GolfNewsRI

I played at the exclusive Venetian Golf Club of North Venice Florida mid-March.  The Venetian is about 15 minutes from my home in Nokomis, Florida.

I knew nothing about the course until I played at top rated public Calusa Lake Golf Course on a Tuesday.  With my wife Amy, my most favored golf partner, tied up with business, I trekked to Calusa as a single. I was matched up with 3 gentlemen from Louisville, Kentucky.

They were fantastic to play with and about halfway through the round, they mentioned that they had an opening for a fourth on Thursday at Venetian and invited me to be their guest.

I was excited to have bonus golf at a nearby exclusive golf course for the bubble.

By any standard, the weather was Florida perfect that day. I got up at 5:00 AM, did some work and called in my weekly radio show on WNRI 1380 AM / 99.9 FM from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

I left my house thereafter and was at the course by 9:20 AM for our 10:15 AM tee time.

The first, very obvious thing a visitor notices when they first enter the grounds of The Venetian is the stunning clubhouse.  It is very lavish and reminds me of TPC Sawgrass.  

The bag attendants and golf shop employees have an assured charm and welcomeness.  I have not yet played at Augusta National, but this level of service cannot be too far off.

I settled in the optulate locker room and texted my host that I was here.

Much like Calusa Lake, the driving range is a lake with island greens as targets. Unlike Calusa Lake, the range goes on forever.  Tiger Woods could not reach the end of the lake, so I got to go through my entire bag, driver included.

I had an exceptional range session and was super excited to play.  As we wrapped up on range session, we jumped in our carts and headed to the 1^st tee.  

The 1^st tee is very, very far from the range and clubhouse. I saw no one walking the course but clearly if you do, you must be driven to the first tee in a golf cart.

My new friends insist on always playing a high stakes money game.  We play 6 holes / 6 holes / 6 holes with different partners for $2 per 6 holes and you must pay loses or accept your winnings immediately – no exceptions.

I have had the opportunity to play a lot of off-season golf in Florida this winter.  Therefore, my confidence level on the first tee was about a 96 out of 100.  

The first hole is a sharp dogleg right. My overconfidence shines through as I hit a terrific (for me) tee shot and it lands about 2 feet short and goes into the penalty area and I am shocked.

I would love a mulligan as there was so much room to the left that I ignored. But with big cash riding on this match, no mulligans allowed.

I drop before the hazard and finish my first hole with a double bogey six.

Undaunted, I hit last in the group on the par 5 second hole. If I have ever put three better consecutive shots together, I do not remember.

I hit a terrific drive off the tee ~ very long and accurate for me. I hit my approach shot about as good as I possibly could and almost jarred it for a double eagle.

Everyone who plays golf regularly knows how hard it is, and we all need to savor the better moments.  After my approach, I am staring at a 15-footer downhill for eagle.  

In an abundance of overconfidence, I hit the putt and immediately raised my putter in triumph like Jack Nicklaus on the 17^th hole during the final round of 1986 Masters.  I did this well before I should have but nevertheless, the putt went in for an eagle. I was elated.

As many readers know, there is a lot of open land in Florida, and it allows golf course designers more latitude. We have some great courses in RI that are just more land limited (Kirkbrae, Pawtucket and Wannamoisett to name a few). 

This is less of an issue in Florida and course designer Chip Powell created a masterpiece here at Venetian.

The course was perfect.  The holes were very different and challenging.  The greens were pristine. One thing that threw me off is my recent swing changes didn’t work as well as I would have liked, and I stuck a couple of short iron approaches into the ground stayed out of the high 70’s and shot an 82.

After the round, I was treated to lunch and drinks on the patio.  At that point, I was very appreciative of the game of golf as three gentlemen I had just met two days before welcomed me into their group and treated me like I had been part of their foursome for the last 25 years.

The course and amenities at Venetian are top notch, but I was left mostly with a feeling of being warmly welcomed and very well treated as an outsider.