Jim Kula could have been fooled into thinking he was strolling the fairways of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Closing his eyes would have done the trick, because the weather conditions during Sunday's final round of the Glen Bryant Senior Men's Championship at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club were akin to those normally found at the British Open.
"It was really breezy and then the showers hit and the rain was going sideways," said Kula, the tournament champion with an opening-round 71 and a closing-round 76 on the par-71 layout. "For about 45 minutes there, it was not very comfortable but we all had to go through it."
The violent downpour started at about noon. Kula didn't let it distract him from hitting quality shots.
"You're always prepared," he said. "You have your rain gear and you put the umbrella up and away you go. I had my towel and kept drying my grips. You try to hit the ball, and with it raining hard and the wind blowing hard it's lots of fun."
Kula, 57, won the 50-and-over event for the first time. He defeated playing partner Richard Beaulieu by two strokes. Kula and Beaulieu were tied for the lead after the first round.
When they arrived at the par-5 18th hole on Sunday, Kula was ahead by three shots. Not knowing what scores had already been posted ahead of him, he figured a par would give him a good chance to win. He was right. He hit the green with his third shot and was home in two putts. Beaulieu managed a birdie but that wasn't enough to keep Kula from victory.
Kula, who lowered his handicap from six to five, said he was surprised to finish on top of the leaderboard.
"Obviously going into it, there's 10 or 12 guys that have a chance to win if they play well," he said.
Beaulieu's consolation prize was first place in the tournament's First Flight. Other winners were: Second Flight -- Sam Pahal, two-round score of 155; Third Flight -- Doug Jacobsen, 167; Fourth Flight -- Norm Armstrong, 173 on a countback; Fifth Flight -- Rick Flannigan, 180.
Gary Shalansky, a 17-handicapper, was the low net champion with a two-round total of 133 (65-68).
