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