Beer of the Week

The beer: Apollyon Golden Ale

Brewed by: Arcadia Brewing Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Description (from the website): "Tremble before Apollyon, The Destroyer, for herein is a beer that requires careful handling. Produced using a technique that amplifies the intense apple/pear fruitiness of Arcadia’s house English-style yeast, the result is a straw-colored golden strong ale that hides its strength carefully. Obscured by intense honey notes, hints of cotton candy, fresh-baked bread, and a wickedly dry, crisp body, we took to calling it Apollyon in homage to the Belgian tradition of naming beers after 'devilish' figures. Unlike the king of locusts, the only truly dangerous part of Apollyon is how enjoyable and refreshing it is."

Would I buy it again?: You know, I was really expecting a lot more kick from this beer when I first tasted it. I figured something called a strong golden ale and with such high alcohol content would be more intense. But it's very drinkable. Unfortunately, I think that works against this beer in a way. It wasn't cheap, which is not so good, and it's supposed to be a winter beer, but it really strikes me as more of a warm weather beer. It was fine, but it definitely isn't something I'll be rushing to get again.

Review: The Woods - Mountain View (Part 2)

It's time to see the back nine of the Mountain View course, go here if you haven't seen the front.

The tenth hole is a mid-length par 4 playing up onto a small plateau. There is a single fairway bunker on the right side, but it's kind of out the way and not particularly visible. I doubt it sees much action. The two greenside bunkers probably catch a lot more golf balls. The second shot has to negotiate those bunkers and hit a very small green with O.B lurking behind.

The tenth hole.

No carts in this picture, and the fairway bunker is (barely) visible.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is the longest par 3 on the Mountain View course, though at 180 yards it's not exactly back-breaking. But a mid-iron over a valley to a small, shallow green isn't the easiest of shots either. And there's not exactly a recommended place to miss, short isn't great, long is especially not great. Honestly, if you're confident at all in your bunker play, the sand is the least-worst miss here.

The eleventh hole.

The twelfth hole is the longest par 4 on the back nine, but at 416 yards, it's not exactly unreasonable. From the tee, you can't see much, just a sliver of fairway that disappears over a rise. That conceals the most interesting part of the hole -- the significant left-to-right slope of the fairway. It's normally tricky enough hitting from a significant sidehill lie, but the two greenside bunkers left and short of the green make the second shot even trickier. Obviously it's easier to hit a fade with the ball below your feet, but doing so brings those bunkers more into play. The draw is the better shot, but is more difficult considering the stance. Definitely one of the best holes on the course.

The twelfth hole.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is the final par 3 at the Mountain View course. The hole is bunkerless, but it does a good job of being interesting even without sand and its modest length. The tree left of the green is immediately an issue, as is the big drop-off to the right and behind. The green itself is reasonably inviting and easy to hit, however, so I'd say that it isn't a terribly difficult hole. Just don't miss right or long.

The thirteenth hole.

The fourteenth hole is a short par 4 at less than 340 yards. However, this is easily the tightest hole on the golf course; while there are few trees on the right side, the slope makes recovering extremely difficult. A stream runs down the entire length of the hole to the left, any shot hit over there is dead. The green is not particularly big, but there are no bunkers. Just don't go left. Now, I think this is a pretty good-looking hole, but I'm not so sure it's a particularly good hole. It's very claustrophobic. Now, it's not long, which helps a little, but still, you'll have difficulty swinging freely on the tee.

The fourteenth hole. Nice to not have any houses in the picture.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

Looking back down 14.

