Defying all good sense, the GolfBlogger finally scheduled a golf trip to Florida—in June. Of course, it wasn’t actually a golf trip, but rather a family trip to Disney World. But part of the deal was that I get to play some golf.
So on Thursday, I had a 6:51 tee time to play Disney’s Lake Buena Vista golf course. I had briefly considered one of the newer courses, such as the Magnolia or Osprey Ridge, but in the end decided that I really wanted to try Disney World’s original track. I found the Joe Lee design to be fun, if not particularly memorable.
The weather was very hot, and humid—even in the morning—and a haze had settled in that occasionally made it difficult to see. But I raced around the course in fine fashion, shooting a 91; not a bad score on a course I had never played before. I finished in just over three hours, and then it was back for a final day at the parks.
The rest of the vacation was about what you’d expect: a lot of walking and sitting through rides and shows. Fun, but exhausting.
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I played LBV course two years ago, and had a good time, the course was immaculate, if a little aged. I too struggled with going with Osprey Ridge or Magnolia, but in the end the $$ won out, as it was $40 or more cheaper to go with LBV, and it was the only course I could get the first tee time on. One other reason I chose it was that on my first trip to WDW, my father had played LBV while I napped in the room, and now I got to play the same course the first time I took my daughter to WDW, 35 years later. (I had hoped my dad would go out with me, as he was on the trip, but he rarely plays as he fatigues before the 9th hole)
I was the first on the tee box, and the starter let me be the honorary “Greenskeeper of the Day” – He gave me a flag and I went over and stuck it in the #9 green to mark the hole for that day. Later, they gave me a laminated and personalized certficate noting my side job for the day.
I didn’t see any big cats or alligators, but I was after a ball in the woods off to the side on one hole when a marshall came racing toward me yelling to get out of there. He told me that the real concern would be pygmie rattlers, which are no bigger than a twig but are poisonous. He also gave me a free drop out of the woods. I think they really should tell you about the dangerous animals before you start!!!
We went back to WDW last Christmas, this time just me, wife, and girl. I really wanted to play one of the others, but this time I decided to bank some points and not go out for any golf. That was worth some bonus points as I got to rack up some serious golf time in the weekends preceeding and following the trip.
I have not started planning the next trip- but I am thinking. Maybe Osprey Ridge would be nice—but it is going to be more of a beach trip than a Disney trip this time. So the only thing I am reasonably sure I will play will be PGA National.