Honestly, I’ve been dying to try Chi Chi Rodriguez for ages. My buddy kept raving about it after his Florida trip, so when work finally gave me that three-day weekend, I threw my clubs in the truck and just drove south from Atlanta. Figured I’d record this for you guys wanting to play there someday.
First Impressions & Warm-Up
Rolled into the parking lot at like 7 AM sweating buckets already – Florida humidity’s no joke. Paid the green fee (ouch, tourist prices) and grabbed a cart. Practice range was packed so I just putted around for 20 minutes. Starter waved me over around hole 1 around 7:30, told me “Don’t slice into those condos, pal.” Real encouraging.
The Meat of the Round
Hole 4 (Par 5): Absolute beast. Dogleg left with water on the right side – looked small from the tee but the wind picked up right when I swung. Sliced my drive like an idiot, heard a splash. Dropped, chunked a 3-wood, then somehow stuck my approach to 10 feet. Two-putt bogey felt like a win.
Hole 7 (Par 3): This shorty messed with my head. Only 135 yards but island green with mangroves everywhere. Pulled out 9-iron, felt shaky. Shot faded right, splashed again. Guy behind me yelled “New balls on sale in the clubhouse!” Thanks, dude. Took double.
Hole 13 (Par 4): Best hole hands down. Elevated tee looking over wild palm trees and sand everywhere. Smashed driver dead center. Felt awesome until I saw my ball in a fairway bunker. Forgot my sand wedge? Classic me. Used 7-iron like a shovel – flopped out sideways. Still got par somehow.
Wrapping It Up
Finished around hole 18 wishing I’d brought more sunscreen. My neck looked like cooked lobster. Overall takeaways:
- Bring extra balls: Water’s hungry here.
- Rent a cart: Walking would’ve killed me.
- Best holes: Stick to 4, 7 and 13 for views/challenge.
Would I play it again? Hell yeah – but next time I’m loading up on bug spray AND buying the damn souvenir golf balls.
