14 of 70 : The Wanamaker, PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Florida

On Wednesday, we played the first of the three courses at the PGA Golf Club. The Wanamaker was named in honour of Rodman Wanamaker who led to the creation of the American PGA around 1916. The course was designed by Tom Fazio and is considered one of the most beautiful courses in Florida. With five different sets of tees it is truly playable by golfers of all skills. As most courses built in wetlands, it offers a lot of water and marshes. The greens are often well bunkered, and at times, one has the impression of playing out of a sand pit (see the picture at the bottom of this installment).

Arriving at the 9th green, the Clubhouse in the background

Brenda and I had a great day on the Wanamaker Course. The early part of the round was played in the wind and a chilly 62 degrees fahrenheit. In time, however, the wind subsided and the sun warmed up the air to a balmy 70. Brenda and I ended up even again at the end of our round when we factor in the handicap. I was none the less lucky enough to win the Match 2 up with one hole to play. We often have the impression of being on a seesaw. Even if we did find a few sand traps, I managed to keep out of the water until the very last hole. Brenda sacrificed one ball to a bad sand shot and another on the final hole while I, on the other hand, did my best to replicate Tin Cup on 18 by sinking two balls in the pond and finally landing the third one on the green. That is the price I had to pay for wanting all or nothing.

There is a green and a flagstick behind this monster!!! Just glad we weren't in it.

13 of 70 : Martin County Golf & Country Club, Stuart FL, Red & White Course

The Martin County Golf & Country Club has two courses, the Gold and Blue course built in 2005 and the Red & White course dating back to 1925, architect unknown. Because the men's league was playing the newer course, we ended up on the Red & White. The course is poorly maintained, the fairways looked like they had suffered heavy wintering which would be unprecedented in Florida. Even the rough is patchy. The greens, however, were in good shape and, as we have come to expect, fairly fast.

This being said, Brenda and I still had a good day out there. The front nine went by fast and the conditions were ideal. No wind at all  for the first hour and a half. For a while I imagined a really good game. My brother-in-law, Jean,  had forwarned me that 13 would be difficult. I am not superstitious but the wheels still came off the wagon on the back nine. The wind showed up as did my bad habits. Brenda was also having an off-day. After 18 holes we ended up All Square, not only in Match Play but also in stroke play where we were perfectly even after deducting the handicap differential. Quite amazing in fact. We enjoyed the day and the wildlife and we both were happy we did not have to go fishing for our balls. We did not see any alligators but did take the sign at face value. So far we have not seen a single Canada goose which is surprising. We always saw them in California. Maybe they don't like Florida. Today, however, we saw some Egyptian geese, at least this is what we were told. You can judge for yourself.

12 of 70 : St. James Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida

Today, when we woke up, there was no wind whatsoever and the river looked like a mirror We had not experienced such calm in the full month we have been here. It was just a teaser, however, the wind is back although fairly mild compared to the past. Things were not this calm when we played St. James Golf Club yesterday. The conditions, as usual, were rather fierce.

Fun in the fescue.

At St. James, the fairways are quite wide but, as you can see in the first picture above, quite undulated as well. Considering the undulation and the wind conditions, it still proves to be hard to pick a safe target. The course is well bunkered and water comes into play on 15 of the 18 holes. A less than perfect shot might easily find either sand or water (and I have found both). I suppose that one would become more proficient at choosing the right target by playing the course over and over again. By playing 70 rounds on 70 different courses I will never find that comfort zone. That being said, I find my experience most exhilarating and I am always looking forward to my next round.

Playing good cart golf! Glad those balls stopped short of the trap.

The greens at St. James are the fastest we have played to date. I might have said that about other greens before, but trust me, none were as fast and as undulated as these. The course was designed by Warren Henderson and Rick Smith. They have collaborated on many other design before, such as Arcadia Bluffs  and Signature, both in Michigan. Some consider their courses as too hard to play.  From the forward tees, however, St. James is very playable. I was really pleased with my game at St. James. I shot an 87 in spite of finding water and sand on many many holes. My short game really saved me and I scored very well on the back after I slowed down my swing. Another lesson learned. I also won the match which probably makes Brenda and I pretty even so far.

St. James is also part of a residential complex but not as high end as some of the others we have seen. Brenda was amused by some of the scenery along the course, hence this last picture.

