May 4, 2021 FOOOORRRRE! Or maybe five or six…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEOOOOWWWT!  I like where we are and want to go outside!  MEOOOOOOWWWWT!

In the middle of the night, the wind kicked up big time.  Hannah was shaking and I could hear things flying outside.  In the morning, it was calm and I took a short walk around.  It kind of looked like when I used to go to Lake Powell after a wind episode and found things all over the lake! But it was calm now and golf was on our agenda. 

Black Jack’s Crossing golf course is a high end course designed by Lanny Wadkins.  We were paired up with another couple (Greg who is really good, and Sara who is a beginner).  Tee time was 9 am.  We started at the driving range where I couldn’t hit a ball right to save my life.  Which version of me would be on the course today…

The course is a desert course in that there are arroyos surrounding the lush green of the fairways.  I was not allowed to walk.  The course is long and has some very steep inclines that would be impossible to navigate with a push cart.  There were also a few places where we had to cross water which would have made walking difficult.  So, in the cart I went.  The first hole, both Spouse and I were a bit erratic but not terrible.  Then my golf brains started to kick in.

The course had some extremely challenging holes.  But the two most difficult – I NAILED!  One was a par four dog leg around a deep chasm where the entire hole slanted to the chasm.  From our tee, you could not see the fairway.  You had to take your chances and swing.  For the big kids, if they were on the left side of the fairway, it was about a 200 yard shot to the green over the chasm.  But for us mere mortals, we have to go around the chasm.  To do that, you had to position yourself so you could use a club with the right loft or roll otherwise your ball would roll into the chasm, as Spouse found out.  It was a good shot that looked like it was placed perfectly but it was too bad!  I had a 133 yard shot where I could not see the hole.  All I knew was to hit it left of the palm tree up ahead and hope for the best.  I did!  When I got to the top of the hill, I saw my ball had hit the hill just right and had rolled onto the green about 4 feet from the hole!  Who would have thought…  I missed the putt but I didn’t care!

The other beyond challenging hole…  It was a par 3 and you were perched high on the tee box.  Way high!  WAY WAY HIGH!  Greg had a 150 yard shot that looked like a 500 yard shot and sure enough, it was really only 150 yards.  Our shot was 130 yards.  Did I mention that we were really high up?  The hole is surrounded by bunkers, and it is a solid arroyo up until the bunkers.  Very intimidating if I do say so.  My drive landed on the green.  Did you hear me scream?  I am sure you did…  Spouse ended in the bunker but he so frequently chokes on these shots so we were happy he cleared the arroyo.  I parred the hole and it made my day!  I ended with a 101 which I was quite proud of since I haven’t played much lately and had cobwebs and rust on me.  Spouse… well, his score was higher and let’s leave it at that.

After, we went to a restaurant and ate and drank. We split a sandwich with French fries and were in heaven.  Real food!  When we got back to Hannah, I sank into my favorite chair and napped.  This is heaven!

The town of Lajitas is just a blip in the highway.  But it was a strategic location when we stole the land from Mexico.  There is the Calvary Hotel that is built on the land where the military resided.  There are also confederate monuments dedicated to the soldiers that fought.  At the golf course, there is a monument of Robert E. Lee that was relocated there in 2019 so that it wouldn’t get defaced, no doubt.  It is a masterful piece that commemorates the past while pledging to do better in the future.

There also is a tiny cemetary that is unique in that the graves are marked with piles of stones.  Some actually have markers, but many are just mounds of stones.  But one…  had an unopened Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and another bottle of some liquor as a tribute.  Gotta love them!

Beautiful weather today!  Wasn’t even hot!