The first Texas round is in the books.

For my first round in Texas I decided to find something I could try to get back into the swing of things with. Since I was still a little sore from lugging stuff around I wasn't too sure how things would hold up so I found a course that I had low expectations for. That course was Legendary Oaks Country Club out in Hempstead, a town about 30 minutes west of where I live now.

The course was busier than I thought it would be, that could have been a result of being Father's Day weekend or something. I ended up joining a threesome of interesting locals for most of the back nine, a move that really didn't make things go any faster. If anything it did help pace the round a little better than simply standing around waiting all the time.

As far as the course itself... well, there wasn't too much that was good or exciting to report. The greens were just horrid. No two greens seemed to be the same speed or condition as they were all a mix of bare dirt, sanded grass, or thick and grainy blades that would cause the ball to just waddle, jump and otherwise wander away on its own. At least they were slow enough that I could manage to avoid the first putts to get away from me too much.

The fairways were better but still hit or miss. Some of the better lies I found were actually in the rough, though the only difference between there and the fairways were how often you'd find longer grass among the bare spots and hardpan. Around the greens things weren't too bad at all, that was probably the most consistent thing about the place.

I didn't really see much that was worthy of a picture, though honestly I kinda forgot to take any until I was nearly finished. I did snap a few of the last couple of holes though :

The 16th green

The view of the short par-4 17th from the tee

The 18th hole, a dogleg left with a short forced carry to the fairway

From the pictures it doesn't look too shabby really, though you might be able to see that it does look a bit rough around the edges of the water features and such. Overall the course was pretty flat, especially compared to some of the things I had played recently out west and in Hawaii. Maybe I've been spoiled or something.

As far as how I played, I did fine for the most part. I have been working on improving my alignment and in doing so I feel like I'm facing too far left and my swing is coming from the outside, which is a hard feeling to fight off sometimes. I didn't hit many fairways though a few of those weren't far off. On the second hole I hit what looked to be a perfect 3-wood. Instead I had found a bunker that was completely hidden from view from the tee. I managed to hit the green from there though so I got away with it. On a couple other holes I hit my ball along the line I thought was correct only to hit through the fairway or something.

I started out pretty well, I parred the first four holes I played, hitting every green in doing so. The wind was an issue all day though and I bogeyed the next five to shoot 41 on the front. Still, I wasn't hitting horrible shots everywhere, it was more just being a little off, usually a misclub due to the wind. On the par-5 sixth I had hit a really good drive even though it ended up left of the fairway. I was about 180 or so yards from the green so I decided to give it a go despite the water surrounding the green and the semi-iffy lie. I caught the ball a shade thin but it was right online. The ball hit a wood bridge just short of the green and bounced left into the water. If I carry it a few more yards I could have been looking at eagle. Oh well.

On the back nine I started off with two solid pars, then on the par-3 12th I pushed a 6-iron into the right side bunker. As is often the case, the previous golfer neglected to rake the sand after he was done so my lie was less than ideal, even for being in a hazard. However, the sand at this place might be the best feature of the course (not counting any that might be part of the greens, that is) and I managed to blast my ball out to about 10 feet. I finally made a putt longer than a tap-in and had my par.

I bogeyed the 13th after hitting 8-iron long and left and then hitting a poor pitch back to the green. I parred the 14th despite a misclub short and came to the 15th, what I thought was a short par-4. Even though it was into the wind I hit 3-wood off the tee. I caught it pretty solidly, though I pulled it a bit I was safe just left of the fairway. When I got to my ball I discovered I still had about 155 yards or so to the green... oh wait, this hole is really 380 yards long! Great! I managed to still hit the green and had a good look at birdie, one I missed.

I parred the 16th and then hit two terrific shots on the 17th. I hit a perfect 3-wood off the tee, one that actually ended up 25 longer than I thought it would be. I had about 70 yards left and decided to see if I could hit a lob wedge that far. I hit it to about 4 feet just left of the hole. The grass between my ball and the hole actually looked good and the putt seemed pretty simple so I felt pretty good about it. I should have known better. When I hit the putt I thought I had made it but the green had other ideas as it took a left turn about 8-10 inches from the hole. I hit it firm, the ball ended up 18 inches past the hole and yet I didn't even hit the lip of the cup. I wasn't terribly pleased about it but what was I really expecting at this point? Its been like that all day.

I finished the last hole with a bogey to end up shooting 79, which honestly was probably on par or maybe even slightly worse than the 84s I shot on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Despite the conditions of the greens the course was pretty simple overall. However I accomplished what I had set out to do. I got in 18 holes and came away feeling pretty good about the alignment thing. I still need to do a better job of turning through the ball though. My body held up also, that was probably the best thing about the entire day.

The next round will be on a better course, at least it should be as it couldn't get too much worse than this one. If the storm passes through here early enough I should be able to play this weekend. Tentatively I am supposed to play with a gentleman that found me through Facebook and offered to host me at a course right here in Cypress. Somehow he learned I was recently widowed and moving to the area, I didn't know you could do that. Assuming that happens, we'll see how it goes.