LOCAL GOLF - Sunday Morning Golf Review

This week Joe Red, Tex, Beef and I (The Dewsweepers) tee off at 750AM at the Rawiga Golf And Swim Club. Beef and I had played the course a couple of times before, but Joe Red, and Tex had never had the honor.

Rawiga is great. Rawiga is the poster child for old-school northern golf. It's not overly long, about 6,300 yards for average players. But it's cleverly placed trees, trouble, and elevated and humped back greens make it a real challenge to score well on. But before we dive into the actual golf, let me say this is the kind of settling I really like in a course. Right off Rawiga Road in Seville, it it absent of any houses, roads, or anything to spoil the fact that you go deep into the trees to play a quiet and enjoyable round of golf. A wonderful barn-like recently updated club house and pro shop too, is incredibly quaint, and just adds to the overall experience. You feel like you have stepped back in time, and not, all at the same time. Wonderful.

The story of this round with The Dewsweepers was the rough. The rough was really tough, and made scoring prohibitive on this day. Although, Joe Red had the right idea and decided to keep the ball in the fairway for much of the day, and he was rewarded with the low round of the morning. None of us were setting the world on fire, but there was no real hacking either. The rough made the difference. Joe Red didn't have to deal with as much of it as the rest of us, and that kept his damage minimal. One double and one triple. Other wise...pretty solid round. The rest of of didn't hit the ball badly, but just errant enough to make second and third shots really tough.

Everyone played the back better than the front, except for me. I shot OK and the front, and while my fellow Dewsweepers were playing a more solid back I went the other way. My triple on 13, and double on 15, really hurt. All in all, I hit the ball well, just way too many bogie's. Beef shaved off 3 strokes from front to back, and Tex shaved off 5. Red knocked off three on the back, and I shot 3 higher.

Putting was really not a problem for us. By and large we didn't get hurt by 3 putting, it was just getting the ball on the green in good shape for a decent first putt. There is sand on the course, but I was the only one that found any of the bunkers. I found 4 of them.

Course highlights? Number 16, a par 5 number one handicap is a brutal hole. Good decisions are a must, but it's a great hole. In fact all the par 5's are great, and you can score on them if you are patient. Number 15 is their signature hole, a par 3, that you hit from an elevated tee, to a protected green some 75 feet below, about 165 yards. Great hole. Also, by early summer this place should be really great. We have to remember, we are still very early in the season.

I think Rawiga is one of the the really well kept secrets in the area. I love playing there every single time. And we look forward to teeing it up there again soon. In fact on our drive home, we thought a couple more visits there this summer would be in order. It's a wonderful design, and it's amazingly mature, quiet and challenging. Worth a little drive from anywhere for a really nice round of golf. We play all over the area, but there are a few courses we love to revisit, and this is certainly one of them.

Scores

Joe Red 85
Wynn 91
Beef 93
Tex 115