Better (all) round

Saturday 2nd

This morning, after a long soak in the tub, I headed to the supermarket again to restock with breakfast stuff and a few other items. I was back in time to go to the Residents brunch at the club house. This is apparently a monthly event and today they had eggs, bacon, sausages and sausage gravy. There were only a few people there at that time but when I checked in later there were a few more people.

I had booked a tee time at Lake Windcrest for just after 2 so decided to check out another local golf course on the way - Gleanloch Farms. This was south and west of where I live and about 12 miles away. It looked ok, quite a large area for one of the courses with 4 or more adjacent fairways. However their discount doesn't start till 4pm which is a bit late. I headed on the the course I was playing which is also east but North of the apartment, arriving just after 1. This gave me time to hit some balls on the range as well as practice chipping and trying out my new putter. Unfortunately the greens had been cored so were all a bit rough.

There was also a problem with the tee time. When I booked on Wednesday, the twilight rates started at 2pm so I booked for 2:12. However on the 1st may(ie yesterday) the time slipped back to 3pm so I was initially going to be charge full rates. In the end they compromised and charged us the member's guest rate which was in between - just under $60.

The carts have a quite fancy GPS based system which shows you where you are on the course, distance to various markers such as the front and back of the green and the hole but also to sandtraps, creeks and so forth. It even shows you the locations of otehr carts and their distance from you, so you know whether to hit up, even when you can see them becuase of a hill or trees. It also stops you driving into the carpark and too close to the greens.

The course is quite good with occasional water along the edge of the fairways but none that you hit over. It is pretty without having any really spectacular views, although we did see 8 or so deer crossing the fairway on one hole.

I played with Brandon, who was on scratch as a junior and still plays pretty well. We hit roughly similar distances which makes the game interesting. I was happy enough with 44 on the front 9 with a couple of pars near the end but had 21 putts. This was more a reflection of the greens, I think, than the new putter. My driving was again very good and consistent with only the last hole actually getting me into trouble when I lost my ball in a small creek on the left.

I started the back 9 by pulling my 3rd shot in the par 5 into the edge of some really thick rough, got out of that but into the sand trap and then got out the sand but only by a metre or so. I was too lazy to go back to the cart to get a different club,so chipped with my sand wedge. The ball popped up, hit the green and rolled in the hole to save the bogie.

On the next hole, my second was over the back but 3 metres and I chipped in again, this time for a birdie. In the end I only had 11 putts on the back 9 with no 3 putts for an 86 all up. I was pretty happy with this as it was certainly playing to or better than my handicap. We again played off the Gold tees. Brandon had a 78, showing he's still got it.

I thought I'd booked a 3:06 tee time for tomorrow but with the cored greens I thought I try a different course instead. I booked a 3pm slot at Windrose for $39 plus tax. This course is also South and west of the apartment. When I rang to cancel the other course, I didn't seem to have a booking after all.

I ate at TGI Fridays near the mall. I felt like a steak and had a sirloin with Caser salad and Oinion rings and a nice electric lemonade - vodka and Blue curacoa.

I agian tried to watch Saturday night Live but fell asleep during the news before it started and woke up about 1 am and stunbled off to bed. They are predicting storms again tomorrow and in my area these are expected to happen in the afternoon.