Caves Valley, September 9-11, 2005

I've had a great year in golf, played a lot of fantastic places and enjoyed some beautiful times. For almost six months I looked forward to a Fri-Sun trip with my brother Brad and ten others to Caves Valley, just outside Baltimore in Owings Mills, MD.

Brad's a member, and he invited six of us "Carolina boys" to play with - but not against - Ed Crenshaw and five of his Florida and Lone Palm friends.

What makes for a great golf outing? I believe there are three essential ingredients:
- You need a great venue, and Caves Valley is certainly that. We stayed "on campus" in a couple of clubhouse rooms and one of the cottages. The golf course isn't in very good condition, a victim of the blight that has struck so much of the Middle Atlantic and Northeast areas. But the operation at Caves more than makes up for a merely average course condition.
- You want a good bunch of guys, a group that can get along well and enjoy each other's company. This crowd, from two different parts of the country but held together by an appreciation for the game, showed affection for one another and rapier-like jabs too. A good combination.
- You need a good competition, fair but challenging. Brother Brad is especially good at setting up - and keeping up with - this element, and we had a number of winners. Brad likes a modified Stableford system, one that rewards birdies and, especially, eagles. It's probably not the fairest system when there are higher handicappers, but our group this time had some pretty low handicaps - the highest was 11 - so it turned out pretty well.

We didn't play as much golf as this group of guys used to. There was a time when 36 a day was normal. Now most of the group plays 18 holes, then heads off to a gin table or a nap. And there aren't many occasions to find them on the practice tee. I shot this early Sunday morning.

Believe it or not, this was my last trip for a good long time, and I'm ready to settle down for a bit.