HEAVEN & HELL: MY FSGA ONE-DAY AT WEST BAY CLUB

Note: Click on photos for better viewing. All photos courtesy of West Bay and FSGA website screenshots

Before this week, it had been years since I played golf at West Bay Club (WB) in Estero, Florida. All I remembered was that I had had one of my better rounds there during a heavy-duty rainstorm, so I was looking forward to becoming reacquainted with the West Bay track. I owe the Florida State Golf Association (FSGA) a note of thanks, because I no longer have great golf connections so chances aren't good that I would have been playing WB if not for the FSGA one-day tourney that WB hosted on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. 

Speaking of Tuesday, somehow, I had it in my head that the event was on Monday, despite that fact that my notes clearly had the correct date in the heading. Senility is a humbling thing. Anyway, I showed up on Monday only to find out, quite embarrassingly, that there was no event there that day. Stephanie (my beloved) and I had a wry chuckle about that snafu. Now that I'm in my mid-60s, these snafus seem to be occurring a bit too regularly for my tastes. Fortunately, the very congenial WB staff allowed me to play a practice round.

 

I played with three women who were also playing the tourney the next day, and one of them (Sue) was like a machine for about 13 holes. Every fairway, every green, rolling everything in or dang near. The other two women (Sandi & Debbie) and me? Not so much. I'll skip the gory details, but I shot 94, which means that the WB track chewed me up and spit me out. No surprise. Golf is a mental game, and obviously I didn’t have my mental A-game that day or I wouldn't have been there in the first place. I’m glad it worked out as it did, because at least I was a little familiar with the track when I arrived the next morning for the tourney.

 

I was supposed to start the shotgun on Hole 3, but FSGA Joe asked if I would mind joining a twosome on 18 to facilitate the flow of things. Sure, anything for the cause Joe. Now, I've been envisioning that opening shot on the par-3 third hole for the past few days, but hey, I'm flexible. So off I go with Bill C and Bill C. That's right, I'm playing with two Bills, and I would gladly have given many more bills–of the green kind–to have played better. As it was, I ended up 17th of 29 in gross scoring and 9th in net scoring in my 60-69 flight. Hey, I'll take a top-ten whenever I can get one.

 

Before I jump into my helter-skelter round, let me give the very warranted kudos to the West Bay staff for their professionalism, congeniality, and for maintaining the pristine shape the course was in for the event! Despite the pain it inflicted upon me, WB is now my favorite track. I'm a sucker for Pete and P.B. Dye design nuances, and they are front and center at WB. Doglegs right and left, both gradual and pronounced, hidden bunkers, optical illusions, blind tee shots, rolling mounds, multi-tiered greens with changes in elevation, etc. You name it, WB has it, and even from the old-man tees where I now play, it was a splendid test of golf that was accentuated by WB's aesthetically pleasing environment. 

Yes, after this round, WB's course is my favorite track in the greater Fort Myers area. That's really no surprise, since Prestwick Golf Club–another Pete and P.B. Dye creation–is my favorite course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And yes, that course has my number too. I shot an 87 there during my final round of the most recent World Amateur Handicap Championship less than a month ago. Now, I also have fond feelings for The Forest (Bear course- which I played and thoroughly enjoyed some years ago), but until I play the upcoming FSGA event there in a couple weeks–which should refresh my faulty memory, I'm sticking with West  Bay Club as my favorite.

 

Anyway, let's get to the mediocre, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink-round I played yesterday. Note: All yardages listed here for the par-4s and 5s are from the West Bay scorecard Tee-4. The par-3s yardages come from my rangefinder, which functions at least a bit better than I do.

As noted above, the Bills and I started on Hole 18, a beautiful little par-4 (331 yards) that doglegs gently right with water all the way down the right side from tee to green, and of course you have the requisite trees down the left. Plenty of room to hit driver…if you have confidence in it and won’t have a more than a short iron into the green on your second shot.

However, given the fact that I have a driver that has only been in the bag for about a month, and I still haven't developed the kind of relationship I was hoping for with it, unless there's a need or very wide fairway, it stays in the bag for tourney rounds…except when I just can’t help myself. Anyway, at only 331yds, I don’t need a driver, so I pulled my 3-metal (which I'll refer to from now on as "3-wood" or "3w" in honor of the good ole days) and promptly deposited my TaylorMade SpeedSoft (also only in the bag for a few weeks) in the right rough, 170yds from the hole.

