Day 17 Splat golf in northern Mississippi
3/24 - Day 17 SPLAT golf in northern Mississippi
It's a six hour drive from Alexandria, LA to Olive Branch, MS. I left in the morning dark, heading east and north on Louisiana state highways. It got lighter about an hour into the drive and while I don't know what I missed, this is a beautifully green state. At the town of Richmond, LA, my route joined I-20 and turned due east to Jackson. I crossed Mississippi state line (The Mississippi River) at Vicksburg and Jackson is not far from there.
Louisiana had no mile markers on any of the roads I traveled except for the interstates, which were federally funded and probably required. When I got into Mississippi on I-20 they had mile markers on their interstates every two tenths of a mile for a while and then every quarter mile. I assume whoever got the government contract to make all these mile markers was the friend / donor of a prominent legislator, but pardon me for being cynical. I cannot imagine any great purpose for them, except drag racing, but that doesn't seem like something you would encourage on an interstate. The "short yardage" markers continued until I got north of Jackson on I-55 and then reverted to one marker per mile as I am used to.
Mississippi is a greener state than I had imagined. It may have been the time of year or the spate of rain they have had recently. I-20 merged with I-55 at Jackson. Olive Branch is in the northernmost part of the state, a little east of I-55 and part of the town extends across the Tennessee border. The whole area is probably considered a suburb of Memphis, TN.
About a 1/2 hour from the golf course the golf pro called me and asked if I was still coming to play golf. He told me rain had been predicted for the afternoon and everyone else was canceling. I told him I wouldn't melt, would be there soon and planned to play. When I got there he told me there was only one other person (he didn't say "Dumb Enough", but it was insinuated) on the golf course, took my money and surely thought I had a screw loose. I told him It would take me less than three hours to play and would see him later. The golf course was saturated with water and there so this was another cart path only day!
I liked this golf course, but it's unfair to rate it as the ball literally went "splat" wherever it landed and stayed there. I AM surprised they even let me go out. There were a couple of times I thought the ground was going to suck the shoes right off my feet so I tried to find the least wet / highest ground possible to walk to and from the cart path to my ball.
The rain started on about hole #12 & I decided to continue as I was already a mess. I figured out (finally!) on #10 that hitting a four iron off the fairway was a better option than my low running three wood as it wasn't running and at least I could get some air distance with an iron.
I played by myself, so no score posting. I played by the lift, clean and place rules and I actually thought I played pretty well (shot a 95) considering the conditions. The blue tees are 6067, 68.9, 120 and there are gold (6761), white (5406) and red (4499) tees as well. Good to very good par threes on this course. It is comfortable off the tee, relatively inexpensive and while I can't be sure, the maintenance seemed okay. I would play it again, (NOT in the same conditions of course) and I can say I played golf in Mississippi.
When I was finished (in just under three hours) there were five locals ready to go out, drink some beer and play golf. I told just how much fun it was, but they seemed determined to try 9 holes. Maybe it was the beer calling, plus the fact that the rain had stopped.
I went across the border to West Memphis, Arkansas, and the clerk at the motel told me of Ray's BBQ about a mile down the road. It was the best BBQ I had on this trip and I highly recommend it.
Ever take a shower in your clothes? I had so much mud on me that's what I did (at least to start) to try and get most of the mud out of my pantlegs and socks. It actually worked pretty well (& I would have to do again the next night)!
No pictures. I didn't take the camera out in the rain.
It's a six hour drive from Alexandria, LA to Olive Branch, MS. I left in the morning dark, heading east and north on Louisiana state highways. It got lighter about an hour into the drive and while I don't know what I missed, this is a beautifully green state. At the town of Richmond, LA, my route joined I-20 and turned due east to Jackson. I crossed Mississippi state line (The Mississippi River) at Vicksburg and Jackson is not far from there.
Louisiana had no mile markers on any of the roads I traveled except for the interstates, which were federally funded and probably required. When I got into Mississippi on I-20 they had mile markers on their interstates every two tenths of a mile for a while and then every quarter mile. I assume whoever got the government contract to make all these mile markers was the friend / donor of a prominent legislator, but pardon me for being cynical. I cannot imagine any great purpose for them, except drag racing, but that doesn't seem like something you would encourage on an interstate. The "short yardage" markers continued until I got north of Jackson on I-55 and then reverted to one marker per mile as I am used to.
Mississippi is a greener state than I had imagined. It may have been the time of year or the spate of rain they have had recently. I-20 merged with I-55 at Jackson. Olive Branch is in the northernmost part of the state, a little east of I-55 and part of the town extends across the Tennessee border. The whole area is probably considered a suburb of Memphis, TN.
About a 1/2 hour from the golf course the golf pro called me and asked if I was still coming to play golf. He told me rain had been predicted for the afternoon and everyone else was canceling. I told him I wouldn't melt, would be there soon and planned to play. When I got there he told me there was only one other person (he didn't say "Dumb Enough", but it was insinuated) on the golf course, took my money and surely thought I had a screw loose. I told him It would take me less than three hours to play and would see him later. The golf course was saturated with water and there so this was another cart path only day!
I liked this golf course, but it's unfair to rate it as the ball literally went "splat" wherever it landed and stayed there. I AM surprised they even let me go out. There were a couple of times I thought the ground was going to suck the shoes right off my feet so I tried to find the least wet / highest ground possible to walk to and from the cart path to my ball.
The rain started on about hole #12 & I decided to continue as I was already a mess. I figured out (finally!) on #10 that hitting a four iron off the fairway was a better option than my low running three wood as it wasn't running and at least I could get some air distance with an iron.
I played by myself, so no score posting. I played by the lift, clean and place rules and I actually thought I played pretty well (shot a 95) considering the conditions. The blue tees are 6067, 68.9, 120 and there are gold (6761), white (5406) and red (4499) tees as well. Good to very good par threes on this course. It is comfortable off the tee, relatively inexpensive and while I can't be sure, the maintenance seemed okay. I would play it again, (NOT in the same conditions of course) and I can say I played golf in Mississippi.
When I was finished (in just under three hours) there were five locals ready to go out, drink some beer and play golf. I told just how much fun it was, but they seemed determined to try 9 holes. Maybe it was the beer calling, plus the fact that the rain had stopped.
I went across the border to West Memphis, Arkansas, and the clerk at the motel told me of Ray's BBQ about a mile down the road. It was the best BBQ I had on this trip and I highly recommend it.
Ever take a shower in your clothes? I had so much mud on me that's what I did (at least to start) to try and get most of the mud out of my pantlegs and socks. It actually worked pretty well (& I would have to do again the next night)!
No pictures. I didn't take the camera out in the rain.
Comments
Post a Comment