3032 yds, Par36, Slope 111
hardened by my exposure to the mediocre in Greece, I tho't it would do me no harm to play a round with my grandson, The Babe, on a little 9-hole course close-at-hand . . . I don't think he has the game or attention span, yet, to weather 18 holes . . . so I passed up the Donald Ross treasure till another visit . . .
One has wondered what kind of clubs one would get at such a place, and now one knows:
First of all, those are women's wood-woods . . . I could hit the driver somewhat . . . on #4, I pureed my drive 200 yds . . . 8^) . . . but that mud-daubed 3wood betrayed me everytime I pulled it out of the bag . . . felt funny, unresponsive, like a wife with a secret grievance, if you know what I mean . . . no 5 iron, but the 6iron had a graphite shaft; when I tried to hit it, it felt like the head spun around the shaft and the ball scuttled off left about 50 yds . . .then The Babe said, that club head looked like it spun around in a circle! I didn't mind the clubs, per se, for this course, losing 1/3 of my distance with such a set made it seem more like real golf, but d-a-a-a-a-a-a-n-g.
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The #1 handicap hole is this 301 yd par 4 with a sharp dogleg left . . . I think it's the #1 because the temptation to try to cut the corner over the trees is apparently irresistable to a large percentage of golfers . . .2 of the 4some in front of us were in those woods . . . I tho't maybe that 3wood -- after I'd scraped off the mud -- might loft over the corner off of a tee, but instead I hit a line drive that bounced off the trees back to the edge of the fairway.
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look at that bunker sitting right there in front of the green for all the fools cutting the corner . . . I guess the play is to try to drive over to the right side without going into the woods and creek over there, to get a look at the green. I tried to cozy a partial 3iron between the green and the woods, but it came up short . . . ball has a way of settling down in this turf so's getting any clean shot is difficult . . . . that's when I discovered that the PW was a graphite shaft like the 6, but with the head firmly attached . . . totally powered over the green with a half-wedge. short story: 6 double bogey.
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I hate to make it sound like the course has no charms . . . so I include this shot of the par 3 170yd #7. I hit a 3iron not-quite-pin-high. bit right in the rough. I wouldn't mind trying this one again with some better tools . . . but there were duffers all over the place hitting metal shovel woods . . . guess they were going for the Tiger Woods feel of overpowering a course. I'd just like the heads to stay fixed.
Nice walk in the park with my grandson.
# posted by Cactus Dave @ 4:56 PM
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