Goddard State Park, East Greenwich RI

3032 yds, Par36, Slope 111


hardened by my exposure to the mediocre in Greece, I tho't it would do me no harm to play a round with my grandson, The Babe, on a little 9-hole course close-at-hand . . . I don't think he has the game or attention span, yet, to weather 18 holes . . . so I passed up the Donald Ross treasure till another visit . . . 


One has wondered what kind of clubs one would get at such a place, and now one knows:

 First of all, those are women's wood-woods . . . I could hit the driver somewhat . . . on #4, I pureed my drive 200 yds . . . 8^) . . . but that mud-daubed 3wood betrayed me everytime I pulled it out of the bag . . . felt funny, unresponsive, like a wife with a secret grievance, if you know what I mean . . . no 5 iron, but the 6iron had a graphite shaft; when I tried to hit it, it felt like the head spun around the shaft and the ball scuttled off left about 50 yds . . .then The Babe said, that club head looked like it spun around in a circle! I didn't mind the clubs, per se, for this course, losing 1/3 of my distance with such a set made it seem more like real golf, but d-a-a-a-a-a-a-n-g.

 The #1 handicap hole is this 301 yd par 4 with a sharp dogleg left . . . I think it's the #1 because the temptation to try to cut the corner over the trees is apparently irresistable to a large percentage of golfers . . .2 of the 4some in front of us were in those woods . . . I tho't maybe that 3wood -- after I'd scraped off the mud -- might loft over the corner off of a tee, but instead I hit a line drive that bounced off the trees back to the edge of the fairway. 

 look at that bunker sitting right there in front of the green for all the fools cutting the corner . . . I guess the play is to try to drive over to the right side without going into the woods and creek over there, to get a look at the green. I tried to cozy a partial 3iron between the green and the woods, but it came up short . . . ball has a way of settling down in this turf so's getting any clean shot is difficult . . . . that's when I discovered that the PW was a graphite shaft like the 6, but with the head firmly attached . . . totally powered over the green with a half-wedge. short story: 6 double bogey.

I hate to make it sound like the course has no charms . . . so I include this shot of the par 3 170yd #7. I hit a 3iron not-quite-pin-high. bit right in the rough. I wouldn't mind trying this one again with some better tools . . . but there were duffers all over the place hitting metal shovel woods . . . guess they were going for the Tiger Woods feel of overpowering a course. I'd just like the heads to stay fixed.


Nice walk in the park with my grandson.