Golf at The Bandit

Well, I had the fortune of playing a really nice course for a really nice price. One of my co-workers invited me to go out with him to The Bandit, a really nice course located in New Braunfels, Texas. Owned by Fore Sight Golf, its one of the trio including The Republic and The Buckhorn. Having heard many favorable reviews, I was anxious to go out and play well.

Took just a bit to find, as there weren't any signs indicating the location, but we almost drove past it! As the usual rate is $40 for weeday, we ended up paying about $16 a piece. We loaded up and headed out to the course. After teeing off, a couple, Todd and Sam, joined us for play.

The course was beautiful. A few really picturesque holes. Some elevation on a few holes, but not too crazy with the water. Well protected greens with swales and bunkers. Fairways were smooth, but more sandy than my preference. Greens were soft, but considerably dry. A few blind shots made it tough but playing in the future will allow for less risk reward and more intuitive shotmaking.

Didn't quite get the score I was looking at. Took more risks than usual, but I figured that I may not be back in a while, so may as well go for it. Enjoyed playing with my partners

Have a great weekend!

Trip to Austin

Well, I just got back from a workshop up in Austin.

My campus sent me, along with two other teachers, to the Double Tree Hotel in Austin to attend the Future Problem Solvers Program. It's quite an interesting program, which I beleive will really help our kids out. For more info, check them out at www.fpsp.org (Please note: At the time of this posting, they were in the midst of moving their headquarters from Tennessee to Florida, so the site may be down temporarily).

What I enjoyed most about the trip was my chance to visit my family that lives up their. When I had arrived in Austin on Monday and had settled in, my father picked me up and we had dinner at Outback. Never eaten there before, so I really enjoyed that. They kind of messed up on my fish, but it was quickly straightened that out. I had a frozen type drink that was delicious. A great meal, made even better by my father's company.

Tuesday held some other adventures, as my brother picked me up after I was done in the conference, workshop or whatever you want to call it. We ended up going to 6th Street for a romp around the famous street (pretty tame for a Tuesday night; just not my thing that night!), then dinner at Bennigan's. Weird thing: They were out of liquor. Just weird.

Wednesday, I had the great luck of dining with both my brother and my father, at a frequented Asian buffet. Typical fare, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

I'm sure that many would look at the activities and mention that I was on a working trip; I took care of business during the work hours. I simply enjoy the company of my family during off hours.

Thank you to my brother and dad, for joining me when you did. We don't visit nearly enough, and you both really made my trip that much more valuable.

Cheers

Weekend and Tiger

Well, I just got back from a few days down on the coast. It's nice to be able to just get away for a bit, but it's even nicer to come back home.

Stayed at Holiday Inn Emerald Beach, which has a private little beach and an indoor pool. The boy loved it! Did more cannon balls than I care to count. What's of greatest interest is how many people complained about one thing or another. It's too damn hard to just go out and forget about some things and just enjoy the company and gulf coast breeze.

Tiger won the British Open. Awesome. I've been a Tiger fan since his second Amateur Championship, so it was nice to see him really take off and have the work he's done really come through for him.

Golf at Hyatt Hill Country

Wow. I got the opportunity to play golf on Saturday, July 9, 2005 at Hyatt Regency Hill Country Spa and Resort in San Antonio.

A bit of a long story, WOAI had sponsored a give away, and I was fortunate enough to obtain a few of the passes, but at 7:30 Friday evening. After calling around and trying to find a few people, I was able to gather a foursome: Mike, Jamie, and Ryan. A good group, I was excited about playing this course.

We got to the course about 7:00 and it was really jammin'. Checked in and was looking in the pro shops. A six pack of Titleists logoed with the club logo: $22.00. Wow....

Walk out to the range and they have the pyramids of range balls ready to go. Long tees in a metal container available for all. Hitting off the grass was nice, but it was a bit sandier than I expected. The range balls were Nike. Damn that's nice!

Get on the carts with the GPS screen. You can even order food and drinks via the GPS system and have them deliver it! Didn't do that, but just played.

Of special note, I broke out my new putter on the course for the day. We'll get to that in a moment.

The course was immaculate. Fairways were slightly firm, but felt awesome going throught them making a divot. The rough was aptly named, with the grass cacthing on the hosel and turning my clubface a number of times. The greens were absolutely gorgeous. Firm, but approachable and holdable with a softer ball.

Play for me during the day was hot and cold. My driver decided he was still on vacation, so I only used it about six times; the rest of the time I used either 3 or 4 wood. My 7+ wood and my iron play was on, and that really saved my ass a number of times. What shocked me was that I was really hitting my irons farther than usual. I usually carry my 7 iron around 150, but on Saturday I was hitting 9 iron almost 150 carry!

Putting could have been so much better. The Contender goes where you hit it, no doubt about that. My problem was alignment and feel. It's solid aluminum without an insert, so I was worred about blowing past the hole on so many putts. Few too many three putts, but ended up only about ten strokes over my average. Everyone had a great time, so I was simply happy to share the experience with a memorable group.

Hopefully, the putter will just get better, and O2 (my driver!) will come back from R&R.

Putter and Cover

I finally got my putter in on Tuesday!

I quickly put it together and allowing it to bond, I began putting.

I have to say that it putts quite well. I've been using a Wilson Harmonized for a few years now (I know all its nuances) and the Contender has a few tricks up its sleeve just yet. Feel wise, I think the solid aluminum is better than the insert common in so many other putters. I have a tendency to leave the ball short, so the insert has never really been an issue (except for a duller feeling).

The putter sets up nicely. I thought it would have a more pronounced forward press, but after some practice, that was just me. I find that I can easily get it within a foot on almost any distance, but holing it from distance can be accomplished with the utmost concentration and fluid stroke. In fact, it's so easy to hit the sweet spot on the club that I find myself almost wanting to "stab" at the ball. Not good, just needs a bit of work.

As I mentioned, I decided to make a cover for the putter. Since nothing exists outside of the original DOC headcover, I used that as a starting point. I used neoprene as the material. Initially, I wanted it to have a magnetic closure, but after experimenting with that, it wasn't really coming out very clean. I went to one of my original plans, a very simple zipper along a third of the perimeter. It took about six to eight hours for me to finish the cover, but considering I haven't sewed in about fifteen years and I did this all myself, I'm happy with the results: A complete putter system put together entirely by myself.

Since it didn't make the trip with me to Lackland, I'll probably use it later this month, either at La Vernia or Kenedy (we'll just wait and see). I'm looking at dropping my putts to around 28-30 per round, but again, we'll have to see.

Cheers for now,

David