I recently had the amazingly good fortune to visit a brand new golf course. It’s my new favorite place and where I can go in my mind when I need to “go to my happy place.” There is definitely more to come, but I will let it be a mystery for now unless someone knows or can guess where this is.
From the red tees, I made par here. Then from the blues (perspective shown here), I par’d once and bogey’d once. Click on the photo for a larger view.
If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you know about The Goose. She’s the 11 year old Great Dane I abandon for a few hours every time I play golf. Her name is actually Kess, but she’s more often called by her nickname, The Goose.
She’s never been one for chasing balls and so doesn’t quite see the appeal of doing it for 18 holes, but she understands my addiction nonetheless. Since she has retired from her security job, she has been restless and wants to contribute to this blog to give her something to do. I’m all for it if it will keep her out of the trash.
She’s so bored!
I thought the best way for her to contribute was to use her uncanny wisdom in a feature I’m calling “Ask the Goose.” Readers can send in their questions to her via e-mail using the link on the sidebar and if she answers them, I’ll post them here.
Before I introduced this feature, I wanted to test it myself to see if her response would be a good fit for this site. I think it is, and I’ll share the example here now:
Dear Goose,
What is the best way to practice my short game?
Love, Mom
Dear “Mom,”
I love the short game because it involves chips, and I love chips. It’s good that you understand this is the most important part of your game, and to make sure you practice it, you should make it fun. Playing is good.
Take some friends if you can and make a game out of your practice. Even wager on it if you want. With your bump and runs and your flop shots, choose a target and mark it. I recommend using something other than pee because it doesn’t always show up and it can be messy. Then play “GOOSE” (HORSE is so tired) with your friends.
You chip the ball until you hit your spot exactly, counting the number of strokes it took to hit it. When I say hit your spot, I don’t mean roll the ball there, I mean on the fly. Then your friends take turns at it counting their strokes. The person who takes the fewest strokes to hit it gets a “G” and gets to pick the next spot and start again. Whoever spells GOOSE first, wins! See, with HORSE, you’re eliminated when you spell it. With GOOSE, you win when you spell it! It keeps people from being eliminated so everyone gets their practice.
Now feed me.
Love,
The Goose
Sounds great – I think I’m going to try it!
I’m a little concerned that her responses might not all be this useful, but I guess we’ll see.
If you have a question for The Goose, you can e-mail it to her at askthegoose@thegolfchick.com or use the link in the sidebar. Update: Since the Goose’s passing, she still manages to check her email from time to time. She doesn’t answer all questions, but it’s worth a shot because she seems to be wiser than ever now.
Wow, did you guys fly all the way to Nashville just to play Greystone and then go home?
Well, no. We had our “away tournament” with our club in Primm (California/Nevada state line) on one weekend and the next weekend we were going to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion to participate in the drag races. Greg’s dad owns and drives the Beach Racing car in the Nostalgia Eliminator class and Greg is on the crew. Nashville is the closest airport and we decided to make the week in between our golf vacation.
The drag racing weekend
Beach Racing is good friends with Larry Dixon, Sr., and even though he is largely a one-man show, the Beach crew is his neighbor in the pits and helps when necessary. Prior to the Kentucky race, they were in Indianapolis together for another race there. We couldn’t make that one because of our golf tournament, but we met them in Bowling Green.
After playing our round at Greystone, we picked up the crew chief at the airport and the three of us met up with Greg’s stepmom (and co-owner of the car) for dinner. The next morning, we all drove up to Bowling Green together in our rental SUV, which also served as the tow vehicle for the race car.
Rather than having different classes for Nostalgia Eliminator based on index, the race was set up to do staggered starts based on your chosen index OR you could just run Open Fuel and go as fast as you can. Usually, we run in the 7.60 (NE1) class, but staggered lights are difficult for a twitchy driver. Plus, I think he was just really hot to try Open Fuel.
Greg and Lou (crew chief – in the hat) waiting for the signal to start up the car.
In our first pass, the car was tuned so powerfully the tires didn’t hook up right away. I forget what we ran, but it wasn’t enough to qualify. The crew used the data to work out a better tune up, and we ran a 7.36 in our next pass, which was exhilarating. We were among the top qualifiers but got bumped on the last pass. There was to be one more qualifying pass to admit one more car to the show, and I think the crew felt confident that our next pass would secure that spot.
