Earlier this year, I saw “Temporarily Closed” on the Swannanoa Golf Course web-site. That’s not a good sign. I was worried that the course had closed for good. Then, for the past month or more I have called them and no response. Finally, I asked a friend, a fellow golfer, and he said they were open. So on his word, I took my granddaughter Berkley to the top of Afton mountain to play her … [Read more...]

Remember Mr. Magoo? J. Quincy Magoo - the elderly, wealthy, cartoon character who got into a series of comical situations as a result of his extreme near-sightedness? I’m a little like Mr. Magoo, other than the wealthy part. I wear tri-focal glasses. Blind, blinder and blindest are my lenses. I can see pretty well at distances, however, but not so much up close. I wear glasses most all the … [Read more...]

We were on the 16th tee box in a spirited golf match at Heritage Hills in Harrisonburg when the young man from the Pro Shop appeared and said the carts needed to be in at 5:30 - and it was 5:30. That was good information, but information we never received.  I wouldn’t have booked at 1:30 tee time (the only one available) had I known. We normally complete our round in 4 hours, but we were placed … [Read more...]

Everybody makes New Year’s Resolutions, usually on New Year’s Eve, but rarely kept. I make Masters resolutions, right before The Masters Golf Tournament in April. Since they didn’t have The Masters in April last year, it really screwed up my golf game. I had an awful year. Come to think of it, most of the years I play golf  are awful, but I digress. Each year, I try to make a resolution that … [Read more...]

  Wow! A 65 degree in February? And my day off?  And a tee time at 1:24 at Birdwood? That’s a hard combination to beat. Birdwood has always been a nice course, and now it’s nicer. Last year Boar’s Head Inn spent a gazillion dollars to have Davis Love, III practically redesign the entire course. I don’t know why, but I think it had something to do with college golf tournaments and UVA. … [Read more...]

I keep my golf clubs on the back seat of my car. That’s because my wife Nancy doesn’t like it when I stand them in their bag in the living room and it’s too much work to take them down to the storage room after every round. So they stay in my back seat. And they are lonely. My loyal and lonely clubs have not had the opportunity to pop a drive high in the air and fall short of the ladies’ tees … [Read more...]

One of the knocks against golf these days is that it’s expensive. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. My golfing Amigos and I have been wearing out our VSGA VIP cards, making the game a lot less expensive and a lot more fun since we’re playing lots of different courses. A VIP basically allows a golfer to have free greens fees with a cart rental. Looking back over the past few seasons, I have … [Read more...]

  Weather permitting, we are playing golf again every Wednesday, my day off. Last week, we chose my favorite course, Heritage Oaks in Harrisonburg. Heritage Oaks is owned and operated by the City of Harrisonburg. Lots of municipal courses are grossly mis-managed as are many government-run projects. But not Heritage Oaks. For starters, it is a most friendly and welcoming course. After you … [Read more...]