Woodforest and flight home

Sat 9th

If pebble Creek gave hints about water on the course then it should be blatantly obvious there would be trees on Woodforest. They even warn you twice so you really know what to expect. I wasn't disappointed. They also had water in lakes and creeks as well.

I'd picked this last course after the Thursday paper had a supplement on Golf courses in Houston. I checked off the one's I'd played and then looked at what was available that I could get to, play and get back to the hotel within the time limit I had.

They have built a new road past the course that was not on my GPS maps so there was a 4 or 5 mile retracing of my route from the old turn off back to the new road, but I had left myself plenty of time.

I played with a couple of guys in their 30s or 40s who played the course fairly regularly. They were also some of the few playing partners I'd met who could out drive me (occassionally)

The greens were very good as I had been told by one of the guys from the office.

I had a steady front 9 with a couple of pars and a double for 43 which wasn't too bad but fell apart on the back 9. This was mostly caused by repeatedly hitting over the green with my wedges. I usually compensated by hitting the return shot short for a poor score.

I had no 1 putts until the 13th. My  second shot was just of the green and I chipped to 4 ft away. One of th guys then chipped on and hit my ball knocking it into the hole. after replacing I said, if you can hit it in with your ball it should be easy with a putter. Fortunately I didn't miss. In the end a disappointing 49 for 92 over all.

I had enough time to go to a supermarket on the way home and pick up some hair product and a sandwich then drop my library books back. I had a shower and packed but wasn't quite ready when the limo driver arrived half an hour early.

Still we left slightly ahead of the booked time and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. He dropped me at the garage checkin so I didn't have to drag my cases in side. However, it turned that they couldn't check me all the way to Adelaide and I had to go inside after all.

There was a big hassle with weight, since their limit is 50lbs, which is lower than the international and Australian domestic limits. I had to take my old laptop out of my case and carry it in my hand luggage. Then the golf bag was too heavy so I removed my old golf shoes which I eventually threw away and then had to pull some extra balls out of the bag. The excess was $100 which buys a lot of balls. However the checkin lady then placed them in my suitcase - go figure.

We were late leaving and my seat mate was one of the last to arrive on board. He'd flown up from Panama and that flight was delayed. Must have had a few connecting to hold our flight.

Consequently, I had a short transit in LA. By the time I'd walked to the other terminal, gone through check-in and security the gate was open so I went straight there.

This was my first flight on the A380 and I was quite happy with my choice. The business class seats are similar to those on the 747s but a later model. We had more legroom and they go completely horizontal for sleeping. I managed to get 5 hours or so solid sleep after watching a  movie and having dinner and then a few shorter naps after that.

When I arrived at Sydney my name was one of many called out, who had a message waiting. It said my bags weren't on the flight. When I asked what to do they said to see baggage services in Adelaide once I arrived.

I was though immigration quickly since I have a chip in my passport and with no luggage was soon out of customs as well. There was a bit of a wait for the bus to the domestic but I arrived there with half an hour to spend in the lounge. I was mostly checking addresses and phone numbers for Adelaide.

Once we'd landed I checked with baggage services. They seemed to think one of my bags may have got on the plane but weren't sure and couldn't tell me whether it was my suitcase or golf sticks. Initially they thought one or more bags might be arriving by 2pm (it was 10 when I landed). I bought some underwear on the way to pick up mum at the optometrist, just in case. Shed been there a few hours and had been told her glasses wouldn't arrive till 2 either so we had lunch in a pub to fill in time.

In the end we headed for the country with glasses but without cases. Nonetheless Qantas managed to get both bags to Adelaide by 6 and they were delivered to the doorstep in Goolwa, by 8. Well done Qantas - it wasn't really even their fault they were delayed in the first place.