Golf on Christmas Day

Yesterday I wanted to play golf and Steph was going to let me but we forgot to call ahead and find out if I was allowed to walk on a course that was closed for Christmas Day. I was pretty frustrated about that and finally just decided to go running on the beach and to drive by a course on the way there and check it out. I put on my running stuff, grabbed my golf stuff, and headed to Myrtle Beach National. I wanted to play the Kings North course. When I got there I saw about 10 cars in the parking lot but didn't see anybody. I finally saw a guy at the driving range and asked him. He said "grab a bag and go". So I did and yes that means I didn't pay anybody. But first I had to change out of my running clothes. So I drove to a secluded part of the parking lot (if there is such a thing as a secluded part of a parking lot). I changed my clothes there. I wonder how many people have been naked in the parking lot of Myrtle Beach National. I walked the back 9 first. I was worried about time. I shouldn't have been because I flew through the course. I played really well. It's a beautiful course. There is a lot of water and a lot of bunkers. There were a few other people around but for the most part it was very quiet. The greens were awesome. I was making putts all over the place. I forgot my camera on the back 9 so almost all of the pictures are from the front. This island green is on the back 9. My first shot went over the green and I was sure it was in the water so I hit a provisional. I decided to go down a club and it was short of course. When I crossed the bridge to the green I saw my ball sitting on the cart path. It must've hit the rail and come back because the path went all the way to the water.

I duffed my chip and ended up bogeying the hole. If you look closely you can see that the bunkers make an SC. So as I played the back 9 I ended up using 4 mulligans. Not on out of bounds shots just on duffs. I ended up shooting a 44 with those mulligans. On the front 9 there is a par 5 called the gambler. It has an autograph in the cement from Kenny Rogers and his golf cleats in cement. So it's a long par 5 with a short cut for the gamblers. The short cut is an island fairway. So I did what I imagine most golfers do. I started singing to myself and taking aim at the island fairway. I played a slice and ended up perfect. From there I had a shot over water to the green. I was about 165 yards out. I grabbed my 6 iron and hit it over the green and into the water. Took my penalty and drop and saved a bogey. I should've aimed farther safe instead of hitting towards the pin. The bunkers would've saved me farther right. Without any mulligans and counting my penalty stroke I scored a 43 on the front 9. I played great, for me, on a course that's listed among the top 100 in the U.S. I took one of my new sleeves of balls and came back with one of the balls. That's amazing.

Thank you Arnold Palmer for creating a great course and then not being there on Christmas Day.