Well it’s April 20th or 420, so instead of sitting around I decided to play two rounds today. Last time I did not make any tee times and ended up having to drive to two separate courses. This time I went on line and made some tee times at Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club. You pull up to a very big and stately looking building that is the clubhouse. They have three nine hole courses that are mixed up so you play different combinations of the three. I played all three and played The Grizzly course twice. Everyone is super nice and very accommodating. You can walk but the cart is included in the green fees and if you play thirty-six holes you ride in a cart. The course has a range and a nice sized putting and chipping area. They have a restaurant and snack bar as well. The sun was shining and it was time to golf.
My day started on the Black Bear course. It was still a bit damp from the rain the day before but the course had great drainage and was already drying out. The course was very playable, but after my last couple of rounds at Bethpage a lot of things would seem playable. After five holes I was two over and started thinking, I got this game of golf down. Good thought, but then I went and got a double and three bogies on the last four holes. The course itself plays a bit narrow with water and houses surrounding all the holes. You know the old saying “It takes two good shots for a birdie but only one bad shot for a bogey.” The last four holes, more than one bad shot. I had rushed out to play and did not have any coffee so I was hoping to grab a cup at the turn. No luck as nothing opened till 11am, ugh.
After getting shut down on the coffee I just pressed on to the Grizzly Bear course. The first three holes I stayed on my bogey train but finally started to dial it in. Had a nice run of four straight pars as my short game started to heat up. On thirteen and fourteen I got up and down with a couple of very short par saves. Fifteen and sixteen I got on in regulation and two putted to save my pars. Seventeen is a par three and I pushed it right. My chip was not a good one and I had a two putt bogey. On eighteen I had another great chip and this time I was able to make my birdie putt to end my first round.
I had about ninety minutes between tee times, so I headed into the restaurant to have some lunch. They had a pretty good looking menu and I went with a bacon cheese burger with fries. Super tasty and cooked perfectly. I don’t drink but they had a couple of craft sodas and I choose root beer. Another solid choice on my part. After lunch I had time for a few minutes at the range and on the practice greens. My tee time was coming up so I headed over to the starter to get my cart and go play round two.
My second round started as a foursome but as things tend to be when four singles get put together, not everyone is on the same page about how the round will go. We have all been there, people taking the round too seriously. We got lucky as there was no one behind us, so we split the group up. So halfway thru the first hole we let the older gentlemen play ahead and the younger gentleman and myself started our round. His name was Ryan and we are about the same age and had the same ideas about the round, FUN!
The second round started out on the Grizzly course which I just played earlier, of course I didn’t play as well as the morning, only a few a pars and the rest was a bunch of bogies. Ryan was a blast to play with as he didn’t take himself too seriously and was out to enjoy the afternoon. Hole five was a par four and rated the hardest hole on the course, which I got par on both times! We made the turn towards the last course I had yet to play, but first let me have another one of those craft sodas!
We started the Kodiak course which plays half thru the community and the rest thru the woods. I’m not sure if I was getting tired or if the course was, or seemed long. Hole twelve and thirteen were my favorite holes on this side. Partly because the people in their backyards saw me play them and commented on my shots. Twelve is a par five, and I stuck my chip within ten feet and made my par. Thirteen was a par three that I sailed my iron over the green but then could not save par as my putt rimmed out. By the end of the round I was pretty tired and had almost an hour drive home. Ryan was going to keep playing as the sun still had about ninety minutes before going down and as much as I wanted to keep playing, I just couldn’t do it.
What a fun day of golf. It is a lot better to make the tee times as opposed to winging it like I did before when playing thirty six holes of golf. My goal whenever I play two rounds is to break 180 for the day. I did just that, as I shot 169 for the day, guess I had a few more strokes left in me. As always I would like to thank you for reading along and don’t forget to follow my Instagram and this blog so you get notifications of when the next post comes up! And next time I’m out I promise to try and hit them straight, but if I don’t I will yell “FORE”!
The High Handicapper
High Handicapper 