The Ocean City Experience
In the beginning there was Myrtle Beach, and it was good. So good in fact that the BGA made an annual trip to play some of the 100 plus courses that were offered in and around The Grand Strand. Then came the marriage of The Snowman to his lovely bride. After the joys of the union it developed that with his new-found family commitments he could no longer make the pilgrimage to the golfing Mecca of the south.
With the changeover of our hangout, Crawdaddy’s, from a local beer and fried food, rock ‘n roll and country music place to a karaoke and broccoli and cheese type of place, The Myrtle Experience, without Frosty and his unique golfing style, became more of a golf trip in which we only played golf. Fun but less fulfilling than the previous 15 years had been.
The Executive Board of the Bad Golfers Association decided to try Ocean City, Maryland and a few of their courses. We had to go later in the year since January could have considerably worse weather than we encountered in South Carolina, so our first O.C. Experience was set for April 2011 and it was a great success.
We played 2 wonderful courses, Bay Club and Eagle’s Landing, found a new dive to hangout in, The Cork Bar, and of course many places for food and entertainment. All this and a new casino just outside of town and it looks like the BGA has found a new place for golf getaways.
Ocean City promotes itself as a golf destination and there are a number of courses in the area, though not nearly as many as Myrtle Beach. As we play the various courses, we will write course reviews and also include opinions of what to do and, as importantly, what to avoid if you want to have your own O.C. Experience.
O.C. Experience #1
Leaving work around 4:00 p.m. on a Friday, it should have been a quick three and a half hour drive to The Snowman’s igloo in Ocean City. (That means that were staying at The Snowman’s condo on the beach in Ocean City, MD.) However, the Bay Bridge was backed up as if it was a 4th of July weekend and the trip took just under 6 hours. Not a good start.
We heard that The Cork Bar had been remodeled and was now serving food so we met there for a bit to eat around 10 o’clock. Amazingly, the former dive is now an little more upscale and served things like “rockfish wraps” as well as cheeseburgers and fries. A few beers and a sandwich and we were off to the igloo for a few hours sleep and then to golf.
The Commish drew the short straw and got to sleep on the sofa bed. No one has been able to stand up straight after sleeping on this bed but luckily Mr. FourSkin, fearing that he would be chosen, brought an inflatable mattress that made the sofa bed very comfortable. After a nice breakfast it was off to Eagle’s Landing and the first leg of our O.C. Experience.
The next morning, after a little Wii bowling it was off to Bay Club where we received a complimentary round of golf