Iguanas at Miami Beach

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