Man Trip 3, Part 1...

When you are a kid, and some times even after that, you watch the calendar in December and cross off the days until that big one comes -- Christmas.  Well, in the case of six 60-year-olds (or more), we kept watching the calendar and the weather forecast this past month.  It was time for the man trip and we were going to play golf, regardless of the weather.  Only, it would have been nicer if the weather would cooperate this year.  Well, for the two weeks leading up to our reserved dates, the weather site showed three big yellow balls of sunshine in the sky with temperatures predicted to be in the 70s-80s.  What a deal!!  This had been a rather crummy winter and wasn't giving up without a fight, so the prospect of three days of nice golf weather was almost too much to expect. 

Well, we drove down to Charlotte, NC on a rain-filled day with visions of pars and birdies dancing in our heads. Since we had had cool weather the last two trips, I figured if we went about an hour or so more south, we would stand a better chance of getting some better days.  It paid off in spades! We could not have asked for better weather.  The fairways were still brown (dormant grasses), but the courses were beautiful.  We played Birkdale, Tradition, and Skybrook on the Carolina Trail.  All three courses were very nice, each offering different amenities and challenges.  The hotel we were in was also very nice, and the Charlotte area was crisp and clean, with flowers starting to bloom and trees budding.  There was also the excitement of an NCAA regional tournament in the air with both Duke and North Carolina playing just down the road.

Dave and Chuck went again, but we had some new guys with us this time.  I invited my brother, Walt, and a couple of his friends -- John and Dennis-- to go so we had two threesomes.  I think everyone played pretty well for being the first time this year.

 Walt, Dennis and John take the game more seriously than Chuck, Dave and I do.  Maybe that's because they are better at it than we are. 

I have to admit, I am still not used to playing on the grass they had at the Birkdale course.  The ball would land and settle down in the grasses and I find it difficult to hit out of there.  Also, the greens were actually in pretty poor shape.  They had several different kinds of grasses growing on them, and you never got a good putt all the way to the hole.  I know -- whine, whine.  The course got good marks on design and layout, but would have been better in about a month. 

I really liked the other two courses.  I think the Tradition was the best of the three.  I really liked the way each hole was its own, separated by pine trees and woods.  Lots of really nice holes and lots of elevation changes.  Most were pretty long, and made you think about how you wanted to play a shot.  I just really enjoy that kind of course more than one with houses lining the fairways.  Those are just more obstacles to hit as far as I'm concerned (and yes, I did hit one -- no damage though).

For an Ohioan, a sunny, warm day on the golf course in North Carolina in March is Nature's way of saying, "Enjoy yourself; hit 'em straight."

 Hooah