Ladder Golf

What will they think of next?

Bruce crafted this Ladder Golf target from pvc pipe, and set it up in front of the cottage. The idea is simple: two golf balls joined with a short length of rope; two targets. You stand by the first target and throw the balls to the second target -- it's much like horseshoes, really. The object is to get the balls to catch and wrap over the target bars.

While it sounds easy written down like this, in practice it's akin to bringing down a fleeing antelope with a bolo... Evidently there is a knack. And evidently, I don't have it. Bruce displays the kind of ladder golf form that will shoot him right up into the ranks of the Pro Tour.

Madeline, a novice to the sport, also demonstrated a natural affinity and smooth wrist action.


Nonetheless, there were balls strewn across the lawn! No matter, it was all good fun, and there was a lot of banter and laughter going on. Much 'back seat coaching'... And not a small amount of good natured heckling from the audience. More of that, to be honest, than ball tossing...

OLYMPIC DEMONSTRATION SPORT

Well, last night, on the beach, with the wind at his back and the advantage of being over 6' tall, David achieved a LIFETIME BEST.
How, you ask?
He spat a popcorn seed 41'3".

Now, we've been spitting seeds at the Wiener Roast since we started holding wiener roasts on the beach... say 50 years ago, give or take.
We've been keeping records on them for nearly 30 years. If you were here, and hoiked a seed, we've got it written down.

Our seed records have been yanked out for the weirdest things. Probably the top of the hit parade was the Seed Spitting Certificate (say that 3 times fast) that went as evidence to the Supreme Court of Canada. Duly notarized, and signed by Nancy as authentic. The prosecution claimed the defendant was in Toronto at a certain time. The Seed Certificate was incontrovertible evidence that he was, in fact, on the beach, full of hot dogs and s'mores, spitting a seed. You rarely see THAT on CSI.

Over the years, the ammunition has changed. It began with Watermelon seeds. In the past several years, however, Genetic Engineering hit the beach. Seeds have been bred out of watermelons. Which will do nothing for their sex lives. We tried sunflower seeds. They are not very aerodynamic. Cherry pits will fly, but are too costly.
Finally, we hit on Popcorn kernels. And let me tell you, those things have wings!

Mind you, the Guinness Book of Records says their best ever spit is 68'9". With that kind of distance achievable, we strongly believe this should be included as a Demonstration Sport at the next Olympics. A pro-tour could be formed... A league of Super Spitters.

But if stays less competitive, we don't care. We've got spitters-in-training of all ages, from the teensy little guys who still need a steadying hand from Dad to keep them upright at the line, to great grandparents who want assurance that if their teeth fly farther than the seed, we'll count that. (we do)

Guests return every year, and they KNOW how far they spat last year. It's one of the great summer traditions.

And the only place we know where you can high five a kid and say, from the bottom of your heart, "WELL SPAT!"