May 13- Visit to the Salinas Golf and Country Club

Our good friends Connie & Murray invited us to the Salinas Golf & Country Club where they had recently become members. To those of you in the Salinas area, you may have driven by many times and wondered as we did what lay beyond the guarded gates.

We took a taxi from the Malecon and when we arrived, found we were the only visitors so far at 9:45AM. First our friends took us all around the facilities. We were dumbfounded! Having seen it only when passing by on the road, it sure didn’t look like much but once inside…..

There were four asphalt tennis courts in pretty good shape as well as four clay courts in excellent condition.

 The pool was huge, beautiful and with salt water which was very important for me as I am allergic to chlorine. Plus there was a wading pool for the little kids. There were lots of chairs, tables and lounges around the pool and shady areas when you became sunned out.

Near the pool were men’s and women’s and family washrooms, showers and change rooms plus a shower outside by the pool to be used before entering the pool.

As well, a fair sized exercise room with weights, treadmill and various other exercise equipment were available. What was most surprising was that there were also two very modern squash courts.

A small soccer field covered in astro turf was used to teach soccer to children.

The main building itself was huge- a beautiful restaurant ( not open when we were there) and several large party rooms that could be reserved by the members for weddings/ birthdays/ anniversaries/ whatever.

And last but not least ( strange maybe-LOL) there was a nine hole golf course. It was like none I had EVER seen before. If ever the rest of the world admits we have a water conservation problem, they may want to follow this facility’s lead.

First of all, there was no grass! No grass, you say, how does that work? Obviously pretty well as we saw four golfers on number five who had no problem.

The tee offs had a small area of grass and there was white, blue & red tees.

The whole length between tee and green ( we are going to call it beige from now on) was hard packed earth sometimes with trees on either side.

And the beiges ( greens to the rest of the world) wow, what a concept. Talk about hating the sand, well, there seemed to be very little difference between the sand traps ( and yes there were some) and the beiges.

Uwe and Murray checking out the 6^th hole’s beige.

 Personally I can’t wait to try this course when I bring my clubs back from Canada. A  pro-shop to sign in for golf and a miniature course to practice putting completed the tour.

We spent the morning playing some tennis, swimming lengths in the pool and trying some exercise equipment. And all this without another soul being present. It was like we lived in a huge mansion with an equally huge pool. Loved it!

All in all, we were very impressed with the facilities. The grounds were well kept and gorgeous. The pool was large, clean and warm.  When open, there is both a restaurant and snack bar.

And all this for a $2000 per family initiation and $40 per month cost all inclusive-pool, tennis, golf, squash plus you can bring guests in free of charge any time. Pretty good deal and it has us thinking…..