Botetourt Golf & Swim Club

I was able to play a round yesterday at The Botetourt Golf & Swim Club in Botetourt. Before yesterday, I had never played here for some reason even though it is one of the closest to my house. I was watching the local news the other night and they had a short segment on the course talking about how it was under new ownership by a small local group of guys. Funny thing about this was when I walked in to the Clubhouse, I ran into one of the new owners which was on the news. He introduced himself and laughed when I recognized him from the news. He told me about the course and what to expect in our round with the course layout. The Clubhouse sits on top of a hill which provides some great views of the valley. Our tee time was at 8:44 and green fees w/ cart were right over $40. Little steep I believe for a weekday morning in this time of penny-pinching, but no matter now, we were paid and ready to take on this course.

My partner today was Matt(AKA-Wheels)who I work with at the Fire Department and have basically worked with since I got out of the academy seven years ago. Today was going to be Matt's first round of the season so I felt pretty confident I could take him, but since neither of us have ever played here, it could be interesting. We decided to play the white tees which played at 5741/par 71.

I have not played since hitting that almost perfect bucket of balls from previous post so I thought I might actually turn in a personal best today. I felt great stepping onto the first tee with my new 3 wood but that's as far as the good story goes. I burnt up a nice trail of grass with it hitting it a whole 100 feet. I shook it off and just considered it first-hole jitters. I saved a bogey on the hole by sinking about a 15-foot putt which made me feel a little better. To make a long story short, the rest of the day went the same off the tee with my woods until around hole #15 where I made an executive decision to leave the woods in the bag.
The course was beautiful and has some very interesting greens and fairways. We had a great time and were able to play in just over 4 hours including a short pit stop in the Clubhouse after the turn. I felt like we had the course to ourselves since it appeared to be a slow day on the course. The course played great and is pretty much wide-open which sure helped our game by not losing as many balls since our accuracy is a bit off.

Overall, I loved the course and can't wait to go play it again so I can see if I can improve my score knowing the layout now. I would give this course 8/10 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun round in a great atmosphere. If you are wondering who won, well after 18 holes we tied shooting a pair of 98s. Matt was happy to break 100 on his first round of the season and I was happy to break 100 on a course I have never played before.

Big Blue Golf Classic

The Meadows

Captains Choice Tournament at Botetourt Golf and Swim Club

Jefferson College of Health Sciences Alumni Association
First Annual Golf Tournament

The First Annual JCHS Alumni Association Golf Tournament will be held at Botetourt Golf and Swim Club on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011 at 1 p.m.

In keeping with the mission and values of the JCHS Alumni Association, proceeds from this tournament will go toward the
Jefferson College of Health Sciences
general scholarship fund.

Tournament Information
This 18-hole, four-person Captain’s Choice tournament gets under way with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. The registration fee includes green fees, cart, lunch and refreshments.

Ø 11:30 a.m.—Registration
12:00-1:00 p.m.—Lunch
1:00 p.m.—Shot Gun Start

Ø Nelson Automotive of Martinsville will provide a new car for a hole-in-one.

Ø Golf Ball Drop by Summit Helicopters—closest to the pin wins $1,000 Cash Prize. Call Alumni Office at (540) 224-4586 to purchase golf balls--$20 each or 3 for $50.
Ø Other contests include: closest to the pin on all five par threes, longest drive for men and women and longest putt prizes. There will also be goody bags for everyone!


Helping the Students Who Will be Helping You
Graduates from Jefferson College of Health Sciences work in the following areas of healthcare in and around our region, including:
Nursing
Physician Assistant
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy
Respiratory Therapy
Fire and Emergency Sciences
You can play a role in supporting our future healthcare workers by joining us for this fun and exciting event.

Please indicate if any of your players are professional golfers when registering.

Please note: The registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 9, 2011!

Captains Choice at Draper Valley

Here is an upcoming Captains Choice at the Draper Valley Golf Club. Thanks Von for sending the information to me. I have not played Draper in quite a few years, but it is a great course. When I use to live in Christiansburg we played their quite often. I hope to put a team together and play in this one and it looks like its for a good cause, to raise money for the VA Comets Track Club. Here is the information I have and contact numbers if you have any further questions.