The fifteenth hole is a 534 yard par 5 that is kind of dull for the first 400 yards. There are no fairway bunkers and the hole marches slowly but steadily uphill for much of the time. You can't see the green until you get within 150 yards or so, and when you do, you'll learn why it's a very bad idea to go for the green in two. There's a pond in front of the green. Oh sure, if you look at the scorecard you can see that there's water in front of the green, but still, I'm not a huge fan of blind water hazards. So basically, the first two shots are just to get yourself in a decent position for the third, but there's no real challenge at all to those first two shots. The third shot is definitely one to make the golfer pay attention, what with the pond in front and the four bunkers behind. But it's all concentrated too much, the hole would be better if some of that challenge were spread out. Put a couple of bunkers in the two primary landing areas, make the golfer think a little bit on the first two shots.

The fifteenth hole.

 

Still no sign of the green.

The very heavily defended fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is the shortest par 4 at the Mountain View course, playing a downhill 310 yards. It's also, as far as I can tell, the course's calling card. Go to Google and you'll find more pictures of this hole than any other. Which is fair enough, it is an impressive view on the tee, and you can see all the way to South Mountain, a few dozen miles to the east. The hole itself drops to a low point about 75 yards from the green, then rises back up a bit to a green surrounded by three bunkers. A drive down the left side will give you the best angle at the green. This is probably the best birdie opportunity on the golf course.

The sixteenth hole.

 

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a mid-length par with a pair of fairway bunkers encroaching on the right side. A fade is definitely the best shot to hit off the tee. The second shot is pretty straightforward, though the green is fairly shallow and you definitely don't want to miss long.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

Considering all the deer poop littering the entire course, it's only natural we saw a few of the culprits

The eighteenth hole is a par 5, and is also the longest hole on the course, weighing in at 570 yards. I'm honestly not a big fan of that, finishing off with such a long, strenuous hole. But taken in isolation, it's definitely nice looking, winding through a narrow valley up toward the clubhouse. A draw benefits you on the tee, and then a fade will give you the best approach to the green. The green is quite small, so even if you do have the length to get there in two, which is doubtful, you probably won't hit it anyway. You need to hit three solid shots to have a birdie opportunity, and at the end of the round, that can be a tall order.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

Fun fact, this is the third Mountain View golf course that I've played. And unfortunately, it's my least favorite of the three. And I swear, it's not just because of the gratuitous deer droppings. Or because I played like crap. Considering the rugged terrain, building a coherent golf course on this particular property was always going to be a challenge. But forcing the course into certain corridors because the property is also a housing/resort development? It's a recipe for an incredibly disjointed golf course. The Mountain View course is spread over a very large area and only in a couple of areas can you see multiple holes from the hole you're playing. The distances between greens and tees are regularly vast; I would not want to try to walk this course.

Now, Mountain View is not without merit, the terrain obviously lends strategic interest and there are some memorable holes. But it's not a course I see myself playing again. If you're looking for a golf course in the West Virginia panhandle, Cacapon is better in pretty much every single way. It's walkable, it's more interesting, the views are better, and the prices are similar.

Fair warning: Next month I'll be reviewing another housing development golf course. But hopefully it'll be different enough for some interesting comparing and contrasting.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Krusty's Partially-Gelatinated Non-Dairy Gum-Based Beverage

Brewed by: Cape May Brewing Company, Rio Grande, New Jersey

Description (from the website): "Thick and viscous, this 'Shake' IPA is brewed with an abundant amount of Cashmere, Azacca, and Idaho 7 hops for a tropical bouquet of flavors that pair beautifully off the luscious body and creamy mouthfeel"

Would I buy it again?: Probably not. Admittedly, I sincerely doubt I'll ever encounter this beer beyond the four pack that I bought, since it's a one-time brew exclusive to the tasting room. So unless I feel like taking another trip to New Jersey in the next month, this is probably it. Also, it's kind of a weird sort of beer. I assume that's the shake part of the shake IPA. It didn't taste bad, per se, it just felt a little strange to drink. And in case you were wondering, this is where the name came from.

