The Party's Over

My three months of snowbirding has come to an end.

We played Swiss Fairways today, mainly for the steak meal - we pretty well cleaned out the fridge yesterday.  Mostly sandwich material left which will come in handy for the trip home.  The weather was ideal.  Mid twenties, mild breeze, and a few clouds in the sky.

On the second tee, I was not successful in hitting a water skier...

but I did make it to the green.

That red ball lasted for 13.5 holes today before I drowned it.

We had lots of sky activity again today.  The ultralights were pulling hang gliders.  There were as many as five gliders in the sky at one time.

So, after golf, we went to the Seminole-Lake Gliderport to see what was going on.

The real sailplanes were mostly locked up in their boxes with wings folded.

But there were a couple still on the field.

That's the kind I want to have a ride in!  Next year!

When I was a kid, my family would go to the CNE every year on the day of the Air Show.  When I was 8 or 9, I watched a glider flying between the Ex and Centre Island.  One wing came off in mid air and the glider cartwheeled into the lake.  I never heard what the fate of the pilot was.

So, why do I want to fly in one?  For the sheer joy of floating silently above Mother Earth.  And so I can say I did, and the bucket list will have one more item ticked off.

After we got home and did the preliminary packing, we played Skip-Bo.  Your hero won and is now the most winning player in our division's history.  'Nuff said.

Further reporting will depend on how spent I am when we reach Lenoir City, Tennessee, tomorrow, and Stoney Creek on Sunday, and whether anything exciting is seen along the way.  

Bye for now.
Dorsal.

Orange Lake

We headed over to Orange Lake to play the Reserve with vouchers that Mardi and I had purchased in January.  The course was in good shape, but the cart staff left a lot to be desired.  It took quite a while for the young lady to show up and she didn't know how to properly strap in our clubs.  The carts were dirty and she didn't bother to fill up the side cooler with ice.  The courses are managed by Brown Golf Management and service has deteriorated since they took over.  Some of the staff seem to be very disinterested.

Having said that, we had a good day.  The temperature was mid 20's with a stiff, but variable breeze.

There were a couple of slow groups ahead of us.  This is the par three number five.

This is the nasty number 14 looking back from the green.  A narrow causeway to cross if you don't position your shots well.

There were spawning beds in some of the ponds.

And this young fellow had the right idea.

These guys were busy too.  Amazing how fast the chicks grow!

And the closing hole.

Tomorrow is our last day of golf in Florida.  Swiss Fairways gets our attention once again, but this time we will likely pass up the steaks.  We need to empty the fridge.

KIng's Ridge

We had been avoiding this course because of the negative reviews we read, but were told by a player last week that it was OK.  Other than two or three greens with dead spots he was right.

It's a pretty course, but is currently losing a lot of pine trees to an insect infestation.

Some of the trees were cut down, but you can see by the above picture that some of them were just pulled over because they were rotted almost through.

These pine stands are on many holes throughout the course and all have been affected.

Sad!  There are lots of large deciduous trees on the course, but the pines gave it a different character.

My wildlife picture for today is this Red Shouldered Hawk.

There is only one hole on the course that has water on it, so water birds are not resident.

The 18th hole is my favourite.

Hit a field goal over the two trees in the middle, carry the sand bunker, and you've got it made.  That's "you", not "me".  Didn't work today - sliced it to the right.

Matt won the third session of Skip-Bo, but I have a small lead in the current session.  We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Tomorrow we head to Orange Lake to play the Reserve course.  Just two more games to go.

No News

Today was a rest day.  Just ate and played cards.  I won the last two sessions of Skip-Bo but they've got me on the ropes this time.

Tomorrow we golf at King's Ridge.

D-6

We played Royal St Cloud today and were pleased to see our feathered friends once again.  Love those Spoonbills.

And Momma Sandhill Crane is settled on her nest.

Fortunately, this guy is in another pond.

