The Annual Golf Trip

After a one-year hiatus, we were able to work out the details for the golf adventure this year. The three of use were able to arrange our schedules to travel to coastal south Georgia for 3 days of golf. Two of us making the long drive into the night and the third flying and driving to meet us. Due to these travel arrangements, the two simply driving were the last to arrive, but we make it in time for the seafood buffet. Of course, the seafood buffet has become the pot of gold at the end of the day of travel. Our hours of travel were rewarded with fish, shrimp, oysters, prime rib, assorted vegetables and a fine selection of desserts. As usual, we overindulged.

This trip had a new twist with the housing. Instead of making reservations for 3 separate rooms with the resort, I was able to make arrangements to rent a condo at the resort. We got a four bedroom, 3 bath condo at the resort with a wonderful balcony overlooking the marsh to the east. Unlike an infamous trip to the beach a few years ago, there was no sign of the bear breaking into the fridge on this trip.

The first day found us on the north end of the island at a golf club that was nicer than what we usually play. We had played this course several years ago, on a day that turned windy/raw that sapped our energy. This year the weather was beautiful-warm and sunny-with a slight breeze. That breeze became more significant as we reached the back nine that works out into the marsh and even a slight breeze takes a noticeable toll on your shots. One of us had very little memory of playing this course, since he was very sick during that round a few years ago. He almost didn't finish that round and we thought we might have to strap him onto the top of the cart until we got back to the clubhouse. There were no problems like that on this trip and we all enjoyed the round.

Evening found us back in the familiar spot at Chelsea. A small restaurant near the location of our traditional first night seafood buffet. This lovely eatery is quiet and has a nice wine list that we were able to enjoy. Since we only played one round, we were able to get an "early bird" special on the dinner. Next we will have to find out about senior citizen specials. We had a short visit to Murphy's Tavern with all the locals, but they weren't having the Christmas party we had enjoyed in the past.

The next morning started early with a drive down to Jeykll Island to rush and squeeze in two rounds. Since there was a junior tournament that same day, we started on one of the older courses and finished with the most recently renovated course. We were able to grab a bite of lunch in between rounds at the clubhouse grille. Luckily we had no encounters with the grille staff over the items included in the lunch specials, and there were no threats made. In the morning round we encountered a single alligator along the side of the fairway. All three of us grabbed our cameras to record the sighting. Two of us were brave enough to get out of the carts to snap a few photos, but one of our group was quite comfortable using his telephoto zoom feature from the cart. During the afternoon we spotted two more alligators sunning themselves on the grass near one of our tee boxes. We all agreed that one of our young friends here in town would not want to join us to play golf on these trips since he is not comfortable around our local wildlife on the golf course here, and could not handle the alligators in south Georgia.

We had a new dinner location planned for the final night, Bennie's Red Barn. I had eaten at this restaurant in the past, but it had been a decade or more since I'd been there, despite its close proximity to the resort. We were surprised to learn there was no written menu, and our waiter eventually divulged what our options were for dinner. We enjoyed large chunks of beef and rolled back to the car.

Our final morning was spent packing up and then making our way over to the Sea Palms golf course. There was a threat of showers in the forecast, and we actually had to pull the carts up under some large oak trees for about five minutes when there was a brief cloudburst. Once it passed through, the sun came back out and we enjoyed clear weather for the rest of the round. The highlight was either the house that one of us hit, and then had to walk into the owner's back yard to retrieve his ball (and apologize to the owner) or the nearly impossible par three on 17 that none of us even came close to hitting. in hindsight, if we had imagined it was a house instead of a green, then at least one of us had a good chance of hitting it. We finished the final round in less than four hours and complimented ourselves on having the whole course to ourselves. Loading up and heading out, one of us had to make a quick drive to catch a flight to carry him back to the frigid north. Those of us lucky enough not to have to venture north to return home, had a long uneventful drive home.

Overall Assessment: We all had a nice time and returned home with the usual sore muscles and our golf bags lighter thanks to the brush and water hazards. No one was attacked by the alligators and we were lucky to have weather that was warm enough to wear shorts. Next year we will try the same arrangements but hope for better wireless Internet connections and no blizzard in the north.