Golf in Cabo: Cabo San Lucas Country Club

I’ve been working with the Cabo San Lucas Country Club for a while. I remember being introduced to them back in August. Today I got the chance to play the golf course. When we started planning our trip to Cabo, I emailed Eric Grindereng about our journey. Eric is the Director of Golf at the Cabo San Lucas Country Club. Via email he invited me to come play the course. He doesn’t play much, but made an exception since it was my first time in Cabo.

He wanted me to be there at 3:00 PM. I scheduled a taxi to pick me up at 2:15, but Phil sent me a direct message that morning that he would be willing to give me a ride to the golf course. I just had to help him load his gear from the night before. Since I fell asleep the night before and couldn’t help him load in, it was the least I could do. Plus, I wanted to be a roadie! It was easy. Literally took us 10 minutes.

Before he dropped me off at the golf course, he had to make a stop by the casino. He was betting on game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat were playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the Heat leading the series 3-1. As you know, I don’t watch sports but this is different. This is the finals, and I have a chance to witness history. LeBron James hasn’t won a championship yet, and if they win tonight it could be the beginning of a legacy. I read on Twitter that if the Heat win this series, LeBron will be younger than Michael Jordan was when he won his first. Anyway, Phil was bettering on the Thunder. The Heat ended up winning.

After he placed his wager, he dropped me off at the golf course. I went in, grabbed my rental clubs, and hit some balls on the range. I also chipped and putted for a little bit. Then Eric came out to introduce himself. We loaded the golf cart, and headed to the back nine. A group of guys went out in front of us, so we wanted to avoid waiting to play.

We didn’t play very well on the back, but I blame the rental clubs. I hit the driver pretty good, but it was a 10.5 so I hit it high all day long. I also didn’t putt very good. The greens were really slow, and Eric kept saying, “Take the break out and just hit it hard.” I did that a few times, but it was hard to read the greens when smoking a putter to the cup. I managed to card a 41 on the front. Eric shot 41, too.

When we got to the back, I started hitting the ball better. Eric kept missing it right, and said he usually hits a draw. I wasn’t seeing that, but on the back he caught a few on the screws and had a short iron into some of the longer holes. There were a couple of holes that played nearly 600 yards. Nothing like the 670 yard par 5 at The Olympic Club, but still long for a guy like me that doesn’t hit the ball very far. We played about the same on the back, and ended up finishing strong. Eric said the last time he played he shot even par… So I felt like I kept up with him all day.

As I was standing on the golf course looking out over the bay and staring at mountains all around me, I started to realize how lucky I really am. I have been scuba diving in 4 countries and now I’m playing golf in Mexico. What a thrill. I really couldn’t be happier than where I am in my life right now. I’m truly grateful to be able to travel like this and experience things like this at such a young age.

Sorry for getting all sappy, but today really opened my eyes. I had a great time playing the Cabo San Lucas Country Club, and it was great getting to know Eric. I told him about our 1001 Bottles project and he was excited to learn more about that. When he dropped me off he said he wanted to have dinner and drinks while before we left. So I should be seeing him again before we leave.

Today was great. I slept in and played a great golf course with someone I can’t wait to share my bottles list with. We have only been here for a few days and have already done so much. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store. For the record, I am writing this while looking at the ocean, Land’s End, and shadows of the iconic arch over the bay. Cabo rocks. That is all!