Taking advantage of a pretty nice day weather-wise, I headed out early this morning to Compass Pointe for my second round of the year (putting me well ahead of last year’s dismal pace). Conditions were a mixed bag (we played the South/West routing and not my preferred North/East routing), but this time of year it can be difficult for courses. The greens weren’t bad, and the fairways were, for the most part, in decent shape. It was chilly when we teed off (38 degrees according to my phone), but it warmed up into the mid 50’s by the time we finished, which was pretty pleasant by February standards. A reminder that, even when I don’t play that well, I love this game.
4th hole on the South nine. Don’t go right. Or left. Or long. Or short.
Had a good time, and as with my previous round my knee started acting up towards the end and started having some issues off the tee. I’d still argue that Compass Pointe is a decent option in the area. It’s not on anyone’s Top 10 in the DMV, but it’s a decent test of golf that has a nice variety of short and long holes. My only complaint about the layout is that the par 5’s are uniformly all very tough with not an easy one on any of the four nines.
West nine, Hole 1. Not to point out the obvious but going right is highly discouraged.
However, there’s glimmer of hope of sorts. The 7th hole on the West nine has had several trees taken down in the waste area which will hopefully make the second shot across the waste area a bit easier (definitely the case today).
West Nine 7th hole. Note the removal of trees from either side of the hazard. Definitely a bit easier to deal with.
Compass Pointe is still a fun place to play. Pace of play in the afternoon can be uneven, but for morning rounds we breezed around in just over 3 1/2 hours (never saw anyone behind us except for a single that I immediately waved to play through). Paid $49 to play (carts included). For mid-February, can’t complain.
TIMBERS AT TROY UPDATE
Being mid-February and driving past it on the way home to stately SGIC manor, I stopped by Timbers at Troy to see how things are progressing while they’re closed for renovations. I got a few strange looks from a couple folks who were wondering what I was doing (hopefully they realized I was just taking photos and was not some threat to security). I didn’t want to get in trouble or bother anyone, but I took a few photos:
Bunker work done at the 9th green at Timbers at Troy. Looks good.
As you can see above, not only is the sand new (and very bright white), but it’s obvious they re-sodded the area around the bunkers (I saw this in most bunkers that have been redone.
5th hole at Timbers at Troy. Green-side bunkers have been redone.
At the 5th hole (above) you can see the green-side bunker is redone. The fairway bunker (not visible) was also re-done and the area around the bunker was re-sodded. This photo was taken standing on Marshalee Drive while a couple pedestrians stared at me. If this was you, I’m a golf blogger. That’s all. The thing in my hand was a phone I used to take photos, so chill the hell out.
From behind the practice green looking out to the 1st hole at Timbers at Troy.
If the photo above doesn’t show it, the first hole also has new sand (the fairway bunker on the right and the green-side bunkers have been re-done. They don’t care about my opinion but I’d have eliminated the two green-side bunkers at the first hole and just re-sodded, but I’m not a golf architect. Still think the course is tough enough as is without the bunkers.
From my untrained eye, it looks like they’re making progress. The bunkers look really good, and from what I saw, the greens and fairways looked better than they’ve looked (small sample size on a random February Saturday). Admittedly, I’ve had a go at them on multiple occasions for a litany of reasons, but when the course is in good shape, it’s a solid test and one of the options in Central Maryland. If I’ve pounded them, it’s because I want this course to be in great shape. It’s a win-win if they do this.
RANT
I’m not watching the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am because I want to see the pros play. At the risk of angering the masses, Bill Murray’s act is pretty tiresome (dress as oddly as humanly possible and take 6 1/2 hours to play), and my desire to see Larry The Cable Guy lumber about in a sleeveless shirt is a negative number (seriously, you’re a millionaire and yet it’s wear a sleeveless camo golf shirt (the ‘look at me dress like a real Merikun’ act is offensive, stupid and phony as all get out- it’s $500 to play at Pebble Beach so can we stop with the act?) and say ‘git-r-done’ like an organ grinder…is that the depth of this idiot’s talent?). What horrible things must they do to Peter Kostis to make him ‘analyze’ their swings? Crazy idea I posted on Twitter:
Suggestion for the @attproam is this: put actual golf with the pros on Golf Channel, and let CBS ham it up with the celebrities. Win-win.
— Solo Golfer in Cart (@1golferincart) February 11, 2017
I don’t mind celebrities, but can we move them along at a pace slightly faster than glacial? They’re playing at Pebble Beach and a course with its history deserves better than this trope of rubes playing dress-up. Let Golf Channel cover the pros, and then let CBS go full-time celebrities on the Saturday (I acknowledge that they get ratings for this, so have both).
I actually find the 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open funny…you know what you’re getting so either play or don’t. It’s one hole a year. If you honestly think it’s the only event where guys are getting loaded, I’ve got some ocean front property in Kansas for sale.
SONG OF THE BLOG
Bryan Adams in his early 80’s rocker days? Oh hell yes. You put those sunglasses on, you pull that guitar out of the leaves, and you get down with your bad self.
The leather pants…are a choice. I’d have to kill a herd of cows for enough leather to fit the planetary force that is my rear end.
Hit ’em straight, and enjoy the nice weather while we have it.
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