Golf in Belgium

So I had my first European golf experience today. A co-worker of Paty's boyfriend, Bernard, took my golfing today at the Chateau de la Tournette. It was a really nice course, lots of hills. The place seems to be somewhat unique in Belgium as it has 2 18 hole championship courses. Bernard had some sort of pass so the greens fees were 38 Euros. Pretty reasonable for the quality of the course. I would definitely play there again if given the chance.


As you can see from these pictures I have already embarked on my European weight loss plan.
So the course was really crowded today as one of the two courses were closed for a tournament. We get to our tee time at 11:30 and are paired with two Belgium guys. They proceed to tee off from the back tees. One guy crushes the ball, while the other guy plays what would charitably be called a duck hook left. Think of my tee shots at their worst. Then it is my turn, we now have 11 Belgium people watching me. I am by far the youngest guy in all the groups. Apparently golf is still an elitist sport in Belgium; you have to qualify for a handicap before you can play at most courses. You do this by taking a written and playing test.
Bernard only recently got his handicap card by spending a week at a golf school in France. He chose the French route because it was "easier". No joke, French being easy.
I could have proven the elitist aspect by taking pictures of the parking lot, I saw a Meseratti, Ferrari and countless other nice cars. The only time in my life I have seen these cars was in my garage in the Project Gotham Racing video game.
Anyway, back to my tee shot. As there is quite the queue at the tee box, I have 11 old Belgium guys watching me tee it up. I had already introduced myself to my partners and Bernard was happy to inform them all of his 'American' playing partner. These guys are all talking behind me and all I hear is 'American'. So I know they are watching me. I am thinking great thoughts in my head as I address the ball 'don't mess this up, this is for all of American golfers everywhere, do NOT mess up.' Then I proceed to absolutely smack the ball down the middle and as the hole was a 380 meter sever dog leg left, I actually hit the ball through the fairway but still in a great spot. As I walked off the tee box one of the Frenchies asked to look at my driver, apparently the Sasquatch has not made it across the pond.
On a side note, I know they are all Belgium but since they were all speaking French it seemed to help with my motivation by thinking of them as 'Frenchies'.
So no matter what happened the rest of the day that one tee shot made my golf experience in Belgium worthwhile.
I am going to try to play Royal Anderlecht on Monday. Maybe there I will be able to dial in my meter versus yard conversion ratio with a golf club. CHEERS