11 of 70 : Hammock Creek Golf Course

 

Hammock Creek Golf Course is a Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II co-design.  It is another beautiful public golf course designed to accommodate golfers of all skill levels. From the forward tees the course is fair and very pleasant to play. Once again we had to play in gale force winds on many holes, most notably at the beginning and at the end of the round. Some of the holes must have been protected from the elements. As usual, we had good moments and bad ones. Again Brenda and I had a little match going and thanks to the coaching she had from Michael and Dick, she once more defeated me 3 holes up with 2 to play. Having lost the match I ended up winning the last two holes. Perhaps I still need to learn how to play competitive golf. To Brenda'a credit, this was her best round ever at 96. I should have broken 90 but a water ball, amongst other mistakes, landed me at 91. All in all, we had a great day.

You will have noticed the lack of golf pictures on this post. We didn't realized until we got to the course that we had left the cameras at home. Perhaps we were having a senior moment. However, golf isn't the only thing we do around here so it is with great pleasure that we are sharing some of our other adventures:

Feedng the Sting Rays at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center

Christmas Parade, Florida style.

And last, but not least, our encounter with a flock of Sandpiper chicks on our evening walk on the beach, a very short video:

10 of 70 : The Florida Club, Stuart, Florida

We really enjoyed The Florida Club as it is quite different from all the other courses we have played so far. Designed by Dick Gray, it opened to the public in 1996. According to the Internet, The Florida Club is the only course listed under his name but the assistant pro told me that Gray had signed a couple more courses in the region. If this was his first course, it is a  brillant piece of golf architecture. As can be expected by now, there is a lot of water on this course, and a few marshes to be negotiated, but what distinguishes this course from many others is the sheer number of waste bunkers. They are well named and did cost me an excessive number of wasted shots. Like water hazards, they at times border the whole length of the fairway as on the par 3 third hole, the par 4 ninth, and the par 4 fifteenth. A waste bunker, unlike lateral water, is not a hazard but it is hazardhous to your score. It plays mind games with you, giving the impression of very narrow fairways. And trust me, like water, it is a ball magnet.

Michael, Dick and I

On this day, Brenda and I had the privilege to be paired with fellow Canadian golfers from the Toronto area. These young lads (Michael is 81 and Dick 87) were the best partners we could have wished for. They truly enjoy the game and Dick in particular still has an exceptional game for his age. I think that they have instantly become heroes for me and I am looking forward to many more years of golf. They were absolutely delighted and admiring of Brenda's textbook swing and encouraged her to practice her chipping and putting for I would have no chance against her if she did. My answer was that I certainly didn't need them to coach her. I was in enough trouble as it was. After 17 holes, Brenda was 1 up on me and I needed to win the 18th to finish All Sqare. The 18th is a sharp dogsleg left with a long second shot over the water to the last green. I hit a perfect 5 wood drive to the edge of the pond and set up over the ball for my second shot, hoping to lay up short of the green and left of the water. But an ugly slice and a big splash later I lost the hole and the round. Brenda won again, 2 and 0, in spite of her foray into the woods on that last hole. She was happy to buy the beer and I was happy looking at that great smile of hers.

9 0f 70 : Meadowood Golf & Tennis Club, Fort Pierce, Florida

View of Meadowood's clubhouse and practice green from #1 teebox

Meadowood Golf & Tennis Club, designed by Charles Ankrom, opened in 1983. It was originally named The Panther Woods Golf Club and in the early days it was a private club. It seems that in today's economy, many clubs have changed hands, identity, and playing policies. We are fortunate that it has been made public and affordable as it is one of the best courses we have played to date. It also proved to be one of the most difficult. More on that later. It is said that golf legend Sam (Jackson) Snead played there from 1988 till his death in 2002. Being the Resident Golf Pro Emeritus, he could also be found giving tips on the practice tees. How nice was that?

Groundhog Day

 On this gorgeous sunny day my new friend «la marmotte» came out to play and, on the front nine particularly, we had a jolly good time. Which brought me back to the mid-nineties when I first retired to the Okanagan valley. I joined the Ponderosa Golf Club where on the back nine there was a sign that said we should be nice to the resident marmots as they might very well be re-incarnated golfers roaming their holy grounds. Anyway, on this day in Meadowood my friend la marmotte helped me out big time. I only had one bad hole on the front with my first water ball of the day. The water hazards at Meadowood are not forgiving at all.

Bridge over trouble

Water is literally everywhere and this picture is only one of many I could have used. Makes us wonder if Simon or Garfunkel were golfers, a new perspective on the song..On the back nine, with what felt like gale winds (I know, I know!), I lost another 2 or 3 balls to the water gods. That didn't bother me much. Thanks to my good friend Daryl's recommendation, I have persevered. My drives have improved considerably and many were long and straight. The wind killed a few of them and it felt like the proverbial two steps forward, one back, losing 50 or more yards to the wind. Makes for a very steep learning curve.

