Playing golf and eating Mexican food on the South Texas coast

On the surface, 6,400-yard El Angel, one of two courses at Rancho Viejo (Texas) Resort & Country Club, wouldn’t seem that tough, except Mother Nature threw in a 25 mph sustained wind with gusts up to 40 mph.

That means every draw was a hook, every fade a slice, and holes playing into the wind seemed to play 100 yards longer. It also helped us work up a pretty good appetite and for the second night on this trip, we hit paydirt.

Figuring nearby Brownsville would have pretty good Mexican food, we found Elva’s (1775 Central Blvd.), a place known for great breakfast buffets. It didn’t blow us away, but it was better than most of the places in Houston. Great cheese chile relleno, and the Mexican enchiladas (as opposed to Americano) were made with white goat cheese and an authentic Mexican sauce. Pretty good green salsa, too.

With great barbecue the first night (Joe Cotten’s in Robstown) and Mexican last night, the search will continue tonight for great seafood on South Padre Island. That would be the holy trinity of eats on a golf trip, folks.