ear-fung.us I’m a programmer. I’m also pro-grammar.

Golfing at Tanglewood

I really like to golf, however I'm not very good at it. My handicap rating is probably on par with the speed limit on the local interstate - which is to say, "I don't really keep score."

I enjoy being outdoors and on the golf course so I try to play as much as I can. Golfing has now become something my father in law and I do to "bond" so we usually wind up playing courses in the Florida Panhandle (where they live), North Carolina (there I live), and Atlanta (near a friend's house, approximately half way).

So Dana's folks were in town for the Easter weekend and I was going to get reservations to play at The Grandover. I'd played there once before and enjoyed myself - especially the GPS systems in the golf carts that tells your exact distance to the front of the green and to the pole. I called too late and they only had an outrageously early tee time available. So I decided to try Tanglewood Championship course in Clemmons, NC.

It was great getting up early to this beautiful sunrise. I knew it was going to be a great day!

First things first: you shouldn't have to pay a $2 park entrance fee if you're going to spend money on golf at a municipal course... especially when you're a county resident.

Now that I've got that off my chest, the course was beautiful! For this time of year, I understand the roughs being a little brown, but the tee boxes, fairways and greens were all beautifully green and very playable. The only issue I had was that they had just aerated the greens, so there were divots that slowed down the ball and sometimes jolted its course. But again, I don't really keep score so if you're close, it's "in" in my book.

There were all sorts of Canadian Geese on the course and I actually hit one with a golf ball. I was actually trying not to hit it which, again, tells you how good of a golfer I am. The trees were in full bloom!

And with it being springtime, there is pollen everywhere. Had I not known better, I would have thought some of the water on the course was polluted, but the pollen (which wreaks havoc on my wife's sinuses) created a beautiful series of concentric rings on the surface of the water.

Over all, I had a great time golfing. The weather was beautiful, the course was great, and I only lost 3 balls! I think the ball-loss was substantially under normal because this course featured sand traps and very few water hazards. I'm used to losing 20 balls a game at courses on the coast of Florida that have a water feature on every hole.

Okay, okay... if you want to make fun of me, here's my scorecard (with Phil's column blurred out to protect his ego... but I'll tell you that I beat him, even if by just a little).