tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33524516244902965132024-02-06T23:28:44.511-05:00Two Golfers--One PensionTwo golfers traveling around the country in a RV, living on a single pension. Our goal is to play golf in all 50 states, (which we have now done) so we search out the less expensive golf courses. Sometimes they are good ones, sometimes not. RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-15017490745671852942014-04-12T21:52:00.000-04:002014-04-12T21:52:14.366-04:00The Monarch at Royal Highlands, Leesburg, Florida<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQhcvMcMbBKC6HImTmHtEXLpVIiPooBeg1NumMT85NuNeJBBR9gdKeE5nanr2vSAvQU9zHQviW5PwN0GzNXbkiuZoSXmcW_yunSjivufdIoQwuNkMywEnpvFb1TPQqSGMAnkvjbQmtSw/s1600/2014-04-09monarchgc1sthole+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQhcvMcMbBKC6HImTmHtEXLpVIiPooBeg1NumMT85NuNeJBBR9gdKeE5nanr2vSAvQU9zHQviW5PwN0GzNXbkiuZoSXmcW_yunSjivufdIoQwuNkMywEnpvFb1TPQqSGMAnkvjbQmtSw/s1600/2014-04-09monarchgc1sthole+(Copy).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found The Monarch at Royal Highlands through an online discount golf website. Located about ten miles south of Leesburg, Florida, The Monarch is about a 30 minute drive from The Villages. The golf course is located within a gated community in a pastoral setting. You'll drive about a mile back into the complex to get to the clubhouse. I had made tee times online on a Wednesday, which turned out to be the golf course's shotgun start day. Every twosome/foursome was assigned a hole to tee off upon, and our starting time was set at 1PM; we waited in the parking lot until a horn sounded and then everyone took off. Of course, the people that live in the community were familiar with this set up and knew where they were going. The pro shop was kind enough to give us a map of the golf course with all the tee boxes circled and numbered so we had an idea of where we would be starting (on the 11th tee) and a bit about how the holes were set up. We were assigned another couple as a foursome, but when we arrived at the tee no one came up with us and the other teams were starting to hit so off Denny and I went with no clue of where to hit but pleased with the general layout and condition of this golf course.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Monarch is a decent length, measuring 6,141 yards from the Tiger (black) tees with a slope/rating of 119/68.9. The men's/ladies challenge (gold) tees measure in at 5,477 yards with a slope/rating of 111/66.5, while the master (green) tees are placed at 5,131 yards with a slope/rating of 102/65.2 and finally the ladies classic tees (silver) measure in at 4,291 yards with a slope/rating of 98/64.7. The course includes a hole with a double dog leg, plenty of sand and waste bunkers, nice landscaping and a few hills and ponds thrown in for good measure. And it was fun. Pace of play in this format was a brisk 3 1/2 hours to play 18 holes which is terrific for Florida in the winter.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 10th hole.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 15th hole. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Water hazard, no extra charge for the sleeping alligator. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We paid just under $25 each to play this course, having to pre-pay online with no refunds for cancellations unless the entire golf course closed down due to bad weather. Denny and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this course and would definitely play it again. </span></span>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-61405404903007989502014-03-30T21:20:00.000-04:002014-04-12T21:21:43.246-04:00Water Oak Country Club, Lady Lake, Florida<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hello again! It's been a while. Denny and I landed in The Villages, Florida, hanging up the keys to our RV and settling in to the land of golf nirvana. Here in The Villages, we are privy to eleven country club golf courses and 32 executive golf courses. The executive courses we play for free, but in the winter season the rates on the championship courses go up so Denny and I have traveled outside of the town limits to play some golf.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Water Oak Country Club is located with a 55+ manufactured home community but the golf course is open to the public. The golf course is older and is currently in fairly rough condition, but it's also kind of fun. Water Oak is a shorter eighteen hole golf course, measuring 5,944 yards from the blue tees, 5,704 yards from the white tees and 4,758 yards from the red tees. The first two fairways are quite narrow, being lined with stately live oak trees and there are a surprising number of elevation changes for this area of Florida (which is pretty darned flat.) Water comes into play on several holes, so the challenge of the course comes from where you are able to hit the ball to avoid trouble. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Between 11 AM and 2 PM you'll currently pay $22 for a round of golf and a riding cart. That's hard to beat. There's a small pro shop with some very reasonably priced golf merchandise, a restaurant that offers breakfast and lunch and a bunch of friendly folks out on the golf course. That's not a bad deal.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-84690008733642943582013-01-26T14:32:00.002-05:002013-01-26T14:32:21.892-05:00Halifax Plantation Golf Club, Ormond Beach, FL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I dec<span style="font-size: small;">ided to make a tee time at the Hal<span style="font-size: small;">ifax Plantatio<span style="font-size: small;">n Golf Club not only because it was one of the least expensive <span style="font-size: small;">golf courses in the area but because it was only about three miles away from our campgr<span style="font-size: small;">ound at Bulow Plan<span style="font-size: small;">tation RV Resort. Handy, that. As with most golf course now<span style="font-size: small;">adays, you can register your email at th<span style="font-size: small;">e <span style="font-size: small;">Halifax Plan<span style="font-size: small;">tation Golf Club website t<span style="font-size: small;">o get emails with special rates and offers, but I c<span style="font-size: small;">hose to go wit<span style="font-size: small;">h the standard winter time rate for Denny. <span style="font-size: small;">With tax, <span style="font-size: small;">it cost just a tad o<span style="font-size: small;">ver $38 for Denny to play eighteen holes of golf with a riding cart and there was no fee for me to <span style="font-size: small;">ride along. That's right, I'm still not able to play golf and this is yet another course that I would have loved to play.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Halifax Plantation Golf <span style="font-size: small;">Course has an interesting layout<span style="font-size: small;">--the two nines are each laid ou<span style="font-size: small;">t in a circular pattern so you don't see other golfers or other fairways. <span style="font-size: small;">Looking at the map of the layout on the back o<span style="font-size: small;">f your scorecard, the golf course sor<span style="font-size: small;">t of looks like the front of a p<span style="font-size: small;">air of eye<span style="font-size: small;">glasses; two round lenses with the "nose piece" being the <span style="font-size: small;">clubhouse/pro shop/range. This <span style="font-size: small;">layout makes for a quiet round and <span style="font-size: small;">a peaceful one because you feel like <span style="font-size: small;">you<span style="font-size: small;">'re out there all by yourself. For some <span style="font-size: small;">reason (perhaps because i<span style="font-size: small;">t was a very chilly, breezy day) <span style="font-size: small;">we didn't catch up to any other golfers until about the fourt<span style="font-size: small;">eenth hole<span style="font-size: small;">, which is surpr<span style="font-size: small;">ising for a Florida golf course.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkQl_aNUOOjbl56b1OcLWOQGgqD1KsnS458sW40J5YfjDAjh0SLb_7LtZvGm7x6nxvanCbc4jVoYMQ_JK6k5JZLu4Cr4Hy5pUH1NPboM8Zh-ZgZUHHyDQXrETbxySeILL2cJh7xKXQXE/s1600/2013-01-22thirdteehalifaxplantationormondbeachFL+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkQl_aNUOOjbl56b1OcLWOQGgqD1KsnS458sW40J5YfjDAjh0SLb_7LtZvGm7x6nxvanCbc4jVoYMQ_JK6k5JZLu4Cr4Hy5pUH1NPboM8Zh-ZgZUHHyDQXrETbxySeILL2cJh7xKXQXE/s400/2013-01-22thirdteehalifaxplantationormondbeachFL+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see by the photographs, the fairways are very wide, the greens are huge compared to most and the golf course is in very good condition. There was a <span style="font-size: small;">spr<span style="font-size: small;">inkling<span style="font-size: small;"> of a strange dark gray sand on the greens, but that simply slowed the golf ball down a tad<span style="font-size: small;">, much like a heavy dew. There were very few ball ma<span style="font-size: small;">rks on the greens and most golfers seemed to make use of the sand pr<span style="font-size: small;">ovided on the golf carts to fill in div<span style="font-size: small;">ot marks<span style="font-size: small;"> on the fairways. Somet<span style="font-size: small;">hing I did find a bit <span style="font-size: small;">surprising was the lack of water on any of the holes; only the par 3 thirteenth hole had a pond on either side of it. Trees on the golf course were fairly widely spaced so you could shoot out from underneath<span style="font-size: small;"> them. Bas<span style="font-size: small;">ically it's a nice course for an easy rou<span style="font-size: small;">nd of golf.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are five sets of tees; black, blue white, gold and red. Yardage for the black tees is 7099 yards with a rating/slope of 74.0/1<span style="font-size: small;">30. Blue tees<span style="font-size: small;">' yardage is 6633 with a rati<span style="font-size: small;">ng/slope of 71.9/126. White tees' yardage is 6<span style="font-size: small;">149 with <span style="font-size: small;">the rating<span style="font-size: small;">/slope of 69.4/1<span style="font-size: small;">22, the yellow tees' yardage is 5594 with a rating/slope of 66<span style="font-size: small;">.7/115 and the red tees<span style="font-size: small;">' <span style="font-size: small;">yardage is 4888 with a rat<span style="font-size: small;">ing/slope of 67.4/114. Denny pl<span style="font-size: small;">ayed with a<span style="font-size: small;"> pair<span style="font-size: small;"> of women who <span style="font-size: small;">played off the yellow tees and h<span style="font-size: small;">ad no difficulty playing bogey golf at that distance. Of cour<span style="font-size: small;">se, the<span style="font-size: small;">se <span style="font-size: small;">gals tried to play golf every other day or so while the<span style="font-size: small;">y were visiting Florida so they <span style="font-size: small;">weren't duffers<span style="font-size: small;"> to begin with.