The Mainlands Golf Course - The Three Stooges Partake

Good Day Everyone!

So yesterday Alonso, Nick, and I finally made it out to The Mainlands Golf Course and played 18 holes. This is an 18 hole Par 67 "In Between" golf course as it is not an executive course, but yet not quite a regular sized course (Par 72). The Mainlands features two par 5s, nine par 4s, and seven par 3s. It's a fun little course with both easy forgiving holes and challenging holes. So let's get to the action!

The Front Nine

For the front nine the three of us were matched up with a one-some to make a foursome so we would "play quicker"... okay. Sure. Unfortunately for our new friend, we were moving slowly. I was confident in my own ability to move quickly around the course, it was giraffe swing boy and Alonso I was worried about.

On the first hole, we decided I tee of first. Being confident from the driver practice I got at the driving range last week, I figured I'd take out my driver, and whack it down the middle of this par 4. Alas, first hole jitter got the best of me, and sliced it right. So far right in fact, it wasn't in the fairway of the adjacent 18th hole, but was in the ditch adjacent to the adjacent hole: I managed to hit the ball 280 yards, but it was 100 yard to the right. Upon finding my ball in the water, I fished it out, took a drop and managed to save, er, ten for the first hole. It was not a good start.

The first green at Mainlands. Photo courtesy of their website: www.mainlandsgolf.com

Alonso made an interesting first shot that went short and right. All things considered it wasn't that bad considering this is his not even tenth time playing golf, and first time swinging a driver. Nick managed the nicest tee shot as although it only went a hundred yards or so, it was right down the middle. It doesn't matter if you hit it 300 yards if you're never on target, so it was a good start for him.

Our 4th wheel managed a five for bogey on this par four after his tee shot went left, pitch shot fell short, and two putting. I managed a ten after taking my wet tee shot, punch shot to the fairway, short pitch shot, and poor green work. Alonso managed eleven after chipping over the green several (three) times. Nick managed eight.

The second hole is a doozy. Par 4, only 300 yards,  but your tee shot had to clear about a hundred yards of water. Needless to say, every one of us but our new buddy ended up in the water one way or another. Thankfully for me, I only ended up there once after my tee shot with my driver again went right and into the water. My second tee shot went straight with a nice draw and landed me in the fairway. Nick and Alonso both ended up in the water twice before we gave up and headed to the other side of the lake for a drop in the drop area. At the end of the hole, Alonso was tied with Nick after making up three shots (a ten instead of a thirteen) and I tied with our new pal for a bogie after making an extraordinary fifty foot putt for bogey.

The 6th hole as viewed from the tee. Photo courtesy of their website: mainlandsgolf.com

From that point on I made bogey on several holes, made two pars, and even managed a birdie on the ninth after making a 10 foot putt. I finished ten over par at a 44. Alonso couldn't get his head together to save anything better than double bogey. Nick managed two bogies but nothing better, and the guy who by now is a bit irritated with taking three hours to play nine holes managed four bogies, two pars, and several double bogies. After the ninth we decided to take a break, grab a few subs from the clubhouse, and let some people play through so we wouldn't need to let so many play through when we set off for the back nine. Our buddy even went on without us knowing he would be there all day if he stuck around. At this point Nick was in last place in our round at a 73 for the front nine, and Alonso behind my 44 with a 66.

The Back Nine

Since we were paired up with somebody on the front nine, I didn't take any pictures or videos because I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. But since it was just the three of us for the back nine, I let the vlogging commence!

I don't know if it was the heat, something in the cheese, or just excitement over not irritating too many other players, but as you can tell we were pretty happy about getting back out on the course.

My tenth tee shot as mentioned in the above video. It landed on the green and rolled pin high but just off and onto the fringe. This set me up for a two putt for par.

After the tenth we moved onto the eleventh hole, as per usual counting methods. Now, Mainlands is famous for their eleventh hole, or at least they say they are. Their eleventh hole is a par 5 with a dogleg in it unlike any other in the area. In fact, they don't even call it a "dogleg" they call it a "horseshoe"... and for good reason!

Alonso is quite a character... always up to something. He actually managed to tie me on this hole thanks to a decent second shot out of the ruff, a third shot to the side of the green, a fourth shot onto the green, and a three putt. So despite my 300 yard tee shot if the rest of your game is no good you will NOT score well. I chunked my second shot, and overshot my third. Then having a downhill putt overshot my first putt leaving myself an uphill eight footer which I misjudged the read on and three putted for double bogey.

Moving on the twelfth hole is a short par three at 145 yards. My tee shot landed just feet from the hole and the ball rolled ten feet past. I two putted for par. Nick hit an excellent tee shot landing him feet away from the hole and managed to birdie the hole! Alonso managed five.

My twelfth tee shot landed close but rolled about ten feet past. I two putted for par.

Over the next few holes I managed a bogie a couple doubles and a triple. However, on the seventeenth I was ecstatic over my tee shot!

On the Seventeenth hole my tee shot put me just inches away from the cup. If I didn't make that shot I was going to cry. Luckily, no tears were shed as I circled my score on my card.

Woohoo! So I managed to birdie that hole. Then we moved onto the eighteenth hole. Now, as we finished seventeen we noticed some clouds starting to roll in from the north. They were dark and scary, but we didn't hear anything too menacing or close, and we only had one hole to play. After we teed off and got in the cart, that storm rolled in FAST! Like it wasn't there and then a minute later it was on us. We ran to pick up our balls and then fled to the cover of the clubhouse. We figured we'll play that hole over once the storm passed.

Our view from the clubhouse as the rain came down. Only in Florida will there be pouring rain and lightning and clear skies...

After the storm passed we went out and played eighteen. I tallied up the scores beforehand and realized I needed par to stay at ten over like I did on the front nine. Since the back nine has a par 3 instead of a par 4, the par is 33 instead of 34. I hit a wonderful tee shot three hundred yards down the middle and it landed in the fairway and stopped due to the wet ground. I then hit my pitch shot fat, luckily hit it over the tiny pond to the left of the fairway just short of the green, and got on the green in three. I then botched my putting and three putted for double bogey. Oh well. I got a 45 on the back nine, and a 44 on the front nine, resulting in 22 over par and an 89 total. Alonso shot a 69 on the back and Nick beat Alonso on the back nine by thee strokes with his 66. However overall Alonso beat Nick by four strokes as the totals added up to 135 for Alonso and 139 for Nick.

So now that we have Mainlands under our belt, we hope to play a Par 72 course before season comes and jacks up the prices. I personally really like The Mainlands Golf Course and would definitely play there again. I kind of want to avenge my double bogie on the "Horseshoe Par 5" eleventh. But all in all I'm satisfied with my round. If I pay a little closer attention next time I should be able to shave a few strokes off at least and get back down to bogey golf and hopefully less than that. I also want to have somebody film my tee shots...

Well that's a wrap! Check back for more soon!

--Tom K.