Friday, May 13, 2016
Harbor Club at Lake Oconee
I've been forced to make a slight alteration to the rules for my quest to play the best course "you can play" in each state, according to Golf Magazine.
It turns out that in some of the states, the #1 course is not really one "you can play". Their list excludes private clubs, but it includes some that won't let you play unless you're staying at the resort, in one of their $250 a night rooms. Per person, double occupancy.
In Georgia, as in Colorado, the #1 and #2 courses on the list are "you can't play here" resorts, so I played #3 today, the Harbor Club at Lake Oconee.
It's a Weiskopf/Morrish design, with a few holes like ones I've seen elsewhere, but since they did it in 1991, it's hard to say who copied whom.
I've been reading "The Legend of Bagger Vance", which seems appropriate since we're heading to Savannah tomorrow. During the round I seemed to have found my Authentic Swing several times, using the technique revealed by Bagger. Between that and my new putting stroke, from the "Putting Solution" book, I was quite pleased. The number was 84, but it included a missed 3-footer, a hole on which I chipped twice, and three balls that are now entertaining the denizens of Lake Oconee. Not bad for the first time on the course, and my first round since leaving AZ over a month ago.
I had intended to play the best course in Texas, but we were waylaid by storms and flooding, narrowly escaping total destruction by tornados. And I'm missing Florida because TPC Sawgrass was closed for a month before the tournament, and will be closed for 6 months after, for renovations. Next on the list is the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, and then Pinehurst #2. It's going to be an expensive week.
