Lots of pros teach good “golf course management” when playing a round of golf, but Kevin Mann and I practiced good golf cart management during our last round at Lake Monticello. It had rained who knows how much a few days before we played. That and the fact that it has rained more this summer than anytime since Noah went for his boat ride and the course was like a sponge. Number 12 was roped off completely.
Naturally, the rules were strictly “Cart Path Only,” In this case, we didn’t even consider cheating and sneaking off the cart path in fear of losing our cart entirely in a pool of wet mud.
So we played Golf Cart Management. That means if the golf cart is on the right side of the fairway, you slice it and keep close to the path. If it’s on the left, you try to hit a draw, which for me is like trying to split an atom. So when the path was on the left, I started my drive along the very edge of the trees on the left and hoped not to be too far from center. But our shots sprayed across the fairways and we walked a lot. We were back and forth, back and forth, through the mud. It was like walking 18 holes.
Yet, the course was in amazingly good shape. A few of the greens were blemished from excess rain, but most were in very good condition. Those four-foot putts were tough, though. They always are for me. No problem with the 12-footers, since nobody expects you to make those, so I did fairly well from that distance. The four-footers killed me, yet I shot a 90 – good for me at The Lake, and Kevin had a solid 80.
If we have an ordinary fall – something less than 50-inches of rain per month – all the courses in Central Virginia should spring to life. And the golf course folks need all the help they can get. It’s been a tough year.