To more or less close out the golf season (except for the slim chance that the stars align for an unexpected November round) – Pat, Robbie and I had a golf weekend outing using Pat’s cottage north of Wiarton (along the west coast of the peninsula) as the home base. Pat recently purchased this cottage and it was a great opportunity to check it out.
Pat, I must say, you have a great buy there. For the price you paid you have a solid cottage that is modern, comfortable and sound. Any fix-em-up projects are for pleasure than out of necessity. We look forward to renting it for a week next year.
The weekend was cold, but only ever threatening of rain. The Saturday was damp but calm so that it was comfortable enough to wear shorts and windbreaker, with several opportunities to take the windbreaker off and swing a little more freely.
We played Stone Tree just south of Owen Sound. What a nice find! The course layout was very pleasing and challenging. Although the fairways were sparse on grass and very wet as to be expected, the greens were consistent an in excellent condition. We look forward to playing that again. And the cost of 65 that includes cart was a great deal. We played a variant of Wolf for 3 players where the wolf was the middle distance drive. He then doubles his score at the end of the hole and wins if it beats the combined score of the other 2. This worked out well and nobody was a millionaire after all was said and done.
Back at the cottage we spent a lot of time doing something none of us get a chance to do these days: drink beer and veg. Watched a LOT of movies and more or less did nothing. We had discussed having a fire or going canoeing…but the weather wasn’t good enough to make that enjoyable. Sure, I’ll golf in that weather, but wouldn’t want to sit around in it.
On Sunday, the temperature was about 8C and windy. But clear. It was undoubtedly colder than the day before and right on the edge of being comfortable to play. But play we must. We headed out to Cobble Beach Resort which is along the bay north of Owen Sound. RIGHT on the bay. The course lays out along the shore and works it’s way up the escarpment. There are 3 holes that go right along the waterline and into the wind. Literally a 4 club wind…and what a cold wind! The 17th is a par three that hits right towards the water. A 140yd green surrounded by water. Even off an elevated tee, I hit 5 iron. The 18th was a 550 par 5 along the coast and it ate me alive….sort of. I had a 7 but that included 2 penalty strokes. The 9th hole (which was our last today) is a 500 yd par 5 that moves along the coast but was actually with wind. I parred it.
This course was very well likely the toughest course I’ve ever played. The layout alone is of very high difficulty. Even without the harsh conditions this course is a monster. Most greens are elevated, the bunkers are in the right spots (the ever-present water hazards force you to play towards the bunkers), the fairways are narrow, and there are no flat spots to be found anywhere, especially on the greens.
The pins that day were outrageously difficult. Almost always tucked a few feet from the edge of the green in some obscure corner. All greens were enormous so that you could hit safely on, but the putts would be treacherous benders. Definitely a risk-reward situation when choosing to go at the pins. There was one hole where if you were on the highside of the hole it was virtually impossible to keep the putt on the green should you miss the hole….even from 10 feet out!
But we had no complaints. It was well worth the torture to see how our game matched up on a professional caliber track. Even at the whites it was such a difficult course! 6000+ yds is the limit of my game in weather like that. The blues are 6700 yds and I could probably be OK playing those under better conditions. The tips are 7200 yds and not even a chance I could break 100 on that block.
SPeaking of breaking 100, I ended up with a 94 which I thought was pretty good under the extreme circumstances. In fact, there were at least 6 strokes that I recall were not even weather based that should not have happened. I had difficulty hitting from the fairway on this course because they are immaculate and pristine. I have never played on such blessed fairways before and am not used to the ‘tight’ nature of the grass. It requires precision ball striking to hit the ball crisply. Starting your divot even 2 or 3 cms behind the ball would result in a chunk. Every ball from the fairway had to be struck first before the divot was made. This is unsettling to me and required some adjustment….especially those 3/4 shots about 70yds and in. Very uncomfortable conditions for me. I figured it out eventually but not until I wasted several great drives into the fairway. I know I could have scored mid-80s on that day if I could’ve overcome this.
But this was another reason why it was worth playing (and what a deal for $85). Playing a course like this gives you perspective on how much cleaner your game needs to be. If I played these types of courses day in and day out I’m sure I’d clean up my game quickly. But it gives me even more appreciation at how excellent the pros really are. To strike it the way they do on those fairways is incredible!
And now to the greens: THE BEST GREENS I’VE EVER PLAYED. They were 100% consistent. And it was like putting on glass. SO smooth, so consistent. So fast! I love these kinds of greens. I can read them with confidence and know that as long as I get the putt going on path, it has a chance of going in. Effortless putting energy is best for me. I had several one-putts from many lengths on greens that are significantly more difficult than the ones we normally play. But the fact that all greens were the same speed, there were no bumps, irregularities, ball marks, etc. more than compensated for the complexity of the green. It allowed for the skill of putting to emerge.
I can’t wait to play these courses again. I’m hoping we can plan a similar weekend sometime next summer. The price is right for such unbelievable courses!