Culture with Camoluscious Gally |
|
The Pro Shop at the Rolling Hills Golf Club in Longwood, Florida looks like it was set up so the pro could take a quick dip after a hot summer round. I think it's rather picturesque. The price right now for a round of golf makes Rolling Hills a good choice for a break from the same-old, same-old round you play weekly at your golf club. One thing about having a golf course with lots of uphill and downhill like Rolling Hill Golf Club is you're likely to find some surprises, like this hole that drops out below where you can't quite see what is coming. Nice city views make this hole a winner. And having a creek as well as lakes makes the golfer have to pay attention to how they will make their shots. The bunkers that raise the greens on some of the holes at Rolling Hills Golf Club make landing on the green tough. This hole hops a creek, then doglegs to the side on a raised bunker. If you hit the bunker edge, you fall straight down on the beach or into the lake. Fun course, worth the challenge of playing it. Nice neighborhood.
0 Comments
Bay Point Resort Golf Club Pro Shop
When my husband and I visited Panama City, Florida, we found it quite warm and beautiful and of course had to play golf. Our first game was played at the Bay Point Resort Golf Club (seen in the photograph to the left), the only time available was in the afternoon. Since we moved to Florida, we try to play in the morning because it is cooler. Luckily, Bay Point Resort Golf Club had two advantages that made it wonderful to play. The pro shop is a small place, but very welcoming and they have pretty nice items for sale. On one hole during our golf game, they offered us a golf deal, bet you'll land on the green and if you win, you get double your money at the pro shop, if you lose, keep 1/2. So my husband and I each bet $5 and we both lost, but we managed to pick up a nice palm tree pineapple marker clip for me and then my husband found a Nike Golf shirt with a pocket so he picked that up. Shaded Tees on Bay Point Resort Golf Course But the two advantages I mentioned Bay Point Golf Club had, what are they? The first is they managed to keep old large live oaks near the tee, so even if you do wait to tee off, you do so in the comfort of considerable shade. The second advantage that Bay Point Golf Club has is the cool refreshing breeze coming from the ocean. The golf course is along the coast, but except for the parking lot beside the marina, golfers rarely see the ocean. Favorite Water Hazard Hole at Bay Point Golf Course This golf photograph shows my favorite hole--it has this lovely lake and bridge (only to leave). The Bay Point Golf course has many water hazards, but most don't interfere with your game as long as you hit the ball straight. Many of the holes are quite narrow. Luckily, most of the golf carts have a GPS device that explains how far from the hole you are and show a map of the hole so you have advance warning. The Best Golf Courses with the Most Water Hazards may have you traveling all around the US in order to try them out. There are a number of hazards in the game of golf that help to increase the challenge of the game. Some of these hazards are natural, some of them are constructed to look natural as in the photograph to the left taken at Walkabout Golf Course in Mims, Florida. This raised green sits in a place surrounded by water hazards. A water hazard is a hazard because it is very difficult to get your ball out of the water with a typical golf shot, pulling it out of the water requires the payment of a stroke. Sometimes the penalty is the loss of the ball entirely. The Top Rated Golf Courses with the Most Water Hazards is a handy guide to finding out how to challenge your golf skills playing courses with water hazards. Other hazards include man made obstacles, sand hazards, bunkers, moguls, rough grass, trees and woods. Water hazards are often marked with a red stake as in this golf picture to the left, taken at Providence Golf Club in Davenport, Florida. If your ball falls in a water hazard, you take a drop, one club's length from the marker line. If a water hazard is not marked with a red stake, or a red chalk or paint line, the rule is to take the drop from the top of the bunker where the ball went in. Many water hazards are sloped sharply to provide a deeper water catchment to keep water off the golf course. Some, like this particular spot, seem hidden to golfers during play, due to curvature of the slope or indentures near the green. It helps to check the golf card or the hole post to see a diagram of the hole so that you know what is coming. Sometimes water hazards are constructed as barriers between the fairway stretches or the green as seen in the photograph to the left taken at Black Bear Golf Club in Eustis, Florida. The barrier here is formed by a lake. If your ball falls into such a water hazard, the golf course typically has a ball drop marked on the far side, where you take your next stroke. Sometimes the distance needed to be covered exceeds the ability of the player--this is the main reason for the ball drops. Water hazards can be made by lakes, streams, rivers, ocean, ponds, swamps. In areas in the Southeast United States, use a ball retriever to fetch a ball in the water due to American Alligators