I’ve been enjoying Heritage Hunt the last month or so. One problem I’ve had however is that I usually play golf on Fridays. Every Friday in the month of June is booked for a tournament and I can’t get on my own club’s course. Last Friday (the 5th) they offered to get me a reciprocal round at Bristow Manor but it rained heavily the whole day, so I canceled it. I did get out on Sunday and ended up shooting my lowest round ever, an 80. And that 80 could have been lower had I not lipped a couple of birdie putts. The best part was that I had a witness (glad you were there Robert). On Monday I tried to get out again in the afternoon, but as happens on Fridays, they were booked with a tournament. I did request another reciprocal round somewhere for the 12th but it never materialized and I was left trying to find my own game somewhere.

I called out to a few courses that I’ve never played (Jackson’s Chase and Blue Ridge Shadows) but neither had any openings when I wanted them. I then got a time at Prince William Golf Course, the same municipal course that I played on my wedding day. While driving to the course I received an email on my iPhone from another friend. He was inviting me to play Robert Trent Jones Golf Club with him and a couple of his friends. I immediately canceled my time at Prince William in favor of RTJ.

I’ve been to RTJ once before to watch the pros play in the President’s Cup back in 2005. The course is a wonderful layout and the service and staff are exceptional. I arrived at the valet and got myself settled. They took my clubs and I went to the shop to find my friend. After greeting him we went back out and our clubs were on a cart for the ride to the range. Once the warmup was complete we drove back to the club house and met our caddies. Yes, I said caddies. I’ve never had a caddy before and I must admit I was a bit intimidated by the thought of playing golf in front of so many people I don’t know. I really wanted to play well and not embarrass myself or my friend for inviting me along. To make matters more difficult we played from tees that measured 7010 yards. The course was in unbelievable shape. The fairways were perfect and the greens immaculate. I don’t think I played too poorly under the circumstances. The greens were running about 12 on the stimp (according to my caddy). It took awhile to feel comfortable on them and I averaged 2.4 putts per hole on the front and I shot 48. By the back I was getting much more comfortable with the guys and my game improved somewhat. I hit more fairways and cut my putts to 1.8 per hole. I shot 43 on the back and ended with a 91. The rating and slope for those tees was 74.0 and 141, which is the hardest course I’ve played in quite some time. I was pretty happy with the 91 and I felt that I didn’t embarrass myself too bad. I got quite a thrill out of playing where the pros have played being treated so well by everyone involved. In short, I loved every minute of it and I hope to make it back out sometime. I can’t thank my friend enough for giving me to chance to have that experience. I could really get used to it.

OK, it’s been a couple of months since I posted anything here. I’ve not stopped playing golf during this time. My club, Virginia Oaks, sent out an email telling the members that they were increasing our dues, because of the economy. I realize that everyone is hurting but I’d just been looking at my golfing history to see if I was getting my money’s worth out of the membership. Based on the number of rounds that I played at Virginia Oaks over the last 13 months, I was only ahead by $250 or so over what I would’ve payed if I was a VGC member (discounted fees) versus a full member. While the rate increase was only $15 per month, that becomes $180 a year and significantly impacts my savings. Couple that with the facts that rounds can be slow and crowded and daily fee players can sometimes be less than gentle with the course, I decided to pursue other options. I checked around and another course, Heritage Hunt, had dropped their membership fees to exactly what I had been paying at Virginia Oaks. I tried the course out on a Tuesday afternoon and I shot 85 from their second longest tees. Where do I sign?

Golf is odd in many ways. Heritage Hunt is located in Gainesville, Virginia in a retirement community. Anyone can be a member of the golf club. I’ve found that I’m definitely on the younger end of the membership base however. The next two rounds I played there were from the middle tees since that’s where my playing partners wanted to play. Those tee can get you into a lot of trouble because the hazards are in play more and I can hit into, or through, the trouble. It caused me to hit clubs off the tee that I’m just not used to using. Because of that the next two rounds were more of an average 95 and 92. The fourth round there was last Friday and the forecast was for rain and possible thunderstorms. I decided to walk and play the longer tees again. I felt good and kept a great speed for the whole round. It showed in my score because I shot my best round of the year with an 82. On Saturday I played with my father and father-in-law. It was back to the middles and I again was in the 90’s with a 91. The end of that round was hurried though as there was an electrical storm blowing in.

Today, Friday, I went back for a round at Virginia Oaks because I waited too long to get a good tee time at Heritage Hunt. The course was packed and the round took five hours. I played pretty consistently and ended with an 86, even though I had three double-bogeys. It was nice seeing the people who work there again but I don’t miss the patrons. On number nine we had to drive to the green to tell two people to get off so we could hit. They apparently thought it was a practice green. I have to wonder how many practice greens have one hole and a big flag stick. In comparison, the people at Heritage Hunt may be older but they keep their balls in play and they move. I suppose they need to get finished so they can go for the early bird specials. Heritage Hunt’s lack of a daily fee probably helps too. You’re either a partial or full member so it’s technically private. I certainly can see the benefits.

As you can tell I’m still playing at least once a week. My handicap should improve a little with the scores I’ve been shooting. More importantly, I’m still having a great time. Now, I need to get more of my friends out.

Came up to Hershey for the Bears game last night. It was a successful game as they beat the Phantoms. Got up this morning and went to a course called Manada Golf Club. On previous trips I’ve played Deer Valley, which is a basic course in my opinion. I wanted to try something different.

I arrived and it was another basic course, though with more hills. The day was windy, which wouldn’t have been too bad except they swirled. 15 mph one way and a minute later it was 15 mph the other way. In spite of that the course was fairly easy. I walked the course and shot 91 in about 3 hours.

I stopped for lunch and realized that the girls weren’t going to be ready to leave Hershey Park for several hours. I decided to play another round.

I chose to ride this one and I got around in about 2 hours. With the benefit of knowing the course I shot an 85. The winds were still strong but I knew where to miss this time. It was an easy course but anytime I’m in the 80’s I’m happy.

Glad the real golf season is here.