A Weekend At Pinehurst, in a Blizzard

[ORazor]

After becoming addicted to the game this summer, and suffering through winter golf here in DC, my friend proposed heading down to Pinehurst this weekend to get the last weekend of the winter rates.  Full of piss an' vinegar, we left the DC area at 1AM Saturday morning for an 8:10 tee time on #4.

Upon arriving, the historic juices really started flowing, and despite it being 35 degrees, I was really, really excited.  The starter told us to stay warm, and to expect a winter mix during our afternoon round.  No big deal - we were dressed for the weather.

By the time we had hit our approach shots on the first hole, it had started snowing, and quickly melting.  No biggie - just paralyzingly cold.  Time to open up the flasks to keep warm.

By the time we had hit the third hole, it was really coming down, and starting to stick.  The greens got very, very slow :)

On the fourth hole, we began losing balls in the fairway.

By the fifth hole, it was all over, but we had drank two flasks of whiskey and were still feeling pretty good.

So, we missed out on tee times for #4 and #5 (Saturday) and #2 and #1 (Sunday).  Not to let it ruin our weekend, we made up elaborate rules for an indoor putting tournament, using the decorative rug markings as hazards.  There was much bickering over the actual scoring, but we agreed in the end that we tied.

We drove back north on Sunday, with the intent to play Kingsmill River Course instead, but they were also snowed out.  It wasn't till we got to Richmond when we realized there was no more snow on the ground, and there had to be golf courses nearby.  We ended up going to Ft. Lee and playing the Cardinal Course, where the back nine (blue) was actually pretty good.  With the exception of the 19 degrees with windchill temperatures, we had a pretty good time.

All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend.  The biggest takeaway was with a good attitude, and enough hard liquor, you can turn a pretty crappy situation into a pretty good one instantly.  Of course, I never got to play #2, and the rates will be at least double what we were going to pay starting next weekend, so I might just have to wait again until next winter.  But it was a great weekend away with an old friend, and it's one I'll never forget.

[BuckeyeNut]

OMG....that had to sukk!!!  Do you think maybe you should have checked the weather forecast first?   It sounds like you planned it at the last second and should have known what was coming!!

I had a similar experience once that turned into a very different vacation.   this was circa' 1996 before I had kids. When I was living in ohio during a particularly bad winter, my golf partners and I decided to take a 3-day weekend golf trip.  The plan was to drive south past the snow and play wherever the snow wasn't.........At first, we planned to play in TENN, but it snowed there too!!   It was cold in the Pinehurst area, so that was out too.  My wife was fine with our weekend golf trip plans.  Because the weather was so bad so far south, we started planning a trip to fly to south Florida for a long weekend.  When my wife caught wind of these plans, she put a stop to it.  She said if I'm going to Florida, then she is coming too!!  Hahahaha

The Mrs and I took a spur of the moment trip week long trip to south Florida!  LOL.......(sans the golf buddies) I did bring clubs and played 3-4 times, but it wasn't with my golf buddies.  That was a fun memorable trip.......we drove, and when we left Columbus, OH....it was during a level1 snow emergency!!   It was fun driving from blizzard conditions to green grass..........  this was our last fun impulsive trip we ever took before we had kids.  It was definitely a fun trip.....

The weather in south florida was cold too....daily highs were in the 60s to low 70's mostly.  (too cold to swim)....but we sure had fun.  it was great golf weather though......

[el shanko]

i played in simular conditions last year during memorial week end (go figure start of summer unofficial) we go to tahoe and play 4 days well first course that we or they (just started last year playing but was able to make my first trip there) play coyote moon well that course was still closed so we played thunder valley in washoe nevada. started out sprinkles then a full blown snow storm. it was great, no wiskey tho just beer.

[ORazor]

Yeah - no one was expecting any substantive snow! I compulsively checked all the weather sites in the days leading up to it! Just 5mioes north, no snow stuck on the ground!