Archive for category Golf
Off to Colorado
… for three days of golf with brothers-in-law Bo and Zyg. Flying first-class with lovely weather en route.
Mt. Si Club Championship. Ooof!
After a ho-hum 86 on Saturday I wasn’t very inspired to play a second round today. And after pulling each of my first two tee shots well left, my enthusiasm wavered even more. Still, I scrambled like crazy for a 41 over the front nine and realized I was just two shots from the lead in my division. However, the dreaded left-pull hit me again and again on the back nine and I suffered through five penalty strokes, limping in with a back nine of 55: the worst nine-hole score on Mt. Si since the very first round I ever played.
Beautiful Bandon Beach
Part of the wonder of Bandon Dunes lies a few miles north of the golf courses. Bandon Beach seems to always produce fabulous seascapes. After a day of mediocre golf this is a pretty serene end of the day:
Old Mac and Trails
Panorama of Old Macdonald
It seems as though on every Bandon trip I end up playing the Old Macdonald and Trails courses on the same day. It’s a pretty demanding effort: Old Mac is just so expansive with long holes and distances between the tee boxes while trails is the hilliest of the Bandon Dunes tracks. Curiously, Old Mac has become my favorite course here in spite of its difficulty and unique truly links layout. I had my best round ever at Old Mac this morning with an 86. And I was holding my own on Trails –my nemesis course here– until I just wore out and carded triple bogeys on 16 and 18 for a final score of 94.
Bandon Dunes Again
I can’t seem to stay away from this place no matter how mediocre my golf game is. And with the current heat wave in North Bend I had more than enough incentive to head south for the third time this year. What’s not to like with views like this one looking north from the 16th tee at the Bandon Dunes course.
And here’s a panorama of the 16th fairway, one of the most beautiful golf holes in America (tee box on the right, green between the ocean and those dark green shrubs on the left).
For the record, I shot very poor rounds of 95 (Bandon Dunes) and 98 (Pacific Dunes), two of my worst score here ever.
Whew! Seven Rounds of Golf in Eight Days.
I drove over the mountains to the Suncadia Resort on Friday the 15th to escape the gloomy skies here in North Bend. Since then I’ve played two more round there and four here at Mt. Si. My spree wrapped up nicely yesterday with an 80, my best score this year.
Foggy 2nd Tee at Mt. Si
Another Trip to Gamble Sands
Ron Hillis and I did an overnight, Tuesday/Wednesday, two-rounds trip to Gamble Sands. The weather was great except for the gusty winds; breezy enough to be annoying. I shot so-so rounds of 91 and 88, in each outing suffering from just a few bad holes but otherwise playing ok. We did see a couple of snakes and I got a photo of this handsome fellow on the 17th fairway this afternoon.
Another Round at Gamble Sands
I so like this course and haven’t yet tired of the three-hour drive. Accompanied by my golf buddy, Ron Hillis, I was back at Gamble Sands today, shooting a steady round of 87 with two birdies and one, very ugly, four-putt triple bogey. For the fourth consecutive round I managed to birdie the par-five 18th hole this time by getting out of a fairway bunker after an errant drive and chipping in from fifteen feet off the green for the hole out.
Out and Back to Gamble Sands
With the local weather forecast looking pretty wet for the next week or so, I decided to sprint over to the “dry side” and enjoy another round of golf at Gamble Sands. It was a terrific afternoon: 64 degrees and mix of clouds and sun. I didn’t score well (92) but I felt good working on the many swing changes I have underway. I drove the ball well hitting 10 fairways with no lost balls/penalties. If I had putted better the score would have been fine. One cool thing, I birdied the 450-yard par five 18th hole for the third consecutive time. This time, I crushed a 290 yard drive then went over the green into a bunker with my second shot. Out of the sand in three, I made a 19-foot putt to end the round!
Gamble Sands, Hole #2
Pacific Dunes and Home
7:40 tee time this morning at Pacific Dunes, my favorite course at the Bandon Resort. Ball-striking today was much better than Wednesday but my short game didn’t hold up. I hit 10 fairways but recorded par on only two of those holes. Mishit wedges on the par-4 16th hole produced an eight and I limped off with a 93. Still, I love this place.
Pacific Dunes: Tee at the par-5 Third Hole
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