Round Played: with Josh and Beth Strukoff –
By Wayne Halm –
I thought this day would belong to Josh … BUT
On December 5th 2015 I played the Wailua Golf Course on Kauai’s east shore with my buddies Josh and Beth Strukoff from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Yeah, we sort of expected to have a good time.
(Click on any picture for a larger view – then use the browser ‘back’ button.)
Beth and Josh
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This was different from the big name resort courses. Wailua is a “muni” operated by the County of Kauai … but it is a muni with some history.
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We weren’t the first group out – at Wailua they start as soon as it is light enough to see the ball.
However, the grass was still wet when we played the first fairway.
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At Wailua the beach and the ocean are OB. The first two holes play right along the beach.
Wayne on the 1st green
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The third hole turns away from the ocean and plays among the coconut palms. There … well watch below.
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Josh and I found it difficult to compete with one-putts … and Beth seemed to have a bag full of them.
The Wailua course plays 6554 yards from the white tees (and 5852 from the reds). Every time the red tees were significantly advanced Beth took advantage of it.
Notice Beth’s ball in front of the cart.
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But when Josh hit a good approach shot – it showed.
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On some holes the “red tee advantage” was simply insurmountable. The par3 17th was one of them.
Beth on her tee at 17 … Oh yeah, she recognized an opportunity.
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Wayne on his tee at 17
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Beth in one and Wayne in two – she picked up a stroke on me … and two on Josh.
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Another golf blogging buddy, Jim Burton, writes an insightful blog “The Grateful Golfer”. If you are a serious golfer you should read it. Anyway, Jim gave me some advice – “Get strokes from Josh” … that was good advice. Now let me give Jim some advice – “Get even more strokes from Beth”.
Yes, a bit of competition did slip into our round. I thought that Josh’s big drives would carry the day for him – but Beth demonstrated once again “It’s not how you drive, it’s how you arrive”. Of course we didn’t let the score get in the way of having FUN.
It was “friendly” competition.
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We each had some good shots where everyone cheered. And then there were others where we just shook our heads and chuckled. This was fun. It was the way golf should be.
Josh writes a golf blog called Golf is Mental – he should post about this round soon. Check it out … Compare his experience to mine.
Josh, Beth, and I have played before – read about our previous rounds below:
The Manele Bay Golf Club — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
The Kiahuna Golf Club — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
The Makai Golf Club — my post about it is here — and Josh’s post about it is here
As for my 2016 goal of playing golf with 100 people I haven’t met – I’m still at 42. Want to be in that number?
Come play golf with me.
Wailua Municipal Golf course 808-241-6666 http://www.kauai.gov/Golf
Return to Golfing on Kauai Home Page and read about other rounds played
Golfing on Kauai 
Aloha Wayne,
This was another fun round on a surprisingly tough course, well, tough for the guys, not so much for Beth. Entertaining write up buddy.
Cheers
Josh
Aloha Josh,
Thank you. Wailua can be humbling, and fun at the same time. But Beth earned her score … and you and I just have to look forward to the next round.
A Hui Hou,
Wayne
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