Not too long ago, this would have been a 5-iron (5i) shot, but I've taken the 5i out of the bag so that I can carry three hybrids and four wedges. Staring at me on my second shot is a peanut-shaped bunker left of the green and water on the right. My 6-iron (6i) probably won’t get me there, and I haven’t needed to hit it since I’ve started playing the old-man tees it seems, so I pull my Adams 24° hybrid (4h). The green, like most at WB, is huge and the pin is on the front half, so I might go long with this club. But so be it. No better choice in the bag. I slide a smooth fade into the green about 30ft past the pin. I’m over the ridge in the middle of the green, so I have to navigate the up-then-downhill 30-footer. 

Now, I haven’t been very good with the flat stick lately, but I’ve been working on it diligently since I’ve gotten back to working on my golf game the past three months.  I was as pleased as punch when my first putt slid down the hill and just missed the cup on the high side, stopping 5ft beneath the hole. With all the work Stephanie and I have been doing to help me avoid 3-putts, I’m not too worried about the 5-footer.

Dang! Forgot already. You really can’t give the hole away on these greens. They just don’t break as much as you think they will. Found that out the day before but I’ve already forgotten. Uh, did I mention senility setting in? Anyway, I played a tad too much break and missed the comebacker for 3-putt bogey right off the bat! Ok, no biggie. Even though I did par this hole the day before, at least it was a better start than yesterday when I carded a double bogey on Hole 10. I’m not a fan of bogeys, but they beat the heck out of doubles and worse!

Off we go to Hole 1, a 327yd, straight-away par-4 with a generous fairway. Again, with only 327 to the center of the green, and a large bunker squeezing the fairway within driver distance on the left, there’s no need for a dubious driver, so out comes the 3w again. Not a great strike, but I land safely in the left fairway, short of the bunker, 142yds from the pin that’s perched on an uphill green.

Gotta avoid the bunker left, the false front, and runoffs on all sides, so I sky an 8i to 12ft above hole. This has to break from left to right. I line it up, barely breathe on the ball, and nudge it toward the hole. Uh, no break. Seriously? C’mon, that had to break. It didn’t. Went past about a foot. Tap-in pars do not suck, even though I really wanted to make up for that previous 3-putt with a bird. Oh well. I’m feeling okay at this point, because I’m a shot better than where I was the day before after 2 holes, although I started on 10 yesterday. Besides, there’s a short par-5 and a birdie opportunity coming up.

Hole 2 is a 441yd par-5 with another bunker left within reach of my driver and there’s water that I could also reach if I hit it solid and left. Right is no picnic either with the obligatory trees lurking. Once again, I reach for the 3w and hit a fair-to-middlin’ shot in the right fairway, 251yds from the hole. Perfect! I can’t get there from here with my 3w, and no need to try anyway with water left and the fairway narrowing closer to the hole. Hey, I’m trying to play smart golf.

So, I pull the 7i, which has been a trusty stick for me and should leave me about 100yds or fewer to the pin. I pick my target on the right side of the fairway and make my swing. Well, I almost make my swing because I let one hand go as soon as I realize that the bleeping ball is heading left, right for the drink that I thought I would be avoiding with this safe shot! Ok dude, forget the disbelief and the steam billowing from your ears. Just move on. There’s plenty of golf yet to play.

I take my drop 124yds from the flag. Pitching wedge (PW) is too much, the sand wedge (SW) I added to the bag recently is not enough, so it’s the gap wedge (GW) for this 4^th shot. I’m looking at bunkers left and right of the pin, and water left as well. Mike at Golf Galaxy flattened the lie on this club for me a couple weeks ago because I was pulling everything, and it’s pretty golden now.

I make the swing and the ball flies high and lands softly…but it’s 50 ft above the hole! Seriously?! I don’t hit my GW 124yds normally. Must be some adrenalin flowing after that water ball. Anyway, I stroke a terrific putt down the hill, just left to 2ft and make the 1-putt bogey. Again, I don’t love bogeys, but this one? I’ll take it!

Hole 3 is a slightly downhill shorty, which was playing 134yds to a back pin, but there is absolutely no comfort when you step up on this tee box. You’re looking at water all down the left side, trees to the right, and a pot bunker short right, so there are no bailouts here. The wind was in our faces, so the 9i I would normally use for this distance didn’t seem like the best bet, especially as high as I’ve been hitting my irons. I chose to hit a low 8i windcheater, and I got away with one here, because it did stay beneath the wind, but a bit too well and went long.

