In their 1972 hit, Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin triumphantly said, “Valhalla, I am coming!”

Well, so did I this past Saturday, but there was nothing triumphant about it.

I have officially been humbled. My golf ego bruised and beaten into submission. My clubs sent to the trunk in shame. But oh what a great experience it was playing Valhalla Golf Club this past Saturday—barely a month before the 2008 Ryder Cup heads that way.

I’m comfortable saying I know my way around a golf course. I’m currently a 9 handicap but have been as low as a 2. I’ve played on high school state championship teams and was once state player of the year. So when I stepped onto the first tee at Valhalla I did so with my head held high. My confidence soared as I blasted a drive nearly 300 yards down the right hand side of the first fairway—oh wait; did it slip into the rough, no big deal…right?

Wrong. I found my “good” drive mired a few feet into Valhalla’s devastatingly thick four-inch deep rough—a place I would come to know well throughout the day. A back-breaking wedge shot left me sitting on the fringe about 50 feet away. A short chip, a lip-out for par and I’m in the hole with a bogey-five. Unfortunately that’s about as close as I would get to a par all day.

Things are really humming along as Valhalla gets ready to host the world’s best next month. The grounds crew is diligently at work readying the course for golf’s battle between the continents. The sound of hammers and saws fills the air as corporate tent land takes shape. You can tell something big is on the horizon.

For the 2008 Ryder Cup, Valhalla will play as a monstrous 7,496 yard Par 71. I’ve never before experienced a course that demands such a combination of accuracy and length off the tee. The greens are receptive enough but have more levels than the Empire State Building. Let’s just say it’s best to be on the same level as the pin. The greens, while fast, were not as glass-like as I expected. Not to worry though, a member told me they’re keeping them cut a bit high so as not to cause undue stress before the big event. “Rest assured”, he said. “They’ll be quick.”

My conclusion: the pros can have their tee boxes because it’s not somewhere I belong. 500 yard par fours do not fit my game. But hey, at least I proved Tiger Woods wrong. He recently said a 10-handicapper couldn’t break 100 at a Major Championship course. I didn’t do it by much, but at least I got that going for me.

Steve
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it