Wet blanket
Then it rained. Actually, it poured. Evidently, the track staff is familiar with such sudden downpours. The announcers told people to take cover if they could and within seconds, the staff had removed all the electronics (i.e. the tree) from the dragstrip, and all the cars out there were soaked.
Back in the pits, we didn’t take the threat of the clouds seriously enough to put the car away like some of the Top Fuel cars did right next to us. Our E-Z-ups protected the cars but we had to keep pushing up on them with a broomstick as the water collected on top. The rain stopped and the staff almost had the track dry enough to race when it started up again. This time it wasn’t as much of a downpour but it was enough to stop racing for the night.
Dixon in his car, preparing for a pass. Lou in the foreground.
The Cacklefest
The award winning show cars paraded out on the track for the fans while they figured out what to do about that night’s planned “Cacklefest.” For those who don’t know, a Cacklefest is a fan-favorite exhibition in which all the famous nostalgia race cars start up and go down the track, then sit and cackle their engines in a noisy showcase of fumes. With a wet track, it was too dangerous for them to run down the track, so they were all towed or pushed to the center of the track, and fired up at once to just sit and cackle there. Dixon was piloting (cackling) the famous Howard Cams “Rattler.”
Things got ugly out on the track. One of the cars peeled out (accidentally?) in reverse and smashed a man against the wall of the track. Down toward the other end, I was just on the other side of the wall and saw one of the track workers apparently seizing and choking and fall to the ground. His friends and/or co-workers came to his aid, but it was all such chaos out there. Fans continued to scream and shout for the cacklefest, either not knowing or not caring that a couple of people could be dead out there. The EMTs were on the scene pretty quickly, but it seemed like an eternity before the cacklefest finally ended. I thought they would have stopped it when things went south but they just kept cackling and cackling. After it was over, I went out on the track in the chaos to try to find our team (we got separated right before the cackling began). I went and talked to Larry for awhile and, sure enough, our crew chief showed up there. We went back to our pits under a somewhat somber veil.
We had a little barbecue back in the pits and we got word that the man who had been hit was fine. He had been on one of those “rascal” types of motorized chairs and while he was shocked, he wasn’t hurt. We also heard that the man I saw in distress actually had been having a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. I never heard anything more about it. I hope he was okay.
The party’s over
Now that there was to be an abbreviated race, they would eliminate the last qualifying pass and if the weather held up, the races would go on with the limited field. We were done. We set off some fireworks and ended the night in celebratory manner. Even though we weren’t in, it had been a fun experience. The next day, it was back to being hot and muggy without rain and we watched some of the top fuel races, packed up the cars and our pit areas and headed back to Nashville where we stayed the night and flew home the next day.
Thanks for the memories
I got a lot of great video footage of the events. A week later, when they arrived in the RV towing the trailer with the car, I got that on film as well. Then I spent a few solid days editing the footage into a DVD I called “The Kentucky Experience.” It’s a fun little 30-minute flick set to music with some of the original sound – funny quips and vroom-vrooms – worked into it. It was a big hit with the team and a nice enhancement to all the still photos everyone took to memorialize the events.
Golf vacation and racing weekend – check.
Photo from the Greystone website.
After making our requisite deposits in the donation boxes they call slot machines at the Las Vegas airport, we were on our way to Nashville. Surprisingly, I didn’t get that much sleep on the flight. Greg won’t go see “chick flicks” with me, but as a captive audience in an airplane, he watched the ro-co they showed – Failure to Launch – and I wanted to watch it with him. Mildly entertaining for both of us. I caught him enjoying it a few times, which was good.
I booked us at the downtown Hilton Suites, right by music row in case we got the chance to get out and enjoy some nightlife. We didn’t, but it was nice to be back in a “real” hotel. We arrived late and pretty much went straight to bed. We had a friendlier 10:00 tee time the next day, figuring we’d need the rest by now, and boy were we right.
Our sixth straight day of golf (well, mine at least) at our sixth course was at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson, TN. We tried to pick the nicest course we could find within a reasonable driving distance. We chose well. We didn’t want to get all the way to Tennessee just to play some $10 dog run, which were the majority of courses we were finding in our search. We found Greystone at about $40 and thought it must be top-of-the-line. We were right. I guess everything out there is affordable compared to southern California. Even at Greystone, one of Tennessee’s premier courses, you can get an unlimited-play ANNUAL pass for $1000! At the premier public course in my area, the same deal is $4500.
