The Golfing Chronicles, Part 2

The second of (probably) three installments about my golfing exploits. Catch up on Part 1 here.

#90. Laytonsville Golf Club, Laytonsville, MD. 12/24/98. Whites: 5,689. Par: 70. Rating: 67.7. Slope: 109. Score: 89. Putts: 39, 5 3-putts. FIR: 7/14. GIR: 5/18. Laytonsville was nothing special as a golf course, but I’m just including it on here because of the date played. Yep, Christmas Eve. I remember it was relatively warm, about 45-50 degrees, and I wore my Santa hat while playing.

#78. Kiskiack Golf Club, Williamsburg, VA. 5/15/00. Gold: 6,405. Par: 72. Rating: 70.8. Slope: 131. Score: 94. Putts: 37, 6 3-putts. FIR: 8/14. GIR: 2/18. Vince and I played this one while in Williamsburg for Mom & Dad’s 40th Wedding Anniversary. All I remember is that we played half the holes in a pouring rainstorm that created huge puddles on the course. There was plenty of lift/clean/replace going on. Thus a pretty respectable 94 score.

#74. Little Bennett Golf Course, Clarksburg, MD. 6/15/00. Blues: 6,706. Par: 72. Rating: 72.9. Slope: 133. Score: 93. Putts: 37, 4 3-putts. FIR: 4/14. GIR: 4/18. My spreadsheet has scores for Little Bennett more than any other course – 9 times in total. And it’s not surprising, as it’s easily one of my favorite courses I ever played. The best part of Little Bennett is that the holes are set up so that you end up using every club in your bag. So many courses have holes that are all the same, so you hit driver - 8 iron on every par 4, 6 iron on every par 3, etc. Little Bennett has great variety in the holes, plus a lot of elevation change and a great mix of risk/reward holes that I loved. They used to hold Monday qualifying for the Kemper Open there as well, so it was no walkover of a course. This course is definitely on the list of things I miss about living in Maryland.

I keep track of my handicap on my spreadsheet as well. It’s quite easy, once you know the formula and if you have the rating/slope of each course you play. I’ll begin to include my estimated handicaps at the end of each year as well.

Handicap at end of 2000: 21

#67. Virginia Oaks Golf Club, Gainesville, VA. 6/30/01. Gold: 6,468. Par: 72. Rating: 71.5. Slope: 130. Score: 111. The only reason I’m highlighting this round is because it’s the highest score I’ve ever recorded on the spreadsheet. I’m sure back in my younger days there were higher, but in my adult life, this one takes the cake. Funny, I can’t remember a single thing about this round. Imagine that.

#63. Whiskey Creek, Ijamsville, MD. 9/27/01. Whites: 5,979. Par: 72. Rating: 69.3. Slope: 128. Score: 96. Putts: 43, 7 3-putts. FIR: 6/14. GIR: 8/18. Whiskey Creek was designed by Ernie Els, and while it’s not real long, it’s a very tough course, and great to look at as well. The 18th has the remains of an old house in the middle of the fairway (it's actually cooler than it sounds), and some lovely views of the surrounding area. Along with PB Dye and Worthington Manor (see below), these three courses are all within 10 minutes of each other and all are great, world-class courses. I was really lucky to be able to play these whenever I wanted. But the reason I highlighted this round is partially because of the date. This was only 2 weeks after the attacks of 9/11, and as everyone who lived through that time knows, patriotism was at a very high level. The flags at Whiskey Creek this day were all replaced with plastic USA Flags, which I thought was a nice touch. I played that day with a father and his son, and as you can see from my score (especially the putts) that it wasn’t my best day. After walking off the 18th, a little ahead of the father & son, the starter (or someone associated with the course) walked over to me and said, “You’ve never been in the military, have you?” I had no idea what he was talking about, but I said No, I hadn’t. “I didn’t think so. You’d know better than to treat the American Flag with such disrespect.” Ah, now I see where he’s going with this. I’m well aware that the flag of the United States should never touch the ground. And yes, on every hole we played that day, we laid the pin and flag down on the ground whenever we putted. But those little, cheap plastic flags could NEVER be construed as an actual flag of the United States. If so, what’s next? Those little flags on the end of a stick that people stick everywhere into the ground, on graves, next to the road, etc? A patch on your backpack? A tattoo? So this guy was giving me a hard time because he felt that we shouldn’t have left the golf flags on the ground when we putted. Not wanting to get into a heated argument with the man, as I could tell he was really upset, I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. So I simply motioned to the father and son as they were walking off the green behind me and said something like, “Um, I don’t know…I was really just playing with those guys.” The man took off like a shot toward them, and I headed straight to my car.

