Golfing Mississippi Dunes

Today's forecast is for wind and lots of it so my Friday afternoon round of golf at Mississippi Dunes might be a real challenge.

So as expected, the wind was a challenge during this round.  I played with three genetleman, Steve, Matt, and Dave.  The round started off brilliantly with me popping up my drive off the tee.  The winds did not seem too bad initially but they got worse as the round went on.  On the back 9 it seemed like every hole was either straight into the wind or with the wind directly behind.

On the par 5 14th I hit my drive (with the wind behind me) nearly to the 151 yard plate.  That equates to nearly a 330 yard drive!  On the par 3 17th which was playing at about 154 for the day, I hit 3 extra clubs to make the green.  It was definately an interesting day trying to guess club selections with the wind.  It was fun trying to control the trajectory on shots to keep them low into the wind or high with the wind.

The course was in pretty good shape. T he greens have recovered well from the aeration and were smooth.  There are a lot of trees on the course but downed leaves were not much of a problem since the wind was keeping the greens mostly clear of the big stuff.

Overall, I played well.  I ended up with an 83 for the day, which taking the wind into account, was not bad at all.

The par 3 hole 2.  With the massive doming, missing the green is not a good thing.  Too bad the wind was directly into your face on this hole.  Getting a short iron to not baloon and come up short proved to hard for me.  I did manage to chip a good one and got up and down for par.

Hole 3, the uphill par 5 tee shot, offered some nice fall colors today.  Playing golf in Minnesota in the fall has to be some of the greatest golf you can get, especially once there has been a frost and there are no more bugs.

The approach to the green on 3.  My second shot hit a tree and ended up next to the cart path on the far left.  I don't know I have ever played this hole from over there.

The par 3 4th.  The tees were up so the hole was only playing about 150 with wind from right to left.

The green on 4 is the largest on the course.  Somehow I managed to miss it when my ball caught the wind and sailed left of the green.

The par 4 5th is a tough hole.  Aiming at the hill in the fairway my ball kicked left into the bunker.  The second shot is often blind at the green and will play long unless you carry the hill off the tee.

The pretty par 3 6th.  I actually hit the green here, something that does not happen too often.

 More color off the tee on number 7.

The green on number 7 showing the rolling topography and the mounded green.

 The green on the par 5 11th.  I hit my drive to the end of the first fairway wityh the aid of the wind and had 190 yards to the green.  I hit a great shot that was right at the pin...and sailed over the green.  Wind helps and wind hurts.  I managed to save par but had a chance at eagle or bird that was squandered.

The tee shot on 13, a tough shot normally but today it was straight into the wind making it even tougher.

 The approach from 100 yards to the green on 13.  I hit a 6 iron from 120 yards dead into the wind and still came up short!

The moguls on 14.  The second back to back par 5, this one  was with the wind and I hit a booming drive that caught the breeze.

 My ball came up just short of this marker- a distance off the tee of around 330 yards!

 The massive cross bunker about 90 yards out on 14.  You can just see the pin over the top of the bunker.  This bunker is not only intimidating it makes for a blind shot to another severly mounded green.

 The back tees on 17 with some great color on the hole.  This one was into the wind.

 I hit three extra clubs here and had my shot play perfectly into the wind and drop just behind the pin about 3 feet.

The green on 18 with the clubhouse in the back.

Kermit came out to enjoy the sun on this warm fall day.  Highs were in the 80s today and besides the wind it was a great day to be out golfing. 

This was my last round at Mississippi Dunes with my Common Man card, and with time running out on the season, my last round of the year here.