Getting there
I had my handy dandy Google Map to help us make the 45 minute drive out to the golf course. I should have thrown it out the window. There are just way too many “70 S” roads out there. Bear right on 70 S W (0.2 mi), continue on 70 S (1.6 mi), bear left on US 70 (no S on that one)… etc. WTF. It turned into over an hour drive after calling the course a couple times and trying to figure out where the hell we were. Here’s a tip: if you’re traveling west on the 40, just follow the sign on the billboard when it tells you to exit for Dickson. I’m pretty sure it’ll turn into the correct 70 and take you right where you want to go. But don’t call me if you get lost.
The weather
I was worried about the heat we’d find in the desert, playing in Primm, Mesquite and St. George. I bought us a couple of those spray bottles with fans in preparation for the misery, but with some luck and early tee times, we didn’t really need them at those courses. The temperature in Dickson was supposed to be about 75, and even though I knew it would be humid, I thought it would still be pretty comfortable. Not for this So-Cal chick! And we didn’t even bring the stupid bottles! I thought the humidity was oppressive and it came with plenty of bugs. Eww… bugs. I overcame it to enjoy the round, but was still distracted on a few putts by the little flying gnatty things. At least there was nothing big enough to cause me to do my infamous “bug dance.” But I digress…
Back to the course
It was a Thursday and pretty quiet at Greystone. We checked in and received a warm and friendly welcome. I just looooove the southern accent. Then we went to the range, which was nice and big and allowed us to test-pilot the Tennessee grass. After warming up, we went back inside to get some refreshments to take out on the course with us. The girl behind the counter was sweet with a precious accent, but seemed to be a little more focused on her modeling and/or acting future (based on her conversation with the cute young groundskeeper in there flirting with her) than on our transaction. After telling us about the $5 deposit for the cooler-bag, she neglected to charge us for it. We were going to mess with her when we returned it and ask for our $5 back but we didn’t have the heart.
I chose to play from the white tees (6002 yards) because the yellows were only 4919 and I felt like using my driver a little more. Greg chose the blues (6426) over the blacks (6858). The course was pretty friendly, though still challenging. It’s right next to a quarry – perhaps a grey stone quarry? – so a couple of the holes are a tad noisy but not too disturbing. They made great use out of all that stone and the course is nicely decorated and strategically challenging because of it. Not only is the course lush and green and unexpectedly scenic, there are some really neat golf holes. Like #12, for example. It’s a par 5 (458 from the whites, 495 from the blues) and there are big rocks right in the middle of the fairway.
The par-5 #12 hole. Play this hole once and you’ll know what to do the next time. Here’s a good angle of the green that might be useful on your first time out. I guess I was too hot to remember to take the right photos, so this is another one from the Greystone website (nice site, btw).
Great, bathroom photos are starting to become my trademark. I didn’t use this one, but look how cute it is! And check out the grey stone.
Much of the course is fairly wide-open, but you still have to make some shots. There’s plenty of trouble to be found if you’re looking. The rough wasn’t too treacherous but it was long in places which makes finding your ball a bit difficult. The fairways, greens and even the bunkers were in great condition. I wound up in one un-filled divot on a fairway, but it looked like most of the golfers out there are courteous and repair their own damage on the fairways and greens. Either that or the groundskeeping staff really stays on top of it.
The par-3 #16 hole. Yes, there’s a little water in front of that fine display of grey stone.
Looking back on #2 from the third tee box. The natural beauty of Tennessee is enhanced by this first-class golf course.
Results, please
Like I said, it wasn’t very busy and we got through our round in 3 hours 45 minutes. I played a pretty steady round but still had one blow-up hole. I hit 6 out of 14 fairways but only 2 greens. I had one sand save (double sandie, actually – hit the fairway bunker AND the greenside bunker) and a total of 29 putts (vs. 47 the day before!) and carded a 93 for the round.
