July 19, 2018

July 19, 2018

My second round of the year was at Charleston Springs, South Course.  I admit I was hoping for North, but as always, I take the first available.  They sent me up to catch a threesome, which I just about made sure I never did.  There was nobody behind me, and though it is second to golfing with friends--a situation few and far in between these days--I still enjoy the lonesome round.  I get to talk to myself for a while, and laugh at myself, and then I get to bring it here. It is easier to take pictures too, because I would feel silly doing so among strangers seriously trying to score.

We can go on and on about how a golf blog should be instructional and meaningful golf-wise, but I must say, I severely doubt the ability of printed words to have any affect on the swing and the score.  You have to wave the sticks in the air, and you have to chase your ball.  My aim is to inspire the weekend hacker to draw from the four hours an appreciation of the beauty of a manicured grass track, of the tricks and challenges laid before the duffer, and the satisfaction of making those rare few shots just like the guys on tour and on TV.

I started with a sloppy 7 on Hole #1, Par 4 405.  You can't quit after one hole.  I wanted to.  But I hardly ever quit after 6, 8, 12, or 16 either.  Some would consider it a form of punishment.  I'm reminded of the old 'Far Side' cartoon where Beethoven is in hell, doomed to witness an eternity of folky accordion square dancers dressed in cowboy clothes.  That would be Tiger on a round with me.

Or maybe not, who knows.

The second wasn't exactly better, but I closed it better.  It took me three shots to get to the pic below, where it should have only taken one.  That's about 130 away from the green, and the shrubbery surrounds a pond.

My trusty 9 iron landed me to the pic below.  And it was a fine, lofty, 'real' nine iron, although not the real kind.  I mean I don't spin the ball on the green or anything.  It's still nice to watch it pop up and drop right in.  I bet the geese loved it.  They quacked and waddled, if that's what geese sounds are called.

The third hole is a long Par 3 195 or so, and I hit a fine 4 iron here.  Wish I had an audience for this one.  I'm pretty sure I flubbed into the brown brush on the right last time, but not on July 19.  I landed this well stuck four on the green.

Unfortunately, I'm not the great photographer I think I am, as you cannot even see my ball on the green, but if the pin is the center of the clock, my ball is at about 1 o'clock, but with a good forty feet to go, downhill.  And I hit a poor putt, leaving it five or six feet short, and I missed the par putt.  I'm glad I didn't have an audience for that.  But how about that sky?

Golfing stinks.  I mean, really.  On the Par 4 432 yard, straight uphill hole #4, I landed here after two shots:

This is known as 'not on the fairway'.  But my photography skills show improvement here, I think.  You can see the pin between those two trees.  I'm not that crazy.  I hit it to the right of the second tree, and hit a pretty decent shot considering the circumstances.  I found fairway, and I found a 7!

Next, I'll leave you to guess which hole came after 4?

You give up?  It was 5.  Here's a view from the tee:

See the bunker center left?  Right over that is a great drive.  My drive went to the little stick fence just past the Senior Whites.  Yeah, a dribbler.  I cursed a few choice curses, and blamed all the appropriate people.  But how about that sky, eh?

So I'm mildly sarcastic, not funny, and pathetic to the masters (and The Masters), but I do like the sky.  I like the scene overall.  And I do par a hole every now and then.  For instance, on the simple Par 4 7th, 317 yards, I hit a garbage drive with my...hmmm...I don't remember what I hit off the tee, but it was either a four iron, or my 3-wood, upon which I leave a hat to remind me never to use my 3-wood.  I flubbed the drive, but I persevere, as you always should in life.  I landed my second shot right here:

This is just about 100 out, maybe a touch more, lying 3.  I am in the shadow of some giant trees and feel a pleasant breeze.  Yeah, poetry.

The pitching wedge puts me in the photo above on my third shot.  This was another lofty sky ball that drops down and doesn't move.  Until I pound it in the hole with my putter.  For Par.  I par holes sometimes, and it makes me comeback.

And sometimes the par gets you hot.  For example, the next hole, #8, is a Par 5 505.  You have to be careful not to touch the power lines.  Or live under them.

But this is a great hole, since you can't even see the whole thing.  I am quite familiar with both the ping ponging trees to the right, and the long, ball-eating grass on the left.  But not today.  Today, I'm hot, like Mr. Havecamp in Caddyshack.  In fact, after this drive, I'm pretty sure I said out loud to no one, "By golly, I'm hot today," just like Mr. Havecamp.

Below is a look back to the tee from where my drive landed.  It's basically right down the pipe, 250 plus out.  I don't know the number.  Numbers are kind of your enemy when you stink at golf.

