Golf in South Africa

I’m staying at the Fairway Hotel Golf Resort and Spa just north of Johannesburg or Joburg as the locals call it. It’s a beautiful hotel and the staff is wonderful. I know you’ll all dying to hear if I made it to the gym this morning, and, yes, I did. I rode the bike for 15 minutes and started on the treadmill but after 5 minutes I accidently hit the emergency stop button. After that I couldn’t get it started again so I took it as a sign that I was done. But some is better than none and none is what I’ve been doing up to now, so I’ll take 20 minutes.

Both South Africa and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) were part of the British Empire, and it shows, especially in their food. They’ve adopted the “full English breakfast” that the Brits love…. eggs, sausage, bacon (our Canadian bacon), grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans. That’s way too much food for me so I cut out the baked beans and sausage. The bacon is very salty, so I eat very little of that as well.

Like everything else, the restaurant is lovely. What I like is that there are ramps everywhere, so I don’t have to climb stairs if I don’t want. The exception is the two short flights getting down to the gym.

After breakfast I went to the Pro Shop to check out the process for my afternoon round. They don’t have lady’s clubs and the ones they have for me are a little long. I’ll have to choke up a bit, but they should be fine. I picked up a few things (shirt, balls, visor) to ship back from Doha. The stuff was so inexpensive it’s worth dragging them on one flight to ship them home.

From what I can see, the course is beautiful. Since I normally play in a desert, I’m not used to seeing this much green. The fairways are wide, and since I usually hit fairly straight, I should be okay.

I guess that’s all for now. I’m just hanging out on the patio while housekeeping is straightening up the room. It’s only 1000 so I have a few hours before I have to head back down to the Pro Shop. I’m looking forward to playing here. I’ll let you know how it goes.

It’s now just after 5pm and I’m back in my room after golf and a late lunch/early dinner.

While I didn’t play that well (but not my worst round), I still had a lot of fun. It was a little more challenging than playing at home due to the topography; way more hills than I’m used to. There was a lot of water on the course, but I only lost 2 balls, so I guess I did okay.

The back 9 was painfully slow as there was a major traffic jam. I didn’t have anyone behind me but a twosome in front of me and a foursome in front of them. The young guys in front of me hit their tee shots a mile but never straight. I played behind them for 9 holes and never saw them hit their tee shot into the fairway, at least not ours. They were in the adjacent ones a couple of time, though. I may not hit them far, but I usually hit them fairly straight.

After my round I headed back to the hotel where I had lunch/dinner on the patio. It was already 4pm and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so I was hungry and didn’t want to wait until 6:30 when dinner starts. This is better anyway as it gives more time to digest food before bed.

As was the burger and chips.

Now I’m back in my room relaxing. I had hoped to watch either the Charles Schwab golf tournament or the Cubs, but the golf is on Paramount+ and the Cubs are playing later in the day, which is middle of the night here. I get Paramount+ but not the international version. So, I guess I’ll watch something on my computer. I get Netflix and Peacock so I’m sure I’ll find something to watch. Maybe the new season of Bridgerton.

Tomorrow is more of the same. Breakfast and more golf at noon, so don’t be too surprised if you don’t hear from me.

Love to all.