I was disappointed to find out that the only tees rated for women are the yellows, so my round was unpostable. When I called later to ask if they had a women’s rating from the white tees since it wasn’t on the card, they seemed confused: “You played the wattes?” You’d think it had never been done before. I submitted all the information to my handicap chairman to see if he could make sense out of it or if he wanted to post it with estimated ratings but he just tossed it out. I guess it was the ratt thang tuh dew.
Say it out loud in your best southern accent: Naiow thayat’s a purty gawlf hole.
Even though what goes on in this outbuilding probably isn’t pleasant, I liked the way it looked.
Overall, I was surprised by how much I liked this course. I can see why the PGA has used it in Q-school rounds and other prestigious tournaments are held there. The finishing hole is a beauty that leaves you with a great parting image and reason to return. I doubt I’ll ever make it back to Dickson, but if I do, I’ll be playing that course again.
On the fifth day of this golf marathon, we had a 5:20 A.M. tee-time at Falcon Ridge. That’s right – 5:20 A.M.! Why would we do this to ourselves after four days of four different courses, travel and gambling? Not just to beat the heat, which was the main reason for our other early tee-times. This time, after the round, we had to drive to Las Vegas to catch a flight to our next destination. However, for reasons I won’t get into here (feel free to let your imagination fill in the blanks), I experienced Falcon Ridge by myself. Let me just say that even though I was in the swimming pool at 2:00 A.M., I still managed to get a couple hours sleep and made it to the course by 5:00. 😛
Falcon Ridge is right there in the “Virgin Valley”, so it was a quick 5 minute drive from The Eureka. After checking in, I thought I might hit a few balls to loosen up a bit. And that’s exactly what I did. I hit three balls into the net that is the practice area and decided I better save the rest of my swings for the 100+ it would probably take me to get through this round. I was running low on fuel.
Yes, that’s the practice area, and yes, that’s the moon up there.
After looking at the scorecard and seeing that the forward/gold tees were 4821 yards vs. the next set (silver) at 5976, I decided to make this as easy on myself as possible and went with the golds. While I was checking in, a couple of employees went out to play a round. Other than that, I was the first one out and they didn’t put me with anyone else. Just me and an unfamiliar course I had to figure out by myself. Not that I haven’t done that plenty of times on the road.The front nine went surprisingly well. With such short yardages, I left my driver in the bag all day and hit three wood off the tee. I hit three of the six fairways on the front and an amazing 6 greens in regulation. Even though my putting let me down (steady, now) and I had 22 putts in nine holes, I still carded a 42 on the front.
The par-3 #2 hole. Isn’t it lovely? I hit the green and 3-putted.
Hole #6: A grand view, for sure. I didn’t see any falcons. I’m not sure they know it’s their ridge.
Be careful driving on the paths around here. There are some pretty steep grades, so keep it in low gear. At the hole pictured above, they were punching the tee boxes and the markers were down so it was hard to tell where to go. I knew mine wouldn’t be at the top but I wanted to take a look. Yikes! The path had gravel all over it and while gently braking my way back down, I spun out and my cart did a 180. Scary! When I got to my tee box, I had to literally clear an area from all the punched turds to stand and tee up. Not surprisingly after all that, I hooked my teeshot into the trees just short of that brown patch beyond the shadow and couldn’t find my ball. I took a double.
The greens
There are some really big greens, with some tricky pin placements, but they’ve also got some friendly flat areas. I’d like another crack at them when my putting’s not so incredibly off. I thought my 22 putts on the front were bad. Then I had a shocking 25 on the back! *Interesting tid-bit: The only people out before me were employees and I found myself repairing their fresh ball marks. Tsk, tsk.* Other than that, they were in pretty good shape.
#10 hole: you can see the creek that cuts through the middle. You have to pick a fairway on one side or the other. I chose left and even though I didn’t hit it well, I got lucky and it bounced right over the rocks and into the fairway on the other side.
Speaking of the back nine, I had some trouble there aside from my putting. Course knowledge would have helped because there are some blind shots. They do have directional poles, and you really just have to trust them. I’m always skeptical of those because I know they’re primarily designed for landing areas for men hitting from the “men’s tees.” The yardages were deceptive at times, too.
#12: Great view, but watch that yardage. I hit three wood thinking I’d be safe towards the end of the fairway just right of the bunker. My shot looked perfect, but when I got down there I discovered it had bounced right through the fairway and into the water. Then I proceeded to drop there and “play it safe” to the left of the other water instead of going for the green. Splash! I took a nine.
