36 Holes

As a young teenager, I would often play 36 holes of golf in a day and they would be separated by a cheeseburger served to me by Simon. Those days were half my lifetime ago, the course was Indian Hills CC in Opelousas, LA and Simon was our favorite bartender.

This day of 36 holes was different, we tee'd off on the first 18 at the Milwaukee Country Club at 8am sharp, after a good breakfast. I had blueberry pancakes, a favorite of mine, along with some toast (pre-trimmed edges!) and jelly. The course was tough but fun, the place is barely played as the 225 members are only allowed 9 guests a year and it's located in a state that only has 5.5 months of golfing weather. The greens had almost no ball marks and the visible ones had been repaired and rolled as flat as any part of the green. The fairway lies were like carpet in your hallway, flat, not fluffy, but comfortable and springy to walk on. I shot 44 on the front with 8 fives and 1 four. At the turn i grabbed a water and a couple of Ritz crackers with fresh peanut butter to spread between them. Much better than those prewrapped peanut butter cracker packs. I was still playing with the same ball when I tee'd off on the 10th. I try not to think about that much b/c it's a sure way to SHANK the next shot into the drink and then be digging in your bag for another Titleist. Another 9 holes of fast paced golf filled with some great views and we were done. 42 more strokes for me on the back to round out at 86. I had to par the 18th to finish with 85 but a duffed SW shot after a great drive kept me out of the money. We packed up our bags and were off in the limo to the Milwaukee airport. There we would grab a rental, say bye to Bill Hooper from Qwest and Scott and I were off to our next tee time.

We pulled up to Thunderhawk Golf Course in Beach Park, Il and were greeted by Scott's cousin Craig and his wife Cathy. Both are very good golfers. It was about 2:15 in the afternoon and we were up on the 1st tee about to start our 2nd round of the day. I hit the fairway on the first hole with a 270yd drive and I was feeling tired but good. At the turn I was sitting at 39, I'm usually in the low to mid 40's on each side so a 39 was good for me. The course wasn't easy but I just kept the ball in play and made a few putts. Still playing with the same ball from the morning that had encountered NO hazards and hence NO penalty strokes in the last 27 holes. I was thinking now about the possibility of shooting a sub 80 round. The temperature was dropping and was in the mid 50s with wind gusts approaching 20mph. Club selection was difficult, especially on the Par 3s. 1 double bogey on the back and I ended up with a 41 to shoot an 80. I missed my 70s round but was very happy with my score. 36 holes with no penalty strokes and no lost balls isn't something I do often. The highlight of the round for me was when I holed out with my lob wedge from about 25 yards. It was the first time I had ever done that on a fly. The ball came off my face with good loft and landed perfectly into the hole. It never even touched the edge of the cup as it banged into the flagstick and dropped to the bottom. Unfortunately it was to save Par as I had to punch out of the sand on the previous shot.

Craig and Cathy joined Scott and I at Outback steakhouse just up the road from the course for dinner. I had the chicken and shrimp fettuccine which was very good, I was also quite hungry so my stomach isn't as picky then.

After dinner we drove down to the O'Hare airport area and found our Westin hotel. Nearly 10pm we checked in and found our rooms. the Westin is always nice, i had a huge king bed with about 8 pillows, a shower with DUAL shower heads (soon to be my next purchase) and a comfy chair. I showered and changed and went down to the bar to get a drink. We found a sports bar around the corner but I learned a good lesson. If you want to have fun in Chicago, you gotta be downtown. There was NOTHING going on in the O'Hare area that we could find.

We decided to cancel our Saturday morning golf round due to cold/rainy weather. Good choice since I didn't rise out of bed ‘til almost 9:30. We got up and drove over to Hoffman Estates, Scott's old neighborhood. We drove around a few places, Scott's home that he grew up in, his grade school and high school and had lunch at Barnaby's A Family Inn. Pepperoni and Pineapple pizza for me which went well with my semi-hangover. Feeling all better now, I found my way to Midway Airport and am now waiting for my flight.
More to come from Los Angeles :)