Updated Golf Rounds and Trip Exploits

My apologies for the delayed posting, I have covered hundreds of miles, shanked many balls, and undertaken numerous adventures since last updating this blog...none of which with internet access. I am sitting at a Starbucks in Vicksburg, Mississippi paying for Wi-Fi access because I cannot find it offered anywhere for free. Something the deep south does have a lot of is the Dollar General. These stores are littered along the rounds numbers that rival 7-Eleven's in the DC area. And they are always packed. I have yet to visit one, but if I wanted to, I would probably have to leave my car in a satellite lot and take the quarter hourly shuttle to get there. Anyway...to read details of my odyssey in sequential order, scroll to the end of today's posting and work your way up. I'm now off to Fort Worth to stay with former Chevy Chase Club Golf Professional J.R. Holland and play Colonial Country Club, home of the PGA Tour Colonial event. Enjoy!

Round #13: Seminole Golf Course

The Golf:
My friend Jeff Sadosky is a great guy. He has shouldered the nickname of "Fridge," appointed to him by his friends in college (a story which will remain untold due a lack of available space on this blog), with a wry smile and jovial laugh. One time, after graduating JMU, he ended up having to stay at my house in Tyson's without a car. He woke early and instead of bothering myself or any of my roommates' sleep, he began walking, in sandals, for 6 miles until reaching his home in Great Lakes. He and I have played together only a handful of times. He was the only taker on a weekend round of golf with me to South Riding in a relentless rain which never dissipated. For 4 1/2 hours we sloughed around a wet course in damp shoes, making poor contact, taking giant divots and huge numbers, laughing the entire time. That round may be the most memorable round of my short golfing history.

This being said, I was elated when he called telling me his workload was thin enough to join in my round in Tallhassee Monday morning. My expectations for the course and ensuing round at The Seminole Golf Course, home to the FSU Seminole golf team, were not high. Jeff and I dropped my car off at a GMC dealer at 7AM for service and arrived at the course for our 7:47 tee time at 7:50. There was a twosome playing at 7:56 that we joined. We met Danny on the first tee, his playing partner, Alejandro, was running as slowly as we were and met us at the first green. The course was suprisingly well kept, well designed, and fair. From the tips, it stretches to a thundering 7,100 yards, and from our tee of choice to a respectable and playable 6,500 yards. After the previous weekend's antics at Harbour Town, avoiding big numbers became my theme for the day, while Fridge's goal was to shoot a respectable score in his first outing of the season.

Both missions were accomplished as I rounded the front 9 with a 44. The score should have been much better, as I hit probably the most Green's in Regulation of my life at 50%. Three of those GIR's ended in 3 putts. The greens ran extremely fast as the superintendent kept the bermuda grass cut short. This exposed flaw in my short game made for nervous long putts, and even more nervous short putts. The screws began to tighten on the back nine and I was able to avoid any 3 putts, close with birdie, and enter the clubhouse with a 40. The 84 is a step in the right direction after some setbacks. My striking of the ball has improved, and this was the best feeling and most encouraging round of the trip so far. Jeff asked me not to reveal his score, but I'm going to throw him under the bus not to be vindictive, but because I feel he played really well for his first outing of the season. Fridge should be proud and encouraged with his 97.

Today's Course: Seminole Golf Course
Today's Score: 84
Handicap: 10
Tonight's Overnight Location: Jackson, MS
Tomorrow's Course: TBD
Tomorrow's Overnight Location: Fort Worth, TX

The Car Conclusion
GMC of Tallahassee has a wonderful service department and did a wonderful job with my car. I dropped the Envoy off at 7AM, mentioned it needed to be ready by noon, and it was. Things could not have worked more perfectly as my car was repaired while I played golf on a beautiful sunny Western Florida morning. A blown fusible link was the culprit, but also fixed were broken taillights and a factory recall. The cost was a little over $200 - just enough to learn where not to jumpstarted the vehicle. My car was ready and had full electrical capacity - meaning I was able to catch up on the Howard Stern show for the duration of my 7 hour trip to Jackson, Mississippi.