The beach
Somehow, I avoided all the bunkers the day before at Ledges, but Greg told me they were really nice. I meant to go back to the practice bunker so I could try them out but I forgot. Luckily, I got to try out the bunkers at Falcon Ridge on the par-3 #14. I accidentally hit from the silver tees thinking they were the golds (a 60-yard difference) and of course ended up way short. Before I hit I thought “the yardage on that card is wrong” and tried to eyeball it to determine which club to use. As I drove ahead, I discovered the real gold tees and hit another one from there, which is the one that went in the bunker and the one I played to keep my round “official.” Anyway, the sand was really nice – light and fluffy but still gritty enough to predict.The damage
I managed to hit four out of seven fairways on the back and three greens. I came around at the end (typical) and finished with a bogey, par, par, but it wasn’t enough. My earlier struggles and my terrible putting had me carding a 53 for the side and a total of 95. *If my handicap chairman is reading this, I posted the 92 after adjusting my 9 and 8 to 7’s for equitable stroke control.* Then it was time to go pick up sleeping beauty and head to the airport for the next leg of the trip.
My take
Like Wolf Creek, Falcon Ridge is also neatly carved into the rocky terrain. It also has powerful elevation changes and breathtaking views. With its $45 off-peak and $115 peak rates, I might even call it the poor man’s Wolf Creek. It was in really good condition, though, so I don’t mean to imply that the course itself is some kind of dog run. The current clubhouse has an old-school muni-type feel, and the staff was down-home kind of friendly. There was a lot of construction going on up by the clubhouse and the range, so they might even be building new ones and fancying it up. Right now at Falcon Ridge, it’s all about the golf, and it shows. I really liked the course. The layout is challenging enough but not backbreaking. On another day I might have tried it from the silver tees, but the gold tees were the perfect challenge for me that day.
If you’re going to Mesquite, this course is a must for your golf itinerary.
The next day, we drove up to St. George, Utah, one of my favorite places for scenery. After playing Wolf Creek, I was really looking forward to the beauty a course in St. George called “The Ledges” should afford.
The front of the clubhouse.
The proshop (duh).
We wanted to get there an hour early for our 8:00 teetime, and we gave ourselves almost an hour to get there from Mesquite. While driving up the road in St. George, we noticed a clock on a bank sign. Instead of saying it was almost 7:00, it read 7:44! Crap! No one mentioned the time change and obviously we didn’t think of it. Fortunately, it was a weekday and not too busy, so when we arrived at a few minutes before 8:00, they were able to accommodate our late arrival and allow for a relaxed approach to the first tee.
Even after our late arrival, I had a chance to use their wide-open range… 
…and practice green. You can see the chipping area behind it.
The first thing we noticed was a surprising absence of anything resembling a ledge nearby. The second thing, once we made our way in, was a swanky clubhouse. Fancy, fancy, fancy.
Just inside the front door.
Looking back on the clubhouse from the path between the range and the practice green.
The Ledges golf course has only been open for a few months and its condition reflects that. The fairways and the greens haven’t seen enough play to even seem touched. They were absolutely gorgeous. And the rough… oh yes, I saw the rough. Maybe most of the courses I’m used to have been beaten into submission by thousands of players over time. I don’t know the reason – maybe it’s a different type of grass or maybe it’s just trying to protect itself being so new. But the rough here is ROUGH. Not that it looks rough; it looks beautiful and green and lush and not actually that long. But it’s thick and grabby and difficult. It’s like “keep of the grass” grass.
We got lucky with the weather. This area gets extremely hot and extremely windy. The day we played, it was only about 80 degrees with a little cloud protection and the wind didn’t pick up until we were on the 17th hole. And boy, did it pick up. I’m glad we didn’t have that kind of wind all four hours of the round!
Keeping with the fancy theme, the golf carts are cherry and equipped with state of the art GPS systems, which not only come in handy for yardages, but allow you to order your food for the turn right on the screen. Even the cart paths are fancy – textured squares like a giant concrete parquet floor. And the smallest detail was not lost on me – the pencils are fine and sharp and produce crisp, dark marks. These people sure seemed to have thought of everything. It sure doesn’t seem like a public course. But where are the ledges?
