Quote:
Originally Posted by tara440
Anyone remember the Keg North on Bird Road, next to the stoner shop, then they had Keg West out on west Sunset, and then Keg South?...I have been gone for so long, but I hear that Keg South is still there?
Man............. these threads are really awakening my memories of Miami..
I grew up in the Westchester area, when Westchester Country Club was there. Went to Coral Park before Gloria even came to Miami. 
The Pool was in the shape of a W, and there was that mini golf course/driving range on 8th street between 82 nd ave and Galloway.. Oh.. wasnt there a Chevron station at that corner????...many times I had a hot dog at the tiny little food stand while putting....
WOW |
I frequented Keg West for a while with my old high school buddies, circa '82-'83. We were just out of college and pretending to look for a job.
I went to Keg North several times but I can't place Keg South.
That putt-putt course/two-tiered driving range on 8th Street brings back tons of memories. In the mid '70s they put up a huge golf ball shaped structure about 150 yards out, with holes on it facing the tee and varying in size from larger than a manhole to the same size as a cup on a green. It was like a small water tower, if I had to use a comparison. You could win a prize by hitting a range ball into the holes. I would get one bucket after another and blast high draws with an 8 iron at the structure. The pro would watch and chat with me, saying my swing was like his as a teenager. Damn, I never got the big prize, which was trip to a national tournament. But very frequently I rang the bell in the little office, worth a free bucket of balls.
That reminds me, like the driving range, many Miami golf courses of that era are long gone, primarily executive courses which had 12 par 3s and 6 generally short par 4s:
* Hidden Valley -- on Miller Road between Galloway and 92nd Avenue. That place opened on an old rock pit and played that way. A typical Miami thunderstorm could close it for a week. My friends and I used to wade through the water hazards when it was closed, and come back with 50+ golf balls. Then we'd have a draft like in the NFL, each guy picking which golf ball he wanted.
Some holes were unique, like the 3rd where you aimed over water toward a narrow green with a rock wall behind it. A bit too far and you wound up over the fence in a pauper's cemetery, which is still there. I remember climbing that fence and eerily looking for my ball many times.
That course had a short lifespan. The clubhouse became a restaurant that has changed themes many times, with a ridiculously wide parking lot for a restaurant. But you can see portions of the old golf course on 92nd Avenue south of Miller. I think the condo owners had an agreement not to build on certain sections. Many of the holes from the back nine are still in view, along with the paths for the golf carts, and my dad says he still finds himself looking for golf balls alongside the road.
* Kendale Country Club -- that one was just south of Kendale Drive. I forget the avenue. You can still see the area which held the 18th hole. It's an open field with power lines. The power poles and power lines came into play often on that course. I'd hit the high wires on #17 frequently, requiring a rerun. My friends and I abused that course when we were about 12-13, dropped off by a parent about 6:30 AM on weekends and playing 4 or 5 rounds until dusk. The green fees were $2 for the first round and $1 for the rest of the day. I loved the 200ish par 4s, perfect for my draw 3 irons.
* Colonial Palms -- that course is probably better known than the first two I mentioned. It was a rare lighted course, on South Dixie Highway. Skipper Chuck had his summer junior tournament there. There was also a huge driving range and putt putt course. I loved that course, with the short dogleg par 4s allowing aggressive strategy, like #10 from a very rare high tee ground for South Florida. You could take a chance and blast it over the covering trees smack toward the green. All the hot shot juniors took that route. I think Colonial Palms closed in '82 or '83. The Miami Herald golf writer Larry Dorman, who is now a prominent national golf scribe, wrote a nice tribute. It's now a gated community with fancy homes. When I was in Miami recently I visited someone in that community and decided to check out the remnants of the old course. The long wide swatch that encapsulated #3 and #11 was still there, along the canal. I walked hundreds of yards, back and forth, near the spot where an old armless man sold golf balls for 25 cents apiece. You could see the foundations where the bridges were, crossing the canal near #4, #8 and #12. Little par 3s went back and forth across the canal.
My dad got a hole-in-one on the first hole. Family secret: It was a mulligan. His actual first shot shanked right, onto the 9th green.
* Kendale Lakes West -- that course made a brief and mostly pathetic comeback in the '90s, behind the Target. In the '70s it was a decent executive course that maneuvered near Kendale Drive for the first 4 or 5 holes and the last 2, while otherwise drifting north alongside some canals and lakes. The clubhouse was fancy for an executive course with a nice restaurant. It re-opened maybe 15 years ago with 9 holes of the original layout restored, plus a pathetic mini course that was in insultingly bad shape. They ran the course out of a tiny building. The new lighted driving range was excellent, other than an oddity of a canal about 220 yards away. I never understood how they allowed that, so many of the range balls surrendered to the canal. Anyway, I hated it when it closed again. The area that contained the original #17 and #18, which went out and back near the road, is still primarily an open field, east of the Target.
Gad. Sorry for the rambling post. I found this site last night and sampled every page of this thread, awesome memories.
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