Round #12: St. John's Golf & Country Club
The alarm sounded after what seemed like 15 minutes of sleep. With Greg's car, and poorly scribbled directions, I whisked myself in 35 minutes to the St. Augustine, FL St. John's course. This course had been the sight 2 years prior to the much anticipated Sunday match play round of The Plastic Cup - an even more anticipated yearly Ryder Cup style golf outing with close friends. Today's round would be more relaxing as I would be meeting Art Ianucci and his son Brian. Art is a family friend of Lee Crank, one of my closest friends. I have known Art for about 5 years now and always enjoyed his company. We have never had the opportunity to golf together, but I was aware he played to an exceptional 4 handicap.

Art, Brian, and I were paired with Paul. Paul is a one-putting lost ball blood hound. Through 6 holes, he had 7 putts. Not tap-in putts, we're talking country road trip putts - long and breaking - that seemed to always find the bottom of the cup. Paul probably found 34 balls during the round. If our cart passed near a water hazard or thicket of high grass, he would slam the breaks, quick-draw the golf ball retriever in his bag, and have 3 newly found balls lying on the ground next to him before I could turn to exit the cart. His swing is unorthodox, his ball striking erratic, but his short game was incredible and the main reason for his shooting an 86.

My round went a bit less successfully. Finally, I began striking the ball the way I knew I was capable. The high slight draw that occurs when I'm hitting the ball solidly returned, and my misses began to stray shorter distances from the fairways and pins. A few bad breaks and a poor short game kept my round from being lower. My 92 raised my handicap to its highest level in a year to a 10.2. I am most in need of sharpening my short game with putting and chipping practice. Unfortunately I will not have a chance to do this until I reach Fort Worth and am able to use the practice facility at Colonial Country Club.

Today's Course: St. John's Golf & Country Club
Today's Score: 92
Handicap: 10.2
Tonight's Overnight Location: Tallahassee, FL
Tomorrow's Course: Seminole Golf Course
Tomorrow's Overnight Location: Jackson, MS

The Car Continued:
Unfortunately for my current situation, no one in the auto service industry works on Sunday. At least no one in Jacksonville. For some reason, possibly religious, maybe Nascar related, every auto body shop and dealership is closed on Sunday. I must have called 20 businesses in the area and all were closed. I feel there is market potential here. This is an untapped niche that has yet to be exploited - a Sunday mechanic on duty. This guy could probably take the entire week off, work only Sunday, and make a killing. This unfortunate circumstance left me with a decision - stay in Jacksonville and get the car fixed Monday morning, or leave for Tallahassee (a 3 hour drive) in a car that ran perfectly fine but had no working electronics. I chose the latter and began my trip to Tallahassee around 6:30 in the evening. To combat the boredom, I attached my iPod to a set of portable speakers for music. Also planned were numerous phone calls to friends to break the monotony of the drive. Although the electricity was out, the open door air conditioning system was operational and utilized.

I arrived at Jeff Sadosky's new apartment in Tallhassee around 9:15. His place is bare as he is transitioning to a new job with the state Republican Party, and has yet to move his wife and furniture to the area. An air mattress which doubles as a couch, end table, coffee table, and la-z-boy recliner is the focal point of the apartment. Jeff seemed happy to have familiar company. I am confident his loneliness will dissipate this weekend when he wife Jen takes up temporary residence with him for the next few months. After catching up it was off to bed for the big day of car repair and golf tomorrow.

Round #11: Harbour Town Golf Links
After the exploits by Greg the night before and judging his state the morning after I would have put the chance of him actually swinging a club at Harbour Town at about 1 in 1,000. Greg fell asleep atop the stairs at Nick's house and slept the entire way to the course. But once on sight at Sea Pines resort, he delivered by hooking Bob and I up with free golf at the Pete Dye designed gem that hosts the annual MCI Heritage PGA Tour event.