The starter came to our cart to send us out to the first tee. The course had only recently been USGA rated, so the scorecards didn’t have the ratings on them yet. He gave them to us verbally and said we’d probably find the course pleasant and easy compared to Wolf Creek. We both played from the 6230 yard white tees (the tips are 7145). The front nine was pretty basic, flat and friendly, like many public courses. Nothing too spectacular to look at, nor grand elevation changes like I was expecting. The course was designed by Matt Dye (Pete’s grandson), and he did a good job for what he had to work with on the front. In my opinion, The Ledges is all about the back nine. I wonder if Mr. Dye was as disappointed as I was that the whole course couldn’t have been built on that side of the road.
This is the only picture I took on the front nine because it pretty much all looked just like this.
After you finish the front nine, you cross the main road (under it) and start the back on the other side. By George, I think we found the ledges!
The green on #10.
Now this is more like it. The back nine goes further back into the rocks and has a few elevation changes like I was expecting. It had a few really pretty holes and definitely was more of a challenge than the front.
Can you say “O.B.?” Wait, who cares? Is that Snow Canyon back there?
This is #15. It must be only the #12 handicap hole because of its short distance (281 yards from the whites), because it certainly isn’t because of this “easy” landing area for the requried layup teeshot. Nor because of the green that’s so “easy” to hit and hold, especially with that sucker pin. I was proud of myself for making a regulation par here!
Here’s the same hole (#15) from behind it. One of the prettier views!
They’re still doing a lot of building back there, so even though the views will have more homes and less nature, they will still be gorgeous. The model home we saw was that same beautiful dark earth tone they used on the clubhouse that blends so nicely with the other colors.
I was glad I didn’t have to use the restroom during the round, because there were none out on the course. With all the building going on and all the fancy details, I had some questions. Surely, there must be plans to make this a private club. So after the round, when I couldn’t find Shirley, I spoke with the Tournament Coordinator, Paul Holden. First things first. Bathrooms? Should be finished within a month. Homes? 2400 will be built. (And if you’re thinking of buying here, buy now, because the first 50 lots will come with a golf membership.) They will also be building another, separate, members-only clubhouse, as if the first one isn’t fancy enough. Oh yes, it will be private. They’re planning on a $50,000 membership fee plus $400/month in dues. So if you’re not thinking of becoming a member, you have about 3 years to get out there and play the course while it’s still open to riffraff like us.
I think I got spoiled by playing Wolf Creek the day before. Otherwise, this course would have seemed much more spectacular to me. They are really doing a nice job with it, and based on their plans, I would expect them to maintain it in such pristine condition. So try to keep it in the fairway!
Fancy restroom inside! Each stall is its own private room with its own deluxe sink and vanity, but just in case you only came in to wash your hands, there’s this setup outside the stalls. Leave it to me to photograph the bathrooms.
The night before we played Wolf Creek, we checked into our “hotel.” Some of our plans were of the last minute variety, which meant we didn’t have a lot of options for lodging in Mesquite, as some of the hotels were sold out. We figured most of the hotels in that area would be pretty similar anyway, so we just picked one – The Oasis.
Now, I’ve done a lot of travel on the corporate dime and I am accustomed to the cleanliness and amenities of the nicer chains. However, I don’t think I’m spoiled. I can happily stay at a Motel 6 or Super 8 if those are my options and for the most part, find them perfectly acceptable for what they are. If I can sleep in a seat on an airplane, I can sleep in one of those beds. I bring my own girly shower accoutrements and don’t spend a lot of time in the room anyway. As long as it is clean, I can deal. What really got me about the Oasis, however, was the smell. No, stench is more like it. Kind of a cross between a tenant-maintained old-folks home full of incontinent smokers and a Barstow gas station restroom. It filled the rooms, the hallways and even leaked into the casino.
I checked for bedbugs before getting into bed. All clear. Fortunately, we had an early tee-time so we got out of there post haste in the morning. Oddly, there were no visible signs of filth or disrepair or fleas, but I still put it in the fleabag category. We had two more nights to spend in Mesquite and I knew I didn’t want to spend them there. The fact that the casino wasn’t friendly to my wallet had nothing to do with it. Really.
