An absolutely magical day. Thank you to all who made it possible.
7am... Boarding the ferry in New London as daylight breaks behind looming cloud
Looking back to the mainland
7.45am... first glimpse of Fishers Island.
8am... A lot of local kids take the 45min ferry to the island from New London because the school there is better.
8.15am... First glimpse of the club... heart beating fast.
The practice green has an alright view.
The bunkers have some bite to them.
Hard to play decent golf with your breath being taken away every five minutes!
9.10am... My heart hit 220bpm, then stopped for 30 seconds!
Looking back up #4. I may have made a 6 and an X, but I did find 14 balls down the cliff in the process!
The Biarritz.
David Kelly launches one towards the 6th green.
10am... The magnificent Double Plateau green at the 9th.
Donnie Beck, Superintendent extraordinare. Wearing shorts on a day in the 40s farenheit, blowing a gale! Never has it been more right for the super to get a mention on the scorecard. The conditioning is perfect and the greens were remarkably fast, firm and true for the time of year and recent weather.
Approach to #10. Some crazy putts up there when winds hit 35 or 40 knots in the afternoon!
The Eden is absolute golf heaven.
11.30am... In my next life I want to own this house next to 16 and 17.
A side view of the Redan 2nd with some well-travelled fella teeing off in the foreground.
The 9th green in the afternoon as the wind started to really whip up.
3.30pm... Shot of the day was Mark Arata's iron out of a puddle on a path. Even if he did move a stone to avoid damaging his new club!
5.15pm... It takes a lot of wind to make a timber flagstick do this!
The Short 16th as sunlight begins to fade.
6pm... The walk up the home hole and the realisation it's almost over has never been more unwelcome than after 35 wonderful holes at Fishers Island with three great blokes. The only fourball on the course, no less!
7.15pm... After finding a community centre open from which to buy some chips and a drink (late evening in October on Fishers Island is a quiet time, apparently) it was time to head back to reality.
7.45pm... High winds = rough seas. Mayhugh and Arata try to laugh it off as the teenage girls next to us ran to the back of the boat to spew, and a heartier soul across the ferry sat reading a book to everyone's disbelief. The hang time from cresting some waves to crashing down had to be two seconds!
8.30pm... Back on the mainland, straight in the car and off into the 2.5hr drive to Boston (it's only 90mins if you don't have to stop twice for fuel and food, before getting lost three times entering Boston half-asleep behind the wheel on an unfamiliar side of the road) to reintroduce myself to the bride!
