Completing the triangle

Saturday

After working on those repetitive tasks on Sat morning I needed a break and called around for a tee time. I tried a number of courses without success due to tournaments or bookings. I am trying to played courses I have not played before but did try a couple that I had played last year. In the end I played at Grand Lake thus neatly connecting Grand Cypress and Cypress lakes that I have already played this trip.

It was about 1/2 hour to drive there and I almost missed the turn off to the course. There was no grand club house there but a very large shed with a pro's office in one corner. The carts ran on petrol. Last time I used one of those was at Wolf Creek, where the hill were too steep for normal carts. However I suspect the reason for their use on this course was that it didn't require them to be recharged.

I was the only booking for 1/2 hour but before I was finished getting ready a guy pulled in so we plated together. He played there quite often, which is always a help.

The course itself was good with hard, fast greens. The first few holes are tree lined but then it opens out into a more Links type course. You do need to cross roads several times and the outer holes wind between houses.

I was intending to play off the golds, second longest and walked past the rear most tee on the first. My partner said he'd play the White which are the second shortest of the 5, since he was nearing 60 and knew his limits. As it turned out I actually played off the black and decided I'd do the whole course from them.

My front 9 wasn't anything special with no pars and a 50. My partner left on the 8th, saying he had to meet up with someone. Maybe this was true or maybe he knew what was coming.

I actually played the par-5 9th quite well, with a long carry need to reach the fairway followed by a good 5 wood to a short distance from the green. The hole had a big dogleg to the left and the green itself was a huge boomerang. (see left) The pin was at my end but you could have been on the other end and not been able to putt at the hole. My chip was just short and I only managed a Bogey.

The next was a par 3 and I could only just see the flag from the extreme left of the tee. I did a great 4-iron to hit the green and then had regulation pars on this and the next 2 holes. The 4 in front of me let me play through on the 3rd of these and then the rain cam down. I did have an umbrella - in the car boot, since it was sunny when I started. Water proofs came on though. I got thoroughly soaked over the next few holes and there was lightning all around. I was counting the time between the flash and the thunder and it was 10 - 15 seconds so it was a long way off, but it was still a bit worrying. I didn't know where I was relative to the club house so I just kept playing, taking breaks when the rain got too heavy and eventually finished the round. By then it was clearing up anyway. A 44 on the back gave me a less than impressive total but it was from the "tips'.

Even with the rain delays I was round in about 3 1/2 hours.

I had intended to go straight to Tony's from golf but with the early finish and being soaked, opted for the hotel a shower and a change of clothes.