Day 153 - Hot Golf

The plan was for an early start this morning: up and out of the rental condo by 06:00. This we managed and Andrew drove us for the first part of the journey: destination a branch of Cracker Barrel near Wilson on the i95 heading north. When we arrived there, we were surprised by how crowded it was but the service was prompt and the breakfast good value and hit the spot.

Next leg was a further two and a half hours, past Richmond, Virginia, to the golf course of Mattaponi Springs. We had located this on the web: one of the top 100 Public Courses in the U.S. and ideally placed, being less than two hours from D.C.

We arrived there in plenty of time to tee off earlier than we had planned. This did mean that we were going out in the heat of the day. And boy, was it hot! We were informed that a Heat Advisory Warning had been issued and we were certainly very grateful for the iced towels being dispensed as we played. 

100 degrees...

The course itself was spectacular, set in the forest with lots of ups and downs. Having a buggy was a must and we pretty much had the course to ourselves (Mad Dogs and Englishmen?). We had a good match which but for a closing birdie of mine could have been very expensive. Andrew shot a record for him 75 and played really well. Considered the difficulty of the course and the weather conditions, this was really very good.

A refreshing beer afterwards was most welcome. Less so was the news that there was no shower available. This was going to be a problem for those other passengers in the BA flight tonight... Fortunately, the staff at the golf course took pity on us and allowed us to use the manager's private shower. Very welcome!

The drive back to Washington DC was painful: lots of slow traffic peppered with a number of minor incidents. We did though make it in plenty of time and were very pleased to discover that we had been upgraded for the return flight home: even though the flight is a bit over 6 hrs, this should mean that we get some sleep...