Just got back from a 4-day stay in the Las Vegas area. I haven't played any golf since September of last year, and it REALLY showed. Not that I am any great shakes (career 12-15 hdcp), but I was brutal out there. I never do well on desert courses anyway, but I went from embarrassing to simply bad by the weeks end.
We played
Tuscany in Henderson on Monday. I warmed up nicely, my flat swing was producing a little draw on the practice tee, and I ended up shooting 54-48=102. About 5 holes into the round, after losing 4 tee shots (Literally lost. Couldn't find them.), one of the guys who used to be a teaching pro told me I was moving around so much on my takeaway, he was surprised I hit the ball at all. He gave me a couple of things to focus on, and I was hitting it better after that, but was really uncomfortable. The afternoon round was a scramble, I contributed a few shots and a bunch of putts, so it wasn't a total waste.
Tuesday we played
Boulder Creek. Nice facility, the breakfast sammich was yummy. We played Desert Hawk for the first 9, and the wind was just starting to pick up when we teed off. bythe time we were done with 9, it was howling - the ranger told us gusts were 50 MPH. The 2nd nine on Coyote Run was the unbearable. My ears were ringing from the wind, and my driver shaft was humming from vibration. I shot 45-52, hitting the ball much better (even making a few birdies), but any ball with any type of spin on it was taken so far offline, it was usually unfindable in the arroyo. 12 of the 12 of us decided to not play the afternoon round, the wind was so bad. We went back to our hosts house in Henderson and had a barbeque and spent the evening at the Green Valley casino.
Wednesday, we played at our hosts (the former teaching pro) home course,
Dragon Ridge. Easily the nicest of the 3 we'd played so far, but the wind was still howling when we teed off. However, this time it dies down to a light breeze by the 5th hole, so it was a most pleasant day. I shot 48-48, made a few birdies, got a few greenies, saw some outrageously huge homes. During the 2nd round (a scramble again), I hit some really good drives, continued my good putting, and our 4-some won with a -12. We went to Wynns to gamble that night.
Sorry if this turned out to be more of a trip report than a score posting, but there it is.