If only I had a memory! I’d forgotten that short was better than long on this one, because there isn’t much room behind this green and only wetness awaits. Maybe the water was staring me in the face, and I just didn’t look. Fortunately, my ball stayed up, but nestled in the rough. My old Ping Eye2 60° wedge was the only choice, and I chipped it 10ft past the hole. 

All that putting work didn’t pay off this time, because I missed the putt. I did sink the second for a 2-putt bogey. I’m now three over after four holes, but no disasters yet, and I’m not too bothered by the missed 10-footer, especially since I was on the brink of the drink after my tee shot. Besides, the day before, I was five over after four holes. Progress is good!

At only 340yds with OB left and nothing inviting on the right, Hole 4 called for 3w off the tee yet again. Thus far I had not been striking the ball well so I shouldn’t have been surprised that my tee ball ended up in the fairway bunker, barely 200yds down the right side. I was though, because I have been hitting my 3w very well for the past few weeks. Sure, I’ve gotten in trouble with it, but it has been one of my most consistent clubs. Oh well, that’s golf for ya…my golf anyway.

I climb into the bunker and eye my second shot. I’ve got 133yds to the flag, still a bit of wind in the face, water left, and bunker right to capture any bailouts. You don’t really want to be in that bunker or chipping off a tight lie with water over the green. At least I don’t. But long and left are definitely out, so I pull my 9i. I don’t typically hit that much more than 130yds, and I’m in the sand, so chances are good I won’t go long.

I take the shot, thinking about Golf Channel’s Martin Hall and his tips on bunker play. I get a good strike on the ball, and it comes down pin high…but right of the bunker. Obviously not what I was hoping for. Perhaps I was too conscious of the water beyond the green. If not on that shot, then perhaps water consciousness got me on my next, because I chunked my LW on the third shot, and skulled my fourth with the same club.

Ohhhh, the frustration and humiliation! I’ve been working on my chipping at least as much as my putting and felt good coming in. So much for feeling good. I march across the green to my ball which stopped just short of the lake and hit yet another LW 8ft short of the hole. Fortunately, that 8-footer dropped for an ugly double bogey 6. Very disappointing to double a hole that I thought had birdie potential when I stepped onto the tee box. Doubled it yesterday too. Oh well, I’ve got to pull myself together yet again because there are still 13 holes to play.

Hole 5 was one of the longer par-4s we played, measuring 371yds–although likely shorter due to the front pin. It was the widest fairway at this point in the round, with minimal trouble right and left, so I felt it was my first opportunity to pull the driver without much concern. I must be allergic to fairways today, because I hit it well–probably my longest of the day–but tugged it into the left rough.

Still, I only have 116yds to the front pin, and the two greenside bunkers don’t worry me much, so given what I did with the GW on No.2, I decide to go with that club. Good choice. It’s still long, but the ball nestles 21ft above the hole. I trundle the putt down the slope, and it just misses on the low side. After what happened on the last hole, I’m gratefully ecstatic to be walking off with a 6” tap-in par. I’m two strokes ahead of where I was after six holes the day before, and as I noted above, progress is good!

Hole 6 is another short par-5, playing 447yds on the card. Another chance for birdie, but there haven’t been any birdies chirping for me today yet, and there weren’t any yesterday either. Maybe this is the one. The fairway looks plenty wide enough from the tee and driver looks to be the best bet to get past the fairway bunker on the right about 211yds from the tee.

Again, not a very good strike and I pull-hook the drive into the left rough barely 200yds from the tee and 245yds from the pin. Oh well, my 4h should easily take me beyond the bunker down the right side, about 145yds out, not even considering the 3-bunker complex down the left side about 100yds from my lie. Obviously, I didn’t put enough thought into how I approached the shot. I had a fluffy uphill lie but played the shot as though I was on level ground because it popped up and landed in the nearest bunker on the left. Wow! A mere 100yds closer to the hole with my 4h.  

Anyway, I’m still 141yds away from the hole, in a bunker with a relatively high lip, but not one that a good strike wouldn’t clear. I pull my 7i thinking that I had enough loft, and it should get me to the green even if the sand impeded me a little. I’ll never know if it was the right club, because I hit it thin, which brought the lip into play, and the ball only traveled about 60yds. And I’m lying three. Oof!

