Singapore Day 1
Hotel is nice enough. A bit of a different style. Two floors with a smaller footprint. They call it a loft. The only thing on the second floor is a bed.
Got some shorts on and headed out to find some food and explore the area a bit. The Singapore Marina and Bay Area are shaped like female anotomy. Don't judge me. It's what I see. Look for yourself.
The place I'm staying is up the left fallopian tube on the Singapore River. The river has walking paths and restaurants on both sides for miles with walking bridges that cross back and forth over the river. In the center of one of these pics you can catch the Marina Bay Sands off in the distance.
The heat and humidity here are both a bit extreme compared to where I was. It got much worse than this in Hangzhou around August, but my northwest Washington climate has nothing to compare.
I hoped to find something special for dinner, but I was just too wiped out to keep searching. I thought I found a brisket place on my map, but it's been closed and changed into something else now. I had my buddy Brian in mind. I'm sure he would appreciate my effort there. I settled for unspectacular fish and chips in an Australian restaurant. Hit a 7-11 on the way back to the hotel and I plan to be asleep by 9:00pm.
Up and out the door early headed to the golf course. A bit too early I think. I had hoped to hit some golf balls on the range before teeing off, but the range doesn't open until 7:00 and I have a 7:24 tee time. When I checked in I had to provide proof of a handicap. My first thought was that it wouldn't be a big deal, but the gal at the register was serious. If I couldn't provide them with proof that I had a handicap they weren't going to let me play. My handicap back in Washington isn't valid any longer, but I was able to find a monthly email listing me as a 10.0 from this past summer. My handicap has fluctuated wildly the past few years. I've developed some bad habits. When I get them under control I've been as low as 7.0. When the extreme snap hooks start to show up I'm lucky to play boagie golf. So now I'm asking myself, do they have a minimum handicap that you have to have to play here?
A random rant about golf. It's a horribly uninviting sport. It's difficult to get into and very unwelcoming in some ways. Compare it to bowling. If I showed up at any bowling alley I could get some rental shoes, a lane, and I could roll some balls down the alley. Nobody would care how bad, fast, or slow I was playing as long as I wasn't damaging anything. Golf is nothing like that. To play on a course you have to know the etiquettes and keep up with the pace of play. The process of learning how to play and getting onto a course for the first time isn't an easy process.
First round of golf just finished. I climbed the stairs to the balcony restaurant and this happens...
Yea, that's an alarm you hear telling players to get off the course. The heavens just opened up and the rain came down HARD.
Didn't play well, but didn't play particularly bad either. Just didn't score well. No birdies, but had several chances from close that turned into tap-in pars. I didn't grab my scorecard after the round. I think I shot close to 44-42 for an 86. I played the round with two older gentlemen, Ling and BC.
They were super laid back and a great pair to play with. They are lifetime locals that play here because it's the only public course that's close to where they live. They both worked for Singapore Air before they retired.
The course was in great condition. It's know for three distinct items. First, it has an island green. Playing from the mens tees it was about 160 yards.
Yes, I stuck it close. Yeah, that's my ball just right if the flag.
The second thing the course is known for is a par 6. I nearly got there in three (doesn't that sound weird) but had to settle for a par after not getting up and down. Speaking of which, chipping was tough as everything was a tight lie around the greens. I was stuck in chip/putt decisions often. Putting would have been the better choice way more often.
Lastly, the course has some crazy deep bunkers. They mirror the stacked walls you see at the old course at St. Andrews. I'll try to get a better picture of one of those tomorrow. I put a drive into one and it parked itself up against the wall. Had to come out sideways.
That's it for today. I may have tweeeked my lower back somehow before I started playing. I'll know the full effect tomorrow morning.