GREAT EATS HAWAII: CAVES VALLEY GOLF CLUB

CAVES VALLEY GOLF CLUB

OWINGS MILLS, MARYLAND

CAVES VALLEY GOLF CLUB

2910 BLENDON ROAD

OWINGS MILLS, MD 21117

410-356-1313

410-356-3842 FAX

www.cavesvalley.net

What do you do when you have traveled thousands of miles to play a golf course and it is pouring rain, cold and ugly outside. The weather sucks and you have to wear three layers of clothes to stay warm and dry. If that were not enough, the green fees are crazy expensive and three times what you usually pay in Hawaii for a nice course. Well....we drove into Caves Valley under these conditions and wondering if it was worth the money to play in these shitty conditions. We parked our bags with the caddy's who were huddled up under cover from the rain and walked into the clubhouse to grab some breakfast and contemplate our decision. The place was beautiful. Old school golf club that smelled of money and class. This was a private club with less than 600 members. Playing here without a member invite is rare, but we were able to secure a tee time through my Club Pro back in Hawaii. We had arrived just past breakfast service and the waitress asked if we would like to wait for lunch at 11:00. No we said and asked if we could get something now. Of course she said as she ran into the kitchen and asked the chef if he could stay open a bit longer and cook us breakfast. What would you like the waitress asked. I ordered bacon and eggs and my friend ordered an omelet as there was no menu. No problem she said and would you like coffee or juice. In seconds the coffee and juice were at our table and soon after a piping hot breakfast on a cold rainy day. As we dug into the grub, several golfers came running in after playing 9 holes. They were soaked and promptly ordered a round of Bloody Mary's for their group. Ahh...that sounds good and we joined them in having one of those morning drinks that tends to wake you up. We ate, drank and pondered whether we should play. The waitress was exceptionally nice and was quite polite when I pulled out my credit card to pay. This was a bit awkward as no money exchanges hands at this club. Everything is on a member account. I was not a member so they made an exception but did not want other members to see my transaction so they made it quite discreet. We went back to the Pro Shop to check in. When the Pro showed me the cost of the round for two I thought this was my chance to get out of here and blame the weather. Tell you what the Pro said. "Don't pay now. Go out and see if you can play 9 holes and I will charge you for 9. Play 18 and pay for 18. We hit the driving range as the rain poured onto our clothes. I had to buy a hat as I usually only travel with visors. I put on golf pants for the first time ever on a course. Had a golf shirt and jacket plus another rain jacket. Three layers and I was hitting the ball like a rock off the practice tee. No way I am playing here I thought. Lets pack it up and go back to Baltimore. Just then our Caddy walked up. His name was John and he had spent 19 years on this course as a Caddy. John was used to walking the course as all the members do. We asked for carts because of the rain. Seemed like there were no carts here and all of the players were walking. I didn't see carts come to think of it. John looked at us in amazement. "Carts?". "Yes to speed things up in the rain" I said. There was no way I was going to "walk" this course in these conditions. No way. John got us a cart and we headed for the first hole. It was beautiful with a big dog leg to the left. Fuck the rain. Were here to golf! And golf we did through light showers and a bit of mud. Not my best round. Despite the rain the greens here were the fastest we had ever played. Like glass. "Wait till they dry out" John said. They will be three times this fast. These are pro greens and many tournaments have been played here. Coming up this year, the LPGA will play an international event at Caves Valley. Hopefully it will not rain. All in all this was a great day. The staff at Caves Valley were fantastic, friendly and gracious. The course was unforgiving and took my pride and spirit as well as a few golf balls.