golf in the keys

1. Key West Golf Club
I don’t really take golf vacations, but I did manage to sneak in a round at the Key West Golf
Club. The worst part was lugging around my clubs, especially in the airport. Anyone who has
spent a night running up and down Duval Street, then went to the Casa Marina for lunch will
understand I was not at my best.
Getting ready to start, the starter holds you back so you can’t watch the group in front of
you. Maybe they are trying to hide how many people take breakfast balls. They finished, so
here we go.
On the first tee box, it was hot. I started with a beautiful drive. I actually hit the ball well all
day. It may have been the bloody mary’s from brunch. The entire round went well. Holes 1 – 7
were uneventful. I was keeping score, but not paying much attention to what was going on.
So hole 8, hitting to a green surrounded by water, give or take 150 yards. So I swing away with
my 7 iron, and …. I made it! Of course, it turned into a 3 putt, but no penalty stroke, so we’ll
call it a wash. We had a little wait for the 9th hole, so I looked at my card. Bogey golf, I think it
was the 1st time ever!
Usually, looking at the scorecard can turn my game upside down. Not today, 9th hole, bogey!
Whatever I was doing was working, so I stayed with it. The back 9 there was a birdie and a par,
cancelled out by a few double bogeys. I managed to put in an 88, while my level at the time
was trying to keep it under 100. The round was under 4 hours, so the pace was great. This was
incidentally over a holiday weekend, so I guess we timed it right early afternoon.
So what can I say? The Florida Keys are beautifully, and this course had the same tropical
feel. I could gripe that it was hot, but I was in the Keys, it is supposed to be. We saw some
tropical birds, but nothing I would have to worry about ripping my leg off. There was a lot of
water, but I expected that going in. I bought a lot of balls, but the water somehow wasn’t much

2. of an issue for me. The greens fees were pricy, but I was in a tourist area, so it wasn’t really a
big surprise. I recommend it, and I would go back and play again. The only thing is I would rent
clubs there rather than lug mine around.
By Sebastian Wyczawski