My second shot was also true.  I believe it was a six iron.  After my par, I hit a great drive, and a great six iron, and I was looking at the third shot below.  So going back to the last hole, I made four actual golf shots in a row up until this point.  I point this out of course because it was the high point of the round, soon to come crashing down.

The fun part about the picture above is the giant fan you see to the left of the green, like around 9 or ten o'clock.  Apparently this green gets wet and needs that fan to blow some to help it dry.  It wasn't on or anything, but you can see how the ground drops off if you over shoot the green.  Well I over shot the green with my 8 or 9 iron.  I'm not too sure which it was, but I went way down hill into the woods.  Proper golf may be out of bounds there, but I found my ball easily--and luckily enough because it was in the woods, way down below the green.  Twenty yards away, and twenty feet below the green, and staring right up at that fan, I pull out the pitching wedge (I can't trust the sand wedge).  I strike the ball beautifully and pop it right toward the pin, to keep my hope of par alive.  But instead of landing on the green, my ball clanks off that stupid, hollow metal fan casing.  And it was loud, and comical, like a Monty Python scene, echoing.  I think a deer laughed.  I did too.  I couldn't have hit that fan with a hundred tries, much less from the woods with fallen logs and twigs and little brush all around.  I legit didn't fix my lie.  I hit the ball square, and the fan squarer, but...7.

Between the 8th and 9th hole, there is a bridge.  It's not that interesting, and I don't have anything witty to say about it, but it's a good spot to chill, take a drink.

And then there's 9 (below).  Par 3 158 yards, but crazy hard for some unknown reason (hint: I stink at golf).

I flubbed my seven iron off the tee, and landed in that brown patch to the left, twenty or thirty yards away from the tee box.  I then hit a brilliant and aggressive 8 iron, really nice, landing it on the green, but it trickled off to the fringe on the backside.  I had a chance to make a brilliant putt from the fringe, but instead I decided to triple the brilliance for a double bogey.  You thought I was gonna point out the  gorgeous blue sky, huh?  I guess I just did.  52 on the front.  < 100 is still possible.

Regular readers of my blog (I think I am pretty much the only person who has read my blog) will know I've taken pictures of the short Par 4 10th, 294 yards.  It's a dangerous hole to try and drive because of the gully before the green, and the drop off after it.  I use a five iron, and don't really strike it well, sort of slicing it.  But I come up to a good lie, for my second, about 150 out:

Some would say fairways are overrated.  In this case they are.  Some would also say, a professional photographer would really help this experience, because my second shot on 10 is just on the fringe, at 7 or 8 o'clock (pin is clock center), barely perceptible in this photo:

Ok, a little editing goes a long way.  That's better:

And then my third shot lands here:

I don't know if that homeowner has a sense of humor about mini golf and golf courses in general, but I kicked ass on the wishing well hole.  Par (again).  I wouldn't have missed that for the world, Bobby. (Hearts in Atlantis?  Anthony Hopkins?  Anybody?)  Ok, next:

This is 11, Par 3, 115 yards, the easiest hole on the course.  I bogeyed.  It's frustrating too because I hit a very decent shot off the tee, to the front fringe, but could not close the deal after shot number two put me four feet away.  I cursed again.

I have no idea what I was thinking with that above photo.  Please use your imagination.

I had a decent look at the green on this my fourth shot, with no real chance at par, but there was a pond lurking dangerously to the right, and the moon shone brightly in the upper right of the frame.  The moon is so much more brilliant in person.  So small in regular, un-doctored photos.

Again, a decent look, but I don't know.  I had a six on this hole, and don't know what I was thinking.

I'll say this though: as you can probably see, I was walking and by 15, I am punchy.  I think it was the moon again, top center.

And this is very frustrating too.  Above you see my fourth shot on #15, the hardest hole on the course, which features a tough, blind drive over a pond, which of course I didn't photograph for you.  I managed to get there in three, which, if I had only managed to land twenty feet to the left would be a great par putt.  But if wishes were horses, beggars would ride...I muffed that in the heavy grass.  See how it's buried.  I ended the hole with a 6.

Ok, on to 18:  (you didn't think I'd bore you with my 7 on the Par 5 16th?  Or my 5 on the Par 3 17th?  Right.

This hole dog-legs right, and down.  There is lots of potential trouble with a bad drive, including a gully for the dribbler, and woods, and fescue.  But not for this guy.  I nail my drive, and land here:

I wish I could say I plopped this one right near the pin, but I landed on the right fringe.  I was putting for birdie, and left it four feet short.  I then missed the four foot par, and cursed some more.