I had an "interesting experience" today.  You will remember from a previous posting, the par three called "Little Poison".  It has water across the front and down the right side, a severe slope uphill from front to back, and a small upper tier which then drops off at the back.  My tee shot successfully landed on the right front edge of the green, "a green in regulation".  But the flag was about thirty yards away, uphill on that small upper tier.  And the green is hourglass shaped, so I had to cross the fringe on my way to the hole.  Taking all of those things into consideration, I hit my putt solidly ......... crap, it rolled over the back.  So I was now about ten feet past and below the hole - if I hit it too hard it will be all the way back to where I started.  So, I took something off the pitch and ended up two feet from the top of the hill.  Luckily, it stayed on the hill and didn't roll back to my feet.  Fourth shot got on the green and ran a few feet past.  Two putts later I had my six.  A well named hole!

Another hole of note is the ninth hole on the white nine, called "Hookenfacher's Nose".  The local legend is that you need to have the nose kiss your driver for good luck.  These guys did.  I knew the legend was just superstition, so I didn't.

You know what happened next... their drives were straight down the middle, mine faded right.

I should have known, because the Geico gecko was on hand for insurance purposes.

It was a long, slow, hot day.  Over 30 degrees and lots of delays as you can see from the following picture (sorry about the focus).

On this par five, there was a foursome on the green, two foursomes on the fairway and this convention at the tee. 

Thankfully it is a Monday so we could cool off at Miller's Ale House and sip some wine while we waited for the Rib Special .

More Skip-Bo tonight (I'm leading again 😊).

Tomorrow is an off day.  Then we plan to golf three days in a row to finish off our vacation.

Swiss Fairways

We snuck back in to Swiss Fairways.  Weren't arrested.

So, we did our thing on the water ski hole once again.  A young lady was coming at us......

....but we missed her.

Got this one though.  Missed the boat captain, but knocked the skier off her skis.

No pictures were taken of the perpetrator, so we intend to return on Friday for another try.  

Stayed for the steak dinner.  Barbecued to perfection!

We were intrigued by some Sail Planes being towed by ultralight aircraft.  They couldn't have been going more than about 20 miles an hour and it took forever for them to get up to the altitude they wanted!  But they were too far away for decent pictures.  

After we got home, I checked on the Seminole-Lake Gliderport website.  They give rides for as low as $120 plus tax plus $30 for a Go-Pro video of your ride, which goes to an altitude of 3,000 feet.  Always wanted to do that!  A bucket list item.  Next year baby!

Played Skip-Bo again tonight and I am the champion.  Sorry Sven, I had to say it.

Tomorrow we head back to Royal St. Cloud for our final round there.  Just six more days until the party is over.

No News

A load of whites.  A load of darks.  Took Calvin and Roy to  Davidson's of Dundee to pick up some candy goodies to take home.  Spaghetti and Meat Balls courtesy Chef Matteo.  Couple of games of cards.  Pretty dull today.

Tomorrow we head to Swiss Fairways again.

A Wildlife Day

We played Royal St. Cloud today.  Beautiful weather!

I got lucky on the second hole.  I think this Anhinga stopped my ball from getting to the water.  Nevertheless, I played a Jekyll and Hyde round - 53 on the front and 46 on the back.  Short game sucked!

On the third hole, which is aptly named "Little Poison", I drowned two balls (brand new by the way - golf is expensive!).  Fortunately, I had a few more in my bag so I didn't have to go to the Reload Center.

Lots of wildlife today, including these two Roseate Spoonbills.

But, didn't see any of these slinky guys.  That's a Spoonbill butt over by the bridge.

And more Spoonbills nearby.  We have seen more of this type of bird, in more places, than in any previous year!

The bird below is a Glossy Ibis, not a common bird in Florida.  A good catch!

Mom and Dad Sand Hill Crane continue to improve the nest after the first egg is laid.

Abracadabra Alacazoom, this is what happens next.

A few gators on display also.

An enjoyable day!  

Tomorrow is a rest day.  Laundry, etc.

Grenlefe

Today we played the Grenelefe (pronounced green leaf) South Course, a picturesque track just 30 minutes away.  It's an old course and we were surprised that we hadn't played it before now.

Lots of water and trees.

A challenging approach to this green.

And houses too close to the fairway.

One of which has one of my golf balls in an eaves trough gutter.  Stupid place to put a house - stupid place to put a ball too I suppose.

One of the surprises we got was the amount of land which had been dug up by wild pigs.  Interestingly, they didn't seem to bother the fairways, just the rough (which was quite rough and uncut).

Actually, the pigs leave the fairways for man to dig up.

