A Golf Blog

Bye Bye from Angel Fire

I played my last round of the summer here at Angel Fire yesterday and was very pleased to be asked to join a threesome from the ranch. One has a home here and the other two and their wives were here for a visit. I had a great time and only lost a few dollars. Maybe we’ll settle the bet when we all get back to the ranch.

Mountain golf is a lot of fun but you have to get past the thin air. It’s easy to get winded especially if you are out of shape like I am. And I learned a few things. First, fescue behaves a lot differently than Bermuda. So keeping it in the short grass makes it that much easier.

I also learned the ball travels farther here which is not the big advantage you’d think it’d be. Instead of a full swing from 100 yards, I can’t tell you number of 70 yards and less shots I had to the green. I’ll have to go back to a Dave Pelz article and see if I can figure out how to turn my 4 wedges into 12 distances I can count on. I actually like to practice and finding the time won’t be that big a challenge.

So, that’s it for this season from Angel Fire.

Cheers.

Mountain Golf

I just got back from an hour or so on the practice range and I’m winded. I’m amazed at how difficult it’s been adjusting to the thinner air here in Angel Fire (elevation 8382). Not only do I get winded on the course, I also get winded bending over to tie my sneakers. Doesn’t happen at the ranch, just here where the air seems to be rationed.

Let’s see? Could it be that A.) I’m a bit over weight or B.) I’m out of shape or C.) All of the above. No question – it’s C. So, before the next trip up here I’ll have to consult with other mountain dwellers and come up with some sort of strategy to deal with this rare air.

Maybe this would help. It's available in the Pro Shop.

Open Championship Disappointment

What a roller coaster ride for Sergio Garcia! I really thought he’d make the putt on 18 for the win but it wasn’t to be. Nor was the playoff birdie putt on 18 to force another playoff hole.

But I’ll bet you the belly putter stays in his bag.

Can’t wait to try one at the ranch.

Belly Putter

So, I’m here watching TNT’s encore presentation of the Open Championship and low and behold, with a belly putter, Sergio shoots 71 for a 6 shot lead after the 2^nd round. Could the belly putter be the answer? Looks like it might just be – as I watched yesterday, Garcia couldn’t miss.

I don’t know about you but I’ve tried just about everything from lessons to what Golf Digest and Golf Magazine have suggested. It started with left hand low – can you say ‘failed bit’? Golf Magazine’s July issue had 4 new grips from Dave Pelz – Perpendicular, Claw, Parallel, and Vertical. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Right now, I’m using a variant of something I learned in the military – how to hit a dime thrown in the air with a BB Gun. It’s not as hard as it sounds – just think ready, shoot, and aim. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as well with a putter as it does with dimes and BB Guns. Think Aaron Baddeley with no patience.

When I get back to the ‘ranch’ I’m thinking of giving the Ping belly putter they have in the shop a try. It’s been there the better part of a year. Who knows, I might even be able to score a decent discount.

Ours is a quest to lower scores and what better way to do that than with the flat stick? What tips have worked for you?

Environmental Responsibility

We’re still in Angel Fire and will be until the end of the month. I had an opportunity to play yesterday so I took it. I had a tee time but playing as a single means you never know who you’ll wind up playing with. I hooked up with a father/son team from Mansfield, TX – that’s just a bit south of Arlington, the home of the Texas Rangers and the soon to be home of the Dallas Cowboys. Hmmm; wonder if they’ll ever be called the Arlington Cowboys. But, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.

The clubhouse here is being torn down and a new facility is slated to open some time in ’09. A temporary building was put up just above the practice range. I don’t know how long the course has been here but 20 years is a conservative guess. And in 20 years time, plant life that’s properly taken care of will certainly thrive as have the many wonderful pines just adjacent to the soon to be demolished club house.

Yesterday, on the back nine (#14 through #17), the course staff was planting evergreen trees. Not those spindly things we see in North Texas, these were easily 25 to 30 feet tall – magnificent! I found out after my round that the trees were being re-located from around the club house to those 4 holes that parallel Mountain View Blvd – the main drag in Angel Fire. No small feat – it required a huge truck equipped with a clam-shell like scoop that grabbed the root ball, kept it in tact and re-planted the tree with ease.