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lining the tee boxes o<span style="font-size: small;">n many holes were large formations of coquina ro<span style="font-size: small;">ck<span style="font-size: small;">. this one reminded me <span style="font-size: small;">of a <span style="font-size: small;">drago<span style="font-size: small;">n's head. The houses lining the fairways are set back at a distance, most have trees in front of them and they really don't factor into play at all unless you hit a truly errant shot. And yes, Denny did manage to hit a roof or screened room on one shot. I think it's mandatory for him o<span style="font-size: small;">n golf courses <span style="font-size: small;">that are surrounded by homes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The staff is friendly here, the <span style="font-size: small;">prices are reasonable and the course is a fun one to play. That's what <span style="font-size: small;">a day of playing golf should be.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPKYj0zW4gAHIbdVKCrNjniMBJdwRhA61f9YISSx3A1qOREeZyiJT6ZClS3kVt9xoQA2oSSz_v_RQeGchJln72JPAsst5-U7Vk4OSJ6ThZwq9Xu88g2dpgi_nEzs7mOMU9UBqkgzSRqU/s1600/2013-01-22tenthteehalifaxplantationormondbeachFL+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPKYj0zW4gAHIbdVKCrNjniMBJdwRhA61f9YISSx3A1qOREeZyiJT6ZClS3kVt9xoQA2oSSz_v_RQeGchJln72JPAsst5-U7Vk4OSJ6ThZwq9Xu88g2dpgi_nEzs7mOMU9UBqkgzSRqU/s400/2013-01-22tenthteehalifaxplantationormondbeachFL+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-79968107656104044282012-12-07T14:31:00.001-05:002012-12-07T14:59:42.150-05:00Wicked Stick Golf Course, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lot of the golf courses here at Myrtle Bea<span style="font-size: small;">ch <span style="font-size: small;">are out of range of our budget but now th<span style="font-size: small;">at we're into December, Denny was able to p<span style="font-size: small;">lay at John Daly's Wicked Stick in Myrtle Beach. I <span style="font-size: small;">have to admit<span style="font-size: small;"> that this would be a golf course I would like to play but my back still i<span style="font-size: small;">sn't in the proper condition to swing a golf club, so I <span style="font-size: small;">just went along for the ride.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">During the first week of De<span style="font-size: small;">cember, it cost Denn<span style="font-size: small;">y $27 (tax <span style="font-size: small;">included) to play 18 ho<span style="font-size: small;">les of golf <span style="font-size: small;">using a riding cart after 12PM. The cost before noon is $32 plus tax. Since we weren't paired up with anyone, the <span style="font-size: small;">staff did not charge me a<span style="font-size: small;"> fee to ride, although there is a $10 fee normally.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheee3hOZ4Cj7mEFEy0L5a0TfYwqEXFFQp2HuIlMo2ejK2shs3icfyi2Ld9HjCk7dAGI8L5CDjCu5y6ao9s0RqpYgsv6piX3DCF5o3rirg0cFuHrm-Pvc_o7RadvGtGfcuzeY_fy4gcncE/s1600/2012-12-04cormorants2wickedstickmbSC+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkcrbuxxgNs8E71I3veZFG3YOZDkbESs8sX2oaBDhxP1kjLcDNFi1IFxsU5NwAYnIDDr_stRcCYZC-gfSPgUGW6n8GlbfVmwa3VqPigrX9ZNfxsdHQ-v0-EyR1II8ZUWULGho_ijqsPQ/s1600/2012-12-04firstteewickedstickmbSC+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkcrbuxxgNs8E71I3veZFG3YOZDkbESs8sX2oaBDhxP1kjLcDNFi1IFxsU5NwAYnIDDr_stRcCYZC-gfSPgUGW6n8GlbfVmwa3VqPigrX9ZNfxsdHQ-v0-EyR1II8ZUWULGho_ijqsPQ/s1600/2012-12-04firstteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkcrbuxxgNs8E71I3veZFG3YOZDkbESs8sX2oaBDhxP1kjLcDNFi1IFxsU5NwAYnIDDr_stRcCYZC-gfSPgUGW6n8GlbfVmwa3VqPigrX9ZNfxsdHQ-v0-EyR1II8ZUWULGho_ijqsPQ/s400/2012-12-04firstteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The layout of the golf course its<span style="font-size: small;">elf is p<span style="font-size: small;">retty wide open being a links style course, but <span style="font-size: small;">since we're in Myrtle Beach there <span style="font-size: small;">are a lot of holes that have water running be<span style="font-size: small;">side them or in front of them or around them. Play the ball straight and you'll find this course quite easy. If you tend to turn the ball a bit, be prepared to have a few spare golf balls with you. Out<span style="font-size: small;"> of bound<span style="font-size: small;">s in the areas of houses means no going after your ball<span style="font-size: small;">--if it<span style="font-size: small;"> lands <span style="font-size: small;">out of bounds in someone's yard it is now the<span style="font-size: small;">ir golf ball. Just to let you k<span style="font-size: small;">now.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjXXY0ym7AXM7gyN3ewvrxdIrKIDPmoFGtOtCcsXx7gxuLihX-deRhStgU2rrluTmmw-GiRrXqbv3O7DCZKYwvk3hJYARigxq5b1UFu5TL_1KWNv5c9qIekSzx3z8t5swrNYEnPI5iHU/s1600/2012-12-04fourthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjXXY0ym7AXM7gyN3ewvrxdIrKIDPmoFGtOtCcsXx7gxuLihX-deRhStgU2rrluTmmw-GiRrXqbv3O7DCZKYwvk3hJYARigxq5b1UFu5TL_1KWNv5c9qIekSzx3z8t5swrNYEnPI5iHU/s400/2012-12-04fourthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Denny likes to play from the longest tees, which i<span style="font-size: small;">n this case are the yellow <span style="font-size: small;">"Daly" tees. The yardage fro<span style="font-size: small;">m these tees is 6913 yards with a slope/<span style="font-size: small;">rating of 72.2/129. The blue tees have a yard<span style="font-size: small;">age of 6<span style="font-size: small;">5<span style="font-size: small;">07 yards and a slope/<span style="font-size: small;">rating of 70.0/122. The white tees have a yardage <span style="font-size: small;">of<span style="font-size: small;"> 6080 yards and a slope/ra<span style="font-size: small;">tin<span style="font-size: small;">g of 68.2/117.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Many <span style="font-size: small;">of the senior and women's tees are set well <span style="font-size: small;">ahead of the men's tees; the black tees h<span style="font-size: small;">ave a yardage of 5040 yards <span style="font-size: small;">with a slope/rating of 69.2/1<span style="font-size: small;">09. The red tees have a yard<span style="font-size: small;">age of 4911 yards and the same slope/rating as the black tees. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXcOso3OGxGI49E6O_NlJPPkMe3zRoTvURimDUafXbMj7LTDyzYn2NHBSJwt_U9Ss27PYGfiHdPFGiadObr-dCNGBcJwujBea6ZiNjGxbUQNcn9wvcNNKF-SsRYhga1A7s8MBfgAzXwo/s1600/2012-12-04seventhteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXcOso3OGxGI49E6O_NlJPPkMe3zRoTvURimDUafXbMj7LTDyzYn2NHBSJwt_U9Ss27PYGfiHdPFGiadObr-dCNGBcJwujBea6ZiNjGxbUQNcn9wvcNNKF-SsRYhga1A7s8MBfgAzXwo/s400/2012-12-04seventhteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">As you can see in the photos there are water haza<span style="font-size: small;">rds <span style="font-size: small;">galore on t<span style="font-size: small;">his course although any trees are set well off the fairways and the greens aren<span style="font-size: small;">'t s<span style="font-size: small;">urrounded by sand traps<span style="font-size: small;">, although Denny did manage to find a few of them anyway.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB_1cqAirYhwDSJewPQVBKc1xpNOz8OSOD1fcPDpJqHMuc2nkAmjjfV9poyQHC81nXcHmRV08awDV3mbIcKiDEsAPu6QGEk360_Sb36GqGI4krzsDjoHZPKsWwlFYEhQi65szvTukVEJI/s1600/2012-12-04tenthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB_1cqAirYhwDSJewPQVBKc1xpNOz8OSOD1fcPDpJqHMuc2nkAmjjfV9poyQHC81nXcHmRV08awDV3mbIcKiDEsAPu6QGEk360_Sb36GqGI4krzsDjoHZPKsWwlFYEhQi65szvTukVEJI/s400/2012-12-04tenthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>This time of year there may not be a beverage cart making the rou<span style="font-size: small;">nds so the course will allow you to bring your own cooler, but <span style="font-size: small;">call first to confirm<span style="font-size: small;"> that. They do have coolers avai<span style="font-size: small;">lable. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1elirIDpQu8fUqJdJm3yWMytSe3eqapUlZ7v-IQn8b5v41Rp_PoFLemcPT-6pF6Gl4kKLIuQZR4dLyaLM2BvyztLZDTxayZsO-yh5VKGYzNG8TJQiSUx1gGDloN8wnUSrQRX7mPNBA4/s1600/2012-12-04fourteenthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1elirIDpQu8fUqJdJm3yWMytSe3eqapUlZ7v-IQn8b5v41Rp_PoFLemcPT-6pF6Gl4kKLIuQZR4dLyaLM2BvyztLZDTxayZsO-yh5VKGYzNG8TJQiSUx1gGDloN8wnUSrQRX7mPNBA4/s400/2012-12-04fourteenthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span>There had been some rain recently so on four <span style="font-size: small;">of the holes the score card<span style="font-size: small;"> was ma<span style="font-size: small;">rked "cart <span style="font-size: small;">pat<span style="font-size: small;">h only" but <span style="font-size: small;">normally <span style="font-size: small;">the rules are 90 degree<span style="font-size: small;"> for most of the holes. If you were in good shape and on a cool <span style="font-size: small;">day like we had you could cert<span style="font-size: small;">ainly walk this course since it is basically a <span style="font-size: small;">flat course, but <span style="font-size: small;">you do have to navigate a bit around the plats of homes making for a longish walk in addition to the course it<span style="font-size: small;">self. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1aAzMfAbB1vNC5K3GDXh0nO0ekNs-44j0uJqLelxshtNbhdiRG-My8SxLpbHpJTJ03jtX_qQHME1qxEAKECCC1S9DJeCp3Ay26VKfmkShyphenhyphen0utEeznvMXJggbrARZkZDtW_-M6sf3ymcA/s1600/2012-12-04seventeenthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1aAzMfAbB1vNC5K3GDXh0nO0ekNs-44j0uJqLelxshtNbhdiRG-My8SxLpbHpJTJ03jtX_qQHME1qxEAKECCC1S9DJeCp3Ay26VKfmkShyphenhyphen0utEeznvMXJggbrARZkZDtW_-M6sf3ymcA/s400/2012-12-04seventeenthteewickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span>For the amo<span style="font-size: small;">unt of pl<span style="font-size: small;">ay the course gets it is in very good condition. The golf carts are supplied <span style="font-size: small;">with sand for<span style="font-size: small;"> your divot<span style="font-size: small;">s and most players seem<span style="font-size: small;">ed to be good about fixing their ball ma<span style="font-size: small;">rks on the greens. Each golf cart is provided with a b<span style="font-size: small;">all cleaner and golf club cleaner which is nice. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheee3hOZ4Cj7mEFEy0L5a0TfYwqEXFFQp2HuIlMo2ejK2shs3icfyi2Ld9HjCk7dAGI8L5CDjCu5y6ao9s0RqpYgsv6piX3DCF5o3rirg0cFuHrm-Pvc_o7RadvGtGfcuzeY_fy4gcncE/s1600/2012-12-04cormorants2wickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheee3hOZ4Cj7mEFEy0L5a0TfYwqEXFFQp2HuIlMo2ejK2shs3icfyi2Ld9HjCk7dAGI8L5CDjCu5y6ao9s0RqpYgsv6piX3DCF5o3rirg0cFuHrm-Pvc_o7RadvGtGfcuzeY_fy4gcncE/s400/2012-12-04cormorants2wickedstickmbSC+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Denny and I <span style="font-size: small;">were surp<span style="font-size: small;">rised and pleased by the la<span style="font-size: small;">ck of Canada geese o<span style="font-size: small;">n the golf course since <span style="font-size: small;">there are so many ponds on the c<span style="font-size: small;">ourse. The geese can create a heck of a mess with their droppings at time. Instead we found cormorants<span style="font-size: small;">, her<span style="font-size: small;">ons and egrets which for the most part stayed right around or in the water. They weren't a prob<span style="font-size: small;">lem at all.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I hope to have a chance to play here before we leave in Jan<span style="font-size: small;">uary; the <span style="font-size: small;">golf cour<span style="font-size: small;">se wasn't crowded, it was open and <span style="font-size: small;">it looked like a lot of fun to play. Or i<span style="font-size: small;">t was acco<span style="font-size: small;">rding to Denny.