Round 17 - August 2 - Le Diable, Mont Tremblant, Quebec - Sunny w/ clouds 26 degrees, calm
Now this is a golf course! My friend Kevin Brady and his family had rented a cottage for a week on Lac Mercier, a stone's throw from Le Diable so I thought I'd take the opportunity to play this beautiful track. I went out with Kevin and his friend Mike McCran. Lino "the Luck Charm" Disipio was supposed to join us but canceled at the last minute. Would he be sorry! Practice tee privileges and electric cart are included in the $110 greens fees. We opted for the twilight rate of $72 and got a 3:20 pm tee off. The facilities are gorgeous. A paved path winds its way through tall pines to the practice tee which seems to have been carved out of the side of the mountain. You hit out towards the golf academy which is located 500 yards directly in front of you. The balls are unlimited and are neatly piled in a pyramid at each tee.

Ratings of 71 off the blues and 68.7 off the whites and respective slopes of 130 and 125 give a true picture of this demanding course. We decided to play skins for $3/hole. Mike had the honors and spit one 250 yards into the huge waste bunker that ran the entire length of the first fairway. (see photos) Kevin and I had the good fortune of hitting the fairway at around the 250 mark. I hit the green and putted for a five. Kevin took a 7 and Mike took an 8. For me, the front wasn't too bad until I hit the 7th. I duffed my tee shot 40 yards into the fescue. Being the hero that I am, I decided to play from there. Bad idea!! Popped it up 10 yards into more fescue. Duffed that one and proceeded to push the egg painfully towards the green for a final tally of 11. Unfortunately I don't learn quickly and this scenario would repeat itself at #17. I went out with 47, Kevin had 51 and Mike 44, for respective gross' of 102, 109, 89. Mike made $21 off me and $24 off Kevin by taking 11 skins.

My moment of Zen came on the 451 yard par 4, 15th. I got a beautiful drive away off the hugely elevated tee, (see photo) and plugged it at 300 yards! (You've got to see the photo). It was a very short lived moment of Zen as the wheels fell off and I took a 7! Still, playing so poorly never felt so good. This is a course worth playing again and again (if you can afford it!)