It would have been a lot easier to bulldoze the trees but I like the way AFCC showed some environmental responsibility.

How Hard Can it Be

I guess the short answer is darn hard.

I caught the tail end of this past weekends John Deere Classic and was amazed how Tim Clark, who played most of the day flawlessly, pretty much on cruise control, gave up the lead and the win with shaky play on the last three holes.

Next time one of your buddies bets you a fiver that you can't make a 6 footer, take the bet. I think you will be surprised how much harder you try and it might just give you an idea what the best put up with week after week.

Bunker Rebuild

I’ve played the course here in Angel Fire several times, twice with my oldest son, and this is a fun course. There are lots of elevation changes like on numbers 6 and 11, tight fairways, and small greens. And, like the ‘Ranch’, they’re having bunker problems. Well, to be fair, the problems have been addressed and the bunkers are being rebuilt.

Know what? When sand bunkers are ‘out of play’ they make great targets. It may sound odd, but it’s especially rewarding for the golf ball to go into the bunker you were aiming at. Doesn’t happen all that often, but…. You get the picture.

What I don’t understand is how wire figures into rebuilding bunkers. Out here, they’re using something that resembles a 4 inch black ribbed plastic pipe with a smooth inside for the main drain. Now it makes sense that the smooth inside makes it easy to flush the system but what’s with the wire they wrap around the central drain?

Dale called a little while ago. He and I both play at the ‘Ranch’. We’ll get together when he and his bride return from a short trip back east. That should make for a good read.

The Course

Played my first round the day before yesterday and after a lightening delay, I hooked up with two gents from Houston. They’re here enjoying their escape from the heat, humidity, and perspiration that Houston is (in)famous for.

We played from the ‘middle tees’ (white) at 6304 yards. The course rating – 69.6 and the slope is 133.

I wish I’d brought the camera but I didn’t – my bad. The 6th hole is a par 3, 216 yards with an elevation drop of 200 feet or more. A real visual overload but just beautiful. I managed a double after declaring my first ball lost.

Some observations – next time out, my driver just might stay in the bag. At the ‘Ranch’ the fairways are Bermuda and the greens are Tiff Eagle. Here at AFCC the fairways are fescue and the greens are poa annua. We played at the twilight rate and the greens had all day to grow and by the time we hit 15, they were like a 4 on the stimp meter. Having never seen the course before, I managed a net 71.

Oh, and the golf ball travels about 10 percent farther here and I got tired 20 percent sooner. The altitude really beat me up. None the less, it was a good beating.

Happy 4th of July to everyone. We spent some of yesterday at the Volunteer Firemen’s BBQ luncheon feast but got turned back by rain. Oh well.....

Discount Golf at the AFCC

I found that there's the equivalent of a frequent players card at the Angel Fire Country Club. It set me back $75 and entitles me to a 20% discount on regular rates. After 10 rounds, the next one's free. I figured that being here for a month, 10 or more rounds should be no problem.

I also got a hat, a bag tag, and an ID card that came out of the system as a victim of some sort of lightening interference. Looks nothing like me - I'll get a new one tomorrow.

Scored my first tee time - twilight rate at 3pm and I'm teeing off right before "Chicks with Sticks".

Amarillo to Angel Fire

The day one drive was a piece of cake. Day two was a different story. Mileage wise, it was shorter but time wise it was quite a bit longer. It was two lanes most of the way with the last 150 in the mountains averaging about 50mph.

We’ve done very few car trips in our 30 years together – the airlines pretty much ferried our fannies around U.S. and the world. That’s why today was so different – in New Mexico we spotted antelope, an elk, and 2 bears right on the side of the road munching on something. Then on the way to the market this afternoon, in the neighborhood where we’re staying, a deer crossed the road right in front of us. Know what Mandy said? “Look, this lot is for sale.” Geez!

The neighborhood also has a stocked trout lake – Monte Verde Lake. It’s daily fee ($25 per person) so I’m guessing no license is required. We will find out in the next day or so.

It’s going to take some getting used to but time here is MDT, an hour behind Denton. My stomach says fire up either the oven or the grill but the clock says it’s not yet time.

We’ve got to find the hardware store tomorrow. We need to score a charcoal chimney.