50th Golf Course

Since I've started playing golf, I've been keeping track of all the different courses played.  I've played few courses many times that were near my home or work.  Last week, I played my 50th different course.  It took me 13 years but I finally did it.

The 50th golf course played is called Renditions.  Renditions features replicas of holes from major championship venues giving the average golfer a grand slam like experience.

First three holes are replicas of U.S. Open or PGA Championship courses.  The next two holes come from The Open Championship and then it's the three holes from the Amen Corner at The Masters.

I played with my buddy who was in the area for work.  On the front nine, I didn't shoot well.  But, we were enjoying the warm November day riding around and having beers.

My favorite hole was #13 which is a replica of the TPC Sawgrass #17 also known as the Island Green.  I ended up parring the hole!  It made my day.  I've watched pros play the real hole many times and hit it in the water.  For a moment, it felt like I was in Florida playing the Players Championship on a Sunday.  Here are a few photos from that afternoon. 

Amen Corner #11

Amen Corner #12

Island Green

Tee box on hole 13

Safely on the green!

50 down and 50 to go!

October Baseball

The title of this post might be a little bit misleading.  When you hear the words October baseball, you probably think of playoff baseball.  But since the MLB playoffs haven't started, I think the title is appropriate.

Late last week, I got on the computer and out of curiosity pulled up the Washington Nationals regular season schedule.  They had one weekend series left at home and it was against the Miami Marlins.  We couldn't make it to the Friday game.  I was attending another sporting event on Sunday.  Saturday, October 1 at 4 PM, would be our only chance.

I found cheap tickets ($17 each) online with good seats but was wondering why were they so cheap.  A little bit of research revealed that rain was a likely possibility during the game.  I was a little bit more optimistic when I read that the chance of rain by 4 PM was only 50%.  Being a poker player, I made the hero call and hoped the weatherman was bluffing.

Worst case scenario: If it was raining 30 minutes before the game, we wouldn't go and take a loss on the tickets.

Best case scenario: The rain would stop by 2 PM.  The rest of the day would be overcast but with no rain.  And the Nats would win while hitting a home run or two.

Lucky for us, the best case scenario happened!  Nats won 2-1 and Trea Turner hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Our seats were in section 101 right above the Marlins bullpen. 

Here are some photos from the game.  One is a screenshot from an MLB.com video of the home run.

Overcast but Pleasant

Home Run Nats!

Great Spot to Watch Relief Pitchers Warm-Up

Labour Day Weekend

You might think Gee, doesn't this Ace guy know how to spell Labor Day properly!  The answer resides with our neighbor to the north.  I got a chance to spend a fun three-day weekend with my lady in Canada.  We flew to Buffalo, rented a car, and then drove to Niagara Falls and Toronto.  Here is a photo summary:

A Round of Bad Golf

Today I shot the worst round of golf in five years.

There were signs that today wasn’t going to be my day.  First sign came when I woke up tired because I didn’t sleep well.  Second sign was the windy day with 47 F temperature at noon.  The third sign came on the first tee box minutes after I met up with my three friends.

Algonkian golf course's hole 1 is a dogleg-left, 335 yards, par 4.  There is no reason to hit the driver off the tee.  I proceeded to hit my 5 iron into the pond 20 yards left of the fairway, not once, not twice, but three times in a row!  That’s right, I hit three identical shots off the 1^st tee three times into the water.  I don’t think I’ve ever done that before in the 13 years I’ve been playing golf.  The fourth sign came when we got to the first green.  It was plugged (aerated), and so were the other 17.  I only hit on satisfying shot with my driver.  Most of the holes had trees running down both sides of the fairway.  It was my first time playing this course.

When you put all this together, you get a Sunday special good for +40 over par for a single round of golf!  Three years ago was the last time I shot over 100.  That tells you how bad it was today.  In March, I shot 83, 90, and 86 on three separate par 72 courses.  That means, I was +43 after three rounds of golf but almost matched it today after 18 holes.

Typically, a bad start, like today, would have ruined my day but I was aware of all the signs so it didn’t surprise me or upset me.  It happens to the best of them, Jordan Spieth was +4 on a par 3 at the Masters today.

I leave you with a photo I took after my best shot today.  I pushed my drive to the right behind some trees next to the fairway.  I hit my 6 iron over the trees and over a bunker onto the green (if you look closely you can see the ball near the flagstick).