Water wasn't the only trouble. We also had to deal with grabbing oak trees that too often came into play. Brenda experienced it first ha and this time, it wasn't her day. I finally won the match 6 up with 5 holes to play. She called it the revenge of the marmot. Golf being golf, there is always another day and we are looking forward to our next round.

For a change of scenery we will go from Fort Pierce to Stuart were we will play The Florida Club.Until our next post then.

8 of 70: Island Pines Golf Club, Fort Pierce, Florida

We weren't kidding about the rain delay!!!

After 3 days of rain we finally got back on a golf course and played Island Pines in Fort Pierce. The course, designed by Arthur Young, dates back to 1970 and used to be known as Indian Pines. It is a lovely course set in an older retirement community where houses line most fairways but never intrusively. The picture above was taken along one of those fairways, somewhere on the back nine. The patio would normally sit well above the pond but after a quasi deluvial long weekend it seemed in grave danger of diappearing under. We, however, had the pleasure of seeing the turtles.

Island Pines is an easy course compared to some of the others we played, yet it demands attention. The fairways are narrow at times, often lined by water on both sides and occasionally traversed by a creek. The greens are quite small making them a tight target. And after playing on fast Bermuda grass greens we were surprised by the relatively slow greens at Island Pines, perhaps due to all the rain. Excuses, excuses, excuses! I did manage to avoid all water hazards today, sometimes barely as you can see in this picture. I also finished the round with the ball I used on the first tee. How about that!

Brenda, on the other hand, managed to lose a few balls on this day, most of them, however, she lifted out of the ponds or replaced, thanks to the new ball retriever. One of those balls was indeed miraculous as it skipped  at least three times on the water to end up dry and playable. Unbelievable.

Thanks to those small miracles Brenda managed to win the Match Play contest once more, 4 up with 3 holes to play. She finished with a very respectable 98. I played a little better today ending up with a 91. I did not perform as well as usual around the greens but my drives were impeccable. I even had a good chance at an eagle on the par 5 twelfth hole but finished with a birdie instead. Hope is in the air...we shall see what is in reserve for tomorrow.

7 of 70 : Fairwinds Golf Course, Fort Pierce, Florida

Fairwinds Golf Course is a Jim Fazio design and claimed to be one of the best and most challenging on The Treasure Coast. It has earned 4½ stars in Golf Digest's Places to play. In spite of a career that spans forty years, Jim Fazio is still not as well known as his brother Tom or his son Tommy, even if he has signed more than 30 courses nationally or internationally.

At first sight, this course, with its wide fairways, appeared to be somewhat forgiving, however, I soon realized this was far from the case. The fairways are deceivingly undulated and rarely offer a flat lie. The landing area almost always slopes toward some lateral hazard and even a good shot can end in a precarious position when not in an unplayable lie. Most greens are elevated and often tiered and, as we have learned at great expense, the approach shot has to land on the green as anything short will never roll on, very different from other courses we have played in this region. The wind also made it difficult to land on the green at will, even when we used longer clubs than usual.

More life lessons were learned on this day.
Lesson #4, It might not be your day twice in a row.
Lesson #5, Patience is a virtue. It is better to enjoy the pause, smell the flowers and watch the birds, than fume and complain about having to wait on each and every shot. The latter almost guarantees a bad shot when you stand up to continue play.
Lesson #6 Yelling at the ball will not affect its flight. It will end up where you shot it, not necessarily where you intended..

Brenda's game is getting better with every outing. Her swing is well grooved by now and she can hit the fairways fairly consistently. In spite of the wind and the difficulty of the course, she finished with a 99. Not only that, but in match play she was 5 up with 4 holes to go, another victory for her. My game, on the other hand, is in a downward spiral. I finished the day at 101 and my dejection is probably apparent on this picture of me at the 18th tee box. I was thinking «Beam me up, Scotty!». A good setup for a triple bogey on the last hole!!! With 63 rounds to go, some are bound to be better. Patience... And, for the final picture, which I chose because the bird's expression seems to reflect my feelings about the round.

Believe it or not, this was also off the 18th tee box.

6 of 70 : Club Med Sandiper Bay Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Florida

 

As mentionned previously, Club Med used to own two golf courses adjoining each other at Port St. Lucie, The Saints, which was the first course I played on this adventure, and The Sinners which is now known as Sandpiper Bay. The course is quite flat and fairly wide open. It is generally well bunkered and has water on all 18 holes but the water mostly comes into play as lateral water hazards. Compared to the first five, this course would normally be the easiest one to play. That being said, I learned a few «life lessons» on the golf course today.

