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.

Pebble Creek

Wed 6th

An unexpected extra course was added to my list today. I had to go back to College Station to visit Capsher so they could set me up with the source control software,register me on their server and get some instruction on how it works. (College Station is where Texas A&M is located)

Essentially we store multiple version of each source code file on the server. When anybody changes anything it has to be checked in so that a history of changes is maintained.

The drive up there today was a lot less stressful and didn't seem to take as long as the first time last week. I guess knowing where you are going helps psychologically even if it still takes the better part of an hour and a half.

We finished the set up and registration work and went to lunch at a hamburger place. Afterwards,  the 2 owners invited me and my contact, Mark, to a round of golf at Pebble Creek, where they are both members.

To be fair, any course that has Creek, Lake, Beach or whatever in its name has given you a fair warning that there may be a bit of water around. As you can see from the photos, there was no false advertising in this case. In fact, only 3 holes didn't have the creek running past or a lake on them.

It was, for a change, a lovely sunny day with clear skies, but a bit windy. The 3 guys were more than competent golfers and 3 of us broke 90 and the other was a few strokes over.

Mark started with a birdie on the par 5 first, while I bogeyed despite being over the green in 2. I made up for that by just getting one the next hole for 2 and sinking a 40ft putt for a birdie myself. I was playing pretty well again but a couple of water hazards and the odd chipping or putting lapse resulted in a 46 on the front.

The back 9 was better,  with  3 pars in the first 4 holes and only one double, on the 18th to finish with 43 to just break 90.

I gave them all a couple of the spike tees, which we use at home, and assured them it would give them and extra 10 metres on their drives., After that I  would point out a spot 10m back from where their drives finished and said, that's where you would have finished with normal tees. When one sliced into a back yard, I said you had to turn the tee in the direction that you wanted the extra 10m and he must have had it turned sideways. We had a lot of fun, as you may have gueseds.

My best drive of the day was on the par 5 16th. By then they all had the Aussie super tees, since I had found the box of them I'd bought in China. They had all hit pretty good drives on this hole. However, with wind assistance and a down hill run at the end, I still out-drove them all. Hitting the cart path on the full may have also had something to do with it. With only 180yd to the green on a 544yd hole this was over 360yards/325m long. I still managed to get a bogey.

After we finished we went to the bar for drinks. Earlier, Mark and I had been talking about shandies and portagaffs and they all wanted to try one, partly to see if the bar maid knew what they were.(She'd never heard of them). We ordered a bottle of Newcastle ale each and I said we needed 4 glasses half filled with Lemonade. I took a sip of mine since it was a bit too full and realised "lemonade" means "lemon squash" in the US. Throw that out and refill with Sprite. Verdict - a nice refreshing drink for after golf.

Today's panorama's - Looking back down the 9th, From the 18th green (on left), past the 10th tee to the 1st. and then looking at the clubhouse from the 18th tee.

Blackhorse

Sun 3rd

Today was probably the worst weather for golf, for my trip so far. I guess this shows how lucky I've been. It was noticeably windy, especially towards the end and there was just enough drizzle at one stage to dampen the cart seat but not enough to get out the umbrella.

It was the better part of an hour to get there from the hotel, made slightly longer since I went via a road that passed a camera repair shop, which was not open anyway.

I had a 1:10 tee off which got me the middle green fee rate of $75. Before 1 it is $95 and after 3 it dropped to $55 but I didn't want such a late finish again. I had 40 minutes or so for practice chipping and putting but didn't use the driving range.

Blackhorse has 2 18 hole courses and unlike many of the courses here does not wind between houses. Both courses are contained in one large paddock. I played the South course, which I was told was tighter and prettier than the North, but not quite as long. There were a lot of water holes on the course.

My partners were 2 locals, who worked at the same IT company. One of them was the owner and also a member at the club. It cost him $300 a month, which considering he got to play for free including cart hire was a good deal. We played off the blue tees again.


I had another good day and was 1 over after 3 with 2 putts missing by inches.

On the par 5 no 5, I hit into the water hazard twice, taking one drop and playing the other and still only had a bogey. In fact it was only the 7th when I hooked in the woods that I had worse than a bogey on that 9.

The 9th is a par 5 and my partners said it was reachable in 2 (420m from blues). My drive left me only 150m out and a 7 iron finished 4ft from the pin. I dropped the putt for an EAGLE, my first for a year and a 41 on the front.

There were a lot of water carries on the back 9 but again I really only mucked up one hole, the 14th. After a good drive cutting the corner and a second shot just off the green, I managed a 7 with some terrible chipping and putting.

The next 2 holes were into the wind and I came up short with my pitch on the 15th despite dropping back a club. I guess it was a 2 club breeze. Still got my par. The long carry on the 16th nearly came off. Just short of the fairway plateau and it rolled down the slope towards the water but stayed out. Anotehr bogey.

