An Interview with Sweet Woods Golf Club Maker

1)  What is your business model (in very general terms)? How do you see your business growing in the future? How do you see your business in alignment with the future of Golf you foresee?

Sweet Wood Golf Company was founded in 2006 by several golf enthusiasts, historians and collectors. In response to the oversaturation of the golf market with high-tech clubs, gadgets and paraphernalia which essentially takes the “golfer” out of the equation. The partners at Sweet Wood Golf Company decided to develop a luxury line of handmade clubs, leather goods and apparel which emphasized craftsmanship and high quality traditional components and materials.

By restoring elements of traditional golf products in a very modern way we feel as though we are regenerating an interest in “FEEL BASED or SENSORY GOLF”. The sensory experience and club/shaft responsiveness a golfer could expect by using hickory clubs with leather grips and forged steel heads is unparalleled with today’s high tech equipment. So the idea came about to try to take the best of both the traditional & the high tech and fuse them together to create modern/traditional equipment.

2)  These clubs are undeniably beautiful . . . and you say they are high-tech – suitable for modern courses . . . could you talk about that briefly, how you achieve that?

Probably our greatest compliment/insult we get is that our products are “too beautiful to play with” or use. However, folks are always SHOCKED at how well our clubs hit. We spent almost 2 years of R&D to make sure they were weighted/balanced correctly and were fully playable. Most folks state that they hit just as good (if not better) than the stiff steel shafted clubs they currently own. As far as responsiveness these clubs “talk to you”. This is because we use 8620 Soft Carbon Steel Heads, 100% Hickory Wood Shafts and Leather Performance Grips where we suggest to NOT use a golf glove. In this way, the clubs becoming a tuning fork for good and badly stuck shots. You hit is well, you know. You it it badly, the club really lets you know as well. In this way, our clubs serve as good training aids to many golfers.

3)  Do you ever conceive these clubs being used by professionals, er, professionally?

Most definitely…These clubs play like any other clubs and from a sensory standpoint many golfers feel ours are even better than their current clubs. Our putters, irons, leather goods and apparel are all made to play a modern game and this includes for amateurs & professionals alike.  

4)  If you can talk about it, how are your wooden shafts lathed? Are you using modern custom precision tools or antique tools?

All of our shafts for our clubs are 100% Hickory Wood which originates from Tennessee or Maine. The shafts are cut with the grain to add strength and not from the Heart of the tree. The shafts are MACHINE lathed with modern equipment for consistency and are stained & treated with a 3 weeks water tested lacquer which is scratch resistant. As far as our exotic wood heads we use a variety of hardwood from all over the world. These include Bolivian Pau Ferro, West African Zebra-Wood, Rhodesian Teak, Brazilian Cherry and Birdseye Maple to name only a few… 

5)  If you can disclose it, how are the wooden shafts connected to your custom club heads (for strength and durability)?

We utilize 100% Hickory wood shafts which are hand fashioned to our Putters & Hickory Irons through precise dimension hosels. We utilize time honored techniques in our craftsmanship blended with the highest levels of modern technology. The produces beautiful and durable products for golfers to fully enjoy for a lifetime.

6)  Will you eventually produce spoons and baffys?

We may produce a line of WOODS in the future but they will not be in the style of the old spoons & baffys. Rather we may look to emulate some of the master persimmon club makers designs such as Kenneth Smith & Stan Thompson of the 1940-1970 period.

7)  Can you maintain product consistency with wood as well as graphite / steel?

Flex of Hickory of our Hickory shafts used on our Irons falls neatly in FLEX between that of Steel and Graphite, and is a perfect compromise as far as vibration dampening is concerned due to the naturally complex cellular matrix of Hickory Wood. That is why Hickory is used in Hammers & Axe Handles as it is resilient and dampens vibration.

Even steel & graphite shafted clubs break today. We have demonstrated durability on our side in that there are millions of Hickory Shafted clubs & Leather bags/products from the early 1900’s that are still very useable today almost 100+ years later. This is because good craftsmanship and high quality materials create durable products. That is our philosophy and we are very passionate about it. 

8)  Are your clubs custom fitted for different heights and body types? Can the lie of the club be adjusted? Can the grips be oversized? Do standard grips fit and can they be changed as on standard clubs?

The beauty of our products, their uniqueness, the overall high quality & materials and without a doubt our abilities to FULLY customize of products from the ground up. In this way we take a philosophy similar to the Kenneth Smith company who had the slogan “Handmade for You”.