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-61637093182505917382012-09-21T14:31:00.002-04:002012-09-21T14:32:02.626-04:00The Hills Course, Community Golf Course, Dayton, Ohio<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we decided to return to our home area of Dayton, Ohio Denny told me he'd like to play two area golf courses; WGC in Xenia and Community Golf Course in Kettering, Ohio. Last week he played WGC so this week it was time to check Community off his list. My compression fractures in my spine are still not healed, so I went along to play golf cart driver and flag tender. Community Golf Course is one of Dayton's three municipal golf courses and has thirty six holes; the "outer" course of The Hills and the "inner" course of The Dales. This is an older golf course but we were surprised to find that management has added some water features in the fifteen-plus years since we've played the golf course. Since it is a city course both the Hills and Dales receive a lot of play but the course is in amazingly good shape this year. Apparently having access to city water for irrigation helps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The yardage from the longest, blue tees is 6304 with a rating/slope of 70.1/127. The white tees (called the senior tees here) have a yardage of 5877 with a rating/slope of 68.2/122. The yellow women's tees have a yardage of 5187 with a rating/slope of 70/123. Prices to play eighteen holes during the week are $36 with a riding cart or $30 with a riding cart for singles. I was charged $14 just to ride along with Denny which we thought was a bit steep. We joined up at the first hole with a gentleman who was walking and offered to take his golf bag with us on the cart because the outer course does have a lot of hills. A lot of hills.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqzsh0vFqoZRg2KmyeZcEgioIpbtqKZsaEYj7ADKnK6VxpNi1tAI71za1ml8NhaYLJNhO_iS9pnQv0VPvvcZrzAnHbCpeyIZy-74kcwuAMQvb0luyaqHrU64_rSmgGqE9xZ2EQhspyUk/s1600/2012-09-19firstteecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqzsh0vFqoZRg2KmyeZcEgioIpbtqKZsaEYj7ADKnK6VxpNi1tAI71za1ml8NhaYLJNhO_iS9pnQv0VPvvcZrzAnHbCpeyIZy-74kcwuAMQvb0luyaqHrU64_rSmgGqE9xZ2EQhspyUk/s400/2012-09-19firstteecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The layouts here on both the Hills course and the Dales courses are pretty open, relying more on elevation changes and hillside slopes as challenges rather than with the usage of water hazards or sand traps. Over the last couple of years there have been some strong straight line winds come through the area so a fair number of trees have been removed from the golf course. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4VD0Bu_xrDrY7hQLiZFxyXlAO9HaKpUBEocPe-YLmvxkCJkqSwjmd9Du4_0gImaXAX-CL2GnG6t6AGP5Ez-O8tJ2XA8AwTs-jPiKQvOnraaP9DSQ7tncb_v4qhZyczJmq0pEcn2A6LI/s1600/2012-09-19fifthholecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4VD0Bu_xrDrY7hQLiZFxyXlAO9HaKpUBEocPe-YLmvxkCJkqSwjmd9Du4_0gImaXAX-CL2GnG6t6AGP5Ez-O8tJ2XA8AwTs-jPiKQvOnraaP9DSQ7tncb_v4qhZyczJmq0pEcn2A6LI/s400/2012-09-19fifthholecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you normally hit a pretty straight ball, you're going to have a lot of fun on this golf course.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwqPwExZkwcVkZm2hDJH6JA3JPW9WZTLJZKrKXxgpD9AeSHn0m9Ffl7EqCrbGGrSY79t8wReK4IO79RSlaHqJwokjBzoua_RkEmoXB74IUPRW6WZoi1PqrHTdLRmm7y5tx7UgMkha6fM/s1600/2012-09-19tenthteecommunitygolfcourseketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwqPwExZkwcVkZm2hDJH6JA3JPW9WZTLJZKrKXxgpD9AeSHn0m9Ffl7EqCrbGGrSY79t8wReK4IO79RSlaHqJwokjBzoua_RkEmoXB74IUPRW6WZoi1PqrHTdLRmm7y5tx7UgMkha6fM/s400/2012-09-19tenthteecommunitygolfcourseketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's hard to tell from standing at the tee box but this is the infamous "Suicide Hill" for snow sledders; steep and full of humps it sent many a sledder to the hospital over the years until the city finally put a stop to the sledding here.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxMKrE8Az5IC4LLvClngKstOrW1jRUtqY8yQ66UCWpzhK5qXhv95ohm1k0U5P4GXEpyu6IHWOyyXup69DiLZbeHPsIpZpFKRa_RMKRn6aXKt7pidq9gR2vhJ-kXfq1VFwZWjI1riKOfM/s1600/2012-09-19twelfthteecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxMKrE8Az5IC4LLvClngKstOrW1jRUtqY8yQ66UCWpzhK5qXhv95ohm1k0U5P4GXEpyu6IHWOyyXup69DiLZbeHPsIpZpFKRa_RMKRn6aXKt7pidq9gR2vhJ-kXfq1VFwZWjI1riKOfM/s400/2012-09-19twelfthteecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The seventeenth hole boasts a new pond.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNLrq7KH2tz0teSmDxKJ7ypq9Dcvm7YEkhISe3uaFk1JUSa6wdhfesc2qjBy1_fbEq3KTq9nNuEndCWPk57cK55q1DLG0ezHnK9-o7Ny4T6WkodAcREkDERCHJe1z5iLLlbETGqzspG4/s1600/2012-09-19seventeenteecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNLrq7KH2tz0teSmDxKJ7ypq9Dcvm7YEkhISe3uaFk1JUSa6wdhfesc2qjBy1_fbEq3KTq9nNuEndCWPk57cK55q1DLG0ezHnK9-o7Ny4T6WkodAcREkDERCHJe1z5iLLlbETGqzspG4/s400/2012-09-19seventeenteecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Community Golf Course is located next to Hills and Dales Park with its statue of NCR (National Cash Register) founder John Patterson. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDhPfjDGIXZeunq3ujE7sbfs0h86FEypYKBXDcWJ7QT0p5jVAInNOUjoTp0jucNTo2nJ2O3nBXmfEtB8jF5VBL9xWNTsPxch9TLFrsqcJwH40TyTivKz_vSxtPEolZ2Fp_53vpYIbJhY/s1600/2012-09-19pattersonstatuecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDhPfjDGIXZeunq3ujE7sbfs0h86FEypYKBXDcWJ7QT0p5jVAInNOUjoTp0jucNTo2nJ2O3nBXmfEtB8jF5VBL9xWNTsPxch9TLFrsqcJwH40TyTivKz_vSxtPEolZ2Fp_53vpYIbJhY/s400/2012-09-19pattersonstatuecommunitygcketteringOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The City of Dayton also operates Madden Golf Course and Kitty Hawk Golf Course. Kitty Hawk has two regulation eighteen hole golf courses and an executive golf course. Denny and I have played Madden and Kitty Hawk also and can recommend both if you're in the area. Actually, the Dayton area has many good golf courses that are very reasonably priced, especially if you sign up for the ubiquitous online e-mail discounts offered by most golf courses nowadays. I'm sorry to have to have missed this one.</span><br />
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RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-83809685047109085332012-09-13T21:57:00.000-04:002012-09-13T21:57:16.483-04:00WGC Golf Course in Xenia, Ohio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdX2qz6in04fZEu4oZntg5cpiamxZa1cIuZY6wOJh4GoQ1s9SivoMLd3l8Dq_5tkSJJKSwJFl4feOfloV6MZ7-_UhOvVSZzb9y2Ow5ZZHZADu86_WaLq7LWH2wWPRg44uYM9N4GzkpSM/s1600/2012-09-11eleventhteewgcgcxeniaOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdX2qz6in04fZEu4oZntg5cpiamxZa1cIuZY6wOJh4GoQ1s9SivoMLd3l8Dq_5tkSJJKSwJFl4feOfloV6MZ7-_UhOvVSZzb9y2Ow5ZZHZADu86_WaLq7LWH2wWPRg44uYM9N4GzkpSM/s1600/2012-09-11eleventhteewgcgcxeniaOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wgcgolfcourse.com/" target="_blank">WGC Golf Course</a> in Xenia, Ohio has always been one of our favorite places to play golf.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlUvOTvoExSYS-oEI-fAG0kCySauZ8BVV6OTqVdgLMhcy931FwivBlUshDtxUpm2VgncvEUP4XtkRJcUJ-jzvUhBeUTU00OFpSYJaMMI9RuEfxtqjLOLd_ec26blO1WqZahdrZrLWmjQ/s1600/2012-09-11firstteewgcgcxeniaOH+(Copy).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlUvOTvoExSYS-oEI-fAG0kCySauZ8BVV6OTqVdgLMhcy931FwivBlUshDtxUpm2VgncvEUP4XtkRJcUJ-jzvUhBeUTU00OFpSYJaMMI9RuEfxtqjLOLd_ec26blO1WqZahdrZrLWmjQ/s400/2012-09-11firstteewgcgcxeniaOH+(Copy).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Originally built as a nine hole course, in 1982 another nine holes were added which gives you two different golfing experiences on one course. The front nine holes are more level and open while the back nine are hilly and have more mature trees lining the fairways.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Considering that most of the Midwest and West have been suffering from drought conditions, Denny and I were pleased to find the course in decent shape. Yes, the rough was a bit dry, but the fairways were nice and the greens were in really good shape. There have been some changes; at one time the golf course had an electric fence type of system around the greens and tee boxes which caused the electric golf carts to shut off if you drove too close to the tee boxes or greens. Those have been removed. Currently one of the ponds on the seventh hole is almost empty while the staff digs a deeper base to hold more water in case of future drought conditions--in the meantime, it's a great place to grab a few now-exposed golf balls that had been sitting at the bottom of the pond. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the week there is a senior (60+) rate of $19 for the green fee and $9.39 for a riding cart to play eighteen holes. This time I had to ride along at an additional cost of $6.57 as a non-playing rider due to the fact I am healing up from a compression fracture of the T7 and T12 vertebrae suffered in a fall. I am truly sorry I didn't have the opportunity to play today because I know I could play the course much better than I did when we still lived in the area.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Played from the blue (longest) tees, the yardage is 6565 yards with a rating/slope of 69.3/128. The white tees have a yardage of 6226 with a rating/slope of 67.8/124. The gold or senior tees' yardage is 5479 with a rating/slope of 64.1/115 and the red or women's tee yardage is 4671 with a rating/slope of 66.3/109. A new fun feature is the "family tees", a set of green tees placed much closer (perhaps 100-125 yards from the green) which allow young and or new players to play a shorter, easier course. So kudos to the management for thinking of the upcoming generation of golfers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are sand traps and a couple of water features but not so many to impede your enjoyment of the game. The greens aren't all that tricky by appearance but there are some deceptive slopes on a few of them that keep the putting interesting. Play was a bit slow as this is a popular golf course but we had a beautiful Ohio fall day of bright sunshine and low humidity so Denny and I just enjoyed being out in the fresh air while<i> one</i> of us played golf. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with many golf courses now, if you sign up on the golf course's website you will have an opportunity to play at even more discounted prices. I didn't bother to do that since we're only in the area for a couple more weeks and there are a ton of great golf courses in this part of Ohio. Which I won't be playing, but next week we'll be on the golf course in Kettering, Ohio. Stay tuned.</span></span><br />