I now have 82yds to the pin for my 4th, so I pull my usually trusty LW and proceeded to chunk the bleep out of it! I’m lying four and still have 45yds to the flag! How do you think I’m feeling at this point? You got it. With 45yds to go, it’s the LW again, despite how shaky I’ve been with this club. I hit my fifth past the hole, onto the fringe, 22ft from the hole.

Lying five on a par-5 in the fringe with more than 20ft likely means another double bogey. I set my jaw and I’m grinding my teeth as I approach the ball with my putter. In other circumstances, I might chip this, but given how I’ve been chipping, I figure the putter is the smarter play here. My putter work with Stephanie paid off on this one, and the ball drops for a 0-putt bogey. That’s right, I used the putter, but it doesn’t count as a putt from off the green. Helps the putting stats a tad, eh?

Considering the five poor shots I hit on this hole, coming away with a bogey is an all-world accomplishment for me. Yesterday, as poorly as I played, I parred this hole. Still, after seven holes yesterday, I was seven over and today I’m at six. Still an improvement.

Despite what’s transpired thus far, I reach the tee box on No.7 feeling pretty good about the one good shot I hit on the last hole, even if I did butcher the hole in its entirety. Hole 7 is a 339yd par-4 and rated as the toughest hole on the course, and I tripled it yesterday. It’s a gradual dogleg right with water all down the left, and a fairway that tightens in the likely landing zone for my driver. You can’t see the challenges that await you around the dogleg from the tee, but trust me; they’re coming.

I went with the driver and another poorly hit tee shot deposited me in the left fairway with 174yds to the pin. With a good shot, I’d have been about 30yds closer. Anyway, my position in the fairway is actually a pretty good spot to be in, even if a bit far back for comfort when you take in the uphill shot to the two-tier green, the junk you have to clear to get there, and the trifecta bunkers protecting it.

Being as far left as I was, I had to take a look at the trees down the left side, because I was likely going to fade the ball. Oh well, I’ll just have to hit a tad less fade. I knock my 4h-second shot to 45ft beneath the hole, and given the triple I posted on the hole yesterday when I topped my second shot with the same club, I’m quite pleased to be on the green in two.

I’m on the bottom tier and the hole is cut on the top tier. No problem. My first putt cruises just 3ft past the hole and I make the comebacker for a par. Sweet! Beats a triple every single day of the week! I just picked up three strokes on the me of yesterday and am now four strokes ahead of where I was when I shot that 94!

If you’re an avid golfer, you’ve probably gotten a bit too cute with a shot a time or two. My tee shot on Hole 8 was one of those times for me. The hole was playing 133yds–typically a 9i for me, but there was a good wind in our faces, so I thought I’d hit an 8i under the wind. The water left and bunker right makes you a bit uncomfortable on this shot, but like most of the greens at WB, the eighth is huge.

As I mentioned, I wanted to hit the shot low, but definitely not as low as the thin 8i I produced. Fortunately, it cleared the water in front and was long right rather than left where the water might have come into play also, but I left myself a 51ft putt over the ridge and down to the hole.  

My first putt came up 5ft short, and I gave the downhill a bit too much respect, because my second putt hung on the lip. Another 3-putt bogey! Definitely a bummer, but given the poor quality of my tee shot, it could have been considerably worse! I bogeyed this hole the day before as well, so no progress, but no lost ground either. After playing nine holes, I’m seven over. Not good, but not as horrible as it could have been, the way I’ve been striking the ball.

On to Hole 9, which, although it’s only 315yds on the card, presents a daunting tee shot over water. I hit my best driver on this hole the day before, so I was feeling fairly confident when I teed up my ball with driver in hand. The line you take on this hole is obviously critical, and a gentle fade is the ticket to the par I made on the hole yesterday.

Well, at the last minute I panicked and pulled the ball left. Even with the good contact that made me slightly hopeful it might clear the lake, that ball took a bath😠. I’m totally incensed with myself. All that wide open fairway, and this is what you do? C’mon man! I re-tee and hit the driver again, this time with a fade on a questionable line that went too long and ended up in the right rough. Just great!

