50 States and 50 Capitals Golf Trip

[jsgolfer]

On 4/23/2017 at 1:09 AM, spider said:

Hello everyone. I'm in the process of resuming my 50/50 trip on June 4, 2017. I'm doing the western, north-western and some mid-west states. If all goes well I will complete the second trip at the end of June, 2017. I've included a map of the second trip, which also shows the seven cities that I played in on the first trip. The first city will be Sacramento, CA. The second trip will include 16 capitals plus 2 golf courses with a friend in Seattle, and Wolf Creek in Mesquite, NV. 

Wolf Creek is a really good golf course.

[spider]

I've finally started part two of my 50/50 golf tour today, Wednesday June 21, 2017. I played a warm-up round today at San Luis Obispo Country Club. We played "two-lowest-net' team total. I played with my friend Pat, and two other members, Bruce "the almighty" and Billy. I drove from Los  Angeles at 2:15 a.m. and arrived at the golf course after 5 a.m. I was feeling good, I wasn't tired. The warm up went well, I met the other players and everyone was nice and friendly.

I thought that I would have a good scoring round, but I didn't. 50 on the front and 63 on the back, 113. The sky was overcast and the course was in great condition, and the greens were fast. The fairways are wide and lined with mostly pine trees, but there are other types. I thought that I would be striking my drives right down the middle, instead I was hitting them left and right, and then hitting recovery shots under branches and over trees, always coming up short of the greens. Sometimes I just had to just hit the ball back to the fairway when I had absolutely no shot. The greens were large and rolled very true, but oh so fast. I had a 3-putt festival on almost every hole.

Even though I didn't have a good scoring round, it was a fun round, a lot of laughing, moaning and groaning. I got some positive feedback from this round that will help in the future. I'm in Sacramento now and will play tomorrow at Wildhawk Golf Course at 6:59, with a threesome. So here I go, 18 capitals in about four weeks. It's great being retired! 

 

[longdrive23]

Very cool, envy the opportunity to be able to do this.

My "big" plan/wish is to hit the Links courses in UK.... waiting for planets to align....!

[Shindig]

Very cool @spider -- play well.  I look forward to future updates. 

[MasonAsher2014]

Let me know when you get to Indiana! I would suggest a different course than Coffin - it's a goat track. Southern Dunes or Winding River would be a good track to play as far as public courses go in Indy.

[spider]

50/50 Part Two

Number 8 Sacramento, Ca. 06/22/2017. I played WildHawk golf course, blue tees 6260 yards. I shot 45  on the front and 47 on the back. One blowup hole on the front and one on the back. The back blowup hole was number 18, a par 5,  I made 10. I pulled my drive left, had to hit back to the fairway, it went into the ruff, I hit a good 3-wood down the fairway to about 180 on the down slope, hit a wood fat, ball went to waters edge below my feet, shanked wedge over water to unplayable, dropped, hit ball inches over green and 3 putted. I also had one birdie. Other than these two holes,  I played well and had a lot of fun with the two guys I played with. I'm making strides in my total game, but one area that I'm  pleasantly aware of is that I don't let my score totally determine if I have enjoyed my round, and thats a good thing.  

I went to downtown Sacramento to check out the area and do some vlogging. I stopped at a a farmers market and got some caramel kettle corn, hmmm delicious. I left Sac and came to Carson City. I had a spectacular ride through the mountains of Lake Tahoe. It was so beautiful that I stopped at the lake and took it all in while I did a little vlogging. Tomorrow I will play at Eagle Valley golf course, form there I'm headed to Boise.

(Side note. This editor does not like the word "vlog". It keeps changing the "v".) 

 

[spider]

Number 9 Carson City, NV. Friday 06/23/2017. I played Eagle Valley golf course, blue tees 6421 yards. There are two courses, East and West, I played the West course. The East course is flat and does not have any trees or brush. The East course is so flat you can see the entire course from any hole you are playing. The West course has many different levels of elevation and even though it does not have any trees, it has large areas of sagebrush throughout the course and water hazards on some of the holes. The sagebrush is full of rabbits and snakes. I was told that if my ball went into the sagebrush, that I should take a club to fight off the snakes. I did hit one ball in the sagebrush, but I just left it as a momento that I was there. I was initially scheduled to play with a lady who was playing alone, but when I got to the course a group of guys asked me to join them as they played their money match, so I did.

The men in the group that I played with were Billy, Daryl and Jim. Jim is a 13 year widowed retiree from Alabama, and you can here that southern accent in every curse word he says. Daryl was very talkative and pointed out where I should hit the ball as well as giving me info of the Carson City area. Jim was the quiet one. They all hit good drives, Billy being the longest, and they played from the white tees, and because they were playing for money, only two putts were given all day. The course was in good condition and the greens were large with slope, very little undulation, and very fast. Thats why no putts are given.

