Before heading back to the mainland, I knew I had to golf here at least once. So yesterday, I asked Google maps where the nearest, nicest, cheapest golf course was and I headed there on the metro.
After an hour and a half trek on metro, train, and foot, I arrived at the Sant Joan Golf Course - the first public golf course in Catalunya. I read that the green fee for a junior is 19 euro, and seeing the I have 5 more days being under 21, I wanted to take advantage of the junior rate one last time. They hit me with two charges I wasn't expecting though - club rental was a whopping 21 euro, and the fee for not having a license to golf in Spain was 8 euro. That's right...they charged me a fee for not having taken the mandatory 10 lessons to acquire a license. It felt very ironic as someone that has golfed for over 3/4 of their time on this earth.
The course was exceptionally nice, especially for being public. The regular-flex shafts on the rental clubs made the tight, dog-legged fairways pretty difficult to hit, but I managed to find a way. I ended up figuring out that the ball would always go right, and I played it that way.
To my disappointment, I didn't have any Spaniard to play with. The course was empty because the weather wasn't very nice, so I went at it alone. I wanted to play with a Spaniard to authenticate my European golfing experience and practice my Castellano. My prayers were answered, however, when the marshall pulled up on the 6th hole. He saw that I had hit a tee shot to 6 feet on a par three, and he offered me a ride. From then on, he accompanied me on every hole until I reached the 17th tee. His name was Pablo and he was from Peru, and it was nice to not have to walk the hilly course. He made me focus more on my game, because I obviously wanted to impress my Euro-audience of one, and I shot 1 over for the 10 holes he accompanied me on. According to him, I should be on the PGA tour. Well, Pablo, there are many other kids that can hit the ball much, much straighter than me.
Nonetheless, he couldn't have been nicer and it was much better than spending the day alone. I am proud to say that I played a beautiful course outside Barcelona. Who knows when the next opportunity will come for me to golf in Europe - I'm glad I took advantage of it now!
After an hour and a half trek on metro, train, and foot, I arrived at the Sant Joan Golf Course - the first public golf course in Catalunya. I read that the green fee for a junior is 19 euro, and seeing the I have 5 more days being under 21, I wanted to take advantage of the junior rate one last time. They hit me with two charges I wasn't expecting though - club rental was a whopping 21 euro, and the fee for not having a license to golf in Spain was 8 euro. That's right...they charged me a fee for not having taken the mandatory 10 lessons to acquire a license. It felt very ironic as someone that has golfed for over 3/4 of their time on this earth.
The course was exceptionally nice, especially for being public. The regular-flex shafts on the rental clubs made the tight, dog-legged fairways pretty difficult to hit, but I managed to find a way. I ended up figuring out that the ball would always go right, and I played it that way.
To my disappointment, I didn't have any Spaniard to play with. The course was empty because the weather wasn't very nice, so I went at it alone. I wanted to play with a Spaniard to authenticate my European golfing experience and practice my Castellano. My prayers were answered, however, when the marshall pulled up on the 6th hole. He saw that I had hit a tee shot to 6 feet on a par three, and he offered me a ride. From then on, he accompanied me on every hole until I reached the 17th tee. His name was Pablo and he was from Peru, and it was nice to not have to walk the hilly course. He made me focus more on my game, because I obviously wanted to impress my Euro-audience of one, and I shot 1 over for the 10 holes he accompanied me on. According to him, I should be on the PGA tour. Well, Pablo, there are many other kids that can hit the ball much, much straighter than me.
Nonetheless, he couldn't have been nicer and it was much better than spending the day alone. I am proud to say that I played a beautiful course outside Barcelona. Who knows when the next opportunity will come for me to golf in Europe - I'm glad I took advantage of it now!
A view back down the fairway of the 3rd hole.
A distant view of Montserrat from the 4th tee.
A closer view of Montserrat.
The dark green color of the grass, coupled with the grey clouds, reminds me that I'm in Europe.
Me in my hastily put together golf outfit. Photo credit - Pablo.
Me next to the "Buggie" as they call it in Barcelona.
Pablo - the man, the myth, the Peruvian legend. He couldn't have been nicer.
Walking back to the metro from the course. It was a 40 minute walk!
This is the Hewlett Packard Barcelona campus. Pretty nice!
Countdown - only 2 more weeks left in Barcelona!
Now that was quite an adventure to sneak in a round of golf in Europe! Thanks to Pablo, you had a spectator and weren't out there all alone all afternoon. Looked like a pretty decent track? Glad you took advantage and got in one round.
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