9)  Are your putters better in some ways than the long-handled, shovel-sized modern putters now in use?

We believe so…but honestly it is not a matter of style. It is really a matter of the traditional components that we use. By using Hickory shafts, Exotic Wood heads and Leather grips golfers get a sensory experience or “feel” they just can’t get with modern counterparts.

10)            Will you expand to bricks-and-mortar store-fronts, or stay as an internet vendor?

Developing our own storefronts has always been an idea for the future. Currently we are penetrating the golf course/country club market and are enjoying having the freedom the Internet Economy. Even if we do open storefronts in the future, they will be very small and represent a luxury boutique atmosphere.

11)            And anything else you want to express?

           Currently we are working on a Nationwide Initiative which includes an Exclusive “Preferred Vendor Program” for select Country Clubs/Resorts/Courses to carry our line. This will only be available to 3-5% of the market and will be very exclusive. As well, we are planning on producing a “Luxury Golf Tour” which will be a multi-day luxury experience for high net worth & celebrity clientele. It will be an all inclusive event with 5 Star Hotels & Restaurants, Luxury Seminars/Showcases and culminating in  a unique Modern Clubs/Hickory Club golf scramble. In short, Sweet Wood Golf Company’s goal is to push “Luxury Golf” out to the golf industry in our own creative way.

Loyalty

The only news of the day was Tiger Woods' saying he was changing putters after more than a decade. That prompted one-liners in the press room about being more loyal to one's putter than one's wife. Shameful to stoop that low.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre-british-open-20100714,0,3048059.column

BB Ranch nee' Hidden Springs - Harper TX

6340 Yds, Par 72, SLope 125, by Clyde & Peggy Smith (orig.)

Well what kinda of experience can one expect out here in the Outback of Texas,  for $19? I think the place doubles as a limestone quarry . . . as you can see they have boulders to spare . . . .

What's odd is that there's another stonehenge in Kerrville, actually Ingram, in the same way this course is in Fredericksburg, actually Harper. . . .

I kinda rushed over to the 1st tee, to make sure I beat a couple of other groups onto the course, but I had to pause a minute over the first tee shot . . . 440 yds, uphill, into the wind, and looking kinda "shut-off" if you see what I mean . . .

I finally just went ahead and lambasted it . . . kinda hung out right on me . . . but in play, and I'm figgering a 3 shot hole this day, just cuz my last round I wasn't getting my distance . . . it was kinda behind a tree, and I figgered 200+ more yards (hmpf, that's weird, them using one of those stonehenge size stones to mark 200yds?)  so more uphill, against the wind, I hit 5wood, hooked it some, trying to smooth it. Then I realized, those big stones are 150yd markers . . . 8^0 . . . so, my drive was 290 in very adverse conditions, that was the good news, the bad news was I prob'ly hit it 50 yds PAST the green up into the woods . . . just gave myself sort of a desert drop, and got up-and-down for bogey. I have to be good to myself on vacation.

I started getting a queasy feeling on the 2nd tee, it looked this cut-off, too . . . I tried to smooth hook it around the 110 degree dogleg and got a double-cross straight ball -- and OMG, that wind, too -- right thru the dogleg . . . I looked a little bit in the fairway beyond the rocky trash outside the dogleg, but I gave it up with a shrug . . . another drop . . . but I was floundering now due to my disgruntledness . . . If I wasn't in a hurry, I woulda liked to go back to one and start over. . . 9 on this bent SOB and I am already fed up with live oaks and blind shots -- but the whole course will be like that.

I shoulda just kept my driver in my bag, used fairway woods, but I got away with it on #3 . . . over the faux dogleg on the left then an expert trouble shot with the magic 5iron upby the green, up-and-down for par . . . the greens were pretty flat, & bermuda, so right away I felt at home.

I'd be surprised if they haven't lost some golfers on #4 after that start. . . long holes, tight fairways with blind shots and trees crowding 'em . . . lotta guys would just throw themselves offn a cliff like this . . . big ole target with a PW, NBD. . . Par for me.

Now back to the frustration . . . I see a little sense in that giveaway par 3 #4 . . . 8^) . . . the rest of the holes on the front 9 are very short, usta be part of the original executive 9 . . . it's no job to get over those live oaks, but still a question about how much to bite off.

so I hadda hit another trouble shot out of the trees, downhill to this sheltered green . . .lotta algebra going on to save bogey.

I like this little hole, #6, but I'd move the green further back up onto that hill a little bit to elevate it . . . then it would really be dynamite . . . look a lot like #17 at the 500 club in SCX . . . same sorta deal . . . 3wood then a wedge up there.