Review: The Woods - Mountain View (Part 1)

We've had a couple of false starts, but spring has come to the Mid-Atlantic. And that can only mean one thing: Really crappy golf. Okay, it may mean a couple other things, but the rusty golf swing is definitely a force to be reckoned with. After months of not playing, it would be silly to make your first real round of the year at a mountainous golf course in the middle of nowhere, where there's plenty of opportunity to lose half a dozen golf balls, right?

Welcome to the Mountain View course at The Woods. The resort is in the panhandle of West Virginia, and while it's not nearly as isolated as the drive to Shenandoah Valley was, it's very West Virginia getting there. The same goes for the golf course itself. When I was paying, the person in the pro shop warned my brother and I that there would be some deer droppings out and about. And boy was there ever. I was prepared for some, but there was so much out there, and on every hole too. Hopefully it's not like that all year. Anyway, enough about poop, let's take a look at the course.

The first hole is a mid-length par 4 and is a generally friendly opener. The playing corridor is pretty wide open and there are no fairway bunkers in play. From the back tee, a gentle fade around the group of trees right should leave you a wedge or short iron up to the green. The second shot is going to be blind, and be aware that there is a bunker left of the green that remains unseen until you get up to it and find that your golf ball has plugged on a severe downslope and you have absolutely no shot at the hole. In normal circumstances when you're not incredibly unlucky, this is not a particularly difficult hole.

The first hole.

The white tees are a long way up from the back tee.

Looking back down the first hole.

The second hole ups the difficulty significantly. At 433 yards, it's the longest par 4 at the Mountain View course, and it isn't an easy hole. Okay, the drive isn't particularly difficult and the fairway is plenty wide. But the second shot is a lot tougher. The green is on the other side of a valley, and a deep bunker lies in wait. Hitting your drive on the left side of the fairway so you don't have to go directly over the bunker is definitely recommended. The green is significantly sloped from back to front, so going long is pretty much a guaranteed bogey or worse.

The second hole.

The second green.

That bunker is not a great place to be.

The third hole is a short little par 3 over a pond to a green ringed with bunkers. Not a whole lot to say about this sort of hole, if you hit the green it's easy, if you don't, it can ruin your round.

The third hole.

The fourth hole is a very short par 5 at only 472 yards. That makes it an excellent birdie opportunity. The ideal drive is a draw slung around that central tree that takes the downslope in the fairway, leaving as little as a short iron to the green. Of course, with it being March when I played, this is not what I did. Anyway, whether you lay up or go for it, the green is wedged between a hillside right and a stream left.

The fourth hole. The ability to hit a draw will benefit you here.

A draw remains helpful on the second shot.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fifth hole is a straight 415 yard par 4. There isn't a whole lot to the tee shot, though the playing corridor is a bit narrower than the previous holes. The second shot is more interesting. The green is small but has a significant back to front slope, as well as a small tier running perpendicular through the center. A pair of bunkers guard the green left and right. Long is once again very dead, as the back of the green is noticeably built-up above its surroundings.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

Long is very bad here.

The sixth hole presents quite a challenge on the tee. There is the tee, than a chasm 150 yards across, and a tiny sliver of fairway that soon disappears over the top of the hill. From the back tee, the hole is just over 400 yards, but from the next tee up, it's only 250 yards. I'm not sure I've ever seen that big a difference between two tees before. Anyway, while the canyon is intimidating, it's not actually that difficult to traverse. There is a single fairway bunker on the right side, and the green is fronted by three more bunkers, but otherwise there isn't a whole lot to the rest of the hole. The drive is the big selling point here.

The aforementioned chasm on the sixth tee.