Harbour Town is one of the best layout's I've ever played. The lush, green course framed by South Carolina palmettos and well placed Oaks provides a feeling of calm and serenity. Unlike newer upscale daily fees which borrow extensively from other courses and end up feeling contrived, Harbour Town borrows from no course. It rolls through the South Carolina low country on its own terms - dictating to the land how its holes should be cut and fairways, tees, and greens positioned. Regardless of score, when playing Harbour Town you are at one with the surrounding trees and grass. You are sure that it has been done right - that golf was meant to be played here.

We began our walk through the Dye masterpiece with an idea of what we were in for, but nothing could have prepared us for the reality. Trees blocked most shots, tee balls hit down the fairway did not guarantee a shot to a pin, miss-clubs were punished, and trouble spots outnumbered safe plays. The course contains, by far, the best collection of par 3 holes I have seen. All play over water and penalize errant or erratic shots and seldom offer a chance at birdie.

Hole 13 begins the most impressive final stretch of holes on the planet. Snaking along a canal, water comes into play on all and is elusive to few. After the par 4 16th, players turn toward the shoreline to play two memorable holes heralded in golf lore. The par 3 17th juts into the peninsula and provides the first glimpse of ocean on the course. Water fronts a tiered green visible to ships passing in the ocean behind. The 18th tee box begins the turn along the shore and ends at a green 460 yards away. A well struck tee shot towards the famous lighthouse in the distance will rest in a fairway that stretches towards the ocean and marshland between. The second shot to a postage stamp sized green instills fear in most every competitor as the ball must carry water and beach and avoid the coastline to the left. Greg, Bob, and I took numerous photos on these last 2 holes in an attempt to link our mediocre rounds with those of the greats who had strolled these grounds before us.

The hole descriptions in the Harbour Town yardage guide may have been written by William Faulkner. The 10th hole encourages players to "temper your gusto." At a course such as this, I find that a nearly impossible task.

Today's Course: Harbour Town Golf Links
Score: 100
Handicap: 10.2
Tonight's Overnight Location: Jacksonville, FL
Tomorrows Course: St. John's Golf & Country Club
Tomorrow's Overnight Locations: Tallahassee, FL





The Car:
After the round, everyone was tired and we were anxious to get started on our 2 1/2 hour trip back to Jacksonville. This trip was delayed by one of the dumbest mistakes I've ever made, which was compounded by an even greater mistake. On the ride up I had plugged a small portable fridge into the cigarette lighter in the rear of my car so that cold water would be available for Greg should he need it. Unfortunately, I forgot to unplug the fridge and we returned from our round to a dead battery. Here's the good part: when trying to jumpstart the car, I connected the cables to the underhood fusebox - shorting out my fusible relay and leaving me with no working onboard electrical appliance.

We drove to Jacksonville with no speedometer, radio, taillights, or working windows. Hot air coming off of the engine made the temperature inside the car hot since there was no climate control system to recycle air. The only solution was to open the driver and passenger side front doors...while driving...down the interstate. The 2 of us had just rolled in style the previous afternoon - walking onto one of America's greatest courses like we owned the place and playing 18 without paying a thing - now we were driving down interstate 95 with the hazard lights on with the doors open.

Round #10: The Golf Club at North Hampton
The Golf Club at North Hampton is a course I have played before. The Palmer layout is a tremendous design with wide fairways, undulating greens, plenty of sand and hazards, and even more wind. Our group of 6 golfers (Greg Netro, Nick James, myself, and Nick's friends Matt, Bert, and Craig) stormed the course for golf, light gambling, and entertainment. I played with Matt and Nick. Their superior skills did not create for a better golfing environment for myself as I proceeded to lose just about every hole. The only 2 holes I won came on the 17th green with a bogey. That can be attributed to luck, not skill. We were jam packed onto the course looking at a 5 hour round as a result of a Fraternal Order of Police shotgun held earlier in the day. On the 12th tee both groups of 3 joined together to play a 6-some which still had to wait for the group in front of us. This union proved to be most enjoyable as the trash talking and back and forth banter reached circa 1994 Michael Jordan NBA-like proportions.

