60th North South for Senior Women at Pinehurst, North Carolina

I made a quick trip to North Carolina from Appin, Ontario in order to attend my 2nd Senior Women's North South Tournament at Pinehurst from August 10th - 18th.  The main draw for attending this year was that the famous course No. 2 

was part of our rotation, along with No. 5 & No.6.  No. 2 is the course that has hosted US Open's for both Men and Women over the years.  The most recent was in 2014, when they hosted both on back to back weeks, the first time that was ever done.  I think they found it to be a little hard on the course. 

The evening before I departed was a fun night and dinner for the Wardsville Ladies' league.  My partner (selected at the last minute) and I were fortunate enough to win the event, for which our picture appeared in the local newspaper.  We enjoyed a nice dinner of Ceaser salad, garlic bread and meat lasagna after the round. 

The trip is about 14 hours each way, driving, which is too much for me to do in two days with the trailer, so I broke it up over 3 days.  On the way down I arrived at PInehurst early enough in the day to get some practice in the day prior to the official practice round day.  On the way back I headed out directly from the golf course, rather than having to go back to where I was camping to pick up the trailer.  I spent the night before and after the tournament at Jomeokee Campground, which had a great view of Pilot Mountain (too bad the weather wasn't clearer.)

For the duration of the tournament I stayed with a nice couple, who I met via the Boondocker's Welcome website, more than a year ago.  They weren't going to be home during last years tournament, but were willing to let me stay at their place anyway.  Not knowing what it was like I declined, but was excited about meeting them and staying at their place this year as they were going to be home.  It turns out their home is in a country setting with lots of space around it.  They had a full hook up for me along side of their home.  I was able to get in and out quite easily.  We had several good conversations about our respective travels.  Knowing well in advance where I was going to be staying, and with their permission I was able to order a few items for the trailer to be delivered to their place.  I was happy to pick up my outdoor mat and a suction cup toilet paper dispenser.  

At registration we were presented with two lovely gifts:

I had played No. 5 in last years event, so chose to play No. 6 for my practice round on Sunday.  For that I only had to pay a cart fee, whereas if I wanted to practice on No. 2 it was going to be an additional $200.  I though that was a bit too much, seeing as we aren't playing to win anything but trophies.  I had a nice group for the round and really liked that course.  Following the round was the welcome cocktail party and buffet dinner.  Both were as I remembered from last year, very nice. 

Day 1 we played No. 6.  I'm not that good at playing first thing in the morning, so the 7:30 tee time didn't please me. I wasn't totally on my game, I shot 87.  Day 2 we played course No. 2 following a 60 minute fog delay, Canadian Geese were at the tee to greet us. 

I shot 86, which I thought was pretty good for my first time on the very difficult course playing without the benefit of a caddy (and additional $100).  On day 3 we played No. 5, the course I was most familiar with and shot 80.  I finished 19th out of 37, last year I was tied for 20th.  Two of my Canadian friends finished tied for the lead, with Mary Ann Hayward in her first appearance, defeating the twice defending champion Judith Krynis on the first hole of the sudden death playoff.