It’s been spring here in New England, at least through June 21st, when we moved into summer according to the calendar. But summer doesn’t really arrive here until late July – early August when the temperatures start hitting the high 90s. And then we move quickly into fall – and before you know it winter is here.
But being a golf fanatic, we were on the links here as quickly as possible when spring slid into town.
In the last two weeks, I’ve played four times.
The first outing was a Friday morning with three co-workers at New England Country Club – a Hale Irwin designed course in Bellingham, Massachusetts (about 30 minutes from here). Great course in world-class condition. We were the first group out at 7:12am and had the course to ourselves. Shot 104, which is my best so far for that course. A great first outing.
Played nine holes following a meeting at the Unicorn Country Club in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Shot 50 on this nine hole course, including my first ever legit par on a par five to end the round.
On Thursday, I played at Olde Scotland Links in nearby Bridgewater, Massachusetts. As the name implies, this is a links course, and a quite difficult one at that. Scotland Links is unique in that it’s a municipal course, but the town of Bridgewater went out and hired a leading designer, Brian Silva to design it. It’s beautiful, fun, and very challenging. Shot a 108 on this one and earned a bit of a sunburn in the process.
Friday afternoon, I played at the course I consider my “home course”, Poquoy Brook Golf Club in Lakeville, Massachusetts. Lakeville is but ten minutes from my home in Taunton. The course sits just down the road from the headquarters of Ocean Spray, so for all of you cranberry and vodka drinkers out there, this is your place. Teed off at 2:29pm and finished just before 7:00pm. Unfortunately, we were caught in a thunderstorm for a bit and had to pause play. Fortunately, there was ample adult liquid available at a reasonable price in the bar.
I may yet find a way to play on Monday before I have to go back to work on Tuesday morning. Then comes the three weeks from hell before things slow down.
I consider myself fortunate to work for – and with – a golf fanatic 😉