Lesson # 1 : It doesn't matter if it looks easy, it is all about decision making, and today I felt like the sinner of all sinners making too many bad decisions. In golf parlance, we talk about course management and I sure didn't do that well during this round. I didn't give the course the respect it needed, lost my concentration, lost my swing and made one mistake after another.

Lesson # 2 :   One should always trust oneself and, again, I didn't do that either which brought me right back to lesson #1. I twice tried to use the «Texas wedge» (my putter) out of a sand trap and both times paid dearly for that mistake. As there was hardly anyone on the course, I practised the shot again, with my sand wedge,  after finishing the hole. This is allowed in Match Play, of which the Skins Game is a more difficult variation where the hole is carried over if not won sqarely by any player. When practising, I ended up with a par instead of the double bogey actually on my scorecard. I just needed to trust myself and my swing.

Lesson # 3 : It isn't always «your» day. Today, it was all Brenda's. She played well finally breaking 100 on this trip. She shot a 96 to my 93, a win for her when you factor the handicaps. She also won 11 skins to my 7. The one positive for me is that I won the last two skins in a putting contest after we finished the 17th and 18th holes even. These Bermuda grass greens had been eating me alive  all day, therefore, it was good to finish the round on a positive note. And, it must be said, Brenda was too happy with her overall result to be worried about losing the last two skins in a playoff.

5 0f 70 : Palm Cove Golf & Yacht Club, Palm City, Florida

Condos on Palm Cove Golf and Yacht Club

We have played some beautiful golf courses over the last two weeks, some quite wild, like Eagle Marsh and The Champions Club. Palm Cove is beautiful in a very different way, it is routed through a rich and unique development complex, quite well manicured, yet, they have managed to preserve the bird habitat such as marshes and ponds. Palm Cove was originally designed by Gary Player but the developper had issues with Player's original course and commissioned Chi Chi Roriguez and Richard Robbins to redesign the course as it stands today. Rodriguez owns a condo on the property and,  according to the attendant, he was playing at Palm Cove around Thansgiving time. He has since returned to Puerto Rico.

Tee shot over the marsh on #8

The course is short but by no means easy to play. It is what can be called a shotmaker's course which would be well suited to Chi Chi's game. Water comes into play on 16 of the 18 holes, at times so severely that drop zones have been provided such as on holes 1, 2 and 8. Well, on 8 it is due to a marsh over which we both managed to drive safely to post a par (for myself) and a bogey for Brenda, which was a good result on the longest par 3 on the course. We both finished the short front nine with  good scores which led to some expectations of doing well on that day. The longer back nine proved to be less forgiving.

Tee shot on the par 3 17th

That being said, it was still my best game so far as I am slowly seeing some improvement. I had played very little this last year, being too busy with renovations and a major move back to Edmonton. My swing is coming back and with it, more consistency. Some of my drives proved to be too long for this course and ended up in water that was not visible from the tee box. I still managed an 89 in spite of two water balls. Thanks to a neighbour who recommended  Sport Authority, we were able to purchase 6 dozen good balls for the price of one dozen  Titleist ProV1's. Hopefully this will last us for the next five weeks. Our customary match play ended up in my favour this time as I won the 16th hole to finish 4 up with 2 to play. Perhaps we shall consider a skins game for the next round. The last word goes again to Brenda with another picture from Palm Cove.

4 of 70 : Indian Hills Golf Course, Fort Pierce, Florida

I did make the green, left of the trees and the traps on the right.

Just another fierce windy day on The Treasure Coast. Makes for a challenging round, even when the course is rather tame compare to the last two we played. The attendant told us that the wind has been unabated since Thankgiving at least, and there does not appear to be any break in the weather pattern. It might be good training for the Scottish link courses, if I ever get there. The good news is that  there hasn't been any rain (on the course) so far.

# 10 carry over water

There is water on the Indian Hills course but, fortunately for us, it rarely comes into play, unless you are suicidal and choose to take a short cut to the green like on number 1, a dogleg left over the largest pond on the course. From the gold, a mere 380 yards. From the red tees, 290. In this wind, good luck. Indian Hills Golf Club is a municipal course which, as many municipals, is well maintained but with few frills such as flower gardens and flowering trees. The back nine is prettier and somewhat more challenging. The 10th hole, for example forces you to land your tee shot in what appears to be a Delta and, if you are lucky, you will still have a long second shot to the green over water. Miss your drive short and you have no choice but to layup. Most likely the best hole on this course.

