Last year I made my first visit to Legends on the Niagara, playing the Battlefield course designed by Doug Carrick. On a recent return to Legends, I made my debut on the Ussher's Creek course designed by Tom McBroom. This isn't going to be a course comparison, but from my perspective, there's little to differentiate one from the other.
Ponds feature a little more prominently on Battlefield, while the creek that gives Ussher's its name is that course's dominant water feature. Otherwise, the courses traverse very similar terrain. Both tracks feature wide fairways, often bounded by strands of thick woods. Flip a coin when deciding which course to play and you won't really go wrong.
The problem this day was that I ventured out as a solo. To be more accurate, the problem was the people I happened to get paired up with. One was a solo player herself, while the other two were a couple of long-time buddies. As a group, they were slow as molasses. I was practically dragging them behind me at every hole. It was simply impossible to get into any kind of rhythm.
Worse than the pace of play was one particular guy's personality. He talked too much, boasted even more, and was an all-around clown. In a previous post, I wrote about the dos and don'ts of playing with strangers. This guy was basically a poster-child for the don'ts.
If you're preoccupied with the personality of your playing partners, chances are you're not concentrating as you should on your golf game. This was certainly the case on this occasion. I hit plenty of good shots, but golf is a game that demands your full attention on every shot. I just didn't have the focus this time. I was more concerned with finishing the round and getting out of the heat than I was with my shots.
In the end, I suffered a double whammy; I didn't have fun, and I produced a terrible score. My next visit to Legends will have to be with friends.
Score: 110
Putts: 40
Fairways: 4
Greens: 3
Penalties: 6
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