Friday, June 24 · 8:00am - 4:00pm

Location Draper Valley Golf Club
2800 Big Valley Drive

Created By Tonya Cregger Lewis

More Info We are hosting a Captains Choice golf tournament. This event is to help raise money for the VA Comets Track Club, which our daughter Kendall runs for. They will be competing in the State Games of America in San Diego, CA in August. Your participation with this event would be greatly appreciated, also share this with any other golfers you may know to help make this event successful.

$240 per team
or
$60 if your an individual, we will put you on a team the day of the event

If you are interested in participating please contact myself or Von to get your team registered
luvdaheels@msn.com
cell: 540-230-6202 (Tonya) or 540-588-4421 (Von)
Early registration is recommended in order to get a head count to the staff at Draper Valley Golf.

Flyers will be available May 9th if you would like one.

Hope to see you all on the golf course for a day filled with fun, golf and prizes!!

Sweet Bucket of Balls

I was hoping to play a round today but I ended up at the Driving Range instead. I stopped by Big Lick Golf on Hollins road to hit a small bucket. Big Lick is a great range to practice at since it has all areas to practice from mats to real grass. It has a covered shelter over the mats so I guess you could still hit a bucket even if the weather is not cooperating. It is a very nice facility that has just about all your needs including equipment, club fitting, lessons, putting green and anything else you might need for your golf bag or round. I have visited this range off and on for many years and you are always greeted with a smile and a friendly staff.

I actually went there today to practice my new 3 and 5 wood so I could at least have a clue before using them on the course which is the worst place to pull out a new club. I usually start with a middle iron which today was my 7 and it was feeling great right from the first ball. I continued down til my PW and everything was flying straight and looking like I knew what I was doing. I can honestly say I usually hit some decent balls at the range but I have never been as consistent as I was today. I decided it was time to pull out the new woods and believe it or not I was hitting them just as well. I believe I will still be a tad nervous using them on the course, but at least I have a clue about how they feel now. By now I wanted to put the clubs up and take off for the course, but I had to pick up the kids from school. I guess I will just wrap today as a great bucket day.

I think the small bucket holds around 50 balls or so and honestly believe I hit 45 of them almost where I intended. I know this was probably a fluke but it felt good and can only hope my next round feels half as good. I know hitting from the range is a little different than on the course but I truly believe it does help.

Greenbrier Classic

The Greenbrier Classic will be played from July 25th to July 31st at The Greenbrier Country Club in West Virginia. This is a PGA event and will showcase some of the biggest names in Golf. I checked into prices online for the badges and they range from $89 all the way up to $5000. I am pretty sure I will have to pass on the $5000 badge even though I am sure it is very nice. The Greenbrier will be putting on concerts with also some really big names such as Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and The Black Eyed Peas. I have put links to the actually site of the Greenbrier Classic and another one that goes straight to the badges available. I have never been to a PGA event, but would love to make it to one to watch the Pros play in person. I think it would be pretty cool to watch these guys play the course live and see what happens between the shots that you miss from watching it on television.



Greenbrier Classic Website

Badges Info Website

31st Annual MDA Golf Tournament

31st Annual MDA Golf Tournament
Roanoke Valley Professional Firefighters
31st Annual MDA Golf Tournament


Hosted by:
Roanoke Fire Fighters Association #1132
Salem Professional Firefighters Association #3478
Roanoke County Local #3194
Town of Vinton Local #4316


To Benefit:
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)


Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Ole Monterey Golf Course
Roanoke, VA


Tournament begins at 8:30 am – Shotgun Start
All teams need to arrive at course by 8:00 am
Captains Choice – 4 Man Teams
Entry Fee: $260.00 a team

Price includes: Greens Fees, Cart Fees, Gift Bag, Lunch, 4 Beverage Tickets
Snacks, soft drinks and water.