I’ve got 149yds to a pin that’s tucked into the left corner of the green surrounded by water and begging me to make another bonehead mistake. Nahhhh. I think I’ll just play to the fat part of the green and try to get up and down from there. I pull the 7i and land on the green, but I’m more than 150ft from the hole (58 big steps)! Talk about large greens! Anyway, my first putt died 10ft too short, and I just barely missed that putt to walk away with a 3-putt triple bogey! Ouch! I just gave back most of the gains I’d made today. Grrrr yet again! Shooting 45 on the front is not the route to a good score, but on the bright side, there are still 8 holes to play (remember we started on 18).

At 367yds on the card, Hole 10 is the second longest par-4 we’ve played. It has a generous landing area, but you’ve got to hit a good tee ball because there’s water right and plenty of flora on the left. I went back to playing it safe and pulled my 3w. A decent tee ball should keep me left of the bunker and water on the right and the trees on the left.

Again, I hit a poor tee shot and ended up in the left rough a full 182yds from the flag. I had potential tree trouble just in front of me to the left, all sorts of water trouble right of the green, and I considered long and hard before pulling my 3h. If this thing goes uncharacteristically right, another big number awaits.  There just wasn’t any room for error.

It's about time I struck the ball well…Sadly, just a bit too well. The ball went through the green and into the rough behind the hole. I pitched a LW to 45 feet past the hole, almost off the green. I’m okay with that, because I’ve got no confidence left in my chipping and definitely didn’t want to leave it short. My 1st putt rolled to 1ft, and I dropped that for a 2-putt bogey 5. That’s better than the double I posted here yesterday.

The 331-yd par-4 11^th hole offered one of the most generous fairways on the course. Having no confidence that I could hit my driver the 235yds and straight that was required to get past the bunker on the right, and confident that I could hit my 3w the 207 needed to clear the one on the left, I pulled the 3w again. Funny how we can still have confidence in a club that we haven’t hit well all day because we’re used to hitting it well.

Guess what? Another pushed 3w tee shot. It rolled through the fairway and into the right rough short of the bunker I was trying to avoid. I guess I could consider that mission accomplished, because I only had 125yds to the pin, the ball was sitting up nicely in the rough, and I’ve got a helping wind. Ordinarily this is PW-length, but with a helping wind and the way I’ve been hitting the GW today, I should be able to get a GW to the front pin.

Once again, I didn’t take into consideration or play the uphill lie well, and the shot went about as high as it went long, leaving me about 10yds short of the uphill green. The lie was so bare (one of the few bare spots on the entire course!) and my confidence so low that I didn't dare try to lob-wedge that thing to the slightly elevated green and front pin. I used the putter from the fairway, and the ball only made it to the fringe. I used the putter again and rolled it 5ft short. I made the 1-putt bogey 5. Again, considering my inability to get off the tee in good shape and the mental errors I was making, bogeys were pretty good scores on the day.

The par-3 12th was playing 133yds to a back pin, and the green is protected by large greenside bunkers left and right. I didn't want to go over the back of the multitiered green, so chose my 9i. It was yet another sky-ball that fell woefully short, leaving me 66ft of putt up and over two ridges to navigate. I stroked it to 1 foot and was thrilled to escape with a 2-putt par. It beat the bogey I made here the day before.

Some people just can’t stand success, right? That would be me. Hole 13 is one of those Pete & P.B. Dye risk-reward par-4s, and if I had any confidence in my driver or even my 3w at this point, I would have gone for the green off the tee. It was playing about 225yds across the water to the center, and only about 208 to carry, even though it says 262yds on the scorecard.

I decided to play it “safe” again and hit 3w off the tee. Ha! Is any club safe in my hands today? Not really, but my 3h would probably have been my best bet. It’s long enough to have cleared the bunkers down the left and hardly ever goes right. Instead, I pushed yet another tee shot into the water right. Grrrr! May as well have gone for the green.

I take my drop in the rough and not wanting to mess with the bunkers protecting the green nor the water that had already claimed one of my balls, I knock my 3w in the fairway, about 88ft from the pin. I pull my LW and sky the ball to 17ft beneath the hole. I make the putt for a bogey-5, one shot better than yesterday. Go figure. The guy who has been struggling with putting since I returned to the game three months ago is barely keeping this round from absolute disaster with his putter. Like I said, go figure.

Hole 14, at 358yds on the card, was one of the longer par-4s on the track, but it offered a generous landing area. The 230yds to clear the bunker down the left convinced me to reach for the 3w off the tee again, and whadda ya know? I actually hit a good tee ball that left me 156yds from the pin.

