Category Archives: Golf

Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Bastrop, TX

I was recently invited out to the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Spa in Bastrop, Texas (just east of Austin). I couldn’t have been more excited as everything I had seen and heard about the resort seemed to be right up my alley – nature, exclusive, beautiful, a ton of outdoor activities and the food was suppose to be fantastic. Well, turns out everything I heard was right and I can’t wait to go back!

Bastrop is an easy 3.5 hour drive from Dallas / Fort Worth. It’s a perfect distance for a family vacation for a week or even just a weekend getaway. Once you’re there, you’ll feel even more removed from the everyday world and just fall into relax/vacation mode (and you won’t want to leave).

Upon arrival, you’ll pull into the drive for the Hyatt Regency. Be careful, you still have three miles to go. That’s right, three miles! The drive will be scenic and you will soon forget where you are, windy, hilly and absolutely gorgeous. Wildflowers and bluebonnets filled the side of the roadway in front of the trees. Every so often, you will see a small pulloff for a scenic view. Take one, or two. The view will capture you, trees as far as you can see, no civilization or seeing the next small town over. Just nature. Be sure to let out a big exhale.

Continue driving. It seems that the three mile drive is just enough time to let all your frustrations, anxiety, stress, anything that is going on in your life go. You have arrived.

(Photo credit: Hyatt Regency Lost Pines)

The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa is breathtakingly beautiful. Photographs really provide no justice at all. I took what seems like hundreds of photos and still I felt like I couldn’t quite capture it all together.

Each of the rooms provide a magnificent view of the grounds whether it be the garden landscape, the Colorado river, the pond and golf course. There is not one sight that won’t make you completely relax.

(Below) This is the main house / lobby from the back of the building. Seriously, how beautiful day / night is this building. I actually had breakfast on the back porch in a rocking chair. My day couldn’t have started much better than that.

I plan on sharing every detail of my trip but I wanted to share a few facts about the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa and give you a glimpse as to what’s to come!

Sits alongside the Colorado River, just outside of Austin on 405 acres of scenic wilderness.
Hosts 491 guest rooms, more than 60,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and 230,000 square feet of outdoor function space (including pavilions and an amphitheater).
Amenities include the Wolfgang Golf Club, Spa Django and the Renegade Trailhead (equestrian facility).
McKinney Roughs Nature Park can be found right next door where activities include kayaking, shooting, swimming, birding and 18 miles of hiking trails.

Undoubtedly, a year-round seasonal resort, with a wide variety of dining and entertainment options. There is truly something here for everyone. The only problem you will have is finding time to fit it all in. Stay tuned to see what my adventure at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa entailed!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated but did receive one night’s stay at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa in return for this post. All photos and opinions are 100% my own.

Is it a ‘Driving Range’ or a ‘Practice Range’?

FORE!

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Over the weekend I got to play my first round of golf. Real golf. The golf where you carry around your own bag with your own clubs for 18 holes trying to get this little ball into this little hole with a flag. Real golf. Except for me I was just carrying around this golf bag with 5 clubs, three of which I actually used.

I’ve always thought I’m a mini-golf kinda gal. Frankly, I rocked at mini-golf and sad to say for the people who I played against, I was very competitive. Growing up we would spend a lot of time with my grandparents who would keep us in line when our parents were working. My brother would go golf with my Pepere and I would hang out with my Memere. As we grew up, golf was never anything that interest me. Um, maybe I should clear this up – Sergio Garcia was interesting to me. Having played softball for my entire life, I thought the golf club should be swung like a softball bat and it doesn’t work like that. And yes, I’ve even tried the Happy Gilmore approach.

Then one day its like the entire world changed. I was introduced to a driving range. Can you hear the “aha!” and see the lights shining down? I was taught how to actually hit a ball! And found out that its actually a lot of fun to hit that little ball pretty hard! It came to the point where I didn’t care where I hit it, it just felt good to hit that little sucker a really long way (and no, I had no idea where I was aiming).

Sy plays golf pretty often. He golfs like I would snowboard when I lived in Vermont… as often as I could either with friends or by myself. Obviously, we have some priorities here. Well I was loving the driving range and having not really played softball since I moved to Texas, I think I just missed swinging at something. Every now and then I’d ask Sy if he would take me to a golf course so I could try. I think he was nervous. Actually, I know he was nervous. He said as competitive as I am (and how I do not (definitely do not) like failing), I would end up really pissed off if I didn’t do well. So we worked in steps.

Last summer, I had to pleasure of going to a golf course for the first time. I drove the golf cart around the course. It was pretty fun. You can cruise in those little suckers but I still had that inkling of wanting to learn how to play (maybe not on this day it was about 110 degrees outside). This weekend a miracle happened, he (FINALLY) took me to a golf course that he grew up playing.

Meadowbrook in Arlington aka Ghettobrook. It is a small 9-hole course (that you play twice), its cheap and it’s not super busy. It’s like a little golf secret! Little did I know that I’ll be trying out for the LPGA tour next year. I didn’t do so bad other than not knowing the rules and pushing Mr. Sy’s buttons by talking, not putting my bag behind me and to the right far enough, taking too much time to find my ball but overall he was a good teacher. (He told me I’m not suppose to be doing these things even though all I kept hearing from them was “Shit!” from the group behind us.)

I hit it down the fairways pretty straight, well for the most part and when I could hit it. Tee’d off and hit a few balls farther than Mr. Sy (ok maybe just once) and was at par for at least 3 holes when I went to putt. AND I ended it off on a pretty good note by bogie’ing my last hole. Oh Yeaa! Whoohoo! And the crowd goes wild! (Or in the case of golf, does their quiet clap.)

This is the tee box from the third hold.

The first round I ended up hitting the ball thru the trees right off the green!

The only thing that I can’t say that I like is that I feel like I am always in a rush with these groups of men playing behind me. I’m not a fan of being followed but by the time we finished the game, my anxiety was better.

Don’t judge the stance.

All in all, I would like to try it again… I want to try it again… I will try it again. So all you ladies – golf is not a man only sport (frankly you don’t even need to golf, cruising around in a golf cart drinking some cold brews sounds pretty fun too and a lot less work), give it a try. Until next time, I’ll be looking for my prime, plaid outfit practicing my putts in the living room!