We had a good day, but this course won't be more than a filler.  Certainly not one of our favourites.

We introduced Roy and Calvin to Skip-Bo before dinner.  Then Chicken Marsala served by Chef Matteo.  Excellent!

It embarrasses me to announce that Calvin and I won all four Euchre matches tonight.  We feel badly for our opponents of course.

Tomorrow we head to Royal St. Cloud Golf Links.

Turnover

The "staff" have gone home (😈 that will cost me!) and we're on our own.

Played Cleveland Heights in Lakeland today.  A very picturesque course, but with some wounded greens and a very peculiar layout.  They have three nines and they co-mingle, without adequate signage.  We got lost a few times trying to find the next hole.  

The price was $38.50 including taxes, and a "Green Replacement Fee" of $3.50.  As you can see from this picture, the extra assessment is certainly needed.

Many of the greens had sections that had been re-sodded, but not given enough TLC.  Nevertheless, it was pretty, with lots of water.

The following picture needs an explanation.

Calvin had been standing beside me, and shooting to the right - the green is at the far right of the picture.  Unfortunately, his shot hit the 150 pole dead on and the ball ended up behind the second tree from the left of the picture.  If you look closely, you can see Calvin making his next shot.  Pretty good too - over the trees and up in front of the green.

Lots of Osprey around.  Lake Marion is alongside the course.

And a Wood Stork.

I had 48 on the front, but after starting the back nine with a par and a bogey, I lost my swing and shot 7-7-7-8-8 before a par, bogey finish.  But, sorry Roger, it didn't happen today either.

We won't likely be putting The Heights on our tour, but it was an interesting experience.

The Euchre games were split 2 and 2 tonight.   No bragging there.

Tomorrow we try another new course, Grenelefe.  Stay tuned.

Slow News Day

We're taking a break here today so there's no real news to do with the group, but my readers may be interested in the following local story that was actually picked up in Canada and forwarded to me by my friend Gary Parker.

"Orlando police are looking for a suspect after the operator of a speed boat was knocked unconscious and lost control of his boat while pulling a water skier in the Swiss Fairways training area.  The operator, Robert Swillingate of nearby Kissimmee, was not seriously injured in the accident but the water skier he was pulling was impaled on the flag pole on the course’s second hole.  He is in hospital in stable condition and, once the #2 flag pole (the flag was still attached) is removed from his rectal channel, is expected to make a full recovery.  The etiquette at this course is to allow passing watercraft to clear the area before teeing off.   That does not appear to have happened in this case.  Captain Swillingate temporarily lost control of his boat after a golf ball shattered the windscreen of his boat  and hit him in the temple.  Bystanders have indicated that a bunch of leprechaun-looking golfers were teeing off on the second hole at the time of the mishap.  One of those bystanders provided the picture (below) to local enforcement officers who have indicated that the man seen here is a ‘person of interest’.  

It’s been suggested that the alleged perpetrator was likely new to the area and unaware of the proper protocol to be followed at this interesting but dangerous part of the Swiss Fairways complex.  

Despite that one would think that anyone with even a modicum of consideration for the safety of others would have allowed the Swillingate boat to pass before hitting what was described by onlookers as a ‘screaming line-drive’.  

The water skier injured here is said to be particularly interested in learning more about the alleged perpetrator involved in this incident."

Support the free press! 

Orlando Area News March 18, 2019

"Watch here for further news on the ‘leprechaun foursome"

Now that is scary stuff!  And it has had an impact on us here at the house in Davenport. 

First, the boat captain has refused to return the golf ball to the perpetrator, so Roy had to go out and buy some new balls.

Second, Roy is now blaming the photographer who has had to go into hiding.  Lord knows what those Bomb balls are capable of!

In related news, Matt is furious......

that there was no news of the euchre games in yesterday's post.  Since Calvin and I didn't win a game, I thought it wasn't newsworthy.  So I'm now in hiding from Matt too.  What is this world coming to?  I didn't think that Trump could influence our house to this degree!

Postscript:  In a great display of magnanimity, Matt relented and actually picked me as his partner tonight.  We won all four games.

Tomorrow, Matt drives the ladies to the Tampa airport for their Swoop home to Hamilton.  Then he meets the rest of us at Cleveland Heights Golf Course in Lakeland, a new course for most of us.