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.