Course since I had smooth-hooked it short of the trees on the left I hadda pitch out first, then blocked the 9iron right, so I took a 6.

I was a little more comfortable with the tight layout now . . . I mean, I grew up with live oaks so they ought not bother me, but there's some part of the calculation that just says tree, not how big it is . . . if you see what I mean, unless you discount it manually . . .but this hole is so tight the camera couldn't focus on the green, just on the dang trees . . . made it blurry.

So, I just smoothed a 7iron without hooking the holy bejabbers out of it, and stared it down . . . I tho't it would bounce hard, but it stuck hard . . . 8^) . . .

So I was pumped up, rarin' to go, but I couldn't find the #8 tee . . . drove past it twice before I figgered the routing out . . . flummoxed me so I forgot to get a shot up there, on top of that stone-buttressed butte.

another kinda quirky hole, to be kind, with this tree right in front of the green. I tho't I might float a high cut 3wood in on the green, but my line drivish shot caught the tree . . .easy enough to chip a 7iron out past the hole and 2putt back.

So #9 goes back up that same hill #8 comes down . . .the green is dogleg left behind those trees. . . I just tried to cut the corner with a smooth 3wood, but it double-crossed me again -- I don't really know what I'm doing, the empirical evidence shows -- out right of that little tree beyond the opening.

So Lob it up there with some bite. I forgot the bite. 3putted from there. Seem to remember it was really steep back to front, much steeper than most of the greens here.

I gotta say. . .take it FWIW . . . IMVHO, an' all that, but any layout that starts out a 9 with a par 3 is inferior

I was kinda lickin' my chops after the last par3, even tho' this un is much longer, but I pushed it a little over that tree right of the green, but it hit a hump there and bounced straight at the pin . . .

This was makeable, but I didn't.

I tried to cut this corner and let the wind bring it back, but wound up in trouble on the left.

Had no shot, just had to chop it out. In my irritation I didn't even see these two trees till I'd thinned a 7iron over the green. Double Bogey.

I'm still thinking I could reach one of these par 5s in two, so I cut the corner here as much as I dared and didn't smooth it, figgering a little fade don't hurt. Left into the woods again. As strong as I felt starting out I suspect the lay-off is telling on me again, affecting my so-called technique. Well, it wasn't actually the woods, but the fairway is so tight on this par 5 it might as well have been . . . took the 3wood out of my hands. . . just popped up a 5iron to make sure I got over the trees, blocked a 9iron into the woods hard-right upon the green. Had a makeable putt, but missed.

On #13, I'd caught up with a group of regulars, and they let me play thru . . . I hate to play thru, but I was rushing my round, and I'd rather rush than wait, if you know what I mean, but that meant I didn't get photos. I mean, I'd take 'em, but I forgot. That same fence runs down the left side sorta angling into the fairway and I misjudged how close it got to the fairway, my distance, and my not-so-hard-fade. . . I just skipped it, with a wave back at the boys. Phooey.

#14 has an appalling appearance. . . I mean: what are you supposed to do? I finally decided that going between the trees with anything more than a 4iron would be in the water and anything less than a driver would take the green-in-two out, so I just gritted my teeth and hit the 1wood over the trees on the left, and hoped it'd stay out of the water.

well, the lie was just turrible, turrible, and still blocked out, so I kinda pooched a 5iron out to the bottom of the hill where the green is then tried to wedge close . . . went over, and took 3 to get down.

I couldn't challenge this corner, even tho' it's obvious that staying right makes the hole way longer, I just had too much bad luck trying, and that is OB there.

So my 3wood wasn't gonna reach the green, I knew that, but I never figgered for trouble like this. Maybe I'll link this to my review of the book Bad Lies, and vice versa . . . 8^) . . .
I chipped it with a 7iron one handed, my left hand holding the tree like a lady . . . I hadn't practiced that . . . it came out ok, but long, and it took 3 more to get down. Bogey, to make 5 6s in a row. Ouch.

My teeshot on #16 came off the toe a little bit, but solid, and rode the wind right thru the dogleg. It actually wound up on #17 it was so far . . .near the bottom of the slope between that telephone pole and those trees. . . the fairway is on the other side of those trees . . . 8^D . . . I tailored a low slice under the trees but came up a little short right. bogey. woohoo!

