The Beach is back. WAY more traffic, both golfers & tourists in town than last fall. Still a few random restaurants closed..like California Dreaming on 17 bypass South of BF landing, but for the most part, things are open & busy. Saturday night, about every restaurant we drove by had a LOT of people waiting outside for tables.
Monday-wednesday, thing we're quiet again, especially traffic & tourists. Nice change of pace.
Overall, course conditions were good-excellent, with the premium on putting surfaces.
Rankings for best greens..
3 way tie for first place between Prestwick, Brunswick Plantation,& BF Fazio.
4th place..Carolina National
5th. Shaftesbury Glen
6th Sea Trail Jones
Worse than last place Diamondback
Adopted a new bag drop tipping strategy at the courses where we had 36 scheduled. If the vibe was right, would give him a $20 & let him know we had a 1:30 scheduled after our am round, & we would likely be ready to go well before 1:30, so if he had an opening, we'd be available. It seemed to work, since we usually got right back out after a quick lunch.
We all probably tipped way more than normal, especially if the service was good. The people who are in jobs where their tips are a significant chunk of their income have had a really rough past 12 months, & if you can afford it, spread some love & make someone's day. You'll be glad you did.
Most restaurants appear short staffed, help wanted signs everywhere, but when the goverment will pay you $650/week to sit on your ass at home, why work??
So service is slow. We went to Putters for a bite Sunday. Night...place was PACKED, & there was only 2 waitresses to cover the whole floor AND bus tables. So allow extra time when you go out to eat, but tip well for their effort.
We got paired up with random singles 3 times, & all were fun to play with, especially Eddie ay Shaftesbury, 78 year old retired high school principal, who still hit the ball really well. & Phil at Brunswick, also recently retired, & at the end of the round said he enjoyed our round cuz it felt like he was playing with his buddies back home. High praise & the feeling was mutual.
All in all, this was the most enjoyable trip in several years, certainly not because of quality of play or good scoring...we all sucked, but near perfect weather & day after day of 5 star conditions made it easier to stop & smell the roses & soak up some sun.
Thats about it....may post a quickie gc report in nightlife folder later.
Questions if you got em.
From Brunswick on championship Friday....
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
Darn... don't tell me it's already over for you the Larry's!
But I'm quite sure you're already planning your 2022 MB golf trip... unless you would intend to go this upcoming fall!
Thanks for all your reports @Skippy, I sincerely appreciate!
Take care!
Denis Gilbert
Quebec City, Canada
Since this thread is titled Random Musings.
Skip, love that second picture. Just an appreciation of where you were, regardless of lie/score.
MB is "kinda back" off the golf courses. Weekday nights at most restaurants are still quiet. The usual traffic areas of years past are beginning to return but nothing us locals can't navigate. Construction is unabated from Grande Dunes to 79th Ave.
As for golf, the single thing that has struck me is the disparity in course conditions. Bare fairways vs. grassed ones. Sand/dirt lies close to fairways/greens. The difference has never been so stark in my opinion. The last 18 months has been a nightmare for golf course operators in MB, granted. But...it appears some places maintained themselves better than others through the difficulties.
I know Art will chime in and I hope some green keepers will as well.
Thanks Peter. That 2nd picture was taken on the back nine of the last day at Brunswick, in the middle of about a 6 hole stretch of the best golf I played all week. Grinding out pars as LTC was mounting a charge at me...felt like the back nine on Sunday at Augusta. He & I were riding together as our third, Frank, was riding with the single who got paired with, both of them providing commentary like Nantz & Faldo.
The kind of day that is what a golf trip at the beach is all about.
Wednesday was the other perfect day. Brian came out & joined us at Barefoot Fazio. Absolutely perfect weather, a course in tour quality condition, good company, & just a course twosome in front of us, who we never saw. Left the group behind us in the dust & it felt like we were the only group on the course.
Unfortunately, none of us played well, but fortunately, no one cared & we weren't about to let it ruin an otherwise perfect day.
Best trip we've had in years.
From Barefoot.....(click Pic & rotate)
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
Hey Denis.....it was nice having only a 6 month wait from last year's trip to this one, but not sure I can swing 2 golf trips in one year. ????
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
Thanks Skip.
I never played Brunswick.
Does it remind you of any other MB area course as far as layout ?
jw
"King Of The Mid-tiers"
JW...found this while planning the roster. Has kind of an old school feel to the design.
A few holes had forced layups off the (senior) tees, & a couple of those were blind, so bring a good gps.... & good distance control, chicken out & lay too far back, you might get a downhill lie.
I had 2 tee shots that wound up about 2-3 feet short of the end of the Fairway. 10 more feet and I'm in the marsh.
But for the most part, it's a "What you see is what you get" design. Miss a green, & you will usually get a very tight lies with NO grass under the ball. I went into British Open mode & whenever possible, I would use my 3 hybrid & play it along the ground...banking off of humps..which is a lot of fun when it works...& I got several really good par saves.
Check it out .......
https://www.brunswickplantation.com/hole-flyovers/
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
@skippy It's hard to play well in MB, when coming off a winter layoff.
Sometimes a lot of golf helps us find it and sometimes we just groove
bad swings.
If you actually visited a GC, it would be interesting to hear what they are
doing for a format.
Thanks for reporting!
*** Please Show Your Appreciation For MB Advice/Info In MBGT With Your Course or Trip Report! ***
The end of a trip seems to come to fast, thanks for your reports and thoughts on the state of MB golf. Time now to plan your return trip.
Brunswick looks like a good course for my game.
Thanks for the flyover
JW
"King Of The Mid-tiers"
Thanks for you report, it is good and bad hearing more crowds but it is needed. Hope you enjoyed your time. I know i have 72 days and looking forward to it.
Let the Big Dawg Bark!!!
Brunswick looks like a good course for my game.
Thanks for the flyover
JW
Brunswick will be a good fit for the King.
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
Thanks for the musings. I take it from the "place was packed" comment that MB must be completely open, not holding to 25% occupancy or social distancing. That California Dreaming restaurant was one of my favorite places. Hope it returns by October.
Brunswick looks like a good course for my game.
Thanks for the flyover
JW
I think you'll like it, but there are homes around.