Once you negotiate the canyon, the rest of the hole isn't so bad.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a long 550 yard par 5 playing over rolling terrain. If you can get your drive to the top of the first plateau, a big second shot could definitely reach the green. But that's a pretty tall order; for most, this is a very solid three shot hole. The second will be blind, but the hole is straight and there's no trouble close to the fairway, so feel free to blast away. The third will be uphill to a small green guarded by two bunkers.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The eighth hole is yet another roughly 400 yard par 4. While there are no bunkers on the hole, there isn't much width here, as the fairway drops off precipitously to the left. If you're going to miss, miss right. Even then, you'll have a very awkward stance for the second, as the ball will be well above your feet. Basically, you want to hit the fairway here. The green is benched into the hillside, and any shot short or left will run back down. Honestly, being long or right isn't much better, since you'll be left with a chip from a downhill lie to a green sloping away from you. This is not a particularly easy hole.

The eighth hole.

The second shot on the eighth has another valley to negotiate.

The ninth hole is a lot like the third, in that it's a tiny little par 3 over water. Unlike the third, this hole plays significantly downhill, and the tee is very exposed to the wind. For our round, the wind was straight behind us. There are really no good places to miss here, but if you go long, there is a chance your ball will trickle back down onto the green. It's not a guarantee though. I know this from experience, both my brother and I went long, but his rolled back, while mine did not. Golf sometimes.

The ninth hole. Not an easy shot.

That's it for now, next week we'll check out the back nine.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Cape May IPA

Brewed by: Cape May Brewing Company, Rio Grande, New Jersey

Description (from the website): "The American IPA named for America’s Oldest Seaside Resort, Cape May IPA is loaded with floral and citrus notes, slightly bitter with a zesty finish. A West Coast-style IPA brewed in the heart of the East Coast, it’s the beer that’s Crafted on the Cape."

Would I buy it again?: We've got a special edition this week, as I was on location at the Cape May Brewing Company tasting room not too long ago as part of a bachelor party. This is their flagship beer, so even though I'm not an IPA fan, I had to try it out. And you know what? It's not too bad at all. The beer was easy to drink and not overly bitter. They don't sell any Cape May beer back in Maryland, but I'm ever in the area, I'd definitely consider buying this again.

For the First Time, We Have a Picture of a Black Hole

Normally I'd use this week's post for the first half of a golf course review, but not this week. For one, the review isn't close to being finished yet. Also, this news is probably way more interesting than some golf course in West Virginia.

This has been a long time coming. We have actual pictures of a black hole, the thing that's so dense not even light can escape. Yes, we took a picture of an an object that literally cannot emit light. And here it is.

Event Horizon Telescope

It's strange how something can be exactly what you expect but still be compelling. I mean, of course that's what a black hole would look like, a black point surrounded by superheated gas blasting out all sorts of interesting radiation. But the possibilities for new science that this opens are enormous.

Anyway, the black hole we've photographed is the supermassive black hole at the center of M87, a massive elliptical galaxy. The black hole has a mass of 6.5 billion suns, so even though the galaxy lies 50 million light years away, it was a reasonable target. Easier than the Milky Way's own black hole, which is a mere 4 million solar masses.

The act of getting the pictures took years and the combined efforts of observatories all over the world. The pictures were so massive that they couldn't be sent over the internet, it was faster to store them and ship them around.

Once again, this is some sort of accomplishment. I really never thought we'd get a picture like that now. It's a black hole, after all, and yet, here we are. Astronomy is pretty cool sometimes.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Two Hearted Ale

Brewed by: Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Description (from the website): "Brewed with 100% Centennial hops from the Pacific Northwest and named after the Two Hearted River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, this IPA is bursting with hop aromas ranging from pine to grapefruit from massive hop additions in both the kettle and the fermenter. Perfectly balanced with a malt backbone and combined with the signature fruity aromas of Bell's house yeast, this beer is remarkably drinkable and well suited for adventures everywhere."

Would I buy it again?: This isn't the first time I've purchased this particular beer, and I doubt it'll be the last. I don't often buy IPAs on their own, and there's a good reason for that: I don't like IPAs. This is a notable exception, because it honestly doesn't taste too much like an IPA. It's hoppy and bitter, but not excessively so, and there's enough maltiness there to balance it out. It's not my favorite beer of all time, but it's definitely interesting.