Harris Teeter and $1 Nassau’s
6:25am out the door. 3 hours and 2 minutes from Chester, VA to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Southern Pines, NC. Smooth and easy drive. Sunny and nobody on the roads. We got to Dick’s around 9:30 but they didn’t open until 10:00 am on Sundays. Next door was a Harris Teeter Grocery store, and we were hungry anways. Harris Teeter is a high-quality grocery store - maybe more on that later (we were also pretty hungry and overwhelmed by the colors and aisles). We b-lined for the sushi and sat to eat in the cafe/bar area. No, the bar wasn’t open. But they did advertise live music on Wednesday nights. Talk about mixing business with pleasure.
Dick’s was sweet. @GLENBURNZ and I both got new golf shoes mostly out of necessity. From there we ventured to the Knollwood Fairways and Driving Range. Exactly where we started our golfing in Pinehurst last year.
We had a 12:30 tee time at Longleaf Golf and Family Club. We played Longleaf twice last year and we were excited to see a familiar site for our first 18. We got paired up with a recently retired veteran named Aaron, (definitely a double A), shook hands on the tee box and all found the fairway. Good enough. And all of a sudden we were playing our first round of golf since October. What a thrill.
Longleaf sits on a spot that was once a horse farm. In the late 1980’s it was developed into a residential golf oasis. The course is surrounded by tasteful and quiet neighborhoods. But it does not feel cramped. The fairways are wide, and where thee grass ends there is space to find your ball in the pine needles and sand areas.
Glen and I played a 1 dollar Nassau. $1 dollar to the winner of the front 9. $1 to the winner of the back. And $1 to the winner of all 18. We both played inconsistently on the front. Encouraged by the good shots, and not deterred by the bad. Our playing partner Aaron fed off the energy that was brought by his lady friend who walked along with us. They were the perfect pairing for our first round, extremely casual and always complimenting our shots! The two of them said goodbye after nine and we thanked them for their kindness. I narrowly won the front. Glen starting murdering the ball off the tee on the back, and took control early. The overall match was evened up for the final stretch as we both found our swings.
On the 17th tee Glen held a narrow 1 up lead. I blasted a slappy fade into a trough to the right below the fairway. Glen used his new 5 wood to launch the ball into position A. I managed to make my mind up on an 8 iron for the next shot and hit my best shot of the day. The ball was pin high, 20 ft left of the pin. Birdie putt on the way. Glen found trouble getting the ball in the hole and I dripped in my putt for a 3. Maybe an anamoly, maybe not. The match was tied. A whole dollar up for grabs on the 18th! All that drama ended in a push. We tied the 18th. Our match would continue the next day.
We left the course and checked in at our home for the next 4 nights. A treehouse with view of the lake. 36 holes awaited tomorrow at Foxfire and Mid Pines.
