Years ago, at least two or three jobs ago, the Bethesda-based company I worked for ran a golf league at Falls Road.  So once a week we’d go to Falls Road and play 9 holes in the evenings.  It was a great way to have fun and play golf.  I still have many happy memories of playing there.

Despite the clusterf**k that is Montgomery County traffic controls (especially in the Bethesda-Potomac area), I like to make the hike down there to see what’s happening.

My round on Saturday, if it were a highlight reel, would have this as the soundtrack (just click on it- it really makes everything better):

It was a cascade of shit in the form of el hozel chips, bad approach shots, and 37 putts (I never did get the pace down…which is a nice way of saying I putted like crap).

Falls Road, based on Saturday’s round in full-blown summer heat and humidity, is still catering to the masses and is still offering up a playable yet challenging course.

The first three holes shouldn’t pose much of a challenge, although #2, while on the card appearing to be a reachable par 5, has a very tight landing area to an uphill green.

The challenge really starts on the 4th hole, which is a par 5 protected to the left side by a giant tree (that unlike the giant tree protecting the second green at Maryland National, is still standing).  Shots to the left or into the gully offer no real chance of hitting the green.  The fifth hole (pictured below) is a tough par 3 with no bailout.

5th hole at Falls Road. Don’t miss long, left, right or short.

The seventh hole, for those who play there on occasion, has been toughened up with a hazard that runs the width of the fairway (for shorter hitters it doesn’t really come into play, but for longer hitters or for someone who tattoos one…you might want to give club selection some thought).

Falls Road 7th hole. Note the hazard where there used to be fairway. Jerks.

The back nine (or second nine if you prefer) is largely unchanged.  The 12th-15th holes remain as tough of a stretch of holes of any public course in the state (I’d put Blue Mash #1-#4 only because they start you with that crusher) before you get three relatively easier holes to finish the round (#16, while on the card appearing to be relatively easy, is anything but- the tee shot has to carry a hazard and the green is well protected with junk left and a giant bunker to the right).

Two issues- the greens were a bit soft (they were watering them yesterday morning) and the rough was pretty thick and lush (any shots that missed the fairway were dead).  I understand why they’re watering the greens because they don’t want to lose them especially with the spate of heat and humidity, but keeping the tall cabbage around grinds pace of play to a halt (it’s not like it rained Friday morning when they could have cut the roughs down).

Falls Road is still a pain in the ass to get to and pace of play can be brutal on a busy weekend, but once you’re there, you’ll find a course that still offers a pretty good setup.

In that note of “things I discovered in the late 90’s”, I discovered Everything But the Girl during a phase of enjoying the slightly less rage/angry music.  Not their biggest hit but for me, this was my favourite song:

I’m hoping to put together a US Open preview blog before Thursday where I’ll try to pick a winner…or most likely I’ll get it wrong beyond words.

Last July 4th weekend, under weather too good to be true, I had what was easily the worst round I’ve had in more than 15 years; a complete meltdown in every facet of my game that led to the first triple-digit score since playing in the Myrtle Beach World Amateur back in 2001.

Yesterday, with summertime humidity making an all-too-early return to the area I went off at daybreak at Redgate, determined to not have another meltdown.  As much as it pains me, the complete meltdown in my swing that day got into my head and if nothing else, showed me what touring pros and elite golfers talk about when they simply lose their swing.  I had zero confidence that I could consistently put the ball in the fairway and on the green, and with a putter in my hand I had even less confidence.

Last week’s round at Hampshire Greens gave me hope and optimism (at least tee to green) that the slump that I had been in since that fateful July morning was a thing of the past.

The course was in decent shape; the greens were in good shape (they’ve almost always been in great shape over the last five or six years) and the fairways were in good shape.  The 11th green was in improved shape (not sure how much they can realistically do).  The tee boxes were a mixed bag; if you play at Redgate I’d suggest bringing a hammer to put a tee in the ground (I’m not kidding) for #12. The second hole isn’t much better.  While the trees that surround both holes offer plenty of cool shade on hot days, the issue is that there’s no grass to speak of (it’s not for lack of effort from the superintendent and their team).

While they did manage to put sod down on the 16th tee, the ground below it is still very firm and the sod is not exactly fairway cut so while I appreciate the improvement, it’s still a work in progress.  They did, however, build a stone retaining wall and steps for the 15th hole (the short par 3).  My only concern is that in wet conditions the stone might be a bit slick, but on a dry (albeit humid) morning everything was fine.  The hole still needs a windmill, a clown’s mouth and possibly dynamite, but one small step is a good step nonetheless.

New sod on 16th tee at Redgate. Hammer optional.

If you’re unfamiliar with Redgate, you know the first three holes are fairly pedestrian (not that you can’t get into trouble).  The 4th hole is one of their “blow up” holes (as in after it blows up your scorecard you’ll want to blow it up with explosives), and I did just that with a nice cool 7.

Somehow I managed to get things turned around, and was able to save my butt on several holes by getting up and down to save par.   Other than #12 and #14 I kept the back nine fairly clean, and was able to finish with a 12-foot par saving putt on the last to come in with a nice even 80.  Scores on the doors:

The damage from my May 16th round. No complaints here.

