After a couple of days amid the tranquility of Pembroke Pines, it was time for more of a metropolitan flair, so I headed to downtown Miami for a little more action. Actually, I was there on business, but all work and no golf make ParChaser a dull boy. Fortunately, there are a couple of golf courses near the Miami core. I had time for just one round, so I took a quick hop across Biscayne Bay to play at Miami Beach Golf Club.
In almost every respect, the course was excellent. From neatly groomed fairways to absolutely immaculate greens, the condition of the course was top notch. I didn’t particularly care for the artificial mats at the driving range, but the fact they even had a driving range on the fairly tight layout was a bonus. The hazards on the course are largely water and sand – it’s Miami Beach, what else would you expect?
Fear of water put me into conservative mode right off the bat. The first hole, a 517-yard par-5, meanders between two large ponds. Having lost enough balls in the water on this trip, I played to reach the hole in four shots. My fourth shot was slightly adrift, so I had to pitch and two-putt en route to a double-bogey. That’s not great, but considering a hole like this could easily lead to double digits, it really wasn’t bad at all.
I carried the conservative attitude throughout the entire round and it served me rather well. As much water as there is on the course, I lost only two balls in the drink – one left of the green on the seventh hole, and another on a pulled tee shot at the eleventh hole. Ironically, sand was more of a problem on the day. I counted ten occasions when my ball landed on the beach. Though I usually got out of the bunkers cleanly, I rarely put the ball close to the hole from that position.
Conservative play may have also limited my disastrous holes, of which there was only one. That came on the eighth hole, a 333-yard par-4. After admiring a family of giant iguanas near the tee box, I strung together a series of really unlucky shots. The iguanas could not distract me from my putting, however. I made only one three-putt on the day and just 30 putts in total, matching my lowest putting round of last year. No doubt this was largely due to the smooth greens, which offered a very consistent speed and feel.
Miami Beach Golf Club is a fine place to play. If you're ever in the area, check it out.
Score: 104
Par: 72
Putts: 30
Fairways: 6
Greens: 1
April 14, 2007
Day Two at the Grand Palms
On Easter Sunday, Christians all over the world were celebrating the Lord’s resurrection. Meanwhile, golf fans from across the globe were following the final round of The Masters at Augusta, Georgia. In the neighbouring state of Florida, all I wanted to resurrect was my own golf game, after a less than stellar debut to the season a day earlier.
Divine intervention was welcome as I teed off for another round at the Grand Palms Golf Resort in Pembroke Pines. The Royal and Sabal nines offered a surprisingly different experience than the Grand/Royal combination of the previous day. Sabal features a trio of straight and narrow fairways, flanked on both sides by houses and backyards. It’s a bit like playing golf in a bowling alley. There is less water to contend with on Sabal, though you wouldn’t know it walking alongside the expanse of water that hugs the entire length of the fourth hole.
Through the first three holes on Royal, I amassed two more strokes than I did the day before. Fortunately, I earned three of those back with a well-executed par on the fourth hole, a 465-yard par-5. I hit a crisp drive off the tee, avoiding water on both the left and right. From the fairway, I hit an easy layup to the front of another pond that wraps around the green. My approach shot sailed over the water, landing safely on the green and setting up the two-putt.
I had less luck on the sixth hole, a 369-yard par-4. For the second day in a row, I could not negotiate the tight fairway, bordered on one side by backyards and on the other by a long, narrow pond. I took a couple of splashes in the water before emerging with ten strokes added to my scorecard. Yuck!
The situation improved to some degree once I reached Sabal. The bowling alley fairways on the third, fifth and sixth holes forced me to hit a 3-wood off the tee, instead of driver. Playing conservatively, I managed to hit all three of those fairways. Good iron play carried me to greens in regulation on two of those holes, resulting in a couple of pars. A less than perfect iron shot on the sixth hole landed in a bunker and the outcome was double-bogey.
Overall, it was another enjoyable round and a step in the right direction.
Score: 106
Par: 73
Putts: 38
Fairways: 5
Greens: 5
Divine intervention was welcome as I teed off for another round at the Grand Palms Golf Resort in Pembroke Pines. The Royal and Sabal nines offered a surprisingly different experience than the Grand/Royal combination of the previous day. Sabal features a trio of straight and narrow fairways, flanked on both sides by houses and backyards. It’s a bit like playing golf in a bowling alley. There is less water to contend with on Sabal, though you wouldn’t know it walking alongside the expanse of water that hugs the entire length of the fourth hole.