It is the most glaring oddity of this course that the par 3 #17 is longer (230y)than the par 4 #18 (221y). I was wary of hitting driver, even against the wind, so natcherly my first 3wood came up short . . . I kinda smothered it trying to smooth it. Letting loose on the next un pulled it left with a fade that got over the water, but still short . . . shudda hit a half-driver, I guess. Tho't I was thru with 6s, too, but this was another.

#18 is totally closed off. I guess you could reach it if you hit a high one over the trees to the blind green, and I tried to, I mean, WTF, anymore . . . as you can see, I was pin high, but right, behind some trees and a bunker. I hit a brazen little 7iron pitch under the trees, around the trap, and onto the green, 15ft away. Can't complain. Missed the birdie.

SO: fun course, and no pushover despite the short yardage, due to the very narrow, rolling fairways and blind shots . . . some of that would mitigated with familiarity, but the layout is made for old duffers, patient and accurate, rather than the grip-and-rip-it school . . . and once you know how to club those short blind shots, I think the challenge might come out of it. I only count 4 missed birdies out of 5 chances, which irks when I was hitting the ball so solid most of the day, but othello balls (hit well but not wisely). I'd still give a 3 on the SCX Standard.

Coyote Del Malpais - Grants NM

MalPais means BadLands in Espanol. As I have driven down I-40 thru the years, from PHX to ABQ, there in Grants, past the stateline, right there by the freeway is miles and miles of volcanic tuff, nasty looking stuff, and a sign for Coyote Del Malpais . . . so I'm thinking that this golf course must be sort of like a NM version of a Hawaii course with tuff ruff . . . but ever time I made time to play the course it rained (if you can believe it) or there was a wind warning (once), but this time I was DEE-terminated to play in a Teddy Roosevelt way, if you see what I mean.

The directions from the HI Express include passing a women's prison and a large greenhouse operation . . . it was much further from the freeway than I tho't, but that was all to the good, the closer to snug up to the mountains.

Oddly enough, I was able to walk right on and tee off . . . 8^D . . .

This is the back 9, from the clubhouse verandah. Hmmm. Not really into the mountains, and I don't see any tuff . . . the pro in the shop said something about water .  . .

Ohhhhh. So you can see what we're dealing with . . . wide-open spaces . . . I figgered to lean on my driver and fairway woods and overpower the course in the thin NM air . . . that didn't exactly work out . . . that's the large commercial greenhouse at the end of the 1st fairway . . . $5000 fine for hitting in there . . . no danger of doing it accidentally, even after I smoothed a wedge 40 yds over the green.

This is the second tee . . . the course is not truly as flat and uninspiring as it looks here, but it IS true that the perspective is a little elongated from the extended horizon . . . I calmed down a little after my double bogey on #1 and smooth-smothered a drive to the left . . . I thot from the thin air I would still get my distance, but not for the first time nor the last this day, I was surprised . .. I looked for my ball up in those mounds indistinct on the left, but I found it 10 yards short, in the fairway, after several minutes. My 7 or 8 iron came up short-left . . .

I seem to remember a sand trap there . . . my ball wasn't in it, but I had at least 1 foot in it . . . but chipped in for a birdie . . . saw it all the way . . . so natcherly I figgered today was my day, and 2 or 3 birdies would be in order, but I was mistaken . . .  I wasn't ever actually bored with the course, and a couple of holes kicked my can, but I wasn't getting the flight I felt I ought -- my timing must've still been off from inactivity

like on the par 5 # 6 . . . I thot and I think that EVERY par 5 is reachable in 2 in NM . . . from the tee that tree looks like a shrub, from the fairway it looks much more intrusive. . . bothered me . . . just as well to go around it, with that water there . . . missed the green in 3, up and down for par.

On the Par 3 #7, I was on the green, but couldn't get the tee, my ball, and the pin in the same shot . . . 8^/ . . .

The par 4 #8 you could say, that is, I say, is the first really interesting hole . . . I was off in deep rough on the right from the tee, kinda lobbed a half-7 past the green, up and down for par. . . had to play thru another single on this hole which always throws off my timing . . .

The par 4 #10 has a rather intimidating outlook to it from the tee, water and mounds making it look like there's no where to go -- I think once you've seen it from the green, looking back, tho' you'd realize it was all show and no real danger . . . missed the birdie.

11 is also troubling . . . the water makes you want to swing way right, just to be sure. . . which then makes the 2nd shot even tougher . . . bogey for me . . .

#12 heads straight up hill . . . I had a trailing wind and sorta popped up off the tee, but I tho't it would be near 300 yds . . .nope, not close . . . another case where I spent 5 minutes looking for my ball in the wrong place 100 yds too far down the fairway. . . hit a 5iron . . . missed the birdie . . .

