24 balls in the lake

Tues 8th

At least I got some sleep and was not awake till about 7am. By 8 I was in a taxi and by about 8-30 driving my rental car to Mesquite. I missed the turn to the freeway, despite having my GPS on but got on it soon enough. It was then pretty much a straight drive for 1 1/2 hours till I reached the town and then about 500 m from the exit to the Casablanca resort. The scenery on the way was quite striking but stark. WE were driving through a plain but this was surrounded by craggy hills and mesas.

I was about to check in straight away and then headed to Walmart to buy some drinks and lunch. I got to the course, which is only a few kms from the hotel and checked with the started and had a few putts. I was told we'd actually be off early but when we were about to start, I realised I had to check in at the pro shop as well.

I played with a Canadian couple who have a condo here and come down several times a year. The course is great and is my first desert course. The fairways are lush - much better than Mission Hills but the bunkers were a bit bare. The setting is stunning. The fairways end with a sharp edge and then you are in the desert - more or less bare sand and scrub. In fact I had no shots in the rough today. The course and in fact the whole town is surrounded by hills and some of them still have snow at the top. Just brilliant.

My first drive sliced to the adjacent fairway but I recovered for a par and then parred 2 more of the next 3 holes (one with a 3 putt!).

At the 5th we had a temporary tee because half the fairway had been washed away. This played as a short par 3 instead of a hard par 4.

On the 6th both of us ladies were on the green and fairly close to the hole. The guy chipped on from a down hill lie and was speeding across the green to over shoot, when his ball hit his wife's, slowed down and angled off and then hit mine knocking it a couples of inches. This would normally have been a good talking point but.. see below .

I was playing rather well and was just off the 7th for 2. I parked my cart at the top of the hill, watched the lady partner hit over and into the bunker and even got her a rake, so this would have taken 3 or more minutes. Then the guy yelled out and I raced to the top of the hill just in time to see my cart roll into the lake - complete with bag handbag, shoes and jumper - and sink up to the roof.

Someone called the pro shop but it was 30 minutes or more before they pulled it out with a tractor. One of the groundstaff stripped off and dove down to hook up the chains. It was sunny but still pretty cold in the water.  I was able to pick up a few club covers, my jumper, the soft bag for my camera and a drink that floated to the shore while we were waiting.

As the cart came out my handbag fell off but fortunately landed the right way up in a fott or so of water. Most things were still in it including my wallet and credit cards but the camera and phone and a crossword solver were ruined. My range finder fell out and we didn't recover it. The shoes, bag etc were absolutely soaked.

We retired to the clubhouse where I put as much as possible in the sun and we had a few drinks. The couple decided not to play further but after a few hours since we finished, I talked to the staff and went out and played the rest of the 7th (par) and then bogied the 8th and 9th for a 40. I only took the clubs and a few balls as the bag was still wet.

I am hoping I might play the other nine early on Friday, since my scheduled game is not till 1pm.

I got back to the resort about 5 and started putting stuff out to dry - turning on the A/c fan and popping the covers and shoes on it. I contacted the travel insurance company and started the claim going and  then had a large steak (16oz) for dinner at the bistro for about $15.


I went back to Walmart, initially just to get some thread to sew up the hem of my other long pants for tomorrow's game but I also bought a cheap camera as well. It is 14mPixels and 5x zoom so it's not complete rubbish but it was only $85. At least I'll be able to take photos of the other courses I'm playing.

 The Canadian couple I played with me have sent me their photos. Here are a few.