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RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-6954681808502697882012-08-01T12:05:00.001-04:002012-08-01T12:05:08.834-04:00Perham Lakeside Golf Club<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our campground had offers of discounts at golf courses that were twenty miles away, but given that our Ford F450 diesel pick up with a 4.88 rear end doesn't get the world's best fuel mileage Denny and I opted to play at the nearby Perham Lakeside Golf Club. At one time the golf course was part of the Golf Card International system and on the day we played the pro shop very graciously allowed us the 20% discount that was originally offered as part of the Golf Card affiliation. This was simply a one time offer for us. The cost for Denny and me to play eighteen holes of golf with a riding cart was $85.20, which is not a price we would normally pay to play golf to be sure, but it was cheaper than the $100+ it would have cost us without the discount. Of course at that price, we wouldn't have played golf here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lakeside Golf Club actually offers twenty-seven holes of golf; they have the Pine course, the Oak course and the Maple course. On the day we played, Denny and I were assigned to play the Pine and the Oak courses, starting with the Pine course. On that particular combination of courses the yardage from the black tees is 6741 with a rating/slope of 72.7/133. From the blue tees the yardage is 6395 with a rating/slope of 71.0/130. From the white tees the yardage is 5778 with a rating/slope of 68.2/125 for the men and 73/3/131 for the women and for the red tees the yardage is 5141 with a rating/slope of 69.7/124. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Pine course is somewhat of a links style course although with the lack of rain in the area the rough areas weren't that bad. Placement of sand traps didn't cause a problem for either of us and the fairways were fairly wide all the way through. The course was in really decent condition despite the almost drought conditions being suffered by the Midwest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denny and I played the Oak Course as the back nine; this course is more wooded than the Pine Course. One thing we did notice about these two sets of nine holes is that the designer likes dog legs; some more sharp than others, but when you are playing the course for the first time it's always interesting to try to figure out where the heck you are supposed to hit. At least we now have a handheld golf GPS (we use the Swami 3000) so we have an idea of the yardage on each hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On weekends this golf course is very busy but on a Tuesday morning we practically had the golf course to ourselves until noon/one o'clock. The layouts have enough elevation changes, narrow to wide fairways, water and sand to be a challenge to any level of golfer depending upon which tee box you use and how straight you hit the ball. It was a fun day with some holes of frustration and that's how it should be I guess, to keep you on your toes and from getting too complacent about your game. This course is worth the money.</span><br />
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<br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-58063032849171867612012-07-12T08:27:00.000-04:002012-07-12T08:27:35.297-04:00Surprised at Fountain Springs Golf Club<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have to admit, sometimes it's hard to find an inexpensive golf course, especially in a tourist area in the summer. To find a golf course that's within the budget we arbitrarily set for ourselves here in Rapid City we not only had to use our Golf Card International discount but we had to play a nine hole golf course which is not our favorite thing to do. That being said, Denny and I found playing Fountain Springs Golf Club in Rapid City surprisingly fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using the Golf Card which gave us complimentary green fees for nine holes (we played 18 holes) Denny and I paid $50 for green fees and use of a riding cart. Initially Denny was a bit upset by that price considering the yardage from the longest tees for eighteen holes is only 5760 yards, but the condition of the golf course and the lay of the land swayed his opinion by the end of our round. If you play from the white tees the yardage is 5330 with a slope of 128 (as is the blue tees); playing from the red tees the yardage is 4752 with a slope of 123. The course rating is 33.8.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After weeks and weeks of playing dry, winter condition golf courses it was a pleasure to see the lush green grass on the fairways, tees and greens here at Fountain Springs. The golf course is dotted with small ponds and creeks that cross the fairways. There are sand traps here but surprisingly neither Denny nor I found any of them so I figure their placement is such that they won't be a threat for most people. Because believe me, I am a sand trap magnet for the most part. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The fairways here are wide but the fourth hole has a 90 degree dogleg left that can confuse you as you can see the flag for hole 5 in your shot. The guy behind the desk at the pro shop was kind enough to warn us of that so we weren't shooting at the wrong flag on the hole. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Possibly my only complaint about this golf course would be that the players here are really bad about fixing their ball marks on the greens. I probably repaired at least five balls marks per green during our round, even though by the turn Denny and I were the only ones left on the golf course. The greens were well watered, making them a tad slow but once they started to dry out then things got a little trickier and the ball started to break more around the holes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Again, this is an extremely short course but there are two par 5 holes on the course and there's enough visual interest and changes in elevation to make it fun. Not especially challenging, but fun.</span><br />
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<br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-3221257630002146772012-06-14T09:06:00.001-04:002012-06-14T09:06:52.741-04:00A Day at the Raton CC and Golf Course<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The closest golf course to our campground located at the top of Raton Pass is the Raton Country Club and Golf Course. Raton's only golf course is a nine hole course which plays to 6081 yards from the longest tees if you play eighteen holes. The only information I have on the rating/slope is 68.6/120 for the men's tees and 69.4/113 for the women's tees. There are four sets of tees to vary the length of the front nine and back nine. There was a gentleman who was apparently playing eighteen holes who was walking the golf course but since it sits at about 6600 feet of elevation I would suggest making sure you are used to that before you take off. I have to admit that walking up slopes on the course made us huff and puff a bit and we've been camping in higher elevations for the past six weeks or so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The normal price for a senior and an adult player who wish to play 18 holes using a riding cart would be $66, but I went online to the golf course's website and found a Golf18 deal for a 10:30AM tee time for $44.24. It turns out we were the first people to actually take advantage of that special price too. The manager then walked us outside and showed us where to hit our first shot, explaining that there was water about 172 yards out and down the hill. He also told us how far out the dogleg was on the third hole which was helpful also, and explained a bit about the set up of the holes and how to get around the course. That is always nice the first time you are stepping onto a new course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As Mr. Rogers would say, it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. There were only a few of us on the golf course, so Denny and I were able to take our time and enjoy the scenery. One young man we allowed to play through had driven 60 miles one way to play here as it was the closest affordable golf course to his home. Ouch!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Like so many areas of the west, New Mexico has been suffering drought conditions and so the golf course has some rough patches but it is in much better condition than several of the golf courses we've played in California and Nevada recently. They had just aerated a couple of the greens and the greens keeper actually apologized to us for that. Wow! We have played on greens much, much worse than that in the last few weeks, for sure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next two photographs are of the eighth hole; the first is taken from the women's tees and the second from the men's tees. It is a par 3 hole and while the distance isn't long, the fast greens make it tricky. Denny and I had gotten used to very slow greens lately and having much faster greens meant we had to adjust our thinking and out putting quite a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You won't find a snack bar here, or any hot food although there is a cooler with energy drinks and soda at the pro shop. What you will find is a nice little course with a friendly staff, great weather and nice mountain views while you play your round. Just the kind of place we enjoy although we normally prefer a regular eighteen hole golf course over a nine hole course. We'd play this one again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The price to play a round of golf depends on whether or not you sign up online for an email account; Denny and I each paid $20 after noon to play eighteen holes with a riding cart. The next morning I received a notice by email of a variety of discounts including a tee time at 11:20 AM at a cost of $15.20 per person for eighteen holes and a riding cart. So there are some good bargains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The golf course itself is apparently recovering from mismanagement and lack of proper care so it is rough. Two greens were lost and a couple others are a little dicey. But the new course supervisor is working hard to get the golf course back in shape. The day we played golf the rule was cart path only; I don't know if this is standard until the golf course recovers a bit or not. But it was a beautiful breezy day that was in the mid 80s so the extra walking didn't bother us, although we're still adjusting to the elevation here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Denny played from the black tees which were the longest at 6634 yards with a slope of 121 and a rating of 71.05. The distance from the blue tees is 6203 yards with a slope of 114/134 and a rating of 69.1/74.6. The white tees have a yardage of 5879 with a slope of 104/128 and a rating of 67.62/72.8 and the red tees are set at 5029 yards with a slope of 118 and a rating of 68. In good condition, this is a links style course, complete with the mandatory southwestern rattlesnakes, I'm sure. At this time the course is pretty open and there is ongoing construction/earth moving going on as you play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first tee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The par 3 eighth hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The par 3 eleventh hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The thirteen hole. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The course is flat enough to be walkable if you are used to the higher elevation. The layout is fun, the distant mountains provide a nice backdrop and the employees are helpful and friendly. Denny and I would come back and play this again, even in rough condition. The employees seem to be working hard to bring this golf course back and we hope they are successful because it's worth it.