Through the first three holes on Royal, I amassed two more strokes than I did the day before. Fortunately, I earned three of those back with a well-executed par on the fourth hole, a 465-yard par-5. I hit a crisp drive off the tee, avoiding water on both the left and right. From the fairway, I hit an easy layup to the front of another pond that wraps around the green. My approach shot sailed over the water, landing safely on the green and setting up the two-putt.
I had less luck on the sixth hole, a 369-yard par-4. For the second day in a row, I could not negotiate the tight fairway, bordered on one side by backyards and on the other by a long, narrow pond. I took a couple of splashes in the water before emerging with ten strokes added to my scorecard. Yuck!
The situation improved to some degree once I reached Sabal. The bowling alley fairways on the third, fifth and sixth holes forced me to hit a 3-wood off the tee, instead of driver. Playing conservatively, I managed to hit all three of those fairways. Good iron play carried me to greens in regulation on two of those holes, resulting in a couple of pars. A less than perfect iron shot on the sixth hole landed in a bunker and the outcome was double-bogey.
Overall, it was another enjoyable round and a step in the right direction.
Score: 106
Par: 73
Putts: 38
Fairways: 5
Greens: 5
Day One at the Grand Palms
Four months. That’s how long it’s been since I last played golf. The winter drought was pierced only by a February round on a simulator at Sandtraps Golf Bar in Vaughan, Ontario. And while the golf was simulated, the snow certainly wasn’t. It took twenty minutes and the help of a neighbour to get my car out of the garage. Spyglass Hill was the virtual course of choice and my final score was 107.
Fortunately, there was no snow to contend with on my trip to Florida in early April. While I was there, the Sunshine State managed to avoid a rash of bad weather that plagued much of the eastern United States and Canada. While others were dealing with cold temperatures and precipitation, I was enjoying balmy and breezy conditions. Against this backdrop, I managed to play three rounds of golf.
The first of these was at the Grand Palms Golf Resort in Pembroke Pines. Featuring 27 championship holes, the Grand Palms offers plenty of variety and a reasonable test of skill. Water is a factor on most of the holes, but cautious golfers could avoid the wet stuff by making use of the generous bail out areas. Playing the Grand and Royal nines, I avoided the water on most occasions, but had trouble keeping the ball in bounds.
The biggest problem was my play off the tee. In fact, I hit just a single fairway. On every other occasion, I pushed the ball to the right of the intended target line. A slight fade only compounded the problem. If I got lucky, my second shot was a wide open one from an adjacent fairway or a punch shot through some trees to get back to the fairway. If I got unlucky, I was penalized stroke and distance for a lost ball. The driver was clearly not working.
My iron play, on the other hand, was actually quite good. I mis-hit very few balls and had good control of my distances. I didn’t hit a lot of greens, but I put the ball close, frequently providing a chance to chip and putt out. As it turns out, I usually two-putted after my chip shots, but chipping is tough to get a feel for after a four-month layoff, so I wasn’t too disappointed. My putting on the day could be described as average.
Overall, it was an enjoyable round of golf, if for no other reason than it was a real round, not a simulated one. It’s nice to be back on the links!
Score: 114
Par: 72
Putts: 38
Fairways: 1
Greens: 0
Fortunately, there was no snow to contend with on my trip to Florida in early April. While I was there, the Sunshine State managed to avoid a rash of bad weather that plagued much of the eastern United States and Canada. While others were dealing with cold temperatures and precipitation, I was enjoying balmy and breezy conditions. Against this backdrop, I managed to play three rounds of golf.
The first of these was at the Grand Palms Golf Resort in Pembroke Pines. Featuring 27 championship holes, the Grand Palms offers plenty of variety and a reasonable test of skill. Water is a factor on most of the holes, but cautious golfers could avoid the wet stuff by making use of the generous bail out areas. Playing the Grand and Royal nines, I avoided the water on most occasions, but had trouble keeping the ball in bounds.
The biggest problem was my play off the tee. In fact, I hit just a single fairway. On every other occasion, I pushed the ball to the right of the intended target line. A slight fade only compounded the problem. If I got lucky, my second shot was a wide open one from an adjacent fairway or a punch shot through some trees to get back to the fairway. If I got unlucky, I was penalized stroke and distance for a lost ball. The driver was clearly not working.
My iron play, on the other hand, was actually quite good. I mis-hit very few balls and had good control of my distances. I didn’t hit a lot of greens, but I put the ball close, frequently providing a chance to chip and putt out. As it turns out, I usually two-putted after my chip shots, but chipping is tough to get a feel for after a four-month layoff, so I wasn’t too disappointed. My putting on the day could be described as average.
Overall, it was an enjoyable round of golf, if for no other reason than it was a real round, not a simulated one. It’s nice to be back on the links!
Score: 114
Par: 72
Putts: 38
Fairways: 1
Greens: 0
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