Thank goodness for the politicians. They seem to enjoy the vagaries of voting. We at BG.C are mystified by voter turn-out over the past month. Wait, let’s get to the congratulations first!

Harvest Hill paired a Best 16th with its earlier victory for Best 9th Hole in Buffalo-Niagara. The Orchard Park course begins a challenging closing stretch with this downhill-then-uphill chute. An extended grass bunker up the right side, coupled with a fairway run-out at 300 yards, makes the drive a challenging prospect. The approach must carry the environmental hazard, then nestle on a green tilted toward the player, with falloffs on three sides of four.

Back to the voting. 71 total votes, followed by 279, followed by 1126, followed by 274. We don’t expect 1100 each week, but 400+ would be nice! It seems that weekly mention in our newsletters helps, but the real clincher (are you reading, candidates for Best 17th and 18th holes?) is the push via email and social network from the clubs and courses themselves.

After a Memorial Week off from voting, we’ll return the first week of June to begin the countdown to weeks 17 and 18. As always, stay glued to this website!