</span>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-21842129649825087642012-05-12T11:56:00.000-04:002012-05-12T11:56:39.723-04:00An Afternoon at Sierra Sage Golf Course<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Upon our arrival in Reno, Nevada I started checking the prices of local golf courses online. I noticed that the Sierra Sage Golf Course mentioned that winter prices were still in effect so I called and made a twilight (after 1:30) tee time. I was told that it would be $25 per person to play an eighteen hole round of golf with a riding cart, which is very reasonable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The unexpected good news when we arrived at the pro shop was that we were actually only charged $40 for the two of us to play golf: $15 each for the greens fee and $5 each for shared use of a riding cart. Better and better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We were teamed up with a local couple, which is always nice when you are playing an unfamiliar course because they can tell you where to try to land a shot or even how a dogleg runs. Play was a tiny bit slow ahead of us, but that gave us a chance to talk to Mike and Jan about the Reno area and each other while we waited. Denny and I commented that the course was a bit rough, especially the greens, and Mike said that normally the golf course was in much better condition. When I say the greens were rough I'm talking recent aeration, bald spots and burned spots. Three putts were almost a given on these greens. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sierra Sage Golf Course is a links style course complete with rattlesnakes in the summer. The distance from the blue tees is 6604 yards with a rating/slope of 70.4/122. The white tees have a yardage of 6230 yards with a rating/slope of 68.7/119 and the women's tees have a yardage of 5597 yards with a rating/slope of 70.3/120. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Depending on your shot shape, water can come into play on five holes although only two holes have water directly in play. The setting is scenic and the course is walkable due to its flat and open nature. With the recent lack of rain and snow, the brush area is open enough that you can locate errant shots especially at this time of year when it's too chilly for the rattlesnakes to be out. Later in the season, Mike says he doesn't bother to look for balls in the rough--the snakes can have them.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All in all, due to the company we had an enjoyable afternoon on the golf course but we really had a problem with the very rough greens on this course. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-74089252558500614502012-04-18T15:20:00.000-04:002012-04-18T15:20:04.361-04:00Ridgemark Golf and CC--Gabilan Course<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We've been traveling in southern Arizona and southern California for a while and it's not easy to find inexpensive golf courses in either location unless you want to play executive courses or 9 hole courses. Neither of which we like to do. We were holding out for a (relatively) inexpensive 18 hole golf course and we finally found one at the <a href="http://www.ridgemark.com/" target="_blank">Ridgemark Golf and Country Club </a>in Hollister, California.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I made a mistake and used the Golflinks tee time scheduler only to discover they are now adding a fee for making the online tee times. So our cost for this round of golf for us was the $7.90 reservation fee and $34 each for greens fee and riding cart. I later found out that I could have made online tee times directly through the Ridgemark Golf Course website for the same time for $35 each, thus saving myself $6. Live and learn. In the past, the Golflink tee times were deeply discounted and the best buy. I will now check more carefully in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That being said, Denny and I thoroughly enjoyed our round of golf here. Our tee time was for 1:15 PM which no longer means it will be dark before we finish our round now that the days are longer. The course was not crowded at this time of day and this time of year so we played our round in well under four hours despite having to wait on every hole and that's been rare for us lately. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The pro shop employee sent us out on the Gabilan Course; there are two different 18 hole courses here with the other being the Diablo Course. The Gabilan course is slightly longer at 6721 yards from the blue tees; slope/rating is 132/72.6. The distance from the white tees is 6336 yards with a slope/rating of 130/70.9, the yellow (senior) tees is 5949 yards and 123/69.4 while the red (women's) tees yardage is 5624 and 119/67.7. On the Diablo course the longest yardage is 6582 and the shortest is 5441.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Gabilan course is lined with homes but the fairways are wide and mature trees provide them with some protection. The sparkly sand in the sandtraps is dense and coarse with lips low enough that you can putt out of some of the greens-side bunkers. This knowledge comes from experience. Ahem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As you play there are vistas of distant mountains and close by the well landscaped homes are currently ablaze with color from lush rose bushes, irises, straw flowers and geraniums. I love California's climate for flowers--the roses' blooms are always huge and fragrant and I even saw some tulips in one yard--it made me homesick for Ohio!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There aren't a lot of water hazards on the Gabilan course, but there's a small canyon shot and enough doglegs to test your driving/shot making skills. The holes themselves are spread out all through the housing complex but the paths and directions to the next hole are fairly well marked (we only got lost once) and it's fun to look at all the different houses in the plat. Despite there being a lot of rain recently (and a bad hail storm last week) the golf course itself was in pretty good shape. Yes, there are thousands of tiny daisy-like flowers in many of the fairways but as a woman I enjoyed them and they certainly didn't bother my golf game. The greens were the slowest we've played in months which meant that small breaks in your line became much bigger and we consistently played a lot of our putts shorts because the greens looked smooth and fast but were turtle slow. A regular player warned us of that before we started so I'm going to assume that normally the greens play a bit faster. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As we left the golf course we found ourselves wishing we hadn't lost a week to rain during our stay here as we definitely would have played this course again. If we are ever back in the area, for sure we'll try it again. </span>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-54344373322880058552012-02-16T19:06:00.002-05:002012-02-16T19:06:54.583-05:00Quincy Golf Course Aka Colockum Ridge<a alt="20100803colockumridgegcquincyWA [1600x1200]" border="0" height="257" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__AbIPZztwBM/TFoJFPEV0bI/AAAAAAAAJXI/yss0px;%20display:%20block;%20float:%20none;%20margin-left:%20auto;%20margin-right:%20auto;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__AbIPZztwBM/TFoJHSZTzfI/AAAAAAAAJXM/PBKpXsr_UnA/20100803colockumridgegcquincyWA1600x%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" title="20100803colockumridgegcquincyWA [1600x1200]" width="338"></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;">Denny and I played the Quincy Golf Course five years ago when we were here in the area last. It was basically a cow pasture, a little rough, with young trees and an unusual watering system. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;">Today, the course is named <a href="http://colockumridgegolf.com/">Colockum Ridge Golf course</a>, it's still a cow pasture, the trees have matured a bit and they still have an unusual watering system. However, they also have a coupon on the Internet for $10 green fees on Wednesday so with the $10 per person golf cart fee, means the two of us played for $40 today. That's a deal. Colockum Ridge Golf Course is an 18 hole course with a few water hazards, some sand traps and quite a few small trees. The slope/rating from the blue tees is 110/67 and the course is 6102 yards from the blues. There is no listed rating/slope for the women's red tees, but the yardage is 5208 yards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;">See that big metal thingamabob in the background? That's the pivot irrigation system that waters the course. It's quite unusual for a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_course" rel="wikipedia" title="Golf course"></a>golf course-you'll see them in corn fields and other crop fields as watering systems. There's a water channel behind the irrigation system that acts as the water source. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;">What appear to be golf cart ruts in the fairway are actually the tracks that the irrigation system follows as it pivots across the fairway automatically to water the entire area.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSsqnuva5pD_O8QhmI7Ed58PGTcYm_z4f5iHBJ9JwLXYkZniXu4o1PcehGS1GAm-QGS1pI2xi-hkLOhopM2Pp0vYgt3fXvlK1llTtrspQGketbOVk8p5O8RqDZlDhYE2g3a9QcjaSHqs/s1600/20100803pivottrackcolockumridgegcquincyWA.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSsqnuva5pD_O8QhmI7Ed58PGTcYm_z4f5iHBJ9JwLXYkZniXu4o1PcehGS1GAm-QGS1pI2xi-hkLOhopM2Pp0vYgt3fXvlK1llTtrspQGketbOVk8p5O8RqDZlDhYE2g3a9QcjaSHqs/s400/20100803pivottrackcolockumridgegcquincyWA.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__AbIPZztwBM/TFoJSNybMdI/AAAAAAAAJXc/wkxLe7HNHSQ/s1600-h/20100802tiltedtreescolockumridgegcquincyWA%20%5B1600x1200%5D%5B3%5D.jpg"></a> <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;">Notice the tilted trees in the fairways. Our playing partner who is a native to the area told us that the trees are tilted due to the high and gusting winds that are a normal part of life here in the Columbia River Basin. 60 mph winds are normal, gusts to 100 mph occur. I appreciated the nice breezes we had that kept the high temperatures bearable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;"> The course is in very good shape for the temperatures and lack of water in the area and the local players are courteous. Since we can play on the Internet coupon next week, we'll go back there, rather than go across the street from our campground and pay $80 for the two of us to play 18 holes on the nine-hole golf course at the resort. Where they allow this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 100%;">I don't care if you have 6 pack or 12 pack abs--this is not appropriate on the golf course. No way, no how. Ever. Put a shirt on it, guys.</span><br />
