David Hillman
Well-Known Member
- Apr 15, 2008
- 836
- 0
Played 18 today, exactly 11 weeks after the last round of 2008.
On my way home from work Friday, I found out that my sister-in-law, new niece ( about 6 weeks old ) and brother-in-law were in town for a surprise visit. That brother-in-law is an even bigger golf nut than my father-in-law and I are. It snowed about an inch Friday night, so everything was closed on Saturday... instead I spent a few hours on Saturday holding my niece while she slept and we watched the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. During that, it was decided that we'd play today, if we could find an open course, since it was supposed to break 30*.
I called around and found three open; Cog Hill's two low-end courses are open ( nos 1 and 3 ) but charging ridiculous rates, and a links course we like and play often ( The Sanctuary ) was $10 to play all day. No brainer.
We teed off about 10 this morning, and the temperature was a beautiful 22* with a stiff breeze. It's a links course, with few trees, so it's always windy, but with the brilliant sunshine, it was comfortable. None of us were cold until the last hole, when clouds had rolled in and it started to flurry. I only wore jeans, a T-shirt, polo and Ashworth windbreaker that my wife got me for Christmas. I did wuss out and wear a glove on both hands for most holes, though. The temperature topped out at maybe 30 for a few holes.
The golf was intermittant, but better than expected. The greens were obviously frozen solid, but otherwise in surprisingly decent shape considering they've only seen the sun for about the past two weeks. I couldn't drive the ball to save my life until the last five holes, but my short game was outstanding. I chipped it to kick-in range so often that when I had a 5' for par on 11, I felt rusty with the putter because I'd only hit a couple to that point. Some greens were partially covered in ice and snow, but my father-in-law hit a brilliant bump-and-run across 20 yards of ice to 3' on one, so it was still playable.
My brother-in-law had neglected to bring his clubs, because he didn't think I'd find a course open (hah!), so he had to play with my 'extras'. This is great justification for buying clubs you don't need... someday someone else will. He hit my Drive4Show driver and really liked it... for a $30 club, it's pretty damn good, and looks awesome on course. He hit several beautiful 260y draws with it, which considering the temperature is about all you can ask for. I was lucky to get my 8802-like putter back, I think he putted better than I've ever seen him.
All in all, it was an excellent day. And my office is closed for the Holiday tomorrow, so...
On my way home from work Friday, I found out that my sister-in-law, new niece ( about 6 weeks old ) and brother-in-law were in town for a surprise visit. That brother-in-law is an even bigger golf nut than my father-in-law and I are. It snowed about an inch Friday night, so everything was closed on Saturday... instead I spent a few hours on Saturday holding my niece while she slept and we watched the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. During that, it was decided that we'd play today, if we could find an open course, since it was supposed to break 30*.
I called around and found three open; Cog Hill's two low-end courses are open ( nos 1 and 3 ) but charging ridiculous rates, and a links course we like and play often ( The Sanctuary ) was $10 to play all day. No brainer.
We teed off about 10 this morning, and the temperature was a beautiful 22* with a stiff breeze. It's a links course, with few trees, so it's always windy, but with the brilliant sunshine, it was comfortable. None of us were cold until the last hole, when clouds had rolled in and it started to flurry. I only wore jeans, a T-shirt, polo and Ashworth windbreaker that my wife got me for Christmas. I did wuss out and wear a glove on both hands for most holes, though. The temperature topped out at maybe 30 for a few holes.
The golf was intermittant, but better than expected. The greens were obviously frozen solid, but otherwise in surprisingly decent shape considering they've only seen the sun for about the past two weeks. I couldn't drive the ball to save my life until the last five holes, but my short game was outstanding. I chipped it to kick-in range so often that when I had a 5' for par on 11, I felt rusty with the putter because I'd only hit a couple to that point. Some greens were partially covered in ice and snow, but my father-in-law hit a brilliant bump-and-run across 20 yards of ice to 3' on one, so it was still playable.
My brother-in-law had neglected to bring his clubs, because he didn't think I'd find a course open (hah!), so he had to play with my 'extras'. This is great justification for buying clubs you don't need... someday someone else will. He hit my Drive4Show driver and really liked it... for a $30 club, it's pretty damn good, and looks awesome on course. He hit several beautiful 260y draws with it, which considering the temperature is about all you can ask for. I was lucky to get my 8802-like putter back, I think he putted better than I've ever seen him.
All in all, it was an excellent day. And my office is closed for the Holiday tomorrow, so...