I scored a little better at Indian Hills, shooting a 91 that included a lost ball that should never had been lost. Such is life in golf where the rolls are not always favorable. That ball disappeared over a hill never to be seen again. Well, as long as I'm not yet over the hill, all is good. Brenda showed up big time on the second nine with a deuce on the par 3 eleventh, and then, on twelve she knocked a TV replay sand wedge to the pin and tapped in a 1 footer for par. She was on fire and defeated me 3 and 2 in match play. Yet she had time for great photo shots like this bird on the left. The wildlife on this course was as exciting as ever.

Every time we leave a golf course, the attendants are there to clean and load your clubs in your vehicle, and each time, two things are sure to be said: what a gorgeous truck this is and what a lovely golf bag you have. The «Cadillac» of all trucks belongs to Jean and Yvette. The golf bag is Brenda'a nifty new travel bag.

3 0f 70 : The Champions Club, Stuart, Florida

First Tee at The Champions Club

The Champions Club at Summerfield in Stuart was designed by Tom Fazio the Elder and is considered by some as one of his finest, which is a fine compliment, as Fazio has signed at least 9 of the top 100 courses in America as rated by Golf Digest. It was nominated for the Nation's Best New Course in 1995.

This course was routed amongst pristine wetlands and Fazio was respectful of the environment and wildlife preserve. It is surrounded by a housing complex and yet, Fazio never allows the properties to encroach on the course. The views are incredible and the golfing experience magnificent. We are never, however, completely out of the marsh and we have indeed sacrificed a few more balls to the water gods. From the champion's tees, Fazio ensures that the scrach golfer is challenged to the limit. From the white tees the course appears to be far more forgiving but there still is very little room for mistakes.

Brenda tees off in front of the Pampas Grass

I only managed 3 pars all day, a few bogeys and way too many others. I barely managed a 99. So where did I lose all those strokes? Well there were those 3 balls in the water but for the most part the greens got me. The greens are said to be typical Fazio, with subtle plateaus and clever rolls. They were also incredibly fast as one would find them on competition PGA courses. You leave your shot short and are back down the hill. You aim for the pin and end up on the fringe. Quite amazing! On this day, Brenda and I played alone and on the front nine she basically challenged me hole by hole. For a while I thought the Lilongwe Open Ladies Champion was back. In match play, I ended the front nine at -2. I managed to rally on the back to finish All Square. A very impressive performance by my wife. Not only did she play well, she contributed some great pictures which can be found here. I will close with a last picture, just to wet your appetite. Cheers!

An invitation to smell the mimosas.

2 of 70: Eagle Marsh Golf Club in Jensen Beach, Florida

The course certainly lives up to its name, at least the marshes part of it as they are everywhere. Behind you, on many tee boxes; in front of you more often than you would wish for on other tee boxes. Bordering all of the narrow fairways making the dog legs very treacherous particularly on blind shots and as you would now expect, we also had to shoot over marshes to the green.

You really want me to shoot over this?

This being said, the Eagle Marsh is a gorgeous and most enjoyable to play. Designed by Tom Fazio the Younger, it is reputed to be «The Most Challenging Course On The Treasure Coast». Tommy prides himself in designing difficult courses and the Eagle Marsh surely is. The routing is always unexpected and each hole seems to be unique, and isolated from all others (you hardly ever see more than one hole at at time), each is a visual treat. Pure poetry. We took time to «smell the flowers» and enjoy the wildlife as much as the lanscape. Especially Brenda, my official photographer on this adventure. You will be able to enjoy more of her work in Picasa albums to be linked at a later date.

My new Garmin Golf GPS proved to be quite handy at Eagle Marsh as I was able to not only measure distances to the green but also to many hazards, visible or invisible to the naked eye. Many thanks to Julie, Sean, Lexa, Frankie and Al for their thoughtful present. Knowing the exact distances allows for better course management, even if one has to trample on his ego and lay-up more often than not. In spite of the techno help, the four of us managed to sacrifice nearly two dozen golf balls to the water (or marsh?) gods.

Sandhill Cranes

 The good news, however,  is that the $20 discount we each had on our green fees more than payed for the lost balls. We took it with good humour, and by the end of the round we did not see the holes as par 4s or par 5s but as four balls or  five balls, lost by the group per hole, and laughed as they splashed or disappeared out of sight. In spite of personally losing six balls overall, I saw a slight improvement in my score, shooting an even 100. A long way from shooting my age! My sister insists that I would have a better chance of shooting my weight. I had good holes and bad holes but the only birdies for us on that day are those pictured here. I will leave you with one more picture. Until next time!

Marsh crossing