nutmegchoi

I went out alone and played 9 after work yesterday. There was a bit of traffic, mostly caused by a twosome two groups ahead. It was another single—a kid and his coach—out practicing for the US Kids tournament this weekend. The kid was hitting multiple balls, so I started hitting two from different tee boxes. We ended up joining at the 17th since the couple ahead had backed us up. He drove the green from the 6th tee box and approached based on the grain of the green, controlling the spin. The kid was 13. I parred both 17 and 18. Thank God I didn't embarrass myself.

I entered the Longleaf Golf & Family Club Championship. I usually play from the 5th tee, but the women’s open division plays from the 3rd, so I gave that a try for the second nine. I shot a 40 on the first nine from the 5th tee, and a 39 on the back nine from the 3rd tee—since the front nine is still closed, I played the back nine twice. Technically, I broke 80 for the first time… but it doesn’t feel quite right. Feels kind of like making an ace after a re-tee. The club championship is August 9th and 10th. Wish me luck!

Oh, then I don’t know what I’m talking about. You got me there. You are right. Probably aeration. Greens were super slow.

I think it’s just the summer rate. In the middle of the summer, green fees around here do go down. It gets pretty hot and humid here, you know. Mid Sommer (and winter) would be considered as down season.

We moved from New York to Pinehurst last month. Now that we’re “locals,” we have the luxury of waiting for the green fees to come down during the summer and winter. Yesterday, we paid $175 per person, cart included. We teed off at 3:30 p.m. as the last group (just a twosome). We had to wait on almost every tee shot, but still finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Since it was our first time playing, and it was just me and my boyfriend, we had no guidance on how to get around. He blew off the first couple of holes and hated it—but then he got into a groove and made three birdies. Now he says he’ll “tolerate” the course. I only made three pars, but I had a lot of fun. To me, the course felt like a puzzle—each shot was a problem to solve. I wouldn’t pay $300 to play it, but I’d definitely go back for the $175 mid-summer rate or the $120 winter rate.