Day 15 Avery Ranch & Austin to Liberty, TX
3/22 - Day 15 Avery Ranch GC & Austin to Liberty, TX
Austin is a beautiful city! Very green & well laid out. I like it a lot and would like to visit it again WHEN THE BARS/MUSIC VENUES ARE OPEN! I have to say missing out on the music here is a major disappointment for the trip. I did try some Texas BBQ. I don't think it was top shelf, but I had a combo of brisket and smoked turkey, and the turkey was something new to me and excellent!
I fueled at Costco on the way to the golf course. It's a weird scene with so many people standing in a long, scattered line outside the store, waiting their turn. Costco is now mandated to only let 75 customers at a time in to shop. The waiting line reminded me of a zombie movies, people just milling around waiting for brains to eat (or something like that)! I'm sure I will be standing in one of these lines soon.
I played golf this day at the Avery Ranch Golf Club in northwest Austin. Unlike the previous day when rain was forecast and it held off, it was supposed to be dry this day and while it wasn't a downpour, it misted for most of this round.
The characters for today's play are:
Gary: a fairly long hitter, but inconsistent fairway finder, he will play the 6416 yard member tees (blue-gold combo), 71.6 rating, 135 slope. Nice guy, probably early or mid 40s, Gary walked the front nine. You'd enjoy playing golf with Gary. I did.
Gwen: not actually playing golf, but driving the cart and playing caddie/mother to her two sons she has brought to the golf course. Gwen was fairly silent during the round although she does speak words of encouragement to her offspring, RUNS them their clubs when need be (another cart paths only day folks!) and other than that stays in the background. You would enjoy having Gwen in your group. You might not even know she was there! You may even have enjoyed having her as your mother/caddie.
Evan: a 12 year old (I had originally guessed 10, but it never hurts to ask) who had some game and played from the same tees as the author, white, 5724 yards, 68.9 rating, 125 slope. Mostly a polite quiet lad except when hassling his sibling, Charles. Evan would sometimes slam his club into the ground when his shot went awry, unfortunately with no rebuke from Gwen. He really wasn't a good enough player to be that upset with bad shots. Gwen lets Evan drive the golf cart a bit and I think he may be enjoying that more than the golf! You may not have liked playing golf with Evan. I'm not sure I did.
Charles: Evan's 8 year old (I guessed 6, but really, what do I know about kids?) brother who was allowed (and rightly so) to tee off well in front of the forward tees on longer holes or holes with forced carries (and there are a LOT of them on this golf course!). Charles is friendly, clearly having fun, and very likely to become a good golfer in years to come. As it was, I am certain (though I did not keep his score) that regardless of where he teed off from, he kicked the author's ass this day, scorewise. You would probably enjoy having Charles in your group. I did.
Jessica: Gary's wife, who joins the cast in the 2nd act. Not to play golf, but to ride around in the cart with her husband so they could spend some Sunday time together, always sipping at her well disguised gin & tonic in a large water bottle. Gwen is a nurse in real life, and this is her first day off in 10 days. She deserves a break today. You would enjoy having Jessica in your group too. I did.
The Author: An obvious hack who will X out on his scorecard four times on the front nine and despite parring both par threes, shoot the horrific score of 55. This character also had two X's on the back nine. For a short four hole stretch (13-16) his body was taken over by a kind spirit who managed to score par, birdie, par, par and for a short while, he feels like a real golfer again! But no, the spirit having done its best leaves the author to his own questionable talents and the hack returns. He was five strokes over par on the two closing holes. The only reason to play golf with this guy is you know he has birdie juice in his golf bag, but in these strange times, is that enough for you to allow him in your group? Sometimes I don't even like to play with him!
I didn't really like this golf course that much. Gary had been a member here for a while and quit, mostly because of the poor bunker maintenance. I asked if it was because of the rain, and he said no, they were always bad (there are large chunks of rock sticking out of the sand in a lot of places!), but the course is always busy and management really only cares about that. There is a lot of pressure on tee shots on this course, and I wasn't up to it this day. This course and Falconhead are owned buy the same company and the course at Falconhead was MUCH better maintained.
After golf I drove to Liberty, TX to spend the night. Liberty is about 35 miles due west of Beaumont, TX. Monday I have a tee time in southern Louisiana, so I wanted to cut down the drive time (under 4 hours) for that round. I stayed at what I thought would be a little dive called the Luxury Inn. Actually, it was much nicer than expected, probably better than the Quality Inn I stayed at in Austin. Nice people and a much larger room than I expected (or needed).
L to R Evan, Charles & Gwen
Jessica & Gary
Gary on the tee at the 175 yard par 3 11th.