The 17th is the signature island green. They had told me about the alligators that lived there and you can just see one in the panorama. I didn't notice it till a bit later and zoomed it for a close up. Lost balls anybody?

I finished with 45 on the back for an 86. Again this was about my handicap from these tees. It will seem strange going back to the reds when I get home.

The panoramas show the lake alongside the second, The view of the 16th and 17th from the 16th tee and looking back at the 17th (and the alligator) from the 18th tee.

Walden on Lake Conroe

Sat 2nd

It was another busy week at work. Mark came down on Wednesday and Friday and I had meetings and other improvements to add the rest of the time. Mark suggested an improvement to a slow graphics option and we implemented it by the end of the day. The users were most impressed.

I also did a show and tell on the new well path planning that got a very good reception.

Brandon had tried to get me a game at Walden last weekend but his father has given up his membership there since I was last in Houston, so nothing happened. However he had won a "member for a day" prize in a competition and we were both able to play for free this weekend.

It is about 30 minutes drive from the hotel and we had a 3:10 tee of so there was plenty of time to do thing this morning. I went to the Apple store to look at covers but it turns out that the one from my old phone fits. I got back to the hotel and caught an old Bill Murray film that finished at 1-30.

I was on the driving range and saw Brandon was there as well. After some drives and long irons I moved closer to where he was hitting as they had a series of 10 yard pegs there. I tried out my new Lob wedge and was getting the hang of 30, 40 and 50 m shots.

Walden is another scenic course and runs along the edge of Lake Conroe, which is itself a large body of water, about 25 km long and 2.5 wide and between the houses along side it.

As well as the lake itself which features on the 8th and the 11th to 13th holes, there are other lakes and fountains scattered around the course. I lost 3 balls in various bodies of water and dropped out of a couple of others. I had seen those 3 holes last year and irt was one of the reasons I wanted to play this course. I finished with 2 bogeys and a birdie on the 13th after hitting my second to within a foot of the hole.

We played with 2 members off the white tees. I had a pretty good round again with an 87 today. I only had 3 pars but also 2 birdies. Still had a few doubles, unfortunately. Brandon, who was quite a good golfer at school, but doesn't play much these days, none the less started with 3 pars and had a 40 on the front. He had to leave after the 14th . The rest of us finished a bit before 7-30. It was till light enough to play since they have daylight savings here.

 On the par 5 16th, your drive needs to clear a lake in front of the tee. I hit a low shot but it skipped twice on the water and shot out the other end, finishing 270 yards (over 240m) from the tee. After topping my second shot I hit the new Lob Wedge to the green for a par.

It was a very good day, pleasant company again and although it was a bit humid, the cloud cover stopped it being too hot and there was very little wind.

Panoramas - 15th, 18th and a 360 of the 11th green, 12th and 13th tee.

Lake revisited

lMon 28th

The canadian couple I played with in Casablanca have sent me some photos they took of the cart in the lake. I have updated my post for that day.

http://gracewing11.blogspot.com/2011/03/24-balls-in-lake.htm

Augusta Pines

Sun 27th

I hadn't heard about getting a game at Walden so after a brief chat with Tony and Lisa this morning I headed off. I did the GPS, got to Point of interest and selected golf clubs and one of the ones listed was Augusta Pines less than 3 miles away. I headed there and was able to get a tee time about an hour after I arrived.

This gave me plenty of time to do some putting and hit a lot of balls on the driving range. I played with a couple both members of Gleanloch and as such they have playing rites at Augusta Pines.

I was hitting the ball well again today but managed to limit my 3 putting to only a few holes and these were when I was a long way from the hole.

Once again I hardly got any medium length putts and I would have had 5 or so that missed by inches.

A number of these were reasonably birdie chances and I finally got about a 4 footer for a birdie on a par 5.

Augusta Pines is loosely based on the Augusta where the master is played. It was built by the same company that did the Tour 18 I played the week before. Apparently there was a bit of a stink from some golf courses and so they did a few things differently this time. The "Amen corner" holes are in reverse order and the par 5 is a mirror image of the original. they are also holes 2-4 instead of 11-13.

I had parred the first hole and was on for 2 on the par 5 but 3 putted for another pat. Unfortunately the next 2 were bogey and double. I did still have 44 on the front and 43 on the back. The later included an 8 on the 11th, so the other 8 were quite consistent. I parred the last 2 which both have island greens.

The course has some spectacular holes and is again very scenic. There is a huge lake between the 10th, 17th and 18th holes and in font of the clubhouse.

On 11 of the 18 holes, there is water in play but I managed to keep my ball losses to a couple and I found 3 or 4 others.

 It was quite humid today and so, although it was overcast it wasn't very pleasant. I was still in my long trousers from yesterday and seriously considered buying some shorts or a skort before the game. However they had a small range and none in my size.