First of all, let me express my sincere appreciation to my new friend, and golfing buddy, Jim for providing me with copies of some of the shots that he took of our golf excursion to Mahogany Run, St. Thomas, USVI.

Second, a word about Mahogany Run – considered by some an engineering marvel, the course was carved into the north shore of the island. Designed by George & Tom Fazio, the course features tight fairways, small greens and some of the most breathtaking views a golfer will ever encounter.

So, onto the pictures. First, a few pictures taken from the Mahogany Run website:

The prominent feature of Mahogany Run is The Devil’s Triangle, three holes that are depicted in the picture on the left above and in this picture:

To describe these three holes takes careful consideration of a thesaurus. Look up all iterations of breathtaking and you still do not adequately describe the three holes.

The first hole (#13, the green is at the bottom of the above picture) is a relatively short par four that requires a well placed tee shot followed by a daunting wedge into a green that is basically protected on all sides by stuff you do not want to be in. I hit my second shot right near the bunker pictured above and got up and down for a par.

Number 14 is the course’s signature hole – its fairway is the Atlantic Ocean. Here is Jim’s picture of the hole taken from the tee:

I have no idea who that guy in the red hat is, but he is wearing a Carnival Freedom Inaugural Season shirt

I hit my tee shot above the stairs seen over my left shoulder, pitched onto the green, then two putted for another four.

Here is another shot of #14, from the green back to the tee:

So there I was, just one hole away from being awarded the fabled “I survived the Devil’s Triangle” certificate – all I had to do was make it through the 15th hole without a penalty stroke. The hole started with a tee shot between a hill on the left and trees on the right. Now, almost my entire golfing career, I have been a person whose shots favored the right side. What do I do? I pulled my drive left onto the hill – lost forever is my ball and the chance at the fabled certificate. Bugger, as John Heald would say.

Here is another picture of that guy in the red hat – I believe this shot is of the sixteenth hole. Note that this former Navy corpsman went FMF (Fleet Marine Force) by hitting the sand.

Last is a picture of the eighteenth hole approaching the snack hut and club house – a beautiful way to finish the round, with a cold beer awaiting you in the air conditioned lounge.

Once again, my great appreciation to Jim for these pictures – I have deliberately not posted any pictures of him or our playing companion, but if he gives me permission, I will add a couple of additional pictures.

I am looking forward to playing Mahogany Run again – nothing will replicate my first experience on this course, but it was worth every penny.

Until next time,

JustJon