9 with my Wifey

I told you in the last post that I have been taking regular lessons.  What I didnt tell you is that my smoking hot wife has been taking them too.  She is really turning into a good golfer and have little doubt if she keeps up with it will be better than me some day (that isnt saying much).  As a side note we take our lessons at MIT (oh yeah were pretty much the smartest people you know) from Jesse Struebing (jstruebs@gmail.com).  He is the man!  If you are in the area and need lessons he is the one to go to.  Tell him I sent you.  We decided to go out and showcase her skills at Norfolk GC.

The Course:

We decided to go out and play Norfie late on a Saturday because there is no one around.  Emily still suffers from the typical starting golfers Psyche.  She thinks that everyone is watching her swing and everyone cares about what she does.  I am working on assuring her that no one cares about how she plays golf as long as she doesnt slow down play.  I have also told her that no one watching her, especially a guy, is focused on her swing.

Norfie is in mid-season shape and it was a ghost town.  Perfect for a nice casual 9 with drinks, cigars and good times.

The Round:

Most old timers at Norfie tell me Im crazy to get my wife into the game.  "Why would you ever want her to play with you?"  They are all divorced at least once if not twice.  A great source for sound advice on marriage.  The way I see it is 1) I do love my wife and enjoy spending time with her 2) If she wants to play more golf then I get to play more golf.  1+2=Ian winning!

We took a cart because it comes with a cooler attached to it.  Carrying 6 beers in your golf bag is torture.  We also had some nice cigars to smoke while out on the course.  Oh yes, I said WE. 

Em played well with a mix of great shots and some duffs.  To be expected when first starting out.  She was crushing it off the tee and is working on her game around the green.  I played okay but wasnt really focused on my game.  I was just making sure that Em had a good time so that she would want to come back again.  I think that my goal was achieved.

The Beers:

Our cooler on wheels stayed well stocked throughout the 9 holes.  We started with 6 (3 Coors for me, 3 Millie Lights for Em) and had to pull in for a pit stop coming up the 5th fairway to fill the tank.  It was nice playing a little slower than usual because we got to enjoy our time and drink some more beers than would have typically been consumed.  That coupled with the cigars made for a great afternoon/evening on the course.

Afterwards we went up to the club house porch for a night cap.  I had a vodka and tonic and Em had a G&T.  Amanda is the #1 bar tender at the club and makes a stiff drink.  Given all the beers we consumed on the course one Amanda drink was all we needed.  They were delicious though and a great way to end a fun day.

Final Tally:

Birdies - ?, I told you I wasnt paying attention to my game. Beers - 5 with a night cap.  Until next time Tee it high and drink it dry.

Cyprian with some friends

This represents how I played golf this past weekend.  My friends C-mo, Baggy, Ron and myself played a round at Cyprian Keys in Boylston, MA.  It was a beautiful course with great friends filled with bad golf (all by yours truly).

The Course:

Cyprian Keys (http://www.cypriankeyes.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp) is located in Boylston, MA, about 15min northeast of Worcester.  It is a beautiful course cut through the trees and super challenging.  It plays mostly like a target golf type of course.  It twists and turns with a lot of dog legs.  It is definitely one of those courses that requires you to use all the clubs in your bag, which I love!  I only used my driver on about 6 holes.  I probably should have only used it on 2 but who doesnt like to go for it?

Most fairways are narrow with danger and OB lurking beyond the trees.  The first hole is a 150yd carry to a 70deg right hand turn in the fairway just to give you an idea of what you are up against.  There isnt much water which I think the course could use a little more of.  Not to add more challenge, trust me it doesnt need that, but just for aesthetic reasons.  The greens were in great shape (maybe a touch slow due to the rain we got the day before) and they had a lot of dynamic to them with mounds and ridges.  When you finally got to the green your job was far from over.

Dont get me wrong.  Im not trying to steer you away from playing this course.  I thought it was a great track and I'm dying to play it again.  I just want to give an accurate description of what you are up against.  The best part is if you want to make some smores in the middle of your round they have a fireplace available.  Either that or you can burn your golf clubs depending on the day you are having.  The choice is yours.

The Round:

As I stated earlier it wasnt my best effort.  I have been taking regular lessons, which are great, but I took one two days before I played and didnt have time to incorporate it into my game.  If the goal of golf is to see as much of the course as you can then I was the clear winner.  The woods at Cyprian offer a great view of the well groomed fairways and the bunkers give you an optimal line of sight to read your putts.  I was all over the place, losing balls left and right on a fast track to a 98.  Ouch!  I did have a couple of good holes but more double and triple bogeys than I would care to mention.

Baggie and C-mo played great! 81 and 83 respectively.  Bag had 3 birdes and C-mo was a par machine.  He tripled the first hole and still shot an 83.  Ron was a good golfer too and a really fun guy to play with.  He is friends with the other two from college so I knew he would be a good addition to the team.  Ron did some searching in the woods like I did.  I was happy to have a friend to commiserate with.

The Beer:

Bag and I brought our usual fruity pebbles to tide us over before we reached the beer shack.

