I cannot say that I've enjoyed golf as much as I did today, when I spent 32 holes with Jay Mickle at Dormie and Southern Pines.
His Elusiveness might have joined us, if we had given him more lead time (evidently, this thread wasn't enough) but Jay more than carried the show. He arrived at Dormie and let me know that he had fallen the day before, was in pain, and was ready to go. Utilizing a manufactured, constricted, truncated swing, he more than held his own as we moved around the convoluted Dormie routing.
My previous go-round at the course was cut short due to snow (no marriage proposals that day, much to Kevin Lynch's relief.) As a result, I hadn't seen
The Loop, the portion of the course from the 10th to the 13th. I also hadn't seen this fantastic sign, which I preserved for my golden years.
I enjoyed
The Loop, I enjoyed Jay's informed narrative of how each hole plays, both properly and improperly, and I feared that we might be done. To my relief, Jay was in for another 18 at SoPines, and off we went, speed-limiting our way across the sand hills. We enjoyed a bit of sustenance from the transitional menu, but our late arrival meant that Jay would cut the round short, out of deference to an arrange dinner up the road a piece.
Our 14 holes were punctuated by a settling reminder of the kindness of golfers: the group two ahead of ours happened upon a goose (the kind who normally sh#t up the course) with a fishing hook and lure stuck through its wing and bill. The fellows waived other groups through as the calmed the bird and waited for a veterinarian to arrive.
If you're in the Pinehurst area, you'll regret not going around with Jay Mickle. Whether it's Whispering Woods or one of the area's known courses, your gallop with the Jersey native will be well-paced and worth the effort.