One of the pleasures in attending any golf tournament is the opportunity to play a round of golf.

What made the visit to the 2014 Valero Texas Open more pleasurable is that it was to be my first game of golf ever in the Lone Star State of Texas.

Unfortunately when we gathered around 8am at the opening tee of the AT & T Canyons course at TPC San Antonio you could not see more than 50 yards due to fog.

But while the fog delayed the start of the play on day one of the Valero Texas Open it didn’t deter myself and other invited members of the media who

The 18th hole at AT & T Canyons with the stunning JW Marriott Hotel in the background.

were the guests of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Fortunately Tim Price, who was covering the tournament for Associated Press and my golf buggy partner for the round, had played the course before so he had a bit of idea where we were going.

And while it was difficult to see the fairways, the one good aspect was that I could also not see any of the dangers on this Pete Dye designed layout.

I struck my opening 3-wood tee shot half-decent and then still without any fear hit a PW into the mist and walked onto the green very pleased with myself to find the San Antonio ‘Deep in the Heart’ logo Titleist No. 4 sitting some 25-feet behind the flagstick.

Also competing the group was Andres Munoz, Vice-President of Marketing and Communications with the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. I had the great pleasure of meeting Andres during the 2013 Valero Texas Open and was very delighted in seeing a ‘familiar face’ again this year.

Andres Munoz, Vice-President San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau with Bernie.

And Andres quickly displayed a great golfing talent driving deep into the fog and emerging close to the pin.

I found the first real challenge to be at the par three, 4^th hole where water was clearly visible to the left of the green so that really had me thinking.

However I took the water out of play finding a bunker right from where I managed a good up-and-down for the first par of the morning.

The fog finally lifted at the par five 6^th hole, and the longest hole of the course at 525-yards, where you could now fully admire Dye’s work. Here is a classic par five with a fairway bunker left and then bunkers short left and right in front of the green.

Standing on the 9^th tee there is large bunker in driving range with narrow grassy mounds laid out at various intervals that reminded me of the famed ‘Church Pew’ bunkers at Oakmont.  It was here at this 370-yard par four Andres easily cleared the bunker and rolled-in the first of three superb birdies in his round.

The 10^th hole is a great dogleg left-to-right par four and with a stunning view of the JW Marriott Hotel in the distance that seems to tower over the course like a sentinel.

The par five 15^th is a great par five while the next, the 175-yard par three 16^th presented the challenge of clearing a deep gully and also avoiding being left.

The final hole is a superb par four just two yards short of 400-yards and where, as Andres displayed, a good drive can set you up for birdie.

The AT & T Canyons winds its way through the natural and clearly rugged landscape of the Texas Hill Country and the now clearly visible neighboring Cibolo Canyons in this region of northern San Antonio.

It is your quintessential Dye-designed course with generous landing areas off the tee but then plenty of bunkers and where are invariably hitting to raised greens.

And whereas Bob Hope jokingly wrote in the visitor’s book at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in Ireland – ‘Loved the golf course, coming back to find the fairways’, my comment would be ‘Loved the company, greatly appreciated the opportunity but coming back to find the golf course.”

But seriously anytime you can get away to play a round of golf while others sit behind desks or whatever can’t be all that bad.

A very special thank you to Andres for the opportunity to play AT & A Canyons and for both he and his Director of Communications colleague Richard Lewis for a very warm welcome back to San Antonio.