Hmm, 7i? 6i? Well, the wind is in my face, so I go with my 6. What did I say about not liking success? I top the 6, and the ball rolls past the right greenside bunker, about 30yds from the pin. OK, I can handle this. It's got a nice fluffy lie in the rough, so I pull the LW and make my best swing of the day with that club, sticking it pin high, about 5ft from the hole. I roll it in for par. I bogeyed this one yesterday, so definitely pleased with the result. It was also one of the few holes where I hit more good shots than bad.

The par-5 15^th, at 487yds on the scorecard, was the longest hole of the day. It’s a gradual dogleg right, and the fairway is nice and wide. Perfect for what used to be my usual tee shot with the driver, but there’s no usual anymore. There is potential trouble in a fairway bunker down the left which I could easily clear with my driver and probably my 3w as well, but there’s also water right which I can definitely reach with driver, but not likely to reach with my 3w.   

In addition, the fairway is so expansive that I can’t possibly miss it with my 3w, “right Babe?” “Right Babe” (a Stephanie and me thing). This really is a no-brainer, right? Uh, wrong! I pull out the 3w, step up to the tee box, and yank the tee ball into the left rough. Sure, it’s beyond the fairway bunker on the left, but still 249yds from the hole. When I get up to the ball, I breathe out a sigh of relief. Phew! You can’t see over the mound the bunker sits on, and I thought that one was a goner into the stuff on the left, but I caught a break.

I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth and there’s no point in heroics with water right and another large bunker left. I go for a 4h-layup, which wasn’t hit the best, but it ended up sitting pretty in the fairway. I’m short of that second left fairway bunker with 107yds to the pin. GW is the only choice here, and I hit a good one onto the green, 24ft past the hole. My first putt just edged past the pin by 2ft, and I made the 2-putt par. Really? Two consecutive pars? I don’t think that’s happened all round, and I’ve gained another shot on yesterday’s round. I’ll take it.

Hole 16, the final par-3 of the day is as picturesque as it gets at WB, but also as scary as it gets. It boasts a semi-island green, which was playing to a semi-back pin at 140yds. Most of the water is right and long, but go too far left and you’ll find wet stuff as well. There’s just no place to bail on this hole.

Well, it’s a good thing these greens are huge, because my 8i finds the green 40ft left of the right pin location. I’m thrilled to have escaped the water, and the bunkers left, right, and long. My first putt rolls 4ft past, but I'm not really worried given what I've done on the greens most of the day. Don’t ever get too comfortable on the golf course! I missed that sucker and ended up 3-putting for a bogey 4. No, I’m not a happy camper heading to 17, my last hole of the day, but at least it wasn’t a double like I had yesterday.

Hole 17 is a straight-away par-5 and the last chance to hear some chirping from the birdies absent from my card. It’s playing 462yds, and there’s a vast landing area within perfect distance of a well-struck 3w. The fairway bunker on the right is no issue with only 195yds to clear it. Wouldn’t ya know it? I pulled the tee shot into the water. This performance off the tee box today totally has me baffled and definitely ticked at myself. But there’s still more golf to play yet.

I drop at drink’s edge, and I'm sorely tempted to hit the 3w again. However, I’ve got around 250 to the pin, there is a huge fairway bunker and trees down the right side, and more water in play left of my drop, so I do the prudent thing and pull my 3h for a layup. Well, whaddaya know? I hit it in the fairway, 97yds short of the pin.

Hmmm, this is too long for the LW, too short for the GW, so out comes the sand wedge that I snagged a couple weeks ago on eBay. I really like my 52° Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Black Satin, so I got its 56° mate. I knocked it on the green pin high, but 32ft right. I just missed to 1ft and made the bogey 6 to close this beast of a round. After that killer front side, 42 on the back and an 87 is relatively acceptable

Phew! That was hard work, but oh so worth it! The golf course at West Bay Club is a track I could play all day every day…if the body would allow it of course. Pete and P.B. Dye did their marvelous thing with the design, Dana Fry and Jason Straka did theirs with the renovation, and Superintendent Steve Stortz and his staff have done a terrific job of maintaining the facility. They’ve combined to create one of my all-time favorite courses. Thanks again to the Florida State Golf Association for making this experience possible through their series of one-day tourneys.👏 I am looking forward to the next at The Bear at Forest Country Club in Fort Myers in less than two weeks. Till then, I'm out. 

Thanks to Stephanie for her editing suggestions!!