by David Schultz, Board Member
Five people enjoyed a day of golf practice at the driving range plus a round of 9-holes at the Pruneridge Golf Course. The day started off cool and cloudy, but that didn’t deter us from driving about three buckets of balls. And by the time everyone got to the Pruneridge Golf Course, the sun came out and it was a beautiful afternoon.
The morning was advertised by Nisei Ski Club as instruction plus ball driving at the San Jose Municipal driving range. However, the members who showed up were all experienced, and the instructors (Dave, Rick, and Alex) wound up learning some tricks from the trainees (Carolyn and Sandra). We forgot that Sandra is playing at least a couple of times per week along with taking golf lessons near her home, and her experience shows. What was also nice during the morning was that we all tried out each other’s drivers. I found that I liked a few of them better than my own. Time for a new club…!
Along with a driving range, San Jose Municipal has an area for practicing pitching and putting. The five of us used these to warm up before heading over to Pruneridge. The first order of business at Pruneridge was to have some lunch. The food was great, but getting it took a while since the “kitchen” (a food truck) at the course is only staffed by one person. By the time lunch was finished, it was tee time, so off we went. At that point, however, Alex left to watch the Warriors game (where Steph Curry made his amazing 50 points). This was fine, since that left Dave, Rick, Carolyn, and Sandra to be the foursome.
The holes at Pruneridge are generally short, and we moved along pretty quickly. It was nice that everyone else on the course was moving along just as quickly. We rarely had waiting issues at the tees or on the course. As mentioned, Sandra showed off her great strokes, with Carolyn a close second. The ladies were very solid on the fairways, while the guys tended to criss-cross them like we were at a zip line course. But it still was fun. What’s crazy about the Pruneridge course is that the 9th hole is right behind the driving range. As such, there are tons of white practice balls all over the place, obscuring any regular white balls. And of course, we forgot about this and several of us did a lot of searching to identify our balls.
The group had a fine time together. We finished the day promising to play again sometime at a different course, perhaps playing 18-holes the next time. This could easily become a regular Nisei Ski Club event!
