Golf SA: Hyatt Hill Country

What a steal! Every time we play, we are looking over our shoulders waiting for them to come tell us it was a mistake and we really can’t play there any longer!?! Beautiful courses, well manicured and a real challenge!!! My five star golf course!!!!!

Golf SA: Cedar Creek

Need to write this post sometime! Bottom line … great course and challenging!!!

Golf SA: Alamo Golf Club

SCJ Rating: 1 star out of 5

Greens Fees: $$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees: 65 Slope 112

Women’s Tees: (Don’t think it was even rated for women?)

The Alamo Golf Club is a hacker’s paradise!!! Jake and I drove by last year … note I said drove by! We didn’t stop even though it is the absolute closest course to our home. Of course, last year San Antonio was in the midst of an awful drought. With the recent rains, we were hoping that the course might be in a little better condition. It was greener but better condition … sad to say … no. There are parts of the course which look like they will never recover. Jake and I had to move our balls as much as 12 feet sometimes to find a blade of grass on which to set our balls. I didn’t mind because Mondays are ladies’ day and we only paid $13 for me to play and lease a cart, but … cannot say that it was even worth that much.

So, as I started to say … it is a hacker’s paradise!!! No need to feel conspicuous about whether you are wearing the right clothing, how nice your swing is or where you hit the ball. If you just want to give golf a try, this is the course to play! I should warn players about the safety concerns on the course though. The holes frequently cross back near each other squarely putting players in danger of being hit by errant tee shots. Golfer … beware!!!

I do have to say that the 16th hole on the course was one of the finest holes I have ever played! Hard to believe, but I thought it was fantastic!!! Placement of the drive and the second shot were critical with out of bounds all along the length of the hole to the left. Not having played the course before, we were hitting blind off the tee. There was a pole in the center of the fairway and yardages to said pole. If you missed this target, your second shot was even more difficult. About 100 yards from the green, there was a huge gulley which obviously swallowed balls by the dozens. Then there was a tree in the middle of the fairway protecting the green. I couldn’t get my ball high enough to clear this tree so had to play the hole out to the right. As with the rest of the course, the fairway was in terrible condition. However, I could easily imagine the hole with a lush fairway and I loved its design and challenge.

Since the club’s driving range is the closest one to our home and one can hit off grass at all times, we will probably find ourselves hitting balls here a little more often. But can’t say that we will ever be playing 18 holes here again. Bottom line … after we walked off the 18th hole, we just wanted to go find a real golf course to play!!!

Golf: New Groove Rules

Here’s a good article about the new groove rules going into effect in professional golf next January 2010. I won’t have to worry about them for a long time. Wouldn’t affect my game anyways! Can you stop a ball on a dime? Neither can I!?!

Golf WY: Buffalo Golf Course

Buffalo (WY) Golf Course

SCJ Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Greens Fees: $$$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees:

Women’s Tees: ?? Strokes, Slope 118 (?? yds)

I had heard only wonderful things about the municipal course in Buffalo, WY … where Jake was born and raised. Actually, I played it once before … when I was about 8 months pregnant with Missy. A friend convinced me to play in a tournament and I wound up winning it! Very amusing, but … I digress. The town, and thus the course, sits at the base of the Big Horn Mountains in northeastern Wyoming. There is still quite a bit of snow on the mountain peaks and there may be more after the storms which may be coming this weekend. So the course sits at the base of the mountains and half the time you are going uphill looking at the beautiful scenery in the background. SPECTACULAR!!! (Photos to be posted at a later date.)

Then there are also the deer who apparently feel like they own the place. One sat under a tree today and didn’t move while I hit my ball from only 20 feet away. Later we saw a doe with 2 of the cutest little bambis! Those babies just pranced their way across at least 3 fairways just as cute as they could be!!! (Unfortunately NO photos of these cuties.)

The course itself was a decent challenge without being overly so. There were plenty of trees lining the fairways. It was NOT fun when the ball decided to stay under a Blue Spruce!?! The par 3s were a particularly pleasurable mix of various distances … which I have found to be unusual from most forward tees. All in all … I can’t wait to play the course again! The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars … it’s a little hard to get to … by plane, train or automobile, it is a LONG way from nowhere … and they like it that way!?!

