The 2006 Travels of Richard n Shirley

There were four golf days and we took advantage of them. We have been here 13 days and only four decent days so far. Today is more of the same of the weather we have had since thursday. Chance of rain continues.

The forecast is:

30% showers
overcast skies
current temp is 38
low overnight was 37
forecast high is 55

Yada, Yada, Yada

Afternoon update:

the high for the day was reached and its 45. The forecast for tommorrow is 70. Hope so.

It started as light sprinkles during the night. This morning this changed to rain. And all day it has rained with afternoon winds of 10-20 with 25 mph gusts. The temp has been in the low 60's and is now at 59. And tomorrw is more of the same with 50 for the high and saturday is more of the same with a 55. We have not had good weather since we got here.

We went this morning and played the front nine. I was with 2 couples with a wife not playing. The front has narrow fairways and better greens. the greens as slightly elevated but still mostly flat. The signs for the hole your to play is missing on most of the holes. Those that are there are mutalate.

The last two holes have water. #8, 347 yards has water all along the right side. #9, 535 yards has a pond at the 150 marker that is 40 yards long toward the green. the fairway is split and goes around the pond which site in the middle. A drive, layup and long wood will put you on the green in 3. I did it this way, drive, 8 iron and had a 200 yard third shot to the green. With an elevated green, a long second is a full carry and if short will hit the incline to the green. A little car in replacing the pin dirt would be nice to keep the green smooth. I saw several greens where the previous pin location was a bouncer if you had a putt that way. There is more traps on the front than the back. With the sprinklers running, the sand is wet and compacted.

Now that I have had a practice round, the next game will be scored. Winter rules will apply with the amount of casual water from over watering the fairways. Lift, clean and place for better scores. The ball tally is: 1 into the water on #8, none lost. There is very little rough on the front.

With the weather forecast, wednesday is a golf day, then its sunday for the next. Rain is a coming with cooler temps. Shucks, its got to get better. In the mean time, there is pool, poker and gin.

The high was 56* with a light north wind. I wore jeans, t shirt, sweat swirt and a light jacket. It was cooler than 56* when I started about 1 pm. I only played the back nine at $6.00. I did a little putting at the practice green. It was slow and fairly flat. From there I went to the #10 tee and was off. The tee box is good, most of the fairways are not and the greens are fair. Its my understanding the super is working on making the course a better course with more water to get the grass to grow.

I played all the tees from the back "black". Not that I'm any good but to get a feel for the length of the 6700 yards. The 11th hole is a par 3 with an island green. Its about 196 yards. #13 is a 425 yard par 4 with water on the left after the tee shot. #16 is a par 4, 436 yards with water short of the green. #18 is a long par 5, 554 yards, with water on the left side. The green is below the fairway and for my first time was difficult to find. I ended up in the water left of the green. Nearlly all the greens are flat. #18 slopes toward the water on the right. Lost ball tally, 2 in the knee high rough and 1 in the water. Need to find balls to replace my found practice sack.

I will play the front nine or the full 18 tomorrow as its a warmer day, high in the mid 60's. Wednesday will be the last golf day till sunday with lower temps and possible rain.

DW will fly home for a week wednesday at 11:10 am so my golf is in the afternoon. She will be gone a week so I will have to eat out to keep from cooking. I'll get to the laundry down the way and wash the clothes to make her think I've been working hard, (don't tell her I played golf while she was gone). With all this local knowledge, lets see if I can break 100.

Temp: 55*, 40* this morning.
Propane is $2.20 per gallon, the electric heat and water heater are off.
Electric usage: to date its 159 kwh @ $0.15/kwh.

Its not to cool but the wind is 10-20 and it rains now and then. Church is it 10 am here and if its not pouring down, we will go. They need the rain here. Just like it warmer. We are paying for our electricty here and we have had to turn off the electric hot water heater and the little electric heaters. From monday to yesterday morning we used 100 kwh of power. Turning these two off should save us some. For house heat we are using our propane. I expect to use $2.00 per day at the $0.15 per kwh rate. Thats about 13 kwh. With all that stuff running we were using 20 kwh per day.

Late Afternoon Update-

The temp dropped to 49 for the low so far. 50 was the best it has gotten to on the high side. We did make church this morning. It was not wet but very windy. Still very windy. We went and shot some more pool. On days like this, its inside activities or none at all. DW has gone to the exercise room and lift weights and ..... Once I get some tennis shoes, I can go there, get my instructions on the machines and then get in some exercise. Will get in some golf probably starting tuesday. Till then its to cool. Lots of the buildings here are open 24/7. with a security gate and security patrol, there should be next to no problems.

There is a scheduled parade of bicycles and golf carts this evening. With the weather, its gonna be cold in this wind. We will not be in it or watch it. Not worth getting sick over. Lets see what monday brings and see if we can get some more pics.