I took a video of the birdie putt, but it's embarrassing.  I missed it, and I tried to narrate it and sound like Jim Nantz.  It's best if we just move along.

There's a long walk from the clubhouse to the South Course at Charleston Springs.  There is long wooden bridge which is in the same style as the small bridge from scene 24 (the unspectacular pic way above).  This the pond which it traverses.  You see some interesting birds and turtles and stuff.
But not in this pic.

The back was a 50, so it was a 102.  Not my worst, but nothing to write a blog about.

Charleston Springs South August 28, 2017

Charleston Springs, South Course; August 28, 2017

     My first round of the year came very late in 2017, late August at Charleston South.  Not a typical August day, it was 70's and pleasant, dry the whole time.  It took a while to get out this year but I got my new county card and walked the good walk.

     Pretty common by now, but the first few holes were trouble free.  No driving range, no swings in the garage, just a quick dust off of the clubs, and I get to the first tee (after the Charleston South hike, because it's almost a half a mile from the clubhouse to the first tee), and there I meet Dan, probably in his fifties, who took a helmet to the knee playing college football years ago, and he played the golds with me.  Joining us were Larry and Ross, both about 78, and they played the Senior Whites.

     I start the 1st, Par 4 405, with a line drive that lands me just left of the fairway, but a nice, straight, low liner in safe grass.  Larry and Ross hit easy shots right down the middle like they would all day.  Dan scattered his to the right, but a good distance.

     I lined up my second shot, looking at a good 200, maybe just under, but I don't have the guts to hit a 3 iron so early on, so I opt for the six iron, and hope to come up short and safe and chip up.  Of all the thousands of square feet I could find with that six iron, I find sand.  You know I hate the sand, right?  But I get out, if short again.  I was looking at thirty yards, but I hit it twenty.   Anyway out of the sand, and on the skirt.  From here I chip up with a wedge, missing my par by four feet.  I made the four foot bogie putt, and I'll take that 5 all day for a season first!

 2nd tee box  Larry and Ross

     My partners must have started to sweat after I tee'd off the 2nd, Par 4 350, with a great pond waiting for your ball if you hit it straight down the middle.  Who hits down the middle anyway, huh?  I do.  On this hole.  But it's a nice drive and it runs right up to the edge of the fairway.  Ten more yards and it's 'go fish', but I am safe.  I pull out the nine iron for the 120 yards that carry over the pond to the dance floor and hit one of my best shots of the day.  I skied a nine iron and dropped it about 10 feet from the cup.  Did I mention I carried a pond?  I thought I'd say it again because...So I'm 10 feet from birdie and it's a downhill putt.  Dan chipped onto the green from the same general direction and whaled past the pin, so of course I soft touch it and end up short, a tip in par.  Not saying it was Dan's fault, but he did make that incline look like a black diamond.

     For a few holes, I forgot that I don't really know how to play golf.  It was all about the blue sky, the puffy clouds, and the green grass and trees, wafting in the breeze.  How can you beat 72 degrees and sunny?  This is how: on the third tee (pic just below), after a decent bogie and excellent par, I get in the box and ready my Titleist DT-Solo, favorite 3rd rate golf ball of hackers everywhere (it's the name), and swing my four iron, awfully.  I dribble the ball into the fescue,  which is that bushy brown stuff in the pic, and back come those old feelings of dread.  The guys offer me a re-hit but, c'mon.  I find it easily enough (I didn't lose this ball until 17) and power a six iron through the strands and make it just short of the green with the second.  It's a big green and I get on, but too high.  I two putt from over twenty feet for a 5.

3rd hole, Par 3 195

     The 4th is the number 2 handicap (the 2nd hardest hole on the course for you land-lubbers), a Par 4, 432 uphill yards with the wind in your face.  There is plenty of real estate, and I use it all, going way left of the fairway, and blocking my view of the green with a set of giant pines, about 190 out.  There is muck (lost ball fescue) long and left of the green, so I deem it wise to hit a six iron to safety.  I make a decent shot here, just off the fairway, this time right, and then commit a golf sin--I line up my third shot, a wedge under 100 yards, and hit it on the large green, but up high, leaving a downhill 30 foot putt.  The shot was a sin, but it wasn't the golf sin--I had jumped in front of Larry.  His ball was a few yards behind mine, and I got mixed up as he cruised his cart with Ross.  I didn't see him, but that's no excuse.  You have to know where your partners are on the course.  Anyway, I hit out of turn, and I felt shame, and I paid for it with my score.  I missed the par putt by a mile, and putt twice more getting back, so I finish the 4th hole with a 6.  Not the worst, but I was in position to par or even bogie when lying 3 from under 100.  This confirmed the day's pattern for the remainder.