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</script></span></div>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-61318898566942769462012-02-16T16:24:00.003-05:002012-02-16T16:24:57.339-05:00A Long Day at Coyote Wash Golf Course<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On Tuesday I called the pro shop at the Links of Coyote Wash Golf Resort in Wellton, Arizona hoping to get a tee time for sometime this week. What I was told was that the entire week was booked but when I said we were only in town for a week, the nice lady at the desk searched through her computer listings and snagged us a cancelled spot at 11:48 the next morning. Done. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We arrived in plenty of time, gave our name to the ranger and stepped over to the putting green to practice. When we weren't called after a few minutes, we came back to our golf cart and sat with the group of other golfers waiting to be called to the tee. And then we watched as group after group were cleared to go to the tee while we sat there. Hmmm. Finally after about a half hour, Denny approached the ranger who said our name had been checked off his list as teeing off. What? So the ranger went inside and talked to the pro shop staff where he discovered (delete long explanation here) that a twosome with girlfriends claimed our spot by saying they were a foursome and off they went. So the ranger squeezed us in by ourselves since all the other groupings were foursomes for the remainder of the day. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_B1RFrb9CnlFOQzKTYPAjv0Bc1PIAzFEFJ3ueP0B6Eoy9YU-9OuJHvy510tE-VNCBXYhvnkMnxE-Qu7r4tQUA1ZhJ1AGEMk4K_2RMIa7iYWbi1j8Tb8-pO1SNZwkQkmLq7Jd_Yf0cVcE/s1600/2012-02-15firstteecoyotewashwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_B1RFrb9CnlFOQzKTYPAjv0Bc1PIAzFEFJ3ueP0B6Eoy9YU-9OuJHvy510tE-VNCBXYhvnkMnxE-Qu7r4tQUA1ZhJ1AGEMk4K_2RMIa7iYWbi1j8Tb8-pO1SNZwkQkmLq7Jd_Yf0cVcE/s400/2012-02-15firstteecoyotewashwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thus, there were nothing but foursomes ahead of us so we settled in for a long day. Surprisingly, I started off on the very short first hole with a birdie. Because when I say short, I mean 216 yards short from the red tees. Coyote Wash is one of the shortest par 70 golf courses we have ever played that is stretched out over the largest area we've ever seen. Although the score cards are marked stating the golf course has four sets of tee boxes, the course was only set up with three. The longest tees (blue) have a yardage of 6019 yards with a rating/slope of 68.110. The white tees have a yardage of 5701 yards with a rating/slope of 64.9/109 and the red tees have a yardage of 4953 yards with a rating/slope of 66.5/105</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The golf course itself is set among homes lining the fairways, but they are set a reasonable distance off and hitting a nice, easy straight ball means you'll be safe the entire round here. The fairways are open, there aren't a lot of sand traps (although those that were there I managed to find) and water is only a problem on hole number six. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2utMkBVUN69KZ8jUklhUfT0croUk54HQFn2fsnnCZkLxgdp1IDYAfNpMFxF4OifJP4O3DDwE3-2gQx2pylVFSAySor-LU-lyDJWIHVJTdUgcAk8kIR07pda3dm9ukiJ7M_e1CeDvO5E/s1600/2012-02-15thirdteecoyotewashgcwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2utMkBVUN69KZ8jUklhUfT0croUk54HQFn2fsnnCZkLxgdp1IDYAfNpMFxF4OifJP4O3DDwE3-2gQx2pylVFSAySor-LU-lyDJWIHVJTdUgcAk8kIR07pda3dm9ukiJ7M_e1CeDvO5E/s400/2012-02-15thirdteecoyotewashgcwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On hole number six a pond extends the entire length of the hole and at most people's landing area the fairway gets very narrow and there are houses much closer to the fairway than on other holes. So there was quite a back up on this hole as many people ended up in the water. Notice you have a great view to look at while you are waiting your turn.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEn-PXVYr6TmwTkutEDLXCmwSQF9RNXMOZt6Is6HvvOPFZm53RAH3L4kAkbXP0pasVMPvsU4ZZvOrqcbXlveBVRG6EHuHX6xq5i9U1NUM2NzODgMJ5ZYteIZuRu3FRB3z-e7GcpE_gaU/s1600/2012-02-15sixthteecoyotewashgcwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEn-PXVYr6TmwTkutEDLXCmwSQF9RNXMOZt6Is6HvvOPFZm53RAH3L4kAkbXP0pasVMPvsU4ZZvOrqcbXlveBVRG6EHuHX6xq5i9U1NUM2NzODgMJ5ZYteIZuRu3FRB3z-e7GcpE_gaU/s400/2012-02-15sixthteecoyotewashgcwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Probably our biggest complaint about this golf course is that when you leave the sixth green you have a riding cart drive of almost one half mile to get to the seventh hole and there are absolutely no signs telling you where to go or that you will have such a long drive. Denny and I thought we were on a bike/walking path at one point and started to turn around but decided to keep going and we did indeed eventually discover the next hole. I told the guys who were still waiting on the seventh tee (even though it took us a LONG time to get there) that they should have left us a trail of bread crumbs to follow. But it's a beautiful hole as you can see below.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmA7LO2V-vffg0xGgGXf4LdofeAiNqanouOUIxIXMwUnMvW2aoxtQGTLj5EG_rU0XdPrg5wL7PrNNYOzSzw33My5UnISJYsW2m97BybYZDMZmc_SPqWYC7ewrIGRZPdZVr8B9AP_FId8/s1600/2012-02-15seventhteecoyotewashgcwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmA7LO2V-vffg0xGgGXf4LdofeAiNqanouOUIxIXMwUnMvW2aoxtQGTLj5EG_rU0XdPrg5wL7PrNNYOzSzw33My5UnISJYsW2m97BybYZDMZmc_SPqWYC7ewrIGRZPdZVr8B9AP_FId8/s400/2012-02-15seventhteecoyotewashgcwelltonAZ+%28Copy%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As you can see from the photographs above, there's not much chance of getting into trouble on this course. The sand traps do have some big lips and high banks on a few holes and you can lose a ball or two because you can't get to some out of bounds balls due to the fences that are in place even on vacant lots in the complex. But for as short as the golf course is, it still took us five hours to play due to the number of people on the golf course. There are several very busy RV parks nearby and the only other golf course within 25 miles is an executive course that is also jam-packed with golfers. Still, it is a pretty golf course that is in very good shape for a heavily played desert golf course and we would play it again in a minute. Actually, if we were ready to settle down, they have some beautiful adobe Sante Fe style homes here, any one of which I'd be happy to move into.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was not able to find any kind of discount online for this golf course, so we paid the full price of $39 per person to play eighteen holes with a riding cart. After 1 PM it would have cost $19 to play, but at this time of year with the sun setting when it does you would not be able to finish an eighteen hole round of golf due to the number of people on the golf course before darkness set in. This is a busy, busy golf course.</span><br />
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<br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-86279284672245814902012-01-28T11:51:00.000-05:002012-01-28T11:52:25.061-05:00Back at San Pedro Golf Course<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnUavr-a266-17-SIN7WM4QZDQcf1T8pBeCnucWlTLhvQxrtjsXOEOwC7KTYqOc5uHuGSlEw-gruramTkfEV5ZstAPeBHi8aZgolmghdf6krtQj4TW9RaPR3xrmgHqBGX1AY3CKhc0EU/s1600/2012-01-26firstteesanpedrogcbensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnUavr-a266-17-SIN7WM4QZDQcf1T8pBeCnucWlTLhvQxrtjsXOEOwC7KTYqOc5uHuGSlEw-gruramTkfEV5ZstAPeBHi8aZgolmghdf6krtQj4TW9RaPR3xrmgHqBGX1AY3CKhc0EU/s400/2012-01-26firstteesanpedrogcbensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It had been a few years since we've been in the Benson, Arizona area and played at the San Pedro Golf Club and there's been a major change: the city of Benson has taken over the golf course. What that meant to Denny and I right off the bat is that we were no longer able to use our Golf Card International discount and pay $20 each to play eighteen holes with a riding cart. Instead I booked a tee time online and we played for $27.95 each (plus tax). If you plan to spend time in the area, the golf course has a special deal where you pay anywhere from $99 to $119 (depending on what special they are offering) for one year and that allows you one free round of golf right off the bat, a free round on your birthday and the ability to play a round of golf for $18.95 before 1 PM (the price is reduced after that.) Denny and I were paired up with a gentleman from Tucson who had taken advantage of the special and who drives the 40 miles every week to play golf here. It's a good deal. </span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrS-SQW1OlMZTsiwvGtX-RXCknQE_U8Gid-r3y3y_ctQgokO38LuW2piHRcqBRZsn1LItTy7boqOuUc6mBYUkQMAxejCCWcQCZtly6pFOQXwMPidPpBSGthqBBD02Bt4ZFBGIUehwASI/s1600/2012-01-26twelfthholesanpedrobensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrS-SQW1OlMZTsiwvGtX-RXCknQE_U8Gid-r3y3y_ctQgokO38LuW2piHRcqBRZsn1LItTy7boqOuUc6mBYUkQMAxejCCWcQCZtly6pFOQXwMPidPpBSGthqBBD02Bt4ZFBGIUehwASI/s400/2012-01-26twelfthholesanpedrobensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course it's difficult to maintain a golf course in the high desert but the staff at San Pedro is doing a nice job. The fairways here are bermuda grass, dormant now and the tee boxes and greens are in decent shape for the amount of play they seem to get. We waited on every hole to play as there were several foursomes ahead of us but we still got off the golf course in four hours. One of the things that makes the round go quicker now is the fact that the golf carts here are equipped with GPS systems so it's easy to quickly choose the proper club for your next shot and keep the game moving.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDew_EabF-qi2KmYJ3lLKXSWGuYFYam92ftQBvqXr18adbyEbSXNMTkUrBriSeeBge3nAq5rOtVkGFrKj2C5-azyPW_FG8pwLoEs7H7xNr47pW50rTCJ7ijHXZ5lO6HbpvHwlDA46fZU/s1600/2012-01-26seventeenthholesanpedrogcbensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDew_EabF-qi2KmYJ3lLKXSWGuYFYam92ftQBvqXr18adbyEbSXNMTkUrBriSeeBge3nAq5rOtVkGFrKj2C5-azyPW_FG8pwLoEs7H7xNr47pW50rTCJ7ijHXZ5lO6HbpvHwlDA46fZU/s400/2012-01-26seventeenthholesanpedrogcbensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are five sets of tee boxes at San Pedro so you can make the golf course as long or as short as you like. From the black (longest) tees the yardage is 7313 yards with a rating/slope of 73.0/130. The Copper tees are 6852 yards, 70.4/125, the Whites 6298 yards, 68.4/117, the Jade tees are 5716 yards, 71.3/125 and the Silver tee yardage is 5262 with a rating/slope of 68.8/117.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The San Pedro River runs along the golf course but this time of year it is dry. There are two ponds on the golf course that come into play and a few ravines that will eat your golf ball if you're not careful. The sand traps are vile here in the high desert; not the fluffy white stuff of the Midwest but red dirt. Plain and simple dirt. Not fun. The greens aren't particularly tricky here although the speed can be hard to judge depending on when they have been watered and cut and how humid the weather is. On the front nine the three of us had a tendency to hit our balls short on the green while on the back nine we were all long. You aren't going to get into a lot of trouble here although there are more canyon walls on the back nine so you could end up hitting out of the rocks up there. That's fine in the winter when the rattlesnakes are still hibernating but I wouldn't recommend it once the weather starts warming up. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwUodHidrfqic15H99lE35ybOA7LWDwGagHHprKFC11ACcXoW_CREo-frzik6OWQ2C12_E2lY1Q7umzT9uFujd3kcsOIDHpGTOAzG6qnY6V-ijsmtq8uOyOPHokqRX3HFAITByawefqs/s1600/2012-01-26eighteenthholesanpedrogcbensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwUodHidrfqic15H99lE35ybOA7LWDwGagHHprKFC11ACcXoW_CREo-frzik6OWQ2C12_E2lY1Q7umzT9uFujd3kcsOIDHpGTOAzG6qnY6V-ijsmtq8uOyOPHokqRX3HFAITByawefqs/s400/2012-01-26eighteenthholesanpedrogcbensonAZ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Your final challenge on the eighteenth hole is to hit it over the water (you have the choice of going around from the Jade tees) and then there's another small pond that fronts the green. It's a fun way to finish and then you can stop at the small restaurant for a drink and a sandwich afterwards to rehash your game. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a golf course we enjoy coming back to and the city is doing a nice job of keeping it up. </span>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-68586300637733559442012-01-20T11:52:00.000-05:002012-01-20T11:52:39.653-05:00Sunsites aka Shadow Mountain Golf Course<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfLbVAMp_8Ep9kEQKF29D1l4JMiWcyEr7gW6ylaafReHZS_dpa6eN44PvVltI8lyGpQ8abzvgtQUrEURDTf4HpgzdB7rK78xuGbciYYgpzqb6pkkvJI_yoCJJ9m0b05OKUz26xOTSYZk/s1600/2012-01-19secondholeshadowmountaingcsunsitesAZ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfLbVAMp_8Ep9kEQKF29D1l4JMiWcyEr7gW6ylaafReHZS_dpa6eN44PvVltI8lyGpQ8abzvgtQUrEURDTf4HpgzdB7rK78xuGbciYYgpzqb6pkkvJI_yoCJJ9m0b05OKUz26xOTSYZk/s400/2012-01-19secondholeshadowmountaingcsunsitesAZ.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It had been six or seven years since we last drove to the Sunsites, Arizona area to play golf at the<a href="http://www.sunsitesgolf.org/id1.html" target="_blank"> Shadow Mountain Country Club</a>. In that time the owner of the golf course had apparently filed for bankruptcy and the local people of the small community of Sunsites had banded together to arrange to lease the golf course from the owner. These folks have taught themselves how to run a pro shop, advertise and maintain the fairways and greens of a golf course and by doing so have managed to keep the golf course open.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dtmoCp3wr-OKueq6s72RwpDyLDaOrXteOpDsDy4ugFUlIhg6ATbmW2fB8Kig9esxmLFhc88MU7SazZebOAZ3kHueJx9l3rWnRKcUUapSYNjlnoo1g7K68bfoOUr2AeVryXabtMWHVOQ/s1600/2012-01-19twelfthholeshadowmountaingcsunsitesAZ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dtmoCp3wr-OKueq6s72RwpDyLDaOrXteOpDsDy4ugFUlIhg6ATbmW2fB8Kig9esxmLFhc88MU7SazZebOAZ3kHueJx9l3rWnRKcUUapSYNjlnoo1g7K68bfoOUr2AeVryXabtMWHVOQ/s400/2012-01-19twelfthholeshadowmountaingcsunsitesAZ.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shadow Mountain is an eighteen hole golf course that is flat and wide open for the most part. From the longest blue tees the yardage is 6632 yards with a rating/slope of 71.1/126. The middle white tee yardage is 6324 with a rating/slope of 69.5/124 and the red tee yardage is 5432 yards with a rating/slope of 70.0/125. There are a few ponds (and we found them) as well as some areas of links style grasses. There are also some sand traps although these days they would more appropriately be termed dirt traps because the stuff in the traps has the appearance and texture of dirt. It's obvious the folks are struggling to keep the course in condition as some of the greens are very rough making it impossible to putt with any accuracy. And while there appears to be a watering system in place on the golf course, there must not be funds to operate it because the fairways are dormant and dying in many areas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For all of that, you do get to whale away at the ball here and your ball might just run forever on the hard-pan. For $20 you get to play eighteen holes of golf using a riding cart while viewing majestic mountains in all four directions. The sunshine is bright, the air is crisp and clear and the surroundings are quiet. You won't play regulation golf here due to the current condition of the golf course, but it's nice to get out and swing the club on a beautiful day in Arizona.</span>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-32016106827519477902012-01-08T15:14:00.000-05:002012-01-08T15:14:31.028-05:00A Full Day at Arizona City Golf Course<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last time Denny and I tried to play golf here we got in four holes worth of play before a dust storm drove us back to our truck. Later that day we heard that there were fatalities on Interstate 10 due to that same dust storm that obliterates absolutely everything from sight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On this day of play however, it was windless and sunny with temperatures in the low 70s which was good, because our tee time was behind a very large group of golfers from one of the other RV parks in the area. We were in for a slow day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Arizona City Golf Course is set within a residential area and as such the homes will come into play on an errant shot (ask Denny.) There are four sets of tee boxes with the black tees measuring out at 6742 yards with a rating/slope of 72.0/116. The blues are next at 6413 yards, 70.1/114, the whites at 5935 yards, 67.8/111 and the yellows at 5126 yards, 68.2/109. Surprisingly the women's yellow tee boxes are as well maintained as the men's, which isn't always the norm for golf courses. And the grassy areas are in pretty good shape for the amount of winter play this course receives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since this is a desert golf course there aren't a lot of water hazards on the course, although there are four irrigation ponds and a lot of coots. Sand traps aren't really a problem on the fairways and around the greens, but the waste areas along the sides of the fairways and sometimes running across the middle of the fairways can be really rough on your golf clubs. The golf course is flat and open (if you ignore the houses, that is) so you can swing away at the ball without too much worry about getting into trouble. You will certainly get some added distance if you land in the waste areas of the fairways. And folks here behind you will play up pretty close to you since the course is always heavily played and busy. That took a little getting used to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I recommend you make sure you have a lot of water with you on hot days as there aren't a lot of water coolers on the course and there are no beverage carts driving out to relieve your thirst. Our round of golf took four and a half hours and it would have been longer if the players ahead of us had played a full round of eighteen holes instead of quitting after nine holes. This is one of the more reasonably priced golf courses in the area at $35 to play eighteen holes with a riding cart, so it gets a lot of play. The only online tee times with a lower price were those before 8 AM and those after 2 PM, neither of which appealed to us. Since this is not quite the snowbird season yet (that's still about two weeks away) I can't even imagine how busy the golf course will be then.</span></div>
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<br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-66266277083312534422011-11-24T11:06:00.003-05:002012-05-12T11:57:29.678-04:00Crimson Creek Golf Course in El Reno, Oklahoma<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4VN1g-FNYUin9q2UFkWkp1yFgaZ57t3lfclh1XqnEP7DUusLmByGuzeIOJFLr2yfhzLXQBphw2EK3nYhft1LXFdCodcWlUyYuQgtPBdO0suLg63sdzY-avkzaVVFhSnBVw9AdXNSpgQ/s1600/20111123crimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678595278122484018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4VN1g-FNYUin9q2UFkWkp1yFgaZ57t3lfclh1XqnEP7DUusLmByGuzeIOJFLr2yfhzLXQBphw2EK3nYhft1LXFdCodcWlUyYuQgtPBdO0suLg63sdzY-avkzaVVFhSnBVw9AdXNSpgQ/s400/20111123crimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Well, we've done it; we've finally played golf in all fifty states by playing here in El Reno, Oklahoma this week. Not that we'll stop playing golf or anything, but we have accomplished that goal.<br />
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The reason we picked the <a href="http://crimsoncreekgolf.com/">Crimson Creek Golf Course</a> in El Reno was a simple one; it was close to where we are parked at the Lucky Star Casino. There were no Internet specials, simply a decent rate of $30 to play eighteen holes with a riding cart. Seniors age 62+ play for $24 dollars. There is a twilight rate starting at 2:00 PM, but that's a little late to be starting a round of golf since sunset is now at 5:20 PM. <br />
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Normally I would give you yardage from the longest tee box to the shortest one but the golf course was "out of scorecards" so there were only self-printed versions showing distances from the blue (second) tees and the red (fourth) tees. From the blue tees the yardage is 6490. I have no idea of the rating/slope. Red tee yardage is 5140 and no information on rating/slope.<br />
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This time of year the fairway grass is dormant although the greens are still green. The course was in fairly good shape although recent long and hard rains left several sections a bit mucky. Play was slow here as they allow fivesomes on the course and there were at least two sets of five guys ahead of us and one set behind us. Fortunately Denny and I picked the warmest day of the week to play golf here in Oklahoma so sitting around waiting to hit our next shot wasn't a problem. Annoying, but not a huge problem. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg51AJ2WaLEPT8oBLWZWQk2Dwcq5fhi-rlzeAaY1cpFtwE4pbzkY1OOdl-wCTKyY0HiLfBl5AUHvW5foGGQZ1yYzVsdEhrqQdg91S6zdd7tP1kBdhMN49Jy-45HkZPcUHRypFGA2edOxI/s1600/20111123thirdholecrimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678595273884816706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg51AJ2WaLEPT8oBLWZWQk2Dwcq5fhi-rlzeAaY1cpFtwE4pbzkY1OOdl-wCTKyY0HiLfBl5AUHvW5foGGQZ1yYzVsdEhrqQdg91S6zdd7tP1kBdhMN49Jy-45HkZPcUHRypFGA2edOxI/s400/20111123thirdholecrimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>The greens themselves were pretty fast and several of the holes have elevated greens so if you hit a rather flat shot to the green chances are your ball is going to roll right off. At least, that's what mine did on most of the holes on the front nine. Most of the greens rely on those slopes for the difficulty although there were a couple two-tiered greens on the course. There are sand bunkers and grass bunkers scattered throughout the course but we managed to stay out of most of them. Men will have to play over water a few times; almost all of the women's tees are set on the other side of the water. Fairways have quite a few knobs and slopes to play off and the course was made much more difficult for Denny and I since there was no map or description of the individual golf holes either on the scorecard or the marble hole number markers at the tee boxes. We were playing blind on several of the holes and therefore were off-course a few times. Speaking of off-course, there are several interior roadways and walking/biking paths meandering through the golf course and a couple of times Denny and I were unsure of where to drive to get to the next hole as there are no signs indicating which direction/path to take when there were intersecting walking/cart paths. It would be nice to have a few small signs with arrows and a hole number placed at these intersections for those of us playing the golf course the first time.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFJPvovbiIcNqVMpK7BviIg4ISSjRDvgLtHSISXCDr1JmcDKrpjyEbDX6l-zioMkrbbtkiR2vCojE7GtjBR41HU-obChXuMGtmslLNmGHj3YQNxAD_ITYMM6YDuKeEbn_IpeK20bBpTw/s1600/20111123fifteenthholecrimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678595270539586354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFJPvovbiIcNqVMpK7BviIg4ISSjRDvgLtHSISXCDr1JmcDKrpjyEbDX6l-zioMkrbbtkiR2vCojE7GtjBR41HU-obChXuMGtmslLNmGHj3YQNxAD_ITYMM6YDuKeEbn_IpeK20bBpTw/s400/20111123fifteenthholecrimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Despite my whining above, Denny and I did enjoy playing this golf course and would like to try it again sometime when the fairways are green and lush like the pictures on the website. Although the golf course looks like a cow pasture on the very first hole, there are enough slopes, hills and elevation changes over the golf course to make it interesting and sometimes a bit tricky. Certainly it's worth the price.