Have my dad and brother up visiting for the weekend, so took them down to South Berwick, ME to play Links at Outlook. The first 11 holes are wide open, and easy to recover from adjacent fairways. 12 through 17 become tree lined with huge elevation changes, and 18 finishing up back towards the clubhouse.
I have played here a few times, and pace of play has been a repeating issue. Was a little rattled by the slow play, but managed to salvage the round with a birdie on 15 and a comfy eagle on 17 to break 80 and start the weekend off on the right foot.
The Good. Played The Dunes Club today and I just love this place. This was my second time playing but first time playing as a guest (learned there are no guest fees, just ask you take a caddy).
The Better. Got to the course far too early for a place that only has a putting green and hitting net. After waiting an eternity looking like a creep, the two others in our foursome show up. Now we are waiting for our fourth and a car rolls up thinking its him. Nope. It’s Mike Keiser. Hops out of his car with his grandson (I’m guessing) and says hello to everyone (4-5 caddies, GM, and the 2 other members) by name. Walks up to me “do you mind if we take the tee while you wait for your fourth. We will get out of your way”. Mind you he never actually stopped walking so it clearly wasn’t a question.
The Best. We agreed no cell phones all day, the way golf should be played. Foursome included my two direct bosses so it was guilt free Friday golf. As a result, only one picture.
I played at The Georgia Club (Athens) with my 27 year old son last weekend. 2 rounds! We don’t get to play together much because he lives in DC. I think it was maybe his 3rd round this year and he shot 72. Incredibly talented.
It is hard to describe how much I enjoy spending time with him. Play golf with your dad. It means a great deal to us as we age.
Had my first taste of country club life today with @DrJ at his new home course, Pekin CC. The weather was absolute perfect, light rain early on, cool all day, finally took the qzip off on 16 tee. Course was in fantastic shape, quite wet in areas after some serious rain and I think they have some trouble draining the course but nothing that really affected play and greens were still lightning quick.
It was an absolute pillow fight of a match but I took him down 3&1 to keep the c-suite in check. One would think over 18 holes I’d adjust to the green speed, didn’t leave a single chip below the hole. Couple that with some idiotic decisions to compound errors, made for a tough scene but dropped some timely putts to keep things reasonable. I finally found the driver swing at the very end with my last 2 drives (one a provisional after a Wyndham - ball that should’ve been off the planet right but somehow stayed in) around 300 yards. Now to keep that swing for the next 6 weeks until the Ope-In…
Overall a 10/10 experience and if I’m still in the area next summer I can see myself joining.
Harding was in pure shape. The greens were a little slow but that’s ok. I hadn’t played Harding in over a decade and had forgotten (or never really established in my mind) how good it was/is. Because it’s really really good.
Shot 76 (we played Blues although they were up on a few holes) but made my first eagle of 2023 on the 12th hole. 4 wood to 12 feet and a conversion.
Great company out with my RACDG NorCal homies. We walked in exactly 4:05. Resplendent pace of play. $200 to play a major/presidents cup/WGC venue.
Went down to FL for the 4th this week and got to play Regatta Bay in Destin. Very fun course and not too challenging. Played some of my worst golf and still kept it together to break 100. Will need to actually invest in lessons so I can run it back and enjoy it properly.
I must also say that they have great customer service. The cart guys were all very attentive, the carts were comfy, the range balls were complimentary (this is significant bc Im used to paying $15+ for a large bucket), and the merch was awesome due to their cool logo. 8.5/10 highly recommend if you can afford it.
K at these visors!)