The next few holes were full of good shots followed by bad shots, bad scores, and missed opportunities.  I drove quite well apart from one or two shots.  Below you see the 8th green, a Par 5 505 yard stretch where you can't see the green until your third shot.  I drove one far, but right, and it was in the trees, pin-balling around before coming out just off the fairway, but kind of short.  I hit a good second shot, but not great, leaving me about 150 out, as you see below.  My third was a failure, however, and instead of reaching the green from 150, I reached the fairway short of the green, about as high as that bunker:

8th green, inside 100

 And instead of chipping on with my fourth shot, I 'bejoinks' it, which means everything is so smooth and steady and easy in my back swing, and forward swing, all until the point of contact when the whole body and the club head go 'bejoinks' and the ball flubs four feet.  Now I'm hitting five, still not on, and two putt after that for seven.  I made the big shots, but couldn't make the short ones.

I joked with Ross after seeing another of his 78 year old drives stay center, saying that I wanted to try that style of golf where, you hit the ball down the middle all the time.  He replies without skipping a beat, "You have to get old first!"

     I finish the front nine with a 52, awful, but leaving -100 still in play, (in my pipe dreams) and I start the 2nd half with a slice.  I am way right, but safe, and looking at 150 to the green on the short Par 4 10th, 294 yards, with steep gullies and multiple steep bunkers for those who try to drive the green.  Driving the green is nowhere in my plans, but in trying to light touch a drive, I slice.  A four or five iron would leave me inside a hundred, but who is smart?  Huh?  In the pic below, it's hard to appreciate the depth of the gully you risk if you attack the green from tee, but it is deep, as are the bunkers.  My second shot was only 150, but it was from short grass on the 11th hole (bad slice anyone?), and you can barely make out how the green is on a hill and the surrounding area just drops off.

10th green

I carefully hit a seven iron and it looks good, but maybe I was longer than I guessed because I land short.  I blew up the pic of the 10th so you can see my ball:

10th close-up, lying 3

I'm just above the spot in the pic, near center of photo, where the dark green grass juts out into the fairway, short of the green, naturally.  So from that little spot I'm hitting 3, and I end up with a six. I tried a tapper seven iron and landed fringe left.  I three putt from there, and that stinks so yeah, pain. 

I had more of that rotten style of play to come with sixes and sevens, even though I drove well.  For example, the 12th hole is a Par 4 412, uphill, with a lost ball if you drive left, and a hill rolling away from the green if you drive right.  So I drive one great, right down the middle, leaving me 180 or so from the green, and I dribble the next shot with my five iron.  A good drive, followed by a flub, and my march toward 100 continued.

I had fatigue and disappointment most of the rest of the way, and I even started striking my left clavicle with my follow through, something I've never done.  But I played the Par 5 13th very well.  

This is a 500 yarder with a late dog leg right and a pond to mess with you if you play it down the right side of the fairway.  I am too smart for that though, and drive it left, but just off the fairway.  I have a tree in front of me and a pond to the right, but I power a low lined four iron and land center of the fairway, about 170 out.  I still have some pond to face, but I hit my shot of the day, a magnificent six iron that lands here:

13th green, for birdie!

 Above, you can see Dan finding his ball.  Above his head is the pond I carried.  My shot started before the bend in the fairway, so it was a masterpiece in my little world.  My birdie putt was more like 'not a masterpiece' but it was close enough for a tap in par!

16th fairway, 105 out

 I had no noteworthy shots from here out.  The pic above shows me 105 out on the 16th.  I hit this one clean with a wedge, but it wasn't my 3rd stroke (or my 4th), and it landed at the top of that green.  You can see the pin is all the way in front, so I had forty feet downhill and didn't nail it.  Sixes and sevens throughout, so a 53 on the back for a 105.

I had 5 7's, and 7 6's, not to mention a few 5's on par 3's.  You can search for more than six strokes in those numbers, to try and find a round under 100, but without practice, talent is just a word.  Rereading that, it seems like I'm implying I have talent.  So, moving along...I did par two holes, causing some joy, and there were a few scattered reasons for trying this another day.