This is the s-l-o-w group ahead of us on #18. I was quite happy
for this round to be over!
Austin is a beautiful city! Very green & well laid out. I like it a lot and would like to visit it again WHEN THE BARS/MUSIC VENUES ARE OPEN! I have to say missing out on the music here is a major disappointment for the trip. I did try some Texas BBQ. I don't think it was top shelf, but I had a combo of brisket and smoked turkey, and the turkey was something new to me and excellent!
I fueled at Costco on the way to the golf course. It's a weird scene with so many people standing in a long, scattered line outside the store, waiting their turn. Costco is now mandated to only let 75 customers at a time in to shop. The waiting line reminded me of a zombie movies, people just milling around waiting for brains to eat (or something like that)! I'm sure I will be standing in one of these lines soon.
I played golf this day at the Avery Ranch Golf Club in northwest Austin. Unlike the previous day when rain was forecast and it held off, it was supposed to be dry this day and while it wasn't a downpour, it misted for most of this round.
The characters for today's play are:
Gary: a fairly long hitter, but inconsistent fairway finder, he will play the 6416 yard member tees (blue-gold combo), 71.6 rating, 135 slope. Nice guy, probably early or mid 40s, Gary walked the front nine. You'd enjoy playing golf with Gary. I did.
Gwen: not actually playing golf, but driving the cart and playing caddie/mother to her two sons she has brought to the golf course. Gwen was fairly silent during the round although she does speak words of encouragement to her offspring, RUNS them their clubs when need be (another cart paths only day folks!) and other than that stays in the background. You would enjoy having Gwen in your group. You might not even know she was there! You may even have enjoyed having her as your mother/caddie.
Evan: a 12 year old (I had originally guessed 10, but it never hurts to ask) who had some game and played from the same tees as the author, white, 5724 yards, 68.9 rating, 125 slope. Mostly a polite quiet lad except when hassling his sibling, Charles. Evan would sometimes slam his club into the ground when his shot went awry, unfortunately with no rebuke from Gwen. He really wasn't a good enough player to be that upset with bad shots. Gwen lets Evan drive the golf cart a bit and I think he may be enjoying that more than the golf! You may not have liked playing golf with Evan. I'm not sure I did.
Charles: Evan's 8 year old (I guessed 6, but really, what do I know about kids?) brother who was allowed (and rightly so) to tee off well in front of the forward tees on longer holes or holes with forced carries (and there are a LOT of them on this golf course!). Charles is friendly, clearly having fun, and very likely to become a good golfer in years to come. As it was, I am certain (though I did not keep his score) that regardless of where he teed off from, he kicked the author's ass this day, scorewise. You would probably enjoy having Charles in your group. I did.
Jessica: Gary's wife, who joins the cast in the 2nd act. Not to play golf, but to ride around in the cart with her husband so they could spend some Sunday time together, always sipping at her well disguised gin & tonic in a large water bottle. Gwen is a nurse in real life, and this is her first day off in 10 days. She deserves a break today. You would enjoy having Jessica in your group too. I did.
The Author: An obvious hack who will X out on his scorecard four times on the front nine and despite parring both par threes, shoot the horrific score of 55. This character also had two X's on the back nine. For a short four hole stretch (13-16) his body was taken over by a kind spirit who managed to score par, birdie, par, par and for a short while, he feels like a real golfer again! But no, the spirit having done its best leaves the author to his own questionable talents and the hack returns. He was five strokes over par on the two closing holes. The only reason to play golf with this guy is you know he has birdie juice in his golf bag, but in these strange times, is that enough for you to allow him in your group? Sometimes I don't even like to play with him!
I didn't really like this golf course that much. Gary had been a member here for a while and quit, mostly because of the poor bunker maintenance. I asked if it was because of the rain, and he said no, they were always bad (there are large chunks of rock sticking out of the sand in a lot of places!), but the course is always busy and management really only cares about that. There is a lot of pressure on tee shots on this course, and I wasn't up to it this day. This course and Falconhead are owned buy the same company and the course at Falconhead was MUCH better maintained.
After golf I drove to Liberty, TX to spend the night. Liberty is about 35 miles due west of Beaumont, TX. Monday I have a tee time in southern Louisiana, so I wanted to cut down the drive time (under 4 hours) for that round. I stayed at what I thought would be a little dive called the Luxury Inn. Actually, it was much nicer than expected, probably better than the Quality Inn I stayed at in Austin. Nice people and a much larger room than I expected (or needed).
L to R Evan, Charles & Gwen
for this round to be over!
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