With the temperature at a humid 96 degrees today I went to play at a riding-only course. I have wanted to try that particular one for some time, but like to save those tracks for just such a day—preferring to walk at all other times.
One of the reasons I hate playing cart golf is that I always seem to get a buggy that refuses to cooperate. Today, when I really could have used a bit of a breeze from a zippy cart, I had one that couldn’t outrun the two mosquitoes that buzzed my head for three holes.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that I could have walked faster. If I’d had a partner, I would have walked to my ball and waited for him to catch up in the cart.
Unfortunately, I didn’t fully appreciate how underpowered the thing was until I hit the first hill—on the third hole. I barely made it to the top. The cart struggled so much that I was afraid it would start rolling backward, forcing me to bail out. I couldn’t go back—there were a couple of groups behind me, so I resolved to swap carts when I made the turn.
I should have paid closer attention to the course map in the clubhouse. The layout doesn’t return to the clubhouse at the nine. It wraps around a large lake, and each hole just seems to go further out. Indeed, I didn’t see the clubhouse again until I was on the seventeenth tee. Worse, it got more and more hilly as I drove on.
After hole ten, I tried to use my cell phone to call the clubhouse and ask them to send out a new one. But I couldn’t get a signal. So I soldiered on.
The only saving grace was that the pace of play generally was slow. There a couple of twosomes ahead of me that were playing at a glacial pace.
Of course, none of this had a positive effect on my play. When I walk, my game gets stronger as the round wears on. Far from fatigue, I actually hit it longer and more accurately. When riding on a balky cart, I just get more frustrated, and that frustration leaks into my ball striking.
When I got home, Mrs. Golfblogger asked how it went. My usual answer on a bad day is that it at least was a good walk.
Today, I couldn’t even say it was a good ride.
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I have now ridden the 3 of the last 4 rounds, after walking the previous 50 or so rounds this year. The last two because it was 90 degrees+, and because I am building a fence which is leaving me exhausted.
However, with a mere 2-3 hours left to go on the fence project, I am set to play at 3pm on Sunday, and I am struggling with whether to ride or not. The temperature will be the hottest round of the year, at an expected 96 degrees or so. I walked 9 holes the other evening in 90 degree weather, and while I kinda fell apart, I am calling that due to stiffness from the project, and also due to the shirt I was wearing which is supposed to be a wicking cotton, but just is so very clingly and tight on my shoulders and biceps.
This evening I was practicing, and dressed appropriately in a mostly poly dry shirt, and I felt great. I really want to walk, but I am just not sure if that is the smartest thing to do in this heat. The one thing is that I do think the course will be playing fast, as the final round of the Stanford is going to be drawing a lot of folks away from my club and over to Southwind for the day (as for me I am just going to go see the first few guys tee of before I head to my club to play myself)