50 States and 50 Capitals Golf Trip

[boogielicious]

Great thread @spider!

[spider]

@boogielicious thanks

 

[spider]

[spider]

Number 23. Denver, Colorado. Tuesday 07/11/2017. I played Green Valley Ranch Golf Course, par 72, black tees 7084, blue tees 6550 yards. I played the blue tees, my playing partner, Cody, played the black tees. The course is long and can get longer and will get longer when the Denver Open is held there later this year. The Denver Open is played by professionals at the Web.com level, and some very good amatuers. The fairways are wide, the rough thick and long, and it contains hazardous areas of water, trees and bushes. The greens are large with a lot of movement and fast enough to cause the dreaded three-putt, or more. It's a beautiful challenging course.

This was a special treat for me. I really enjoy playing with low handicap golfers, I always get something positive from watching them. Cody works in the pro shop, attends Doane College in Nebraska, and plays on the Doane golf team, carrying a .9 handicap. Cody was great in guiding me around the course. We had great conversation about our game, both mental and physical challenges, which were similar, just at different levels. I played well overall, but my swing with my driver wasn't as good as my swing with my irons and other woods. My putting and chipping still have me smiling, saving a par and many bogeys. My 7-wood, love this club and eventually I'll have my other woods at the same level. Front 43, back 47, total 90.

Cody was so impressive. His driver was deadly, long and in the fairway, rolling thru the fairway once. His swing was smooth and never rushed. He worked the ball left and right, the ball flight of his irons was towering, hitting most greens in regulation, and when needed, his short game came thru, His putting was solid. I didn't keep track of his score, but I know he had five birdies, because birdies are always celebrated. Cody had a great attitude throughout the round, even when he didn't do, or get the exact results that he wanted. What's good for a high hadicap player may not be good for a low handicap player. I'm determined to get my swing as consistent as Cody's. He never jumped at the ball with his driver swing, and he was killing the sweet spot. 

I had a wonderful day of golf, but the post golf time was not good. I lost my wallet in the parking lot. I remember taking my wallet from my golf bag and putting it in my back pocket, so I thought. I went to get gasoline and go to Cheyenne, Wyoming. When I got to the gas station I couldn't find my wallet. I went back to the course, but no one had turned it in. I looked through my things again and again, but no luck. Now I have no money, no driver's license, or credit card. I contacted my credit union, but they would not send a new card out of state, instead they would send it to my home address in 5 to 7 days. The credit union, no help at all, and you know what the say at the end of the phone call, "Is there anything else I can do for you? Have a nice day." Bottom line, my 2017 50/50 tour has come to an end. I managed to have money sent to me for gasoline home. It was a long drive from Denver to Palm Desert, but I made it home. I completed 16 of 18 planned states and had a great time. Total number of states completed is 23. I don't know if I will do Cheyenne and Salt lake City in 2017. If I do I'll fly to the cities.

2017 was a good tour, it was an adventure. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to 2018, playing the states east of the Mississippi river. I played better than I did in 2016, and I will play better in 2018. In 2018 I plan to have a single digit index. 

I hope to play with some of you in 2018. I'm open to playing additional courses with any of you.

 

 

 

 

[dennyjones]

So sorry to hear about your wallet.   That sucks.   Let's hope some good Samaritan will at least return it with your "can't lose" stuff.

I really enjoy your blog here and your journeys.   thanks for sharing.

[RandallT]

Yah that was a bummer to read, but I'm sure you'll persevere. You still have your health and all that other stuff (minus the cash) is replaceable, I suppose. Still sucks, but we are pulling for you to hit the road again soon when things are in order. Cheers @spider.

[iacas]

Sorry to hear about your wallet. Hopefully it's turned in so that you can at least recover things, and hopefully you didn't have too much in there to have lost.

Stick around and check out the rest of the site, too. We'd love to have you participate in other topics and discussions while you're planning the rest of your 2017, 2018, and beyond trips.

[spider]

It's all part of the adventure of life. The 50/50 goes on. I'm more excited than ever about traveling and playing golf. Thanks for going along with me. @dennyjones @RandallT @iacas

[smfoley]

This is an unreal trip..very jealous of the adventure.

[CT207]

Great thread, sounds like a lot of fun. (except the lost wallet part).

I got paired up with a husband and wife at my local municipal course, Richter Park.

Introduced ourselves and the gentleman asks if I was familiar with the course. I told him I was and asked where he was from. He replied "Danbury". I then said, "You're from Danbury and you've never played here before?". He said, "No.., we're from Danbury, Iowa"

They were both retired and playing a golf course in every state and yes, they had already been to Alaska and Hawaii. I had a great time with them, lots of stories of their travels.

I'm retired.... maybe I should jump in the truck and do something similar. LOL

[spider]

@smfoley @ct207 Yes I'm having a good time and improving my golf game at the same time. I finally broke 80 last week. My state trip will continue next spring 2018. I plan to to do 25 states, Utah and Wyoming, then the 23 states east of the Mississippi.

[spider]

Starting my 50 state golf road trip. 25 capitals plus Washington DC. Pictures of my new golf balls, the courses and states, new hat and face gaurd to protect me from the sun, and my spider patch which I will give to the people that I play golf with.

I'm leaving Sunday, June 10, 5:00 am, for Salt Lake City. 

[dennyjones]

I love the patch idea.   Thanks for sharing.