So that’s a 20 shot improvement over last July’s utter debacle if you’re scoring at home (or even if you’re alone).  Driving home, I felt like I had buried some of the mental demons that were unleashed last July.

Redgate is still a work in progress, but it’s a reasonably affordable option for golf in the area and the course is, in the main, in good shape.  It’s cheaper than Falls Road (I paid $59 for an early morning weekend with no discounts) and has a better short game area than it’s Potomac neighbour.

Lastly, while the Toronto Maple Leafs are still horribly, my sympathies go out to the Caps fans.  I was pulling for them and would have loved to see them advance.  But more importantly, I take solace that the Montreal Canadiens are out as well.   Fellow Leafs fans Bloge Salming and Down Goes Brown (you can read DGB’s work on Grantland under his real name Sean McIdoe and it’s outstanding).   Their video ode to the Habs remains a staple that I break out once they’re eliminated from the playoffs.  If you’re reading this and you’re a Habs fan…yes, I get the joke (Leafs fan writing about golf) and your other collection of jokes that are older than dirt.  Go tell someone who cares.

Bloge/DGB, you guys are awesome.  Cheers.

Under clear skies and a stiffening breeze, my 2015 golf season got off with less of a bang and more of a whimper with the sound of golf balls hitting trees (with the trees still in winter hibernation, it says something that I was able to hit trees on five shots- I mean, that’s accuracy right?) at Northwest Park.

Ready for action. Hide yo trees.

While I’ve tried to commit to a new fitness regimen that doesn’t rely solely on Scotch (Glenlivet, Johnnie Walker Black Label and The MacAllan if you’re asking or buying), I’ve been hitting the gym in hopes of becoming more flexible and maybe just a bit stronger.  Unfortunately, in doing so I’ve developed a form a tendinitis in my left ankle and foot area which has become progressively more and more painful.  Being right-handed because…hell I don’t know why- my father was a lefty and played minor league baseball so of course I’m a righty- it means that when I swing it puts a lot of pressure on my left foot/ankle.  Huzzah!  This problem started four years ago, and has gotten progressively worse.  I suppose I’m glad that it’s not a fracture or something worse, but now I’m in that “this is probably going to be around for a while” mode which isn’t exactly what I wanted to hear.

Northwest Park #10. Managed to hit the fairway.

The course was wet and thus, cart path only (I mention this because of the recurring issue I referenced above).  Nonetheless, despite the brutal winter that we had, the fairways were green and in good shape and the greens were better than you’d expect for this time of year (they haven’t been punched yet near as I could tell).  My only note of concern was that, despite the area getting only moderate rain this past week, several parts of the course were fairly wet.

Northwest Park #18. I’m over by that big tree on the right. Again.

It’s still Northwest Park and it’s still one of the best tracks in the area among your public courses.  It can bog down during the middle of the day (our morning twosome was given the “play through” of the foursome in front of us and despite neither of us playing particularly well we finished in just over 3 hours.  Not the norm by any means, but a fast-moving twosome should be able to do this (if I’m being honest the guy I played with played from the blues as did I, which probably wasn’t the smartest decision I made that day).

Hope you were able to get out and play this weekend, and congratulations to Jordan Spieth who won The Masters in pretty dominant style.  Congrats to fellow 40-something Phil Mickelson on a T-2.  If you’re scoring at home, that’s two straight 2nd place finishes for Phil.

Last Saturday’s round at Northwest was a complete gong show…I got sideways and simply couldn’t put two decent shots together.

While it matters not…if courses want to improve pace of play (and I’m talking public tracks), let’s try to cut that rough down.  Northwest had US Open rough (thick, deep, and nearly impossible to get the ball out of…not to mention finding  your damn ball was like trying to find a needle in a haystack).  Yes- we’ve had fantastic conditions but that doesn’t mean you need to “test” your weekend regulars by making them hit out of cabbage.

While I’ll probably get out a few more times this year, work picks up dramatically in the fall, and too often I leave the office exhausted on Friday night, and the idea of waking up at sunup doesn’t have that appeal.  Plus there’s other obligations (SWIRIC among them), and the reality that anything after about mid/late October is into what I call the bonus fries (if you’ve ever gotten a fast food meal…you know how sometimes you get extra fries…those are called bonus fries) portion of the season.

Plus, come October the NHL season kicks into gear.  I’m a Leafs fan and will be one until I’m dead so I may throw out the occasional Leafs-centric post.  SWIRIC is a Capitals fan so we have the 3-4 nights a year of being a house divided.  If you’re a Capitals fan I highly recommend the SB nation site Japers Rink.  If you’re a Leafs fan, their SB Nation site Pension Plan Puppets is an absolute must read.  Since the Leafs are why Paxil exists there’s only so much emotional wreckage I can spill.

I’d like to say I’m interested in this week’s Tour Championship, but after seeing Mickelson and Bradley pull the chute (I wasn’t a fan of either move…less Bradley as his involved a rules issue…but Mickelson has zero excuse for WD’ing and if Finchem isn’t going to do something, then you’re simply letting the inmates run the asylum) it took the shine off.

Glad to see Tom Watson take my advice about the Ryder Cup picks.  I’ll point out that stroke play and match play are two entirely different games.

Hope you’re hitting ’em straight.