Masters Moments

In honor of the upcoming Masters which begins on the morrow! Hoping for more memorable moments!?!

Clueless Golf Fan

The fan in this video who screams out for golfer Phil Mickelson’s ball to “Go in the water” after he hit it is, IMHO,  just entirely clueless … and classless!  Interestingly enough, the announcers had opposing opinions about fan behavior.  Your thoughts?!?

Golf SA: Olmos Basin

Olmos Basin Golf Course

SCJ Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Greens Fees: $$$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees: 69.3 Strokes, Slope 125

Women’s Tees: 71.0 Strokes, Slope 120  (5612 yds)

Olmos Basin is a municipal golf course near The Quarry shopping center just off 281 south of 410 … very close to Trinity University and downtown San Antonio.  The 15 to 20mph winds almost blew us over on this particular day but, methinks, this would be a challenging course on any given day!  In the base case, it was a very long course.  Though most men’s par 3s in the San Antonio area have so far proven to be quite challenging due to their length, this is the first course on which I have had to use a wood (metal) in order to reach the greens.  I rarely used my short irons on the course in general.  It was a hybrid kind of day!  And not only due to the course’s length, but also because of all the trees lining the fairways.  If one’s ball wanders off the somewhat forgivingly wide fairways, trees usually become a problem.  And there aren’t even leaves on the trees this time of year!?!

Of note was the fact that about 50% of the players today were walking and pushing golf carts!  The course is indeed flat enough to consider doing so.  On the courses we have played so far, walking is not usually an option!?!

Being that it is January, the course was definitely in winter condition.  It did not appear that it had been overseeded as many we have played to date have been.  (I was reminded that the course recently re-opened after having been closed a couple of months due to maintenance.)  The setting is not a positive either and one can hear the traffic from 281 anywhere on the course.  But, I still think the course is worthy of further play since it is indeed such a unique challenge.  And this recommendation comes despite the gusting winds!  Thank goodness the temperature was in the mid-70s or we would have been uncomfortably miserable!?!  More likely, we would have found ourselves at a movie!?!?!

Golf SA: Woodlake

Woodlake Golf Club

SCJ Rating: 3 stars out of 5
HLJ Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Greens Fees: $$$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees: 69.9 Strokes, Slope 128

Women’s Tees: 70.8 Strokes, Slope 121

Now this is what a wide open golf course is supposed to look like!  It was a pleasure to play and offered somewhat of a challenge.  There were long and short par 4s.  The par 5s were indeed par 5s … long yardages!  And there was a good mix of par 3s!!!  We didn’t even have to be concerned with losing our balls unless our shots were really errant and deserved to be lost!?!  All in all, a great day of golf.

Though our putting was better than normal because the greens were not lightning fast, some of the greens weren’t in very good shape.  We did not know whether to attribute that to the winter weather or some other inherent problem.  Other negatives included the facts that it is not in a great nature setting (I didn’t get to see any deer!) and it isn’t close to home.  The drive there isn’t even slightly interesting.  I found the roads on the east side of San Antonio to be even worse than those here in central San Antonio.  I didn’t think that was possible!?!  But, again, I have to give props to the course for being a good play when one is tired of being constantly challenged … a breath of fresh air!?!

Weather Update:  The low must have been in the high 30s last night.  We started this round at 10am to get a lower rate and the temperature wasn’t bad.  I think we were both pleasantly surprised.  As a matter of fact, we had to take off some layers by the end of the round!  And I only kept my cold weather “ninja” balaclava on my head to keep the hair out of my eyes!?!

Golf SA: Northern Hills

Northern Hills

SCJ Rating: 2 stars out of 5
HLJ Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Greens Fees: $$$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees: 69.3 Strokes, Slope 123

Women’s Tees: 69.6 Strokes, Slope 117

After playing mostly challenging courses (as in narrow fairways) to date, the Northern Hills course finally offered us some room for error! Though able to spray our drives without losing our balls or winding up with unplayable lies, we were not prepared for the speed of their greens!?! The greens were lightning quick. It was common for me to chip up to a green only to have my ball roll all the way off the green on the other side!?! We are thinking that other courses we have played will have greens this fast in the near future since most are still recovering after having been overseeded for winter play. Overall though, this course offers a decent challenge for those who don’t want to have to hit their balls straight down the middle of the fairway.