[spider]

Number 24. Salt Lake City Utah. Monday 06/11/2018. I arrived in Salt Lake on Sunday, 06/10/2018.  It took about 12 hours to drive from Palm Desert to Salt Lake. The drive was great, moderate traffic with sunshine and good music all the way. The temperature was 84 degrees at 5:49 a.m. in Palm Desert. I arrived in Salt Lake at 5:05 p.m. and went straight to the golf course and got a 6:30 t-time for Monday, and then went to the closest Motel 6. I played Bonneville Golf Course, par 72, white tees, 5968 yards. The course was not easy to find. My phone navigation system took me to a street that runs through the middle of the course, and said, "your destination is to the left". When I looked left I saw a golf hole, which turned out to be hole 18. There was no club house in sight. I drove to the end of the street looking for the club house, saw nothing, turned around, went back to the 18th hole and talked to a guy waiting to t-off. He gave me directions to the club house and said that the course was there before the houses were built around it. The club house had been in that location, but was moved. There are no signs on the street pointing to the golf course entrance, and no sign on the entrance with the name of the course. But, I eventually found it. Salt Lake is a nice looking, clean city, the temperature was in the 70's, with a light breeze, it felt good Sunday. Monday morning when I arrived at the course at 6:00 a.m., it was 51 degrees and breezy. I was cold. Three other guys came after me, and they were in short pants. I introduced myself to them and joined them. Joe, Nick, and Adam. We were all cold, but I was by far the coldest, I had just left Palm Desert at 84 degrees. Joe and I made par on the first hole, but that was as close as I would be to Joe the rest of the round. Nick and Adam started off slower. We all hit better shots as it got warmer, but Joe's game was good from start to finish, he was one over on the front, which is all they played because they had to go to work. regardless of the conditions and the shots, good or bad, we had fun from start to finish, laughing at good and bad shots. I guess that's how a game should be, fun. That's the great thing about golf, you can sometimes  put strangers together and they bond like life long good friends. They left after nine, and I continued on playing and working on my game. I gave each of them a spider patch and a spider logo golf ball. This was a great start to my trip. The course has hills, course was in good condition, large greens, small greens, fast greens, and wide fairways. I had a great time.

[spider]

Number 25. Cheyenne Country Club. Tuesday 06/12/2018. Another cold morning,   44 degrees and breezy. I played this round alone. The club is private but allows public play on Monday and Tuesday. It cost me $78, with a cart. The course was in great condition following a big tournament they had last week. The first hole was a par 5. I pulled my drive to the left and hit a poor second shot from the ruff. That was the last time I used those clubs. I didn’t want a repeat of Salt Lake City, it was colder and l wanted to play better, so I used my 7 wood all day off the tee and for long fairway shots. I played better but I was 2 putting for bogey because I was not on in regulation. 45 front, 45 back. Played 18 in 3 hours. I have some nice pictures and videos but my laptop is acting crazy. I’m using my phone to do this for me, is like playing in cold weather. 

[spider]

Number 26. Lansing Michigan 06/15/2018. I went to school and played golf at Michigan State University (MSU), the Spartans. MSU has two courses, Forest Akers East and West. I played the East course, the easier of the two, according to the workers there. Played from the back tees, 6432 yards, slope 70.5/127. I arrived in Lansing late Thursday evening from St Paul. The course was closing and I was told that Friday's schedule was full, but to come back early Friday morning and I might get out ahead of the crowd. I arrived early, they were just unlocking the gates. I met some of the workers, including the starter, Jerry. He just recently resumed playing golf, but was a low handicap golfer in his young days. I've been fortunate with my random selection of the courses I'm playing. This was a nice looking course, but Jerry said the west looks much better. It may be the easier of the two but I still got off to a slow start, 46 on the front, played better on the back with a 40, total 86. I think I'll play better now that the weather is warmer, the way I like it , and I'm not driving so far between cities.

My laptop is working. All it needed was the right password. The one big negative of todays electronic life is TOOO many passwords.  

[dennyjones]

[spider]

Number 27. Indianapolis Indiana 06/16/2018. This was a long day and short night. I went to Chicago to see my niece and nephew, and had a nice visit with them. It was evening when I left Chicago and I arrived in Indianapolis at almost 11 pm. My nephew owns a barber shop, and any of you that have seen the movie Barber Shop by Ice Cube, my nephew buts that movie to shame comedy wise. The characters that came through were a riot. There is my nephew shouting out at every one that passed by the door. The local drunk came in sober buying a cigarette for 50 cents, 30 minutes later he retuned drunk asking for another cigarette because he couldn't find the one behind his ear. An executive from a big firm came in, because were he lives the barbers can't cut his hair. Another businessman came in talking about how the his two brothers were trying to sue him for money left to him by their mother. All the while my nephew is cutting hair, transacting other business with customers and helping people with personal matters on the phone. I told him he needs a reality show. 

I usually get a room at Motel 6 close to the course, but it was full, so I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, very nice room, the best so far, for $172 for about 2 hours sleep and I was up ready to play another round. I played Coffin Golf Club, which was more interesting and challenging than I initially thought. The fairways were narrow, the rough was penal, and the water hazards were in play. The greens were slow, but I adjusted on the back and made some par and boogey saves. I didn't hit my driver consistent enough, but I did hit my seven wood well. I played from the white tees, 6028 yards, slope 69.6/119, 43 front, 46 back, holes 17 and 18 got me. I started playing alone, but caught up with a father, David, and his adult son, Hank. They both had good games, hank was long and David had a good chipping game. I always enjoy playing with someone and we had a pretty good time.