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.