So here, my camera battery died . . . I have to say . . . since the pro had warned me #17 was the showstopper, I was so upset it affected my game . . . I wasn't carrying extra batteries, even after the same thing had happened at Palmbrook . . . but here's the scan of the course map . . .

The par 5 #14 was my personal fave . . . it's only the #4 handicap hole, but the tee shot over the arroyo requires a lot calculus . . . elevated over the fairway, but of an uncertain distance . . . I was long past reckoning on 300 yd drives this day, but I could see I didn't want to go thru the fairway, nor come up short . . . in my perplexity I came out of my shot a little bit, and fanned the drive . . . it was barely enough to make it over the arroyo, 40yds right of where I aimed . . . I hit a 3wood uphill, up the leftside away from the arroyo, but it still rolled down to the right rough, just a half wedge away. That was my last missed birdie for the day.

The par 4 #17 is a gruesome hole. . . I hit 3 balls in the water . . . 2 off the tee before I could make myself hit it far enough right to get over (that distance conundrum again) then another in woods/water on the right with a 3wood trying to keep it a 3shot hole -- 474 yds.

So on the par5 #18, the only thing I cared about was getting to the green in two, so I hooked my 3wood 2nd shot into the lake . . . the 4th shot 3wood flared right of the green. I indifferently lobbed up to kickin distance for a bogey.

Would be a good course for a scramble . . . wide-open, but trouble can be found . . . a little elevation dynamic, but no eye-popping uniquity, if you see how I mean . . . there's usually some wind to keep the course interesting.  . .  greens were in great shape, but not particularly challenging, easy to read  - - hey! that's not a bad thing!

A 3, tho, on the scottsdale standard . . .

Hazard of the South

from one of our Connecticut Correspondants:

The ultimate hazzard!

When golfing in the southern states, please take extra golf balls with you in your bag.  Hit your golf ball in the water in the southern states is truly a hazard!     

What is a Golf Ball Worth on a Thursday Nite at Oak Crest...

......ball was in the pond on Hole 16 at Oak Crest Golf Club  

......it was a brand new Titlelist with the Verso logo on it and he didn't want to loose it OR take the two stroke penalty as he was already behind in $$$points...!!!

NEVER  PUT YOUR ARM IN THE WATER TO RETREVE A GOLFBALL  !!!!!!!!!!!

So, What's Your Golf Handicap?

 

Importance of a true
handicap........

 

 

A businessman was attending a conference in Africa .  He had a free day and wanted  to play a round of golf and was directed to a golf course in the nearby jungle.  After a short journey, he arrived at the course and asked the pro if he could get on..

"Sure," said the Pro, "What's your handicap?"

 

 

Not wanting to admit that he had an 18 handicap, he decided to cut it a bit.
"Well, its 16," said the businessman,
"But what's the relevance since I'll be playing alone?"

"It's very important for us to know," said the pro, who then called a caddy. 

 

"Go out with this gentleman," said the pro, "his handicap is 16."

The businessman was very surprised at this constant reference to his handicap.  The caddy picked up the businessman' s bag and a large rifle; again the businessman was surprised
but decided to ask no questions.

They arrived on the 1st hole, a par 4. 

 

"It's wise to avoid those trees on the left," said the caddy.

Needless to say, the businessman duck-hooked his ball into the trees.  He found his ball and was about to  punch it out when he  heard the loud crack of the rifle and a  large snake fell dead from a tree above his head.  The caddy stood next to him with the rifle smoking in his hand.

 

 

"That's the Black Mamba, the most poisonous snake in all Africa .  You're lucky I was here with
you."

After taking a bogey, they moved to the 2nd hole, a par 5.

 

 

"Good to avoid those bushes on the right," says the caddy.

Of course, the businessman' s ball went straight into the bushes.  As he went to pick up his ball, he heard the loud crack of the caddy's rifle once
more, and a huge lion fell dead at his feet.

"I've saved your life again," said the caddy.

The 3rd hole was a par 3 with a lake in front of the green.  The businessman' s ball came up just short of the green and rolled back to the edge of the water.  To take a shot, he had to stand with one foot in the lake.  As he was about to swing, a large crocodile emerged from the water and bit off much of his right leg.

As he fell to the ground bleeding and in great pain, he saw the caddy with the rifle propped
at his side, looking on unconcernedly.

"Why didn't you kill it?" asked the man incredulously.

"I'm sorry, sir," said the caddy. "This is the 17th handicap hole.  You don't get a shot here."

