Playing in Orlando

[Outfoxed]

Finally home after a long work/wedding/golf trip in the Orlando area. And the golf was great!

Seriously, I started at Orange County National. Unfortunately, their Crooked Cat course was closed for modifications. But the Panther course was a fun course. The bunkers were magnetic for my ball, so I had lots of sand "practice". At OCN's Panther, I shot a 94.

After the round, I had a look at the map and saw a course right next to Disney, Grand Cypress. So I drove there to check it out. A handful of people had recommended this course as their favorite in the area. And it was abundantly clear to me why why they liked it right from the drive onto the property. It may have been the tall tree, shadowed, two-lane road that blocked almost all light except the bright, radiant green that bounced off the adjacent fairways and greens.

After some great advice by the guys in the proshop, I booked a room for the night and readied myself for my first day of 36 holes of golf. I figured that by teeing off at 7:30, I should be able to play both rounds, drive to the airport, and catch my 6:30 flight back to CA.

I woke before my alarm I was so excited for the day. After the short walk to the clubhouse, I got to the proshop just as they opened up. I was still early so I told them I was heading to the practice area for a small warm-up. To my surprise, as I walked out of the clubhouse, there were my clubs, sitting in a cart with water, towels, and all the goodies. So I headed to the practice area where I just wanted to wake up a little more. After feeling a good swing with 10 balls, I hit a couple drives that went crazy. Uh, oh! So I slowed it down and things went better, but without good distance. Seeing as how I was about to play a lot of golf, I quit the swing practice and headed to the putting green.

There I was met by the starter that had a great question, "Did I mind playing with a member that is playing on the Futures and Canadian LPGA tours?" Hmm. I gave it a long, thorough decision of .116 milliseconds to say yes. So I was soon introduced to Miss Vanessa Vela.

We started playing Grand Cypress's South and North courses. It was very challenging, with elevated fairways and greens that ungulate as much as the bunkers. We played well, ok, she played well. I tried not to embarrass myself. But I did manage to out drive her twice. And I even put a couple approaches close to the stick. But my putter was nowhere to be found because it definitely wasn't in my bag. Instead I was using this pretty Odyssey hunk of metal that I held with hands made of Jell-O. Regardless of my play, it was a blast to play with Miss Vela. She gave me several good course management tips and even a couple swing tips, too. For this round, I shot a 95.

Vanessa and I played the South and North courses in 3.5 hours, so it was looking very likely that I would be able to get in the second round. So I quickly dealt with my room, bags, grabbed a quick lunch from the bar of turkey on croissant with cranberry BBQ sauce, and headed out to more golf.

Grand Cypress's New Course is the first links course I have played. And it was easy to see why people love this kind of golf. The first hole had to have been nearly as wide as it was long. Incredible! And as luck would have it, I only spent a little time in the 100+ bunkers. Half-way through the round, the lightning warning siren sounded, only to reveal a storm travelling away from the course. But it made for a pretty backdrop as I teed off for the next couple of holes. Seeing as how their weren't many golfers on the course (may have been the 11:30 start with temps in the low 90s and high humidity) my leisurely pace still only took 3 hours to complete. I could play this style golf all the time. On the links course, I shot a 86.

Before I left, I was outfitted with a shower and drink. The service was top class. And I even made my flight to CA with time to spare. I will definitely go back to Grand Cypress. It is an amazing place for golf.