The Gals Who Golf entered the Fairwinds Golf Club's ladies night. Fairwinds is a beautiful course in Nanoose Bay, featuring gorgeous vistas, well-maintained greens, and enough tall grass to ensure you’re single-handedly keeping the golf ball industry afloat because you’re buying balls after this round.
I would love to show you a cute team photo of the Gals Who Golf, but, as you can see, we didn’t get the shot:
You may recall from my Arrowsmith Ladies Night blog that you should always bring snacks for morale and energy. We failed to do so, but Melissa treated us to fortifying snacks such as Coffee Crisps, Cheeto’s, and Doritos from the snack and drink cart. I suspect this is the same pre-game snack that Tiger Woods consumes.
Fairwinds Golf Club Ladies Night
According to the Fairwinds website: “Fairwinds is known as a ‘thinking course’ as it requires a careful strategy in order [to] maneuver the contoured greens and tree-lined fairways.” Yikes. As if we need a ‘thinking course’ to make golf harder on a Wednesday night after work.
OK, so here’s the deal with Fairwinds. It’s a very long and challenging course. Hole 3, in particular, is a life-ruiner at 405 yards from the FORWARD tee (note: we don’t call it the ladies’/women’s tees anymore! It’s 2022!).
We did not play well, and we lost about 500 balls each. Melissa is convinced that the tall grass surrounding the Fairwinds fairways (Fairwinds fairways, what a cute alliteration!) is their rainy day fund. It’s a golf ball booby trap, and then one day, they’ll cut the grass and have 10,000 balls to sell. Anyway, how many balls did we lose in total?
[Source: GIPHY]
Anne’s Note: I suspect that unless you’re a pro, people can’t tell the difference between golf balls. Buying used balls is a great way to cut down on costs because if you’re like us, you’re going to lose balls. I also love buying orange or pink balls because they’re easier to spot in the grass than white, or blue ones. NEVER buy green balls.
Pro-Amateur Tip: Splurge On Power Carts At Fairwinds Golf Club
Get the cart. You will need it. Here’s why you should rent a golf cart at Fairwinds:
1. It’s a long course, and unless you’re an above-average player (and I don’t think you are… because you found THIS BLOG), you’ll need a golf cart to keep the rate of play moving along
2. A cart will allow you to quickly zoom all over the course as you hunt for your dozens of lost balls, so again, it’ll help with your rate of play
3. They’re fun to drive and electric! This is a classy course, and the electric carts offer a quiet, smooth ride. EVs are trending.
4. There is a mean swan that lives in Fairwinds, and you will need a getaway car if it decides to take a run at you (terrifying)
Swan is beautiful though, isn't he?
Oh, deer! Avoiding Wildlife At Fairwinds
About halfway through our round, we rounded the corner and were treated to the sight of about seven deer living their best lives right on the fairway, afraid of nothing and no one. These deer were not concerned that we were lined up in front of them, about to blast golf balls their way. We, however, were very concerned. Imagine smoking a deer with your ball? Talk about TRAUMA.
Luckily, thanks to our ability to perform under pressure, all three of us hit beautiful tee shots that soared above and beyond the family of deer. Having three amazing shots to choose from is not usually how our team rolls, so this was the high point of the round! Here's Melissa's drive:
And the low point of the round?
You also may recall that despite it being SUMMER, the golf gods have decided that each time the Gals Who Golf assemble, there should be a torrential downpour. The heavy rain didn’t last the whole time, but the humidity sure did.
Dani managed to wait until the last hole to have her customary mini-breakdown, where she decides it’s time to give up. This time, the humidity got to her (and our hair!).
We let her take a moment to do what she had to do before we added up the score and turned in our card.
Fairwinds Ladies Night Review:
Fairwinds has a drink/snack cart patrolling the course during ladies night, should you want to buy some drinks for the course (we love the pickled bean caesars!). We saw the cart no less than three times, and the woman driving the cart was fun and friendly.
Prizes were a bit light, especially if you compare them to the jam-packed prize table at Arrowsmith. In the past, Fairwinds had sponsors for their ladies nights, and with this generous injection of cash, they provided tons of high-value prizes. There wasn’t a sponsor this time, so the prizes were more modest, but our team was still lucky enough to walk away with a Fairwinds gift card and two packs of martini tees, which aren’t cheap (martini tees are great because they don’t break!).
Like many businesses, Fairwinds is having a tough time finding and retaining staff. Unfortunately, the dinner was a bit of a letdown. Without enough kitchen staff to stay on for the evening, Fairwinds had to get the dinner catered, and the buffet dinner was relatively modest, just two salads and two hot dishes. Last year they did 9 holes with prizes, and no dinner portion, and I wonder if that might be a better (and less expensive) format until they have enough kitchen staff to serve their delicious in-house food.
Fairwinds’ staff encouraged feedback to help improve the next ladies night, and I think the team there genuinely wants to continue to improve, so I think they’ll make improvements for future events. I hope some of the members will offer their feedback for improvement—they’re the ones with the pull around there!
With a price tag of $75 for this evening, it was the most expensive ladies night I’ve ever played. It’s a steep cost for a ladies night, and I think our team will stick with the more accessible courses that offer better value for the rest of the season. We will be back to try another one for the 2023 season!
FRONT 9 PAR: 35 GALS WHO GOLF SCORE: 46
[Source: GIPHY]
We all tried our best.