Handicap at end of 2001: 20

#57. East Potomac Public Golf Course, Washington, DC. 9/7/02. Blues: 6,599. Par: 72. Rating: 70.5. Slope: 113. Score: 92. Putts: 35, 3 3-Putts. If you played this course without knowing where it was, or having no views outside of the course, you’d think it was nothing but a dog track. But once you consider its location (East Potomac Park), it turns it into a special experience. East Potomac Park is in DC, right on the Potomac River and right next to the Tidal Basin. While playing you not only get to witness planes landing and taking off from National Airport across the river, but views of Washington landmarks, including the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, and the Lincoln Memorial. With this backdrop, plus the cherry blossoms that are in bloom in late March/early April, it’s a very special location. I also enjoyed the egalitarian nature of East Potomac Golf Course. While I was having a post round beer on the veranda, the practice green was filled with men and women, from all races and ethnic backgrounds, and a variety of ages. One of my biggest complaints about golf is the upper-class, WASPy, country club culture that pervades much of it. There’s none of that to be found at East Potomac Park.

Handicap at end of 2002: 20
Handicap at end of 2003: 20


#48. TPC at Avenel, Potomac, MD. 7/23/04. Whites: 6,010. Par: 71. Rating: 69.5. Slope: 121. Score: 91. One of the very few times I’ve played a PGA tour course. I was able to weasel onto this course while working at National Geographic. Someone there had heard that one of the Senior VPs was a member of Avenel, and he set up a mini-tournament with 12 folks from there, mostly ad sales guys. A guy dropped out, one of the guys asked if I was interested, and that’s how I ended up on the course. I shot really well this day, including 2 birdies.

Handicap at end of 2004: 19
Handicap at end of 2005: 19


#38. Little Bennett. 5/5/06. Blues: 6,706. Par: 72. Rating: 73.2. Slope: 137. Score: 95. Putts: 34, 3 3-putts. FIR: 5/14. GIR: 3/18. This is my 2nd time listing Little Bennett, and the only reason I’ve done that is because when I played it this time, from the Blue tips, it was the highest slope of any course I’ve played. (The Slope Rating is the measurement of the golf course’s difficulty in relation to a “bogey golfer”; that is, someone who has around an 18-22 handicap. The average slope rating of a golf course is 113. I could go into more detail to explain it, but it’s so confusing, I’m not sure you really want to know.) The slope of 137 is a little peculiar, as I have scorecards for previous rounds at Little Bennett that shows the Blue Tees as being a lower slope. But maybe they changed some holes or got a revised rating; either way, scoring a 95 on a slope as tough as this one has got to be one of my best rounds.

#34. Worthington Manor Golf Club, Urbana, MD. 8/9/06. Blues: 6,525. Par: 72. Rating: 71.8. Slope: 134. Score: 90. Putts: 36, 2 3-putts. FIR: 4/14; GIR: 4/18. After Little Bennett, Worthington Manor was my 2nd favorite course in Maryland. After Sage and I got back from our road trip in 2006, I got some work consulting for a former colleague who did circulation for a bunch of magazines out in San Francisco. This allowed me to get up early during the week, play 18 holes, and get home by 11:00 am, ready for a day of west-coast work. Worthington Manor used to be a USGA site for local qualifying for the US Open, and if you played it around the time of those qualifiers, the rough would be around your ankles.

#33. Rattlewood Golf Course, Mt. Airy, MD. 8/14/06. Whites: 6,104. Par: 72. Rating: 69.1. Slope: 125. Score: 87. Putts: 37, 4 3-putts. FIR: 9/14. GIR: 10/18. Rattlewood is a relatively new course, and just happens to be right down the street (less than a mile) from where I lived from ages 3 to 11 in Maryland. This round also happens to be the last time I broke 90 on a par 72 course until last weekend.

Handicap at end of 2006: 17

The third, and hopefully last, installment should be posted within the week.