and Cottonmouth snakes. This particular photograph was taken at Providence Golf Club in Davenport, Florida. This card is posted in the golf carts there so that golfers will know where the golf will be on every hole. The starter at Providence Golf Club informs golfers which placement the flag will be for the day. Just before chipping on to the green, golfers can check the car to get an idea about how the green is shaped and how much space on the green there is for the ball to roll to the hole. Other golf courses may not be as sophisticated in their pin placement. Some golf courses don't have starters and the club pro or person at the cash register when ringing up your green fees will tell you. Some golf courses only use the color of the flag to indicate pin placement. Again, the golf cart, or the score card will tell the golfer what the color of flag means. Not all golf courses change their flag color or provide a map. Then it is up to the golfer to estimate based on experience (and sometimes a sneak and peek drive ahead) to determine where the hole is. Why is it important to know pin placement if you have a distance reader? Pin placement maps show you how much space surrounds the flag. Depending on the space around the flag, you may choose to have a chip with more or less loft. Hazards will also affect the decision. One of the things a beginner golfer needs to know is where they ought to take their drop on a golf course. A drop is used whenever your golf ball is deemed unplayable because of an artificial immovable object like a golf cart path that might damage your golf club. Alternatively, the ball might lie in a hazard. In this particular case, most players will allow the golfer to move the golf ball to either side of the golf cart path ( the rule usually states, no closer to the flag) and also within a golf club length. During winter golf, when the fairway may be flooded or too mucky to hit, the ball also can be moved, dropping it at the nearest location. In this case, my husband is holding the golf ball about one arm's length from the golf cart path. He's holding it straight out so the ball will drop. A golfer can redrop the ball if the golf ball rolls after it hits and ends up on the golf cart path or in the hazard again. More likely, the golf ball would be dropped on the opposite side if the ball were more to that side of the path or if there was a puddle on the other side, etc. Beginner golfer's usually don't play for money or professionally, so the rules can slip a bit--the thing for beginning golfers is to make sure they get a clean hit and if that means moving your golf ball a bit, do so. Just remember, when you play for money or with friends, the proper placement will make everyone happier. Other tips for beginner golfers can be found in my article for beginner golfers. Walkabout Golf & Country Club in Mims, FL is a fairly low key place--seating for the dining room is in a screened outdoor area with comfortable seats. The price is reasonable for a round and golf cart. The Walkabout Golf Course is currently in excellent shape with green lush fairways. The mid-nine restrooms come awfully early after the third hole and thirteenth hole. It makes the last six a bit pressured. That's the information. It has two great to play holes that bring fear to the heart of first timers. Here's just a bit of advice to prepare you for playing here. One thing you should plan on this course is to play your club that goes straight, otherwise you will likely end up in one of the lakes or woods. Even then, you might end up in a trap. The women's tees make for a short but tough round. From the sixteenth tee, it looks like all there is is one giant sand trap right in front of your nose. It's night quite true. Driving to a point just left of the monster trap shown here (about 140 yards for women, 180 for men), will set you up for a easy second shot to the green. After your drive, you can actually see the flag from either side of this mound. You aren't entirely safe, there's lots of water on the left and the green is quite small. I used a seven-wood for another 120 yards, then a small chip to the green. Play it safe but don't get scared by this monster trap. The eighteenth hole has a creek that you can't see from the tee box, so make sure you have loft on your drive because a low ball ( worm burner ) that bounces down the course will get caught. You have over 150 yards from the women's tee and over 180 yards from the men's tee before running into the river, seen just before the tree. The river is quite wide (thirty feet) so your next hit needs to go up two clubs to the green and over at least 80 yards. I drove (140 yards) then chipped closer to the river (30 yards) before using a seven wood to go another (100+ yards). I still needed to chip onto the green. Near the river is quite wide, but from the tee, you're quite narrow. Choose your straightest, longest drive, the move as close as you can to the river, you'll need it. The 150-yard distance marker is back 50 yards from the river's edge so a five wood (140 yards for me) might not make the river. It's best to plan ahead otherwise you'll pay extra strokes for losing your ball. If you play Walkabout Golf & Country Club golf course, plan on a good challenging round, average food, and a friendly crowd.
