So, as previously mentioned, we played yesterday at Lone Tree Golf Club. It was as challenging as advertised, but never of the “Whap ’em over the head with a golf bag and watch ’em bleed” style of course design. Lots of bunkers (Doyce seemed particularly drawn to them), and the rough is well-trimmed but deep. A fair amount of water, both creeks and lakes, and I did lose my share of balls, but nothing nearly as disastrous as some other course I’ve played. Lots of undulating fairways and slopes, but a very reasonable course to play.
But not cheap. Forty bucks for a parks-and-rec district member, sixty for a non-member (carts extra, of course). It’s not that you can’t find more expensive courses to play on, but you can find decent courses for less. But as a special, once-in-a-while, it may be worth it, esp. if we can bump up our game a little bit.
It’s a long course, and I did indeed share a cart with my dad, though I probably ended up walking about two-thirds of it, as he went to one side of the fairway and I to the other. Doyce had a pull-cart, and clocked his mileage; I may go back to that habit (clocking mileage) again.
My game was unspectacular, to either extreme. My driving, particularly at the end of the game (of course) got pretty good; my chipping was awful, and my putting seemed to always be going off to the right (short or long). I ended up with a 118 for the 18, but that’s an honest score (vs. taking double-par on particularly bad holes), and only includes a couple of mulligans. It also includes, therefore, at least one 11. Given the nature of the course, that was pretty respectable for me. And Doyce beat me by just one stroke, so that wasn’t too bad, either. Dad had an awful front 9, but a very competitive back 9. So we all had fun, I think.
Doyce and I have both improved our game, but playing more frequently would probably be the main way we could improve further. That entails certain logistical problems, though, so I don’t know that it’s going to happen any time soon. Though the prospect was raised last night of the Margie and Jackie doing a Best Ball against Doyce and I (individually), which might be fun. If we had any free time …
Whilst we were golfing, the ladyfolk did some swimming, and went and saw Princess Diaries II. Then we gathered back at the house (along with Randy), ate some good grub (but none of the dessert), and then the guys watched The Legend of Bagger Vance (goofy, but a good golf flick), while the ladies watched How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days downstairs.
All in all, a nice day.