Things start looking up
After our incredible experience at Wolf Creek, we shifted addictions and headed to a casino. This time, we tried out the one at the Eureka, which is the hotel that partners with Wolf Creek. If only we’d known that earlier! After warming up on the Blackjack tables, we headed over to play some Craps. That’s when things really started heating up. We started out betting pretty small, sticking to the pass line and the numbers. As we started winning and rolling well, we started to get spread out with hard ways and the like. Naturally, the more we won, the bigger the bets became. We were tipping like crazy and the croupiers were making bank on our hard ways. I had a twenty minute roll and a thirty minute roll, and the whole table was whooping and hollering, just like you see in the movies. It was fantastic! The pit boss lingered at our table but couldn’t cool us down. We actually both walked away from that table with about a thousand extra dollars each. Sure, we put a lot of it back before leaving town, but it was free gambling the rest of the time.
Checking out, checking in
There was still plenty of daylight and desert heat outside and we had some time to kill before dinner. We walked over to the hotel side of Eureka and secured a room there for the next two nights. Then we went and gathered our things from the Oasis and checked out, not even caring that we would be paying for two rooms for the same night. We just wanted out. The rooms at Eureka were similar to the Oasis, but they didn’t smell! The staff was much more friendly and accessible. We had a room with a patio right by the pool and we even found entertainment in our exchanges with “Crackhead Betty,” the housekeeper assigned to our area. It was a wise switch, indeed.
Also, if you’re traveling to Mesquite to play Wolf Creek, you might want to coordinate it through the Eureka. Since they have a partnership, you can get a good deal on a room and I’m told they can also hook you up with a lower greens fee than if you book straight through the golf course.
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British Open Ups and Downs
Up until almost two years ago when I started playing golf myself, watching golf on TV for me was like watching paint dry. Now that I am a golfer and I understand the challenge I’m watching, I still find myself falling asleep with the Tivo remote in my hand. Now it’s more like watching someone paint: sometimes it’s a masterpiece and sometimes it’s a white wall. The Open Championship had a bit of both for me.
Getting up
Watching Tiger Woods play a nearly flawless round (or four) is pretty amazing. He made some exciting shots even though his game was really safe. The final round had plenty of drama and intensity, especially if you were rooting for Chris DiMarco like I was. Having Ernie Els in the mix was fun and made things interesting, too. And watching Tiger’s emotional floodgates breaking down on the last hole was delicious. You could almost see his composure seeping out as he walked to the green and finished the hole. Then, when it finally broke, it was a dramatic demonstration of how impressive his focus really is. He wore that competitive golf robot persona for the entire tournament and wow, was it heavy. His emotional display brought tears to several people’s eyes and almost had me as well. Good for him. Nice win.
Getting down
Having said that, 18 under at a major? Seven players were double digits below par. What a dull course! I know it’s probably like golf blasphemy to criticize such a historic golf course, but come on! Boring. And ugly. Have these guys ever heard of watering a course? The announcers kept talking about the lack of rain there. There’s this thing called irrigation. Blech.
Photo from Golf Digest.
Tiger was smart to just play it safe and keep the ball in the fairway. Sure, he’s more of a machine than other players and can make more of those longer approach shots, but it was a pretty easy course for most of those guys anyway. And if more of them played that safe strategy, the Royal would have been an even duller dullsville.
Moving on
I often sit around and ponder… how can I be more like Michael Bamberger? But who doesn’t, am I right? I said earlier it was a “nice win” for Tiger. Or was it?
In the Conditions section on the entry form for the Open, it states that caddies must wear the Open Championship bib during all practice rounds and the championship. It also states that players are responsible for the conduct of their caddies as well as their adherence to the conditions. Steve Williams removed his bib on the 18th hole before play was concluded. On the 18th hole! Of course Tiger and Steve had gaggles of cameras on them for the whole tournament, but the most visible spot and seen by more people than anything is the 18th green and the winner. People who don’t watch or care to watch golf will see it in the newspapers and on TV without trying. And Steve wasn’t in the correct attire.
Photo from Golfweb.com.
So, should that have been a two stroke penalty? Or a DQ? The Conditions also state that the championship committee can amend and interpret the conditions, so I guess it’s up to them. Taking the win away from Tiger for such a technicality would be scandalous, for sure. But when it comes to golf, rules are usually rules.
Next post.