I shot 53 ont front and 46 on the back for a total 99. Each day of golf has it's own story. This days main story was conquering the fast greens. I hit 6 greens in regulation and three putted every one of them. When I missed the green in regulation, I made most of my chip shots, but couldn't make the putt to save par. The putts kept rolling long past the hole, and my comeback putts were short. As for the chip shots or sand shots I didn't make, I made a large score, which led to the 53 on the front. I kept telling the guys that by the time we got to the 18th hole I would have the putting down.

When we started the back nine, I told myself to stay in the game. I didn't make any pars on the front and I started the back with bogeys, and a couple of double bogeys and a triple bogey. On hole 16 I missed the green and had a putt for par, and made it! We all celebrated my first par. Hole 17 a par three I missed the green, made a nice pitch shot over a sand bunker and made the putt for another par. Wow two in a row. On hole 18 I hit my drive toward a group of sagebrush on the right. I got lucky the ball missed the brush. I had room for a partial swing with 7 iron and put the ball in front of the green. I made another good chip to about 8 feet, leaving me with  a left to right breaking putt, and made the putt, three pars in a row.  It took me 15 holes to before I mad my first oar on hole 16, good way to end the round.

I'm now in Boise, but according to my map, I should be in Salt Lake City. This is a story of its' own.    

[spider]

Number 10. Boise, Idaho Saturday 06/24/2017. I played Quail Hollow golf Club, white tees 5727 yards. This is visually the best course I've played to date. It's built into the hills which allows for many elevated holes. The views at the top are fantastic and challenging. Yes, its short in yardage but difficult to play. There are many blind shots over hills and around corners, plus sagebrush, trees, thick rough and water. The greens vary in size from very large, to small and narrow, but they were fast and difficult to putt. I should have brought two putters, a lighter putter for the fast greens and a heavy putter for the slow greens. I only have my heavy putter.

I played with three guys, the Boise guys, who were part a larger money group. I was asked which course was my favorite, and prior to playing this course, I didn't have one. Whenever I think about the places that I've gone, it's the people that I remember. We can all relate to the challenges of golf and tend to be our true selfs on the golf course. Today was no different, a lot of laughs, frustration and camaraderie. I think one of the best moments we had was when one of the Boise guys drove the green on a par 4 and 4-putted from about 12 feet. He hit a great drive over trees that blocked the green from our view. We were all happy to see his ball on the green for an eagle putt. We had all struggled with the putts, but we thought he would at least get a birdie, which would help their team score. I know he was disappointed when he 4-putted and we understand, but it was also so funny I asked him if he could replay the hole and do the same thing so that I could record it. We all had a big laugh, and that's the bond that we golfers have.

I shot 49 on the front and 45 on the back, with an 8 on a par 3 and par 4, total 94.   

[spider]

Number 11. Salem, Oregon Sunday 06/25/2017. I played Salem Golf Course, blue tees 6236 yards. This course was built in 1927 and is still owned by the same family. The club house is plantation style with many authentic pictures and other items. Very, very nice. The fairways are flat and are lined with very tall trees. Some of the greens are flat and the others have various slopes, front back, left right. It's great playing different style courses, it can only improve my game. I played the course alone today except for the ninth and the eighteenth, where on the ninth I was joined by one of the pro shop workers, and on the eighteenth by a guy that was getting back into golf.

It was cool playing alone, surrounded by the trees and all the green plants. The air in Oregon is so clean, so enjoyable to breath.

I shot 42 on the front and 45 on the back, total 87. Next city, Olympia, Washington.

 

[spider]

Number 12. Olympia, Washington. Monday 06/26/2017. I played Delphi Golf Course, white tees 1944 yards. This is a nine hole course and the only public course in Olympia. It's a short course but difficult with narrow fairways, very tall trees and upside down putting greens with small flat areas. The greens were slow, but if you are above the hole and miss the hole the ball rolls off the green. We understand that we should position the ball for the best approach to the greens. Many courses will forgive you if you fail to position the ball on the proper side of the fairway for your approach shot, Delphi does not forgive you. If you can't work the ball, you lose a stroke because you must punch out to the fairway. I played with Don, whose family is from California, and he goes to Palm Springs annually. He recently retired and is working hard on improving his game.  

I shot 42 for the nine holes. Next city, Seattle, Washington to play with Bill Tindell at the Broadmoor Golf Club. The next capital city will be Helena, Montana.