My round of 94 was less than exceptional and proved that I am never going to be exempt from carding a high score on any course at anytime. It also serves as a reminder that I need to get to the range...

Today's Course: The Golf Club at North Hampton
Score: 94
Handicap: 9.6
Overnight Location: Jacksonville, FL
Tomorrow's Course: Harbour Town Golf Links
Tomorrow's Overnight Location: Jacksonville, FL

St. Patrick's Day, A.K.A. The Rise of Nitro:
Nick, his wife Erin, Greg, and I celebrated St. Patrick's Day and the NCAA Tournament by dining at the local sports bar Sneakers. The place is sensory overload to a sports fan, with 4 screens the size of garage doors playing 4 different basketball games. Nick's friend and all around good guy Bob and his wife Mary met us for dinner. After dinner, Bob and Mary retired home - just as we should have done. Instead, we saw Greg Netro turn into Nitro. Nitro appears on special occasions. These occasions can include weddings, holidays, birthdays, and weekdays. Greg settled into his stride at a bar called Finn McCool's after running into his boss. In a matter of moments Netro was no more - now there was only Nitro. Some examples of what Nitro is capable of: jumping on top of a random car and running along its length from tail, to roof, to front; unintentionally replacing the lyrics of "You're So Vain" with "you're so blain" and "clouds in my coffee" to "clouds in my buckets;" picking me up and throwing my shoulder blade into one of Nick and Erin's walls, leaving a dent; attempting to wrestle anyone while in his boxers then "falling asleep" with the light on; sleepwalking into Nick and Erin's room at 3 in the morning. I will miss Nitro.

Round #9: East Lake Golf Course
East Lake Golf Course is home this year to the PGA Tour Championship and home course of Bobby Jones. The head golf professional at Chevy Chase Club and my friend Jim Fitzgerald arranged for me to play East Lake with a member and friend of his. I pulled into the gate and checked my car at the valet in front of the clubhouse. The main entrance is beautiful and laden with Bobby Jones memorabilia. A hallway along the back of the main foyer led to the extensive and immaculate Golf Proshop. There, I checked with the desk and was told to head to the range where my bag and caddy would be waiting. On the range, I was introduced to Tom, the member of East Lake, and his friend Larry. Tom is a generous man of average build and exceptional spirit. Larry would prove to add comic relief to the round while imparting a graceful and powerful swing on the ball.

It was decided before teeing off that I would play from the tips and Tom and Larry would play from the Member's Tees. The course measures a lengthy 7,200 yards from the tips, presenting quite a challenge. While discussing the course condition with one of the assistant pros, Tom mentioned that the rough was no where near as long as it will be for the Tour Championship. The assistant followed by stating that it was not unheard of for a player, while playing the course at peak rough conditions, to lose a ball in the rough, drop another ball, and lose the ball they had just dropped as well. Tom also mentioned that Billy Andrade would be in the group behind us and to feel no pressure. I could only guarantee displaying no nerves. The course is a beautiful and traditional golf test which favors long hitters and accurate iron play. I am neither but somehow managed to squeeze out a 39 on the frontside with a birdie on the signature par 3 6th. The back nine showed less success as my tee shots began to stray and bogeys became more prevalent. Through 16 holes I had taken no great than a bogey, signifying a fairly good course management round. Until 17 where I took a double bogey and on the par 3 18th where a quadruple bogey made its way onto my card.

The final score of 86 was respectable and did not diminish the enjoyment of the round. Larry's comments kept us laughing as Tom and I discussed family and family business and the benefits and issues involved with each. I am truly grateful to Tom for the round and am curious to now watch the pros play such an exceptional course this October.

Today's Round: East Lake Golf Course
Score: 86
Handicap: 8.9
Tonight's Overnight Location: Jacksonville, FL
Tomorrow's Course: The Golf Club at North Hampton
Tomorrow's Overnight Location: Jacksonville, FL