1 Mulligan & 1 Red Tee Per Person $10.00
Sold at Registration Table


Trophies for 1st and 2nd place teams
Prizes: (Men’s and Women’s) Longest Drive – Callaway Driver
(Individual) Closest to the Pin – Callaway Putter
Hole in One Prize $10,000 CASH, 7 Day Cruise and Golf Clubs 2-PW

Grand Prizes / Door Prizes / 50/50 Raffle
Callaway Iron Raffle $5.00 each chance


**Deadline for Teams will be June 4th, 2011**
For More Information Contact:
Becky Smith (540)556-3257 (BecGrrrl@yahoo.com)
Make Checks Payable to RFFA
Mail Checks to: P.O. Box 1132
Roanoke, VA 24016

I have played in this tournament every year I have been with the Fire Deparment except for the ones where our shift had to work. It is a great tournament that benefits a great cause, MDA. If you are not able to play you can still help by sponsering a hole. If you have any questions about playing or sponsering a hole contact Becky Smith at the above number or email. Becky puts a lot of work behind the scenes to make this tournament work and getting all the sponsors, donations and goodies, so if you play this year please say a little thanks for all her hard work. Unfortunately, our shift is working this year so I will have to miss out, but I am sure their will be fun had by all and I wish every one Good Luck.

This is a shot of our team from previous MDA tournament at Hanging Rock.

Hooters Golf Tournament

The 15th Annual Hooters Golf Tournament will be held on August 1st at Hanging Rock Golf Course in Salem, VA. I played in this tournament quite a few years ago with some friends and we had a blast even though we finished very close to last. I hope to play again this year with better results but however we finish, I am sure it will be a lot of fun. Just click on the Hooters Golf Tournament Title for more information. The tournament is limited to certain number of teams so you might want to get your team together and get registered so you want miss out.

Tale of two 9s

I got to play golf today at Ashley Plantation and it was a pretty wild day. I played with two guys I used to work with at Pepsi Cola, Andy and Scooby. Andy lives in the same neighborhood that I do and we found out that we both play golf so we have been trying to get out on the course together for a while. I have to admit, I have played golf with a lot of people with strange swings and funny stances but today was a first for me. Andy hits all his woods right-handed and his irons left-handed. Man... this game is hard enough to learn using only one set of clubs. I have always kidded left-handed people calling them wrong side thinkers, but I am not sure what you call Andy. HaHa.

It was a great day to play golf with the temperatures just right. Our tee time was at 8:03 and for a Monday morning the course was quite busy. If you have not been to Ashley lately they are a 27-hole golf course and everyone plays the same front nine and then you can choose which back nine you would like to play. Each nine holes have their own name and they are Meadows, Hills and the Orchards. We opened with the Hills which I would like to forget all about playing this morning. I have not played this bad in at least,,,,,, well maybe never this bad. I just could not get anything going and, on the famous Par 6, I blew up. I went through one sleeve of balls on just that hole and after all the beating and banging was over I ended up with a 13.

This nine holes of golf just would not end, but finally at hole #7 which is a long par 3, I was able to pull it together for a par. I got some confidence back and got a par on the next hole and sunk about a 12 foot putt for birdie on #9. I started to get that feeling that I was back in the groove so at the turn, I grabbed a couple hot dogs and was ready to redeem myself after shooting a 58(personal best)on the front nine. We decided to try the Orchards as our back nine since it has the island green on it.

I was able to play very consistent golf all throughout these nine being able to forget about that monster score on the front nine. It was like I went and took a private lesson from Tiger Woods at the turn. I ended up shooting a 39 on the back nine which brought my total strokes for the day at 97. Not too bad considering this is really my second round of the year, well at least it helps me sleep at night saying that. We were all in agreement that the front nine(Hills)was very nice and well taken care of but the back nine(Orchards) was a little rough. I believe they told us the Orchards has only been open for three years and is a working progress. One hole that used to be a Par 5 has been cut to where it is now a Par 3 due to the Members complaining about the narrowness of its fairway. It really seemed like two different courses but we had a lot of fun and it was great to get out and hit the ball again. We paid $38 a piece to play 18 with cart. I believe after we played we found out there are actually better deals if you want to play the Orchards due to its condition. After our round we talked with Jeff Sprinkel who runs The Golf Academy at Ashley for rates on future lessons. He was a pleasure to talk with and sounded like he could really help us all on improving our games from etiquette to swinging the clubs. He offers lesson packages from the novice who has never swung a club all the way up to whatever your level. I will have to rate this course with two different numbers, one for the front nine(Hills) 8/10, and the back nine(Orchards) 6/10. Overall, it was a fun day and hopefully I will hitting another course soon.

Tiger Trap

This would be awesome to happen when you were playing a friendly round with friends.