South Shore 3/30/16

South Shore Golf Course

3/30/16

     My first round of 2016 was a disaster of a score, a 105 on an easy course.  I have had to leave behind me the pain and drudgery of north of 100 scores.  Not the scores, obviously, but the hot air that goes with them.  I accept that without consistent practice, this is just how it is.  I can play my heart out for that 90-something.  Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't.  Golf is still a walk among trees, interrupted by challenges of skill, sometimes strength, sometimes delicate touch.  It's about aiming a silly object in a precise direction to achieve a useless end that doesn't change the way of the wind.  But in their different shapes and forms, the different golf swings represent, in a most unmanly way, the different skills of ancient warriors:  the driver not unlike the bronze spear, far shadowing, for launching great distances, nor missing the mark; the high irons are like the bow, skillful volleys, dropping down on their targets; and the sword, of course, like the putter, up close and personal, execution critical.
     South Shore Golf Course on Staten Island is a track whose greatest beauty is its nostalgia, being a place any locals would have played early and often.  I've seen it torn up, and I've seen it bloomed and recovered a dozen times already.  This Wednesday on a chilly March day was one of the better rounds I've played here.  I struck up with two men named Bob, a bit older than me.  I think they both had grandchildren, but they weren't old.  Importantly the place was empty.  This round happened in under four hours.

My first two holes were full of trouble, a 7 and 8, on the Par 4 1st, and Par 5 2nd holes.  My opening drive of the season was a ground ball flirting with a gully, but I found it.  The second stroke had no look so it was just a poke out to the fairway.  I thought I hit it too far across the fairway because I exaggerated the club head to avoid a tree obstructing my line to the green.  This left me about 150 out.  I hit a fine seven iron here, well struck, lofted, but it was off the green by about twenty feet, pin high though.  Would have been really pretty a few feet over, but at least it told the Bob's that I wouldn't be hitting ground balls all day.  I did not get up and down well.  I think I still haven't figured out how fast the greens were on that day, but I knocked the ball around this time for sure.

The second hole is the Par 5 434 Yards.  In theory I can cover that in two strokes.  But it's just a theory.  The layers grew heavy as I carried this ball 8 times, and the temps came up just a bit as we approached 11am, so I lost the gloves and the hat.

With my new look, I faced the Par 4 248 Yard 3rd hole:

3rd Hole  Par 4 248  Yards

I'm not driving balls 265 yards these days, and there is a lost ball to the left, and a dangerous excursion onto the fifth hole if you go too far right here.  I went with safety, since a short iron can get you to 150 out.  I hit a four iron, and struck it ok, but it did fade to the right, just off the fairway.  This made my approaching second shot difficult, because it is a small green, narrowest from my angle, and I had a bunker in my line to the cup.  I played it safe with a wedge, aiming for the part of the green without the bunker.  It was a decent chip, and left me with a twenty foot putt for birdie.  I missed it, too fast, but made the four foot putt for par.  In fact all three of us made par on this hole.  Three holes in I had my first par of the year.

The fourth hole is another short one,  Par 4 265 Yards, with a great view of the abandoned tanks along the West Shore Expressway:

Par 4 4th, 265 Yards

I just don't have any excuse for this hole.  There isn't anything I can say that makes it more challenging.  If you shank your drive right, you are in trees.  I'd be lying if I said there were less than a few of my balls in those woods from all the years, but you can find just about everything else you hit.  I followed my par with a lousy drive, left of that tree that is midway to the left the fairway in this picture.  My second was completely playable with a short wedge, but I found a bunker instead of the green.  Did my usual back and forth here and landed on 6.  So it took me 5 strokes to go about sixty yards.  It hardly seems possible as I write that.  And embarrassing.  This green is actually a challenge though, with steep inclines and deep bunkers, full of flat hard sand, by the way.  Just saying.

I barely had any memorable golf through 5, 6, and 7.  On 5, which is a Par 5 529 (a real par 5), I did hit a magical third shot.  After two so so's on my first swings, I was about 190 out and needing to carry a gully to reach the elevated green.  I was along the left side off the fairway, and hit a nice 3 iron, but a little too far left, directly over the woods that line the hole.  I knew I was pin high though, and strolled up along the woods, basically expecting not to find the ball.  But my screaming line drive managed to sneak through lots of trees.  I was off the green, right on the edge of the woods, such that my chip was obstructed with brush.  I hit a tough chip, too far, but on the green.  I two putt from about thirty feet, so that was decent.

The eighth hole never was lined with homes when I played here in my youth.  But the nineties took their toll on Staten Island.  I guess every decade has.  Now since we are in March and no leaves have grown in (buds were barely visible this day...in fact it was the first day they started to really appear in any number), you can see the homes that run along the eighth green and ninth tee box.  They are nice homes.  Some have small balconies over looking the course.  Must be pleasant for a coffee.  I had a four on the Par 3 8th, 148 yards.  I landed my drive off the green, but pin high.  I had to use my 7 iron sweep-on shot, but I had no touch and hammered the ball past the pin.

