Winter Golf Blues? Try This!

Has anybody else just about reached the end of their emotional rope trying to play golf on dormant grass, no grass, even mud?  I've come close to slitting my wrists more than once over the last month as I've skulled chip after chip and watched my ball perform what would in other circumstances be a stunning imitation of Hans Brinker on his Silver Skates as it zipped across the green, inches from the cup, coming to rest in what in April will be the second cut of rough but what is right now a snarled tangle of dormant grass, leaving me an impossible 4th shot just to get to the putting surface on a par-4 I routinely bogey.

Robert Trent Jones: A Walk on the Wild Side

Shirley and I spent our second day at Hilton Head playing the Robert Trent Jones Course which, in addition to offering a superb round of golf, also provided a naturalist's feast.  The course is an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and with fairways wrapped around canals and and lagoons there's an abundance of natural habitat as well as a continuous golfing challenge.

We took one look at the course map and agreed that we were going to need to focus on direction.  There was water everywhere!

Every Bogey Will Be Like A Par

Shirley and I faced strong gusty winds and a cold sunny winter day for our first 18 holes on the George Fazio Course.  We pushed our tee time from 10am to noon, optimistic that the 2 or 3 degrees of warmth we'd gain would make a difference.  But quite honestly, there's not much difference between 40 and 42 degrees when the wind's blowing at 20+ mph.

The Great Escape: Hilton Head Island

For pro golf fans, Hilton Head Island means the Heritage Classic.  For Snow Birds, Hilton Head Island means trading the misery of snow and slush for the gentle world of sand, surf, and bike trails and unbelievably juicy oysters.  Well, for everyone who's ever ventured onto the island, Hilton Head means unbelievably juicy oysters.

For history buffs, Hilton Head Island calls up a vast sweep of historical memory that pre-dates the Pilgrim's landing on Plymouth Rock, extends through the era of great indigo, rice, and cotton plantations that created unbelievable wealth for a privileged few through the labor of a vast, dark-skinned forced labor force, continues through a military-managed rehearsal for the failed economic transformation of the South during the late 19th Century, to an early 20th Century era of sand roads and clapboard housing and sport fishing in Port Royal Sound.

And for those of us who just love to play golf, Hilton Head Island means a choice more than 20 world-class golf courses, a dizzying set of options that are all good.  That's what drew Shirley and me away from our post-holiday domestic mop-up chores to a quick, 2-day escape.

Wes & Me: In the Zone

Santa deposited all variety of golf paraphernalia at my house.  He probably had to outsource the golf stuff, if the rest of the world's golfers were gifted the way Wes and I were gifted.  I now have the coveted red leather shoes with royal blue soles that have preoccupied me for months, and a red and white glove to complement.  Wes owns a snazzy golf bag umbrella that's going to serve him well during California's rainy season, although getting it past the TSA security check will involve some challenges.  We both have lots of new balls from non-golfing friends and family, some of them with loving and creatively embossed inspirational messages. Thankfully, neither of us found a new ball marker in our stocking!