Just in case you were wondering you are not allowed to do any art on this area of the course.  It is clearly marked.  The shack carried the usual domestics with a Corona and Heineken mixed in.  Margaret was there to help and was a lovely woman with sound advice.  If you purchase a Bud Light draft it is only $3.75 and 16 ounces vs. any other beer in a can which was $4.50 and only 12 ounces.  Guess what we went with.  Bud Lights all around.  The only downside was that they were in plastic cups and we tried to cover them.  It forced you to drink a little faster than you would usually.  We didnt want to do it but the container forced us to drink, that is what we told ourselves at least.  The other great design on this course was that you pass the shack 3 times.  The designer of the course clearly thought the same way that I do.  Nice job buddy.

After the round C-mo, Baggy and I went in for a beverage.  The restaurant at Cyprian has a great selection of draft and bottles.  Bag and I had the Wachusett Summer Ale (http://www.wachusettbrew.com/).

I thought it was a great selection following a hot day on the course.  Good taste with an orange flavor to it.  It has more of a citrus flavor than other summers that I have had but I enjoyed it given the setting.  I dont think I could drink many more that 2 but my doctor tells me that is bad for me anyways.  Chris decided on a Guinness.

I tried to get a picture of the water falling legs but it didnt come out that great.  I personally wouldnt select a Guinness after playing golf because it is a little to thick for me.  C-mo enjoyed it greatly.  They poured it a little quick and the Irish would have been pissed but it was fresh and delicious anyways.

Final Tally:

0 Birdes and 4 Beers.  I loved the course and want to get back out there again to prove to myself that Im a better golfer than this.  Dont ever let a course get the better of you.  Until next time keep swinging and keep swigging.

Soaked!

My friends C-mo, Bag, Jake and I played at Black Swan on Sunday.  The weather said it was going to rain in the morning and then clear up a little and then a "possibility" of thunder storms in the afternoon.  They were SO wrong, hence the title to this post.

The Course:

Black Swan is located in Georgetown, MA (www.blackswancountryclub.com).  It was previously Georgetown Country Club and was private.  What a great track!  It is still very well maintained and plays like a private course.  It requires you to use all the clubs in your bag and all the thoughts that you have up in your cabeza good or bad.  There is a lot of risk/reward types of shots which in my opinion make a course that much better.  "Can I carry that 260yd stream?"  The answer is no but I sure do want to give it a go. 

If you are ever in the area or looking for a great place to play North of the city give Black Swan a go.  You will have to call in advance for the weekends to be able to get out.  The course fills up quickly which is a sign of how good it is.

The Round:

So in weather person lingo (I want to remain PC) "rain in the AM with a clearing in the afternoon" means steady down pour all day long.  What a great job where you can be wrong 60% of the time and still keep your job.  Could you imagine being dead wrong at your job 60% of the time and have your boss think "Wow Mr. Smith is really killing it today."  Amazing!

We were originally supposed to play Far Corners in Boxford.  Due to the rain Black Swan had a lot of cancellations and we were able to play the better course.  We tried to call in the AM to try to get on Black Swan and the woman on the phone told us we couldnt.  We just drove there anyways and were one of 3 groups on the whole course.  We showed her...not really.

I wasnt completely prepared for the rain.  I wore some rain pants and a rain resistant (code for doesnt stop rain) jacket.  By the end of the 1st hole I was soaked through.  It would have been better for us to play in board shorts and no shirts.  The upside of the rain was that it forced me to purchase a new FJ rain jacket and rain gloves.  Worth every penny and trust me I spent a lot of pennies.  I think that the rain jacket was treated with RainX because the rain had no chance against this jacket.  Every single drop beaded off.  The gloves were awesome too.  With every increase in rain the grip only got better.  Im sure the purchases led to my back 9 score being 3 strokes less than my front 9. 

We decided upon a friendly match for the day just to make it interesting.  It was C-mo and Baggy against Jake and I.  Jake and C-mo played straight up and Bag gave me 4 strokes.  Everyone was playing their normal game.  Bag wasnt playing as well as he usually does but neither was Jake so it was fairly even.  It came down to the 18th hole.  The bad guys were up by 2 strokes.  Jake got his par and I ended up chipping in for a bird to even everything up.  It was a great way to end the day.  We thought about going back to 18 and playing a play off hole but decided to just go to the 19th and celebrate our tie. 

The Beers:

Bag and I both brought a little fruity pebbles.  If you dont know what fruity pebbles is then you need to go back and read the past posts.  At the turn after I made my new purchases we decided to grab a couple of beers for the rest of the round.  Black Swan provides you with beer buckets!!!  That is reason alone to go and play this course.  We went with the usual domestic Bud, Bud Light, and Miller light.  It was nice to be driving around in a cart with a beer bucket between my feet.  We almost lost it a couple of times due to some quick corners dukes of hazard style but Jake was able to save it. 

After the round at the 19th I had a Sammy Summah and the other boys stuck with the domestic.  It was a really fun day and we didnt let the rain ruin our good times.  If anything it made it that much better.  I have never really played in the rain before but now that Im prepared I cant wait to do it again.

As a side note I apologize for no pictures.  I use my Iphone and didnt want it to get too wet.  I also apologize for the delay in posts.  I havent really played many different courses so I didnt want to keep posting about the same places. 

Final Tally: 

1 Birdie 4 Beers, see you next time