Category Archives: Blogs

UFC

Once again I am wired.

Two weeks without Internet was a very strange thing. City-Tom needs his Internet. I need to check my email and read my news. I need to check my friends’ blogs. I need to pay my bills and all that stuff.

Outdoors-Tom has no such needs.

City-Tom checks the weather on the Internet in the morning. When he gets home, news websites are read. And before going to sleep, City-Tom relaxes in bed with the wireless laptop.

Outdoors-Tom mocks City-Tom.

O-T sleeps under the stars on the cold, hard ground next to the fire. O-T wakes up to the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops.

O-T takes cold baths in the river. Shaving is optional.

O-T flyfishes all day and brings fresh trout back to the campsite for dinner. O-T’s legs ache from all the excercise.

C-T and O-T fight. Who will win?

A Shadow And A Threat

Last weekend was a fine Scottish weekend for golf, with the cold and wind and rain. This weekend was a fine Californian weekend for golf, with clear skies and warm temperatures.

“We’re not playing enough golf,” says I.

“No, we’re not,” says Dave.

“Definately not enough golf,” says Kev.

The more you play, the better you get, and the more you want to play. That’s where the three of us are now. We’re getting into a groove. We’re getting better. And that just makes us want to play ALL the time. Hell, I’d play every day if I could. I had five years to do that, but sadly those days are now gone.

I got the 2nd eagle of my life today at Shadow Lakes Golf Club in Brentwood, CA. Like my last eagle at Ponderosa Golf Course in Truckee, Dave and Kev were there to witness it. The 5th hole is a 400 yard par 4 with a water hazard to the right at about 300 yards. I played it safe and hit my 3 hybrid off the tee–and just nutted it. So now I’m sitting about 170 yards from the pin. I thought about it for a bit, and then I hit my 7 iron perfectly. It was one of those swings where you didn’t feel the club head strike the ball. I watched my ball bounce on a little grassy knoll to the left of the green. It took a Hayward bounce to the right, towards the flag, and rolled down the hill towards the cup. The three of us watched as my ball disappeared. Eagle.

And then the wheels fell off on the back 9. That’s what happens when you’re waiting 10 minutes to hit. You get stuck behind a foursome not playing ready golf. You get cold. You fall out of your groove. The wheels fall off. Here comes the suck.

I need to play more golf. We’re not playing enough golf.

Hi! I am the link to view the pictures from today’s round of golf!

Rocket… oops, I mean *Roddy* Ranch

Roddy Ranch on Saturday afternoon. It was cold and overcast, breezy, and occasionally rained but ended quickly. It was a fine Scottish day for golf. Head! Paper! Now!

OK Roddy Ranch. Beautiful golf course set in the Antioch hills. Lots of up and down elevated greens and fairways, doglegs, and bunkers. Not a single home has been built on the course. Standing on the upper tee boxes you could look out across the San Joaquin River valley and the California Delta. Behind us loomed Mt. Diablo.

The fairways were in very, very good condition. The grass was full and very green and just about perfect. The rough was nicely groomed and not at all troublesome.

And then there’s the pesky greens.

Hard as a rock. Lightning fast. Your irons could hit the green, but it would hit ’em like you’d just hit the cart path, bounce and roll off the green. Tap your putt ever so lightly and the ball would rocket past the hole and roll off the green. The greens were painfully, awfully punishing.

I loved everything else about the course, but the greens just plain pissed me off.

Hey look, I snapped some pics!

If Roddy Ranch ever slows those greens down I’d like to play it again.

Click here to read Dave’s account of Sunday’s round of golf at Deer Ridge.