And then not having had enough exercise (to and from the start/finish from the car park was only 30 minutes today, I hustled off in mid-afternoon for a round at Bantry Bay Golf Club.
Actually it was for a little more map reading practice. There was no course map on the scorecard, but there was an
aerial photo on the club's brochure, and it sure came in handy as I was as wild with my driver as I have been in a long time. Hitting it way off line, unbelievably finding the ball each time, and then consulting the aerial for a possible new route to the green.
Very pretty course, also pretty difficult, played it at about 6500-6600 yards, par 71, plus the wind was probably 20-30 miles an hour, I'd guess just a mild breeze for the locals, but several times I had to chase down my hat, and my bag got blown over a few times. Gail says I was getting a true Irish experience, except that it wasn't also raining hard.
Took me 3:20 to get around, I was moving as fast as I could, up and down a bunch of hills, but all the extra yardage finding my wayward shots, and then figuring out what to do next, added probably 30 minutes to the round. But enjoyed it a lot, scored a lot better (93, playing by the rules) than I deserved, because as JJ would say, I was sucks.
The first tee, no warm-up, dropped it right on the green, three putts later an easy 4....
And the tenth tee, 420 yards, dead into the wind, seldom have I seen a narrower target. I played it with imagination -- a drive way right, up near the 9th green, but in play, a second shot over a bunch of trees, again quite a ways right but just about hole high, and again in play, third shot a lob wedge over the greenside tree, 2 putts for an easy bogey. Deserved to get about a 10..... :-)