Southern Dunes - Redux

I went out to Southern Dunes Golf Club today to play golf. Southern Dunes is my favorite golf course in Arizona! It is in the middle of nowhere between the City of Maricopa and the Town of Mobile. Mobile is best known as the home of a number of solid waste landfills. It took me 45 minutes to get to the course with no traffic, but it is well worth the trip. A more detailed description of the golf course is at the post entitled "Southern Dunes - An Unmitigated Disaster!" The staff at Southern Dunes is first class, from the moment you drop off your bag to the moment you drive out of the golf club. In high season, the rate was $59 through an internet special. The only downside (and it was not that bad) is that the fairways were not overseeded and were cut very close.

We teed off at 11 a.m. and it was still pretty cold for Arizona in January. The temperature was about 60 degrees and a little overcast. Chad Feldheimer, who is from northern Michigan, shows up in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. I am wearing long pants and a long-sleeve rugby shirt and I am still cold! By the end of the round, it warmed up to 68 degrees with clear blue skies, but there was some wind.

Southern Dunes plays 7,517 yards from the tips. We decided to play from the gold tees, which are 6,889 yards with a course rating of 72.6 and a slope rating of 131. Every hole on the course is well-designed. There are four par-4 holes over 435 yards and three of the par-5 holes are over 550 yards. I drove the ball well the entire round and hit my iron shots crisply almost the entire round. I had four pars on the front side and shot a 44 with one in the pocket for a triple bogey on the 5th hole and a double bogey on the 9th hole. On the par-4 5th hole I hit my second shot into the greenside bunker and should have been able to get out and on the green for no worse than a bogey. I hit two bunker shots thin and into the side of the bunker and got frustrated and gave up. I now have a bona fide mental block on the greenside bunker shot!

On the 10th hole I hit a nine iron to 2 feet and made a birdie! I played bogey golf for the next 5 holes and was thinking about a score in the mid- to high-80s with three holes to go. The last 3 holes ate my lunch! The last three holes were all directly into the wind. The 16th hole is a 547 yard par-5. I skulled a pitching wedge on my third shot, took a penalty stroke and had a double-bogey 7 (but on a positive note I hit a really good shot out of the greenside bunker!). Hole No. 17 is an uphill 180-yard par-3 surrounded by bunkers. The tee shot was dead into the teeth of the wind. I hit my 190 yard club on the screws, but a little high, and the ball landed in the front greenside bunker. I hit another good shot out of the bunker but three-putted for a double-bogey 5. The 18th hole is a 458 yard par-4 dead into the wind again. I hit a pretty good drive, but it landed in the fairway bunker. I hit a bad shot out of the bunker and was lucky that the ball was in play about 130 yards from the pin. I hit my 150-yard club pin high, but just off of the right side of the green and the ball rolled into the water. I took my penalty stroke, chipped up and two-putted for my third straight double-bogey and a 46 on the back nine and a 90 for the round. Making lemonade out of lemons, I may have figured out my problem in the greenside bunkers with Chad Feldheimer's help. We will see the next time I play!

I posted my score and I should have my first official USGA Handicap Index on Monday. I think my Index will be 15 to 16 because the courses I have been playing have pretty high course ratings and slope ratings. I am excited!