It may seem that golf is a very mysterious sport when you are a beginner. After you figure out how far your golf clubs drive a ball on average, the question will always be, how far do I have to hit to get the ball on the green. As this photograph shows, golfers are likely to find posts in the middle of the fairway. Typically, golf courses will place distance posts 200 yards, 150 yards, and 100 yards to the green. White distance posts typically mean there are 150 yards to go. Blue distance posts typically mean there is 200 yards to the green. Red distance posts typically mean that there is 100 yards to the green. But not all golf courses have these posts. An alternate way of marking distances is by placing a red, white, or blue line distance marker on the golf cart path, sometimes with the distance spelled out. Since golf paths take heavy wear and tear, these may be in variable condition. A golf path distance marker isn't as helpful as one in the middle of the fairway, because the width of the fairway varies and can add additional distance. Another alternative to the mid course distance post is colored, mid course cement dots that acts as distance markers that indicate the same distances--blue 200 yards, white 150 yards and red 100 yards. Sometimes the distances may also be found on sprinkler heads. But given that your ball doesn't lie exactly on the line of the distance marker, its still up to you to figure out how much more distance you have to travel. One way is to use an average step to equal one foot and ten steps to equal another 10 feet. A final indicator, given that all three others are missing, is to look for a tree planted at the edge of the fairway--often these are placed at the 100, 150, and 200 yard distances to make a more permanent indicator. It all sounds like you need a calculator either in your head or on your golf bag in order to keep track and do the math. One final option is to use a Golf Range Finder, as shown in te video. My husband bought a Bushnell Range Finder--his decision was based on the fact that there was a single button pushed in order to get the answer. If you get one, be sure to keep extra batteries on hand. This photograph of a dogleg on a golf course highlights the main reason that doglegs are difficult to play. Doglegs often go around natural hazards like ponds. Doglegs make the short straight distance to the green much longer if you play it safe. Often really skilled golfers have long drives, so can go over and beyond a hazard with ease. Beginning golfers have a much harder game. Many times the tees require judgment about how far to hit the first shot, often cutting 50 to 100 yards off your normal golf drive. But playing it safe saves golf balls in the long run. Here's how this golf video from Nikon Golf Course Management describes how to manage a dogleg.
The worst doglegs are the ones with forests; many golfers that try to go over or around a forest end up within the woods. For those beginning golfers so unlucky to end up in the trees, make your next shot safe by using a 4-iron or a 3-wood or pitching wedge if necessary to get a straight, low drive that makes it through the woods. Golf Tips:
Eagle Dunes Golf Club is easy to find, especially if you use Google Maps on an Android device like me--we were able to find out the unnamed road on MapQuest was actually County Road 437, use this map, it works well. But like most of the golf course in Florida right now, the lawns are dead and dry, the usual result of frost. This photograph is the first hole at Eagle Dunes Golf Club. I almost hate to show it since in general the course is in really good condition as seen by the brightly green tee box. You can tell much about the course on this first picture--it has lots of water and sand hazards and some heavy clumps of grass in places you're not supposed to go to. This photograph shows how the sand traps often come into play, even on your drives. The golf course has strategically surrounded the greens, as show here, to make your approach shot a challenge. Using a distance finder can make the job easier--be sure to add one club for uphill and since the course can be windy, add one club when you're facing the wind directly. This photograph shows the mine field of sand traps on the next hole when you go to drive. Each of the four large traps are positioned to have you likely land in one of them. I played between the two distant sand traps and landed fine, but it turns out the lady I played with had the best plan, to go over the second trap in the foreground--she had a downhill roll that added distance. One thing about a challenging golf course like Eagle Dunes Golf Club is you will likely want to play it again, even if the women have their choice of an easy and a tough tee at times and there are portapotties instead of bathrooms. Here's a brief look at some great golf deals. While golfing today, my husband and I discussed why we liked the other's putter, yet we selected such different ones. Here's some things to think about when selecting a putter. #1: Check there are no moveable objects other than your golf ball on the green before picking up your putter. About My Husband's Ping Putter My husband bought his Ping Putter before I bought a new putter; when I tried his I fell in love with it and had to have one. What I liked about his putter was the light feel, the generally straight putt I had with my stroke, the center mark. About My Never Compromise Putter When I went to purchase my Never Compromise putter, I went to Pro Golf Discount in Tukwila, WA where my husband also purchased his putter. I went a good six months after my husband and there weren't any Ping Putters on hand. So I used the store's handy putting green to try out a good variety of putters. What I found out was that because of my stroke, some putters gave me odd putts. Some I had less ability to find center. After numerous putts, I settled down on the Never Compromise putter which happened to be all the rage. One difference between my putter and my husband's is the added weight at the back of the putter. I've found that this weight gives me a better sense of touch about how far the golf ball will travel. The Hang Test My husband did the hang test--here's a good explanation for the various ways that putters differ. The center line on my husband's putter when it aligns with the back of my putter held similarly doesn't line up the same as mine. In fact, he readjusted his line, by adding a notch at the top which helps him find a better center. I hope this helps with putting questions. Or you could just go putter borrowing and testing just to improve your putting skills. Whatever works. |
Sheri Fresonke HarperSheri loves to golf, travel and to write. Follow Sheri Fresonke Harper on Quora
Archives
February 2020
WA State Golf Reviews
Auburn Golf Course Bellevue Golf Course Blue Boy West Golf Course Enumclaw Golf Course High Cedars Golf Course Kenwanda Golf Course Kayak Ptoint Golf Course Lake Wilderness Golf Course Maplewood Golf Course Sumner Meadows Golf Course West Seattle Golf Course Categories
All
|