Par 3 8th, 148 yards

9th Green, and one of the Bobbies

The ninth has a tough drive, narrow and into a hill, with trees to the right and left.  I chose the trees on the left, following the Bobby in the pic, who skimmed through the left trees but landed safely.  My shot was a little more challenging.  I stayed along the trees all the way to the green.  That pic was from the spot of my approach and I went off the back of the green with it.  I came back on, again with no touch, leaving a good thirty foot putt through ridges, which I buried, the putt of the day!  Good to know I have that shot in my bag one day when I need it in a tournament.  ( I never played in a tournament).

Among the better holes I played was the Par 5 12th, 417 yards.  That seems absurdly short for a par 5, but this is a huge uphill tee shot, blind, and the hole plays much longer.  My second shot landed here:

Par 5 12th, 417 Yards

Again, I'm scratching my head as I can't believe it's just 417 yards.  But after a good drive and a decent second, I was just about 100 yards out for my third.  I shanked it though, or flubbed it, dribbling the ball about 75 yards.  I took three shots to make that 'dice bubble in the game of Trouble' sound, for a six.  My bogeys are the holes I brag about (gulp).

An old Asian man managed to wedge in between my threesome and the twosome in front of him.  One the Bobby's yelled at him, because he was extremely slow, and it is common golfer courtesy to group up.  He could have come back to make us four, or gone ahead to play with the two.  But as annoying as it was to wait a few times, this day's round rolled along quickly.

Here is the Par 3 14th, 130 yards:

Par 3 14th, 130 Yards (that's Wang, playing slow)

Here I hit my nine all wrong, and caused a screaming line drive.  I rolled past the green and I thought into the trees beyond the hole, but when I got down there I saw the bunker.  It is off the backside of the green, to the right, but I managed to miss this and had one of those downhill, hanging over the bunker shots.  I made a fair shot here, but left a good 20 feet for a par putt, which I missed.  I tapped in bogey.  This green was all but gone a year or two ago, and was in great shape today.  Hats off to the greens crew here.

The 15th has some length, a Par 4 377, with a deep valley and elevated green.  I hit a lousy drive left, and my recovery shot put me here:

Par 4 15th, 377 yards

This was maybe my best shot of the day.  I was a five iron away, and I skied a real golf shot.  It looked like I was good and close to the blue flag way up on the green, but it was really a long up hill putt which I missed by a lot.  And then I missed the bogey putt too.  But it was fun to putt for par.

So I struggled with fatigue the rest of the way.  After walking the nine miles, I couldn't wait to get home to hear about how I 'relaxed' and 'enjoyed myself' and played golf, so now I can serve.  But I flubbed and skulled my way through the 16th and 17th.  On 17 I took the hat off of my 3 wood, the hat that tells me never to use my 3 wood, but the hole was a Par 3 200 yards, uphill with stiff wind.  Surprisingly, I hit a very good, straight shot with the 3 wood, but I hit it 195 yards.  I chipped on, and two putt, bogey 4.

The last hole is a nice one too, pretty wide open, but somewhat blind.  It is hard to believe I even considered playing two rounds in a day in the past, much less did it, but there was no second round after I finished this hole.  I could barely get back to the car.  After a lousy drive, I hit my approach shot just under 200 yards, just short of the green.  I was dangerously close to the duck pound, or goose pond, or whatever.  I had a shot to make a four before going away, but no.  Couldn't close the deal.

The Iconic Clubhouse, 18th hole, South Shore Golf Course

So you really can't see the green buds, but they were just starting to open.  This day started out pretty cold, in the forties, but ended up nice in the fifties, and look at that sky.  If nothing else, I got a little color.  At least this spot on Staten Island was quiet for three hours and change.  As far as closing the gap between my visions and my golf score, well I am one round closer to ironing out the wrinkles.  Always beats a day at work.

Iberostar Playa Paraiso Resort

July 19, 2015

In the Riviera Maya, south of Cancun, Mexico, there is the Iberostar Resort.  A wonderful place if you like beach and sand, Caribbean blue waters, and vacations in general.  They also have a golf club, a course designed by P.B. Dye, but I feel pretentious even mentioning that.  I have very little clue identifying designers of golf courses, but I certainly can identify a good time golfing.

A 'good time' golfing implies fun with friends, which would make this experience off the charts for me, but that wasn't the case back in July, 2015, when I played a round alone.  I had called on the first full day we were there to find out the scoop on golfing and I went from maybe golfing sometime that week, to getting ready to be there for a 3pm tee time that day.  Turns out getting out at 3 would be easy, and a hundred dollars cheaper than a morning tee time, so it was like making money.