And that my golfing friends is why you should never lie about your handicap!!

 

Palmbrook CC, SunCity

So: Delta had lost my golf bag in transit from PRG to PHX . . . So: I had to rent clubs . . . the bag man cheerfully brought out my clubs, and I went over to the driving range with Mr Science to hit a few, just to familiarize myself . . . I hit the F**** out of the driver and was entirely happy with the hybrid 4 and 5 irons I hit, too . . . much to my surprise. . . .but then I said to Mr Science, "What kinda bag is this? Powder blue with this blue & yellow plaid?"

He said, "well, it's a tartan! Whattarya complaining about!?"

I said, "What clan is this, then, the McSissies?"

Then the bag man showed up again, red-faced . . . and swapped that bag for a men's set . . . mumbling under his breath how they were giving him the horse-laugh in the clubhouse . . . I didn't hit any of those on the range, which was a mistake. . . everything was right all day long, couldn't finish anything and get around. . . .8^D. . .

As you can see from this picture of the first fairway, as Mr Science notes, not a very dynamic course . . . .

Mr Science Reports on our round . . . his round was so much better than mine, that I felt like he needed to compose this one . . . my version would be too full of @#%@#s and (*@#^^#@s . . . if you know what I mean . . . 8^) . . .

Palmbrook CC, a private club that lets the public in during the summer, to beef up the revenue stream.  In contrast to the golf course, the restaurant was packed.  They must have a high monthly minimum restaurant charge to beef up the revenue stream, too.

The course is very typical of Sun City.  I guess they're sort of limited by the topography.  It's all flat land, and if they tried to move much dirt they'd have big canyons after the first rainstorm.  The one outstanding feature is water on every hole of the back 9.  There's a series of streams and ponds, and the course runs up one side of it and back the other.  Insidiously, the water is on the right every time.  Jeff Hardin is to blame for that.  He worked with Greg Nash on several courses, notably Los Caballeros, and was obviously influenced by him, or perhaps it was the other way around, as this one opened in 1973 and I think Nash's courses are mainly newer than that. 

It all started on #6, really.  After OB's and 7's on #1 and #2, I went par, bogey, bogey and was really looking forward to the beer on 16.  But then I hit my first green in regulation on #6, a par 5, and made par.  Likewise on 7 and 9, with a scrambler on 8.  On 10, I drove into the hazard left of the fairway (just before it crossed to the right side), and played the 2nd shot from an inch or so of water on concrete.  I ended up making a 10-foot breaker for a Jacques Cousteau par.   11 is a par-3 over water, where Cactus Dave skipped it all the way across, and up onto the green.  I hit my 7-iron too pure, to the back fringe, and made par.  12 was a "regulation" par, after hitting my 80-foot approach putt up two tiers to gimme range. 

13 was a bit exciting, as I pulled my drive behind a tree and had to hit a pitching wedge back to the fairway.  Fortunately, it is a par 5 and I was able to wedge it to 6 feet and made the birdie putt.  14, 15, and 16 were more scrambles, making par putts of 6, 8, and 5 feet.  Then on 17, a true black swan event:  on the green in 2 on a par 5.  It's 505 yards, and I hit a big drive down the middle, and a prodigious 3-wood, about 230 yards.  The 33-foot eagle putt lipped out, and I had to settle for birdie.

That was when I started looking at the card, and noticed that I was -2 for the past 12 holes, and could break my previous best of -1 for 9 holes.    The drive on 18 went awry to the left rough, and I had 150 yards with a big palm tree almost in the way.  I pushed the shot a little, and it hit a palm frond, and came up short of the green.  The chip was mediocre, and I pushed the 8-foot par putt. 

What I have to do is play 20 holes.  Take a couple of 7's on the first two, and then start the round for real, and remember not to look at the scorecard no matter what.

I think this picture of the 10 hole basically sums up the back 9 . . . or . . . it'll have to do, since my camera battery died here . . . oddly enough, if you take a flat-wide-open course and put water on it, the margin of improvement is minimal . . .

WHile Mr Science was tearing up the back 9, our playing partner that we joined mid-round, a member, asked how we liked the course, being that he and the other members are kinda proud of this course, which has only recently started letting non-members play, during the summer. I grunted something non-committal, but Mr Science diplomatically enthused, "It suits my game!"


"suits-your-game?" I queried him as we walked back to our cart from a green.

"Yeh, Flat & wide-open . . .I'm 2 under . . . but I didn't say it was my favorite course" . . . 8^D