase storage cabinets for our second bedroom. This is an idea that has percolated for three and a half years, and today we begin to put it together. First we revisit IKEA and Terryl picks the style that fits our needs for the second bedroom. We select the 22 items on their computer with the help of of young lady at their Etobicoke store, get the list and go to the market hall, easily find all the items, load them onto a dolly, checkout and load Blake's Ram truck and head home. The packaging of these items are tight and plentiful and fill six large recycle bins that I cut to size while Blake methodically puts the puzzle together over four hours on Wednesday, six hours on Thursday and the final touches on Friday.

Assembly Blake Smith

The first of two 18 hole rounds of Medal Play start today June 21, 2025 at the Brampton Golf Club, and I'm in it with many of our friends playing in 34 C.

Three of us, Day, Erik and myself tee off from the white tees at 07:00 on the back nine. 

After and in summary, I hit the ball as well as I have in a while, but the putting was off for too many holes today. Day and Erik hit their Drives 40 to 70 yards longer than me, when they hit it straight that is. At the end of the day I was one stroke better than Erik and ten better than Day. Tomorrow we'll do it again.

The weather was incredibly harsh on Sunday also at a sunny 35C forcing me to ask to ride as a single to allow me to hit the ball and race for tree shadow until it was time to hit another. Our course was playing fast and tough from the white tees. Erik and I had tied our score on Saturday and we were paired with a new member Walter and off we go. I probably drank three thermos bottles of iced water and one Gatorade before heading for the last shade tree to finalize our scores for the day. Once again both of my partners hit over 50 yards further than I could at best. This time Erik was one less than me and Walter scored two better than me. We signed our cards and handed them in, and I took off for the air conditioned car, filled my thermos with ice and water at the 16th hole water station and blasted home to change my shirt and go out for dinner with Terryl. That beer found a special spot real fast at the Open Cork, and so did the salad and grilled octopus.

All of the results were posted late Sunday evening with mine at 198 for two rounds, being ten shots behind the 2025 D Flight Champion Scot Glen. The Championship Flight was won by a young man who shot 138 for the two days.

The heat lasted four sun drenched days and finally abated on June 26 with temperature of 22 C. I played 18 that day with George, Terry and Dave on Wednesday and found another tip that worked for 9 holes, and that is to finish the back swing with a wrist break and swing inside the line into a full follow through. I recorded the change on my Golf Reminders and will employ it on June 27, 2025 with Ray and Paul. 

Marie-Lou and Greg will be here on June 28 until July 1 when they fly to Calgary Alberta and go mountain climbing on their vacation without one or more of their sons in twenty-five years.

Nathan is coming to Toronto to appear in a musical comedy for 11 days in July and Terryl and I will be there with bells on.