The only downside was the heat.  It was around ninety degrees, and humid in that part of Mexico.  It is jungle all around the Yucatan Peninsula, and there were lizards and tropical plants all around the course.  I got there a bit before 3pm, and was shown my cart and clubs instantly.  I played alone from start to finish, and didn't do any waiting.  I did take close to four hours, which is a little long for being alone and having no one in front of you.  But I took my time in the heat, and spent a good amount of time looking for balls, since I only had about five with me.

1st Tee, Iberostar Golf Club Solidaridad, Mexico 7/19/15

They gave me a set of Pings but I couldn't tell you the model.  I can tell you the driver was the size of my head, much bigger than the 1999 Taylor Made that I use at home.  But I couldn't not use it, not with that view staring at me.  It is a Par 4, 354 yards from the whites.  I did my best to swing nice and easy with the giant driver.  It wasn't a very good drive, but better than a shank or drizzle.  I finished with a six here.

I should paint the scene a little better too.  I had a cart with a cooler full of ice and a few waters.  It was blazing hot.  I imagine it would be better super early, but from 10 thru 5 it was tropical hot.  I don't recall any good shots on this first hole, but I was trying to get a good start so no one would catch me, and I kind of rushed through it.

2nd hole, Par 3 155 yards

     The second hole is a Par 3 155 yards, and I hit an eight iron that carried long and left.  But it was  a decent shot, not a flub and I tapped on for a par attempt:

2nd Green

 My ball is on the green, thirty-five or forty feet away from the pin.  If you look at the tallest tree in the picture, the ball is on the green right in front of its trunk as it appears in the photo.  I missed that par putt, however, and tapped in for four.

The third hole is a Par 4, 312 yarder, but with a severe dog leg right.  In fact, it was a ninety degree turn, and I had no real idea of the yardage of the turn, but I tried the driver anyway.

3rd hole Playa Paraiso, 7/19/15

That fat-headed driver!  It was my fault as much as hers.  I hit my Titleist DT Solo to the right, a major slice, and I watched it hopefully head for the turn, but I heard the ripping of branch and leaf as the ball sailed over the bunker you see above, the bunker straight ahead if you follow the line of the cart path.  I hit a provisional at this point and this one started ok as well, but then began drifting right.  It was less of a slice and landed in that same bunker.  So I am now down to four balls, with one in my pocket, one in that bunker, one in the woods, and two in the bag.  So I had to give it a good scout search, and here was my first encounter with the lizards.  As I searched through the lush jungle, I heard something scamper and I saw a nice sized lizard, over a foot long.  Startled me, and I became concerned about what other wild animals might be lurking about.  I discovered it was the small ones I needed to worry about, because after a minute or two in those trees, I was attacked by some major bugs, mosquitoes in particular.  I quickly thought of the Spanish explorers who found themselves trekking through those jungles, and the bugs and such they must have encountered, without an air conditioned hotel to go back to.  Good to be the Man from 2015.

Couldn't find that original drive, and I reminded myself I must hawk for balls if I planned to play 18 holes.  But I had to get out of those trees.  I played my second shot (not counting penalties) from that bunker.  I was at the far end of the trap, nearest the corner where the hole turned right, and had to be careful not to clip the trees if I went for the green.  So I had to aim to the left side of the green.  Could you believe I missed the green left?  I was in a gully, but not a bunker.  I hit my third shot off grass, but it was like hitting out of a bowl.  The walls were four or five high.  I took aim with my sand wedge and maybe hit the shot of the day, dropping it right near the cup and rolling just past it.  I tapped in to finish, but instead of a four, it was a six, because we don't take mulligans.

On the fourth hole, the Par 4, 350, I hit a line drive to David Wright, meaning in the woods, but not deep.  I tee'd up a second drive and made full use of the fat-head ping.  I swung easy and skied one right down the middle of the narrow fairway.  If only I could jar that.  I took a quick look and found my original bad drive, dodging the damn 'quitos all the way.  I noticed there was a lot of spare broken concrete along the out of bounds around the course. It must have been something to do with its construction.  Anyway I squandered that nice second drive.  Actually I hit a decent nine iron, but it was short of the elevated green.  With my next shot, I hit a pitching wedge clear over the green.  It landed out of bounds down a steep embankment.  It was a good twenty or thirty feet down, and it was a rocky slope, but I could see my ball, and could not leave any behind.  I hadn't hawked any at that point.  On the way back up the rocky out of bounds hill, I stumbled and scraped down, drawing a bit of blood from my ankle.  I began to worry about a tropical disease on the cut, but then remembered about the free beer.

