Back in February, I was finally able to get that great big monkey off my back….Florida!
I was 17 the first time went to Florida and had spent time in the state on nine other occasions prior to this February. And not once during those multiple visits had I managed to play a round of golf. A few rounds of mini-putt with the kids, yes, but not real golf. And yet when I left Hilton Head in April of 2013, driving due south toward Jacksonville and then headed west across I-10, I had every intention of playing at that time. But mother nature, that cold-hearted (you know what) had other plans. In total fairness, I cannot knock mother nature in any way. She has been VERY kind to me since I started back in 2012. But on the one day on my schedule I had set aside to play in the Florida Panhandle, it was not meant to be.
Well I guess she felt sorry for me because back in mid-February, nestled in between weeks of absolute horrendous weather, she provided me with a perfect week of clear blue skies to truly enjoy my rounds in the Sunshine State.
Coinciding with my daughter’s spring break from University, Maria and I, Spenser and my mom booked into the Orange Lake Resort in Orlando. With four golf courses on the property, including a night-lit, very challenging par three right outside our condo door, I was in absolute heaven! I played 2 full 18’s, a couple of 9 hole rounds with Maria and too many holes to count on the par three adjacent to our condo. I’m generally not a huge fan of par 3 courses, but this was an Arnold Palmer designed course with three holes over 200 yards, tons of sand, fast greens and a genuinely challenging outing every time!
I had two thoroughly enjoyable rounds on the full 18 course. The first round I played with two gents from New Jersey who, as it turned out, were staying in a unit just two doors down from us on the very expansive resort. The second round was just after Canada had beaten U.S. in Olympic Men’s Hockey and I was playing with two guys from Chicago who were huge hockey fans. Despite the fact the U.S. came out on the short end of the stick, we had a lot in common and talked a lot of hockey.
Bottom line, it was a relief to finally play in Florida and now that it’s over and done with, I will definitely make sure to do it again sometime!
