One More Mulligan

As I look around for more potential places to travel for golf I realized that I hadn’t ever been to Hawaii at all let alone played golf there. A quick search about golf in Hawaii informed me that not only is it an amazing place to play but also the place that a few pros got their start. Michelle Wie and Dean Wilson got their start on the island states links.

Wie’s home course, Olomana Golf Links, looks like a really nice place to play and if it can produce a superstar like her maybe it could help my game a little. The par 72 course features a 129 slope rating and a length of 6326 yards which leads me to believe that the hazards must be many because the length certainly doesn’t warrant a slope that high. It also has all the necessary amenities including a restaurant/snack bar, driving range, rental clubs and carts.

I’m not sure which course I’ll end up on but I will make a effort try and pick one of Hawaii’s golf courses as my next destination. Hopefully I can convince the new wife that a honeymoon in Hawaii is in order!

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Christmas time has always been a time to travel to my family’s house and see everyone that I moved away from after college. Recently many of my family members have either moved too far away to make that practical or unfortunately have passed away. This year the wife and I were thinking of going away for the Holidays and that made me think of only one thing, golf.

Since the average temperature in New York this time of year is just above freezing I’ve had to put the golf bag away in favor of the remote control. After some research on places that have some sights to see on and off the golf courses we decided on Spain as our destination and I found La Manga Village. With three courses (North, South and West) I can play a couple of times at the same resort we are staying at and not get bored. Also, with its proximity to local beaches as well as Jacuzzi, indoor swimming pool, beauty salon and spa there is no shortage of things my wife could do while I am hacking it up one of the three championship courses.

I’ll let you all know how it goes after we get back, I’m sure we’ll have a great time especially since it will be my wife’s first trip out of the country and my first time playing golf on another continent. Can’t wait until this winter ends and I can golf more regularly.

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I am fresh off my trip to Las Vegas I am hooked on seeing courses in different zip codes. I have been searching for my next destination and keep coming back to news on the British Open and the beautiful links courses. I have always wanted to visit Scotland so this might be a good opportunity to play the Old Course at St. Andrews.

The similarities of St. Andrews and my local group of courses at Bethpage are intriguing.  Each has a premier course, the Old Course and the Black respectively, as well as other courses that you can play while staying there. St. Andrews other courses include Balgove, Eden, Jubilee, Castle, and the New. This makes the trip for me since I prefer to play a variety of courses and not just a couple of rounds on the same one. Another interesting fact is that both the Black course and the Old Course set aside a number of early tee times for walk ups in the morning. This gives everyone a shot at getting on the course even if you weren’t able to make a scheduled tee time.

I’m not sure exactly when I will be getting time to go so I have been checking out some of the other course options in case St. Andrews is booked for the dates I am available. The good news is that Scottish golf offers many other worthy courses. Aberdeenshire, Dundee & Angus and Highlands have come up in my research and all appear to be top notch choices that are affordable as well.

I can’t wait to watch this year’s British Open and day dream about taking 17 shots to get out of one of those pot bunkers or 5 putting on one of the gigantic greens. Truth is when you are on a course that beautiful I don’t think it will really matter how I play.

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Sorry for the delay in posting this round review but Vegas and the holiday got in the way. Needless to say my early morning attempt at golfing was much more enjoyable than the previous day at one in the afternoon. I play Silverstone Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada and had a blast. I was greeted and driven down to the covered real grass practice range where I was able to hit balls and practice putting until my group was at the first tee. When I got in my cart I was pleased to see a built in GPS that acted like a “you are here” map. I played with three locals, an older couple and a guy just older than me.

Things started off shaky on the first hole with a triple bogey. I was very nervous for some reason but I settled in and started hitting fairways. In fact I noticed that not only was I hitting the ball pretty straight but man was it flying! I hit my drive on the third hole 285 yards.  I had about 120 yards to the green on one of the early holes and ended up flying the green by a pretty decent amount with my nine iron. The course was in amazing shape with lush fairways and well groomed greens.

The front nine was a dream, fairways and greens the whole way. I wish I could have putted better but I still shot 45. The back nine was just as fun but not as low scoring. The heat started to affect me a little and while I still hit some really good shots I blew up on the 12th hole. A long par 5 with a dogleg around a water hazard to the green. I hit it to the right of the green on my third shot in between the bunkers in some deep grass. I took a hack at it and bladed it into the hazard. I ended up taking a 9 on the hole with the penalty. I carded a 51 as the sun was really getting up into the sky. My 96 total is a new personal best and really made me happy since I was playing on a course with a 128 slope rating.  I only wish I had started the round a little earlier so that I could have concentrated better in the final holes.

I highly recommend this course to anyone travel to Sin City. For any out of towner they offer a rental car reimbursement for up to $30 off your round. I played the entire 18 for $55 including the cart. Just stay hydrated and tee off nice and early! You can see more photos in the photo gallery.

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