[spider]

 Seattle, Washington. Tuesday 06/27/2017. I played Broadmoor Golf Course, white tees 5818 yards. The Broadmoor is a private course that hosted the PGA tournaments in the '60. I was invited by Bill Tindall, a PGA Professional, that spends his winters in my community in Palm Desert, Ca. Bill is 72 years old. He won the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in 1960 at Milburn Golf and Country Club, Overland Park Kansas. There were 1445 entries. Bill still teaches at various places. Bill was a great host, he treated me to lunch, then a round of golf, a post round golf lesson, and a roast beef sandwich dinner. Everything was very good. 

We began the round by hitting golf balls on the range, where Bill invited another member Scott, and Scott's brother-in-law, Tom to join us. Tom is not a member, but gets to play there frequently with Scott. I just warmed up using an 8 iron, thinking that I just needed to get loose. We hurried to the first tee to get ahead of the other groups still in the club house. At the Broadmoor you don't make tee times, you simply start playing when the firsts hole is available. I'm sure most of us who have played a private course have said, "yea, I can get use to this". The three of them hit good tee shots while I got my golf application setup. I got on the tee with my 5 wood and sliced it right, thinking it was out of bounds, I sliced another one right. I then smacked a third ball to the left. Fortunately I found the first ball, but the challenge for the day had been set, my drivers were very inconsistent until the last four holes, where I hit four long straight drives down the middle. Well the damage had been done by hole 14. 50 on the front and 48 on the back. Bill scored the best 38 on the front and 40 on the back. I didn't keep Scott and Tom's score, but from observation they scored better than me and worse than Bill. 

It took me 12 hours to get to Helena, Montana. I'll play Thursday June 29, 2017 at the Bill Roberts Golf Course.   

For the golfers out there, Freddy Couples has the course record at Broadmoor, 59 in 2015.

The weather is great, golfing is great.

[spider]

Number 13. Helena, Montana. Thursday 06/29/2017. I played Bill Roberts Golf Course, white tees 6391 yards. Bill Roberts was the founder of the course. It's a flat course with trees scattered throughout, but not very tall yet. Very little water and three inch rough. The fairways, sand bunkers and greens are in great condition. Easy course to score on, but I didn't, too many blowup holes. Again i had great company. Jim played with me the first nine, which was the back nine. On the front nine I played with Zack, now living in California, and his father-in-law, Tom. 49 on the front and 48 on the back, total 97.

I went to the Montana State Capitol building after the round because everyone was raving about it. It is a beautiful building, and touring made me forget about the round of golf.  

 Next city, Bismarck, North Dakota on Saturday July 1, 2017. It takes 10 hours to get to Bismarck from Helena. 

 

 

[bkuehn1952]

Best meal so far?

Are you staying in motels, camping or staying with friends?

 

 

 

[spider]

Bkuehn1952 nothing special burgers, carrots, nuts.  Staying in motels

@bkuehn1952 nothing special burgers, carrots, nuts.  Staying in motels

[No Mulligans]

@spider I'm enjoying following along.

Warm up round in San Luis Obispo.  Do you live in San Luis Obispo or near by?  Beautiful area.  I vacation there occasionally.

Edited June 30, 2017 by No Mulligans

[spider]

@No Mulligans No i live  in Palm Desert. A friend belongs to San Luis Obispo country club. 

[spider]

Travel Day, Friday 06/30/2017. I'm now in Bismarck, North Dakota. It took 11 hours, with breaks and road work slow downs, driving on average 70 mph, to get here from Helena, Montana. The route through east Montana and North Dakota is flat and not much traffic, so I had a nice cruising ride, blasting my music and relaxing. I arrived in Bismarck and went to the Riverwood golf course, made a 10:38 t-time and went to Motel 6. I got a room on the first floor, unloaded the car and realized that I had  I Left All of My Pants In The Motel In Helena Montana. How did this happen? I've been staying in Motel 6 where they have closets without doors. The Super 8 in Helena had closets with doors, where I put just my pants. I looked around the room, it was clear, so I left, without my pants. I went to Walmart to buy new pants. This Walmart in Bismarck, only had short pants and Dickies, neither of which I wear. I went to Sears where I thought that I would be able to buy 8 pair, but no. Sears only had one pair of dress pants in my size, but one is all I need for tomorrow's round. I'll buy the others in Pierre, South Dakota, maybe. 

So alls well that ends well. It would be a different story if I had left my Spider logo shirts.

[Shindig]

Best of luck, with both the golf and the pants.  Is the Motel 6 from Helena going to ship your pants back to you?