That hole and the next, a Par 5 477, were generous sevens, so my score from here on in is all a sham.  I spent so much time searching for my drive on the 5th, I finally noticed a foursome behind me, still over a hole away, but gaining, so I put it in gear from that point.  The beverage cart also swung by.  I asked for a beer, which was included with my resort package, and he gave me two.  It was Superior, the Mexican brand, and wow, an ice cold brew on a hot day is refreshing.  I stashed one in the cooler, and downed the first right before I played my second shot on the sixth hole,

6th hole, Par 3 125

  This is a short Par 3, but the psychological water is there to mess with you.  I grabbed my nine iron, and hit this one a little too long.  My ball landed to the right of the furthest bunker on the right in picture, and I had to make my up and down from the backside of that green.  I did not succumb to the psychology.  I stayed out of the water, but still finished with a four.

I finished the front nine with a 52, including some lies, excluding others, so the golf game suffered.  I can't stand not having a decent legitimate score.  But I won't pout and quit because of it.  Not with nine holes of tropical Mexican vacation ahead of me.  Not with the scenery at this lush green resort.

I pressed on, and with my fresh nine starting I hit that fat-head long and straight on 10, a Par 4 369, that goes up hill near the green.  It was just off the fairway, but a good way out.  My second shot, a pitching wedge, landed left of the green, but almost exactly pin high:

10th green, Iberostar Playa Paraiso 7/19/15

I then had to come back on, and two putt for five.  It was hot, and I didn't see a drop of rain the week we were there.  But they must give that course plenty of water, because it was green and lush, with beautiful palm trees throughout.  Those are some of the hotel features in the picture, to the right.  I think you can see the Mayan Temple which is the pyramid under the palm.  It was part of the hotel, not a real Mayan ruin.

11th green

It felt humid, and I guess it was, but it wasn't hazy.  Loved those deep blue skies in Mexico.

The 12 hole is a Par 3 172.  More of the water to play with the mind:

12th hole, Par 3 172

I took out a five iron here, hoping for the hole in one.  I hit an ok shot, but not great.  It was straight, but I didn't strike it clean, and I landed short of the green by about ten yards.  My second was lousy too.  I remember being to the right of the green, not in, but near a bunker, and noticing off to the right of the trees you see that are right of the green, there was someones backyard, with a nice swimming pool, but not a soul around.  Wished I could jump in it, but came back to my bad round to complete a five.

I say 'bad round' but I mean scoring.  This is still a good day overall, understand.  It would be tremendous with good company, but I was trudging through it.  I had literally only a handful of good shots the whole way through.  I was longing for some company, when this guy came along:

I don't know his name, 13th hole

He was a friendly guy.  I didn't pet him.  He came over eagerly, but then kind of stood off and kept his distance as I searched for my drive on 13 (another slice).

He didn't say anything

He was a nice looking dog.  He seemed stray, but appeared pretty healthy.  He was mellow, and for the moment, more interesting than my golf game.

As for the golf game, I had only one more shining moment.  After the 8 on the Par 5 14th, I came to the 15th hole, a Par 4 368:

15th, Par 4 368 yards

I hit a good drive here, down the middle of the fairway, leaving me a wedge away.  I botched the second shot, and knew right there that I would be drinking that second beer right after this hole.  It was a flub.  My third shot landed here, though, so I was putting for par:

15th green

So, it is tremendously disappointing to putt for par only once or twice in a round, even if it is all I should expect with my game.  But I remind myself to pay attention to the setting, keep it in perspective.  I missed this 18 footer for par, but I was on vacation, and not commuting to Manhattan for work, so hurray!

Nothing spectacular about the 17th hole, except the 17th hole itself:

17th hole, Par 3 161 yards

I went for the hole in one here, but did not get it.  Or the par.  Or the bogie.  But look at it.  I was there!

18th

I have to give the place credit because as fantastic as it was, there was no clown car holes, no windmills.  The place seemed very real.  But on 18, things got a little interesting.  My round didn't get better or worse, it was just another 6 or 7.  But check out this mound:

That's a clown-car hill

I didn't land in that bunker, obviously...actually, it's not outside the realm of my golf world for that next shot to land in the bunker, but this time it didn't.  That is the flag you see beyond the left side of that mound.  I think I flew that shot over green and to the right, where I encountered a puppy.

I closed out the round with another bad score, finishing the back nine with something else over 50.  I didn't bother to write down the score.  But during the ride back to the clubhouse, I followed that puppy to his family.  Here they are:

Mama and two puppies

I guess dogs are common on the course, but these were docile also.  No clue what type of dogs, but a mamma and two puppies are cute, huh?

I finished here with something above one hundred, with barely two attempts at a par.  However, it was still one of the best rounds of my life.  It is a place I would return to in a heartbeat if I found myself on the Riviera Maya.