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.