A few months ago I connected with Marco Glumac on Twitter. He’s a golfer and works at Cypress Lake Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida. I didn’t think much of it, but a few weeks go by and he asked if I wanted to play. Of course! I am always looking for an excuse to play golf, especially a course I haven’t played before.
Cypress Lakes CC is a private, member-owned golf and tennis club with 18 holes of walker-friendly, championship golf. There aren’t many courses in Southwest Florida that allow walking, so when Marco asked me if I wanted to play, of course I said yes! We made plans to play one afternoon and I couldn’t wait to get to the property.
I had never been to Cypress Lake CC before, but it isn’t far from the Total Wine & More in Fort Myers. I made plans to shop after my round, but got to the course an hour before our tee time. I hit some balls, as I’ve been struggling off the tee for a few weeks now, and hit a few putts. When Marco arrived we shook hands and became fast friends. When it was time to tee off, we walked to the first tee.
On the first hole I hit my drive a little left… Marco down the middle. I hit my shot to the back of the green… He hit is shot pin high to the right. I made par, but he dropped the birdie putt and was -1 through 1 hole. He made birdie on the next and was nearly -3 through 3 holes. Who is this guy?! I managed to par the first few holes and shot 37 on the front. Can’t say the same for the back… I was grinding. Shot 80 beating Marco by a few shots. Not bad considering I had never seen the course before.
The golf course was designed by Dick Wilson. I wasn’t familiar with his work, but Marco mentioned a plague on the second floor of the clubhouse that listed all of his courses. At the top of that list was Bay Hill. No wonder I liked the course… When Gabriel Aluisy took me to Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, I loved the golf course. Maybe I should play more of his golf courses. Anyway, since Cypress Lake allows walking I grabbed a push cart and decided to hoof if.
Marco walked with me, and it was a long day. Doesn’t help I can’t hit a fairway. The front 9 was 7,660 steps/5.37 miles. It didn’t feel like it was that far, but the walk from one side of the fairay to the other can be lengthy. We didn’t play the tips, but the course was plenty long from where we played. After we finished the front I asked Marco if he preferred the front or the back. “I like the back. It’s a tad bit easier, too,” he said. I beg to differ.
On 10 I hit a duck hook left… Had a 3 wood in my hands, hit a top and made bogey. On 11 I hit a 3 wood off the tee… It went 45 yards to the right and travelled about 30 yards in the air. When I hit the shot I started laughing out loud. Hit a good second, but was unable to make par. On the next hole, a short par 3 over water, I hit 8 iron so far left I barely found my ball. Hit a good shot but missed the putt. Needless to say, the back 9 was a bit harder for me than the front. The back 9 was longer than the front, too. I walked 8,067 steps/5.42 miles on the back.
At the end of the day, I walked 15,727 steps/10.79 miles. Funny story… On the first hole, Marco asked me, “Just want to play 5/5/5?” I agreed even though I had no idea what that was… At the end of our round, he asked me, “Do you have a 5?” Huh? For what? I didn’t… He proceeded to tell me we were playing for $5 for the front 9, $5 for the back 9 and $5 total. Apparently I beat him across the board and he owed me $15! Who knew?! Marcus, I still owe you $5. Don’t let me forget.
After our round he told me about their clubhouse and the collection of Patty Berg memorabilia. Several LPGA and PGA TOUR professionals left their fingerprint on this course, but they have an impressive collection of Patty Berg memorabilia in the clubhouse. It was neat to see considering how much she did to grow the game of golf.
At the end of the day, I was feeling great, had hit my daily steps goal, and had made a new friend that likes to play golf. Marco, thank you so much for the invite. That was fun. Can’t wait to do it again. Next time we are playing Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples. Can’t wait to show you The Ultimate Golf Experience.
