One Christmas, my husband and I decided to explore the island of Puerto Rico and so did a mini-tour picking up some of our favorite sites to see, enjoying Christmas away despite a few days of rain, and golfing. Of course, golfing is a must when you visit Puerto Rico because there are many fine golf courses.

During our stay at the Embassy Suites Dorado Del Mar, we played the Dorado Del Mar Golf Course which sits right beside it several times because they had a special deal that allowed us to play a couple times at reduced cost.

The Embassy Suites Dorado Del Mar was one of the nicer places for us to stay with a wonderfully large swimming pool, free happy hour, many restaurants, and comfortable chairs in the rooms, with a decent rate despite the holiday.

The Dorado Del Mar Golf Course is fairly wide and flat so is welcoming for newer golfers. The course has plenty of challenge from hazards, water being one of the major sources of humility causing events.

Anyone may play golf alone, as a twosome or foursome depending on the crowd, but no one will ever be alone on the Dorado Del Mar golf course because visitors are certain to find a green iguana or two to keep them company. The green iguanas often dart into the water if approached too close since they are considered food, especially since they tend to be overpopulated.

Near the end of the round, golfers are challenged to cross the water and land on a small green surrounded by sand traps, see golf photograph above.

There's a small snack shop at the Pro Shop but food is also available at the Embassy Suites Dorado Del Mar. In all, families and couples will have a grand time on this course.

I have to admit I wasn't very impressed with this App, the Mozosoft Free Golf Range Finder for my Android phone. First of all, it didn't have an accurate view of my current position. Second of all, it didn't have any information about the golf course which I was on. Thirdly, most other Apps have a score pad with it; this does not.

This app is a very simple one. It will display an aerial view of the golf course you are on and it allows you to pick points on that view and find the distance. So how does the average golfer use this app?

Well, when you walk up to the tee and want to know how far away a tree is from where you are hitting, you can look for it on the aerial view, click the tree and find out how far it is away. This is very helpful for those tight holes where you can overdrive and end up in the trees, the water hazards, or the sand hazards. It  does this feature much better than my handheld Bushnell Golf Range Finder which works by pointing your sighting at the tree and reading the distance. 

It also aid by providing an aerial view where you can identify whether or not their are water hazards or other challenges over a hill, hidden by a tree or dogleg. Since the view is from a satellite, it gives an up to date view of course conditions-- in Florida, sometime lakes appear after rainfall then dry out.

You can also find the distance very accurately on your approach shot and to determine exact distances for a carry over water.

For what it does, and for it's price, this app is better than none at all; but there are much better choices for the price, features available.

The golf course at Rock Springs Ridge Golf Course, Apopka, FL  is still suffering from the economy in the form of weeds in the fairway, but the greens were in good condition and the course mowed and sand traps maintained. Both restrooms mid-nine were operational.  The cost when we played in October 2013 was $20, so it was a good golf green fees and golf cart golf deal.

One of the major ways Rock Springs Ridge challenges the golfer is their use of Live Oak trees mid course and protecting the green as seen in the golf photograph above and to the left. 

To place the ball near the flag on the green in the photograph above requires chipping below the tree but over the sand trap.

To get past the trees mid fairway in the golf photograph to the left requires that the ball travel over the tree or under the branches or if luckly, finding the air and going through the live oak.

GOLF TIP: 
What club to use? To chip over a tree, use a pitching wedge with the face almost parallel to the ground. To drive beneath the trees, use a three wood or four iron, or use a club that is almost 90 degrees to the ground.

Other challenges at Rock Spring Ridge Golf Course include the heavy turf and moguls on a few of the holes, as well as hidden fairways, hidden greens, and water hazards.

The restaurant at the Rock Springs Ridge Golf Clubhouse was open on Saturday, offering up tasty 8 oz. burgers, chicken tenders, fries, and the usual sort of golf food.

My husband and I played golf at Deer Island Country Club in Tavares, Florida, just after record winds had knocked many trees down on the course and the golf course staff were busy removing all the debris.

We still had a wonderfully pleasant golf outing, despite a few lurking clouds. The golf course is in supreme condition and is lovely for many, many reasons.

Deer Island Country Club has many bridges that golfers cross as they travel along the course since the course has water on both sides of the fairway in many places and is sitting in the midst of several lakes. Several holes require golfers to drive over a creek or pond.

Water is not the only hazards to watch out for on Deer Island Country Club. The many sculpted sand traps over additional hazards on the course. The lovely sand trap on the left of this golf photograph has a nice ridge making a chip onto the green much more difficult.

The toughest par three hole required you to land on the green or else. It takes a straight accurately selected golf club to make your shot. The course is one of the most fun I've played.

The food at the Deer Island Country Club is also really good and the staff is really friendly. Expect to find bathrooms halfway through each nine and at the clubhouse.

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.