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UE2m_FlPz_eURRfDRloKVNdPygb19SI6JYQrPmkqDwm4yZF7QfKEgMuc13JU2VLpgovpHNDP0nwqSEy1wKB09zBe-yhLgvUhqP_G5VgVJo4ZcI4eCAvl2A41KVubb0PqmEjI46-5uvg/s1600/20111123clubhousecrimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678595266512493682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UE2m_FlPz_eURRfDRloKVNdPygb19SI6JYQrPmkqDwm4yZF7QfKEgMuc13JU2VLpgovpHNDP0nwqSEy1wKB09zBe-yhLgvUhqP_G5VgVJo4ZcI4eCAvl2A41KVubb0PqmEjI46-5uvg/s400/20111123clubhousecrimsoncreekgcelrenoOK+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 283px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-81955865013643107112011-10-27T21:24:00.008-04:002011-10-28T06:20:02.258-04:00Heron Point Golf Course, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisO0657f4vCU6wJ4OCNmmPF7QfQRMuMG2sG5L3m2AUKVHBuIUepaQj2RoQh6KhsaIZpXxVIamixZO30BwbOPagxJ3s1sUp1VQEESM3gotAjANJl2ptNAvCP_J8zQR8S1n4ZL7DffP0-eQ/s1600/20111026firstteeheronpointgcmbSC+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisO0657f4vCU6wJ4OCNmmPF7QfQRMuMG2sG5L3m2AUKVHBuIUepaQj2RoQh6KhsaIZpXxVIamixZO30BwbOPagxJ3s1sUp1VQEESM3gotAjANJl2ptNAvCP_J8zQR8S1n4ZL7DffP0-eQ/s400/20111026firstteeheronpointgcmbSC+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668483915333287490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">Myrtle Beach has a lot of golf courses. Of course, they are not all in Myrtle Beach proper, nor are some of them even remotely affordable for Joe Blow the Rag Picker or those of us managing on one pension. If you have Internet access, then you also have access to special deals, like playing some of the more expensive courses at 4:30 (!!??!!) in the morning for the discount price of $90. I kid you not. October is prime golf outing time for the area because the humidity and temperatures are down making playing a round of golf a lot more comfortable. Unfortunately, when the temperatures go down, the price of a round of golf goes up around here.</span><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />But there are still bargains to be found if you are willing to play the older courses, the non-professionally designed by a well known golfer or golf architect courses, the golf courses that are set in the middle of a housing/resort complex. Heron Point Golf Club fits the bill on two of the last three criteria. You will drive into a gated community of small and large homes, townhouses and apartments to discover a heavily played golf course that's actually a lot of fun if you are able to hit a straight drive most of the time. Playing from the blue tees the golf course measures 6477 yards with a rating/slope of 70.9/129. The yardage from the white tees is 6080 yards, rating/slope 69.2/121. The gold senior tees measure 5335 yards, 65.7/109 and the women's red tees finish out at 4734 yards with a rating/slope of 69.2/121. The tee boxes are in fairly good shape and wonder of wonder, the golf course maintains the women's tee boxes as well as they do the men's which is a rarity in the less expensive golf courses. For a course as heavily played as this one the fairways and greens are in pretty good shape although golfers here don't always rake the sand bunkers. They do seem to fix their divots since all the golf carts are provided with sand and Denny and I were surprised at how few ball </span><span style="font-family:arial;">marks were left unrepaired on the greens. Nice.<span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfJN-y4cgfmpNVLBPtbnbX8bqX-bjdb0WawE4OpErottWjB8EFFWUL5Sy-6e9kaPc4kPsHvfSTJmxnatVxjuXo6SfRSerxdprG8l_SOCDWveojM-PR2zuXb5kWrLkHi2FjsckQvl8bbU/s1600/20111026sixthteeheronpointgcmbSC+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfJN-y4cgfmpNVLBPtbnbX8bqX-bjdb0WawE4OpErottWjB8EFFWUL5Sy-6e9kaPc4kPsHvfSTJmxnatVxjuXo6SfRSerxdprG8l_SOCDWveojM-PR2zuXb5kWrLkHi2FjsckQvl8bbU/s400/20111026sixthteeheronpointgcmbSC+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668484582390665938" border="0" /></a></span>For the first nine holes we were teamed up with a couple of local golfers who reminded us of where to aim our shots for dog legs and where to avoid water hazards. It had been several years since Denny and I had played this course and the information was helpful. There are small ponds and water filled ditches crossing several of the holes but we found the sand traps to be more of a problem. On this course the designer was enamored with placing those sand traps smack dab in front of the greens, beside the greens and even hidden behind low hills along the sides of the fairways. In other words, I was in the sand a LOT here on this course. There are times the houses lining some areas of the course do come into play on errant fairway shots but for the most part they are not obtrusive. There are some smallish man-made hillocks on the fairways but for the most part this is a very level course. The grass on the greens seemed to be going dormant so they were very slick and the two of us never really did figure out the speed of the greens very</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> well, much to our chagrin.<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKvSMnYP1e5GMqsP6BSnVPZlc0Qg65wzNsZQjF7MJxscw_adHqIlTNZyiwB1GBmE6AN6-plqHEKyjxWWnAx6x5TENUgBrcgaysBrHrfH1GQ2NuAw4o1rNqJG5upLEQ7Sw0Fe_JDEGV_k/s1600/20111026tenthteeheronpointgcmbSC+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKvSMnYP1e5GMqsP6BSnVPZlc0Qg65wzNsZQjF7MJxscw_adHqIlTNZyiwB1GBmE6AN6-plqHEKyjxWWnAx6x5TENUgBrcgaysBrHrfH1GQ2NuAw4o1rNqJG5upLEQ7Sw0Fe_JDEGV_k/s400/20111026tenthteeheronpointgcmbSC+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668484976722672962" border="0" /></a></span></span></span>For the privilege of being frustrated by those oh-so-fast greens (and playing golf in the company of a couple of great guys) we paid the price of $27 per person to play eighteen holes of golf with a riding cart. This also included a ticket for a free hot dog and beverage. These we gave to Gabe and Bill for allowing us to play with them and because they were only playing nine holes to our eighteen, so I don't know how good the hot dogs are. Not a bad deal in a town full of high priced golf courses.<br /></span></div>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-71161651544454538292011-09-27T15:28:00.000-04:002011-09-27T15:28:21.566-04:00An Afternoon at Blue Ridge Shadows Golf Club<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are several golf courses in the area of Front Royal, Virginia but the photographs on the web site of the Blue Ridge Shadows Golf Club intrigued me the most so I looked for online specials to play there. Normally a golfer would pay about $40-44 to play a round of golf using a riding cart, but checking online through a web site that offers discounted tee times if you pre-pay I found a coupon deal to play for $22 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">plus tax </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">per person. The tee time was for 2PM, but that was doable in the somewhat cooler temperatures we had been having. I received an e-mail from both the scheduling web site and Blue Ridge Shadows confirming the tee time (this had been an issue in Chula Vista a year ago) so we were good to go.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Set in the rolling hills outside of the Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Shadows Golf Club has received several awards for best course, best course for women, new affordable public course, etc. There is a huge clubhouse with a nicely stocked pro shop plus a restaurant and bar. The golf carts don't have GPS systems, but they are stocked with free tees and a couple of towels for wiping off your clubs. Our special deal also included a free bucket of range balls, but we passed on that due to the later tee time. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From a distance the course appears to be in wonderful shape. Close up, the damage from Hurricane Irene and T.S. Lee is evident in a few boggy areas of fairways and dead spots in several of the greens. However, for the most part the fairways are in good condition and greenskeepers were out in force as we played. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sandtraps were everywhere and water hazards were cause for carefully played shots on nine of the holes. The grass of the rough was links-style long and it was a good thing there were only about five sets of golfers on the entire course while we were there because Denny and I did have to spend a little time looking for golf balls in the long grass. If you play a straight shot, then this will be a fun course for you. There are enough slopes and hillsides to challenge you and distant vistas of the mountains add pleasure to the game here.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JOSmQYrWsF2SisTskiBM46gGXdA4XoC_mjhXTd3B6z1ob2zH4bGCcbjo86V_eHOww-lGKcGWY3QAyeLqRxPg464jHlJetux0k-ji4QWRIap_RiziSu7oyXLLGS3vc1zfeh7N8YqvUG4/s1600/20110920tenthteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JOSmQYrWsF2SisTskiBM46gGXdA4XoC_mjhXTd3B6z1ob2zH4bGCcbjo86V_eHOww-lGKcGWY3QAyeLqRxPg464jHlJetux0k-ji4QWRIap_RiziSu7oyXLLGS3vc1zfeh7N8YqvUG4/s400/20110920tenthteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are five sets of tee boxes per hole here at Blue Ridge Shadows; from the longest (black) tees your yardage is 7315 yards with a rating/slope of 75.5/143. From the blues it's 6787 yards with a rating/slope of 73.1/138; white tees have a yardage of 6204 and 70.4/130 for the men and 75.9/142 for women who want to play a slightly longer course. Seniors tees have a yardage of 5551 with a rating/slope of 68.2/122 for men and 73.3/128 for women and the shortest (red) tees have a yardage of 5006 and 70.0/120. Greens here are cut short but run deceptively slow and those slow rolls will find dips and breaks in the greens that you'll never see. Denny had a tough time with everything breaking left on his putts whereas I could never get the speed right. The greens are also larger than what we're used to seeing on less expensive public courses which lent a more professional feel to the golf course.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finishing up on the eighteen hole you approach not only the very attractive plantation style club house, but the green is set up with a rocky waterfall as a back drop with a wide creek in front of the green for one last challenge to your shot making.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Ridge Shadows would be worth playing even at the regular price; Denny and I would play this course again in a heartbeat if we were ever to stop in the area again. It is fun, challenging, scenic and in pretty good condition for the extreme weather conditions the area has suffered lately. This is a golf course we'd recommend.</span></div>
RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-33276615966988105792011-09-21T11:29:00.005-04:002011-09-21T11:59:28.136-04:00A Wet Day at the Marlton Golf Club<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLV71PCUHaAtJnNtQzPKN7vn86PoD4Yx3vDvi8suK0rPXOTJ7zWkH46juSCtuKDL7UiA0X7ewjJiVEoLAjPaX4epuCyZKeNMn04mPikjUiRDMsZU89_WhTrNvmDH1ThRuQ4FW0FIk8h-U/s1600/20110920firstteemarltongolfclubuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLV71PCUHaAtJnNtQzPKN7vn86PoD4Yx3vDvi8suK0rPXOTJ7zWkH46juSCtuKDL7UiA0X7ewjJiVEoLAjPaX4epuCyZKeNMn04mPikjUiRDMsZU89_WhTrNvmDH1ThRuQ4FW0FIk8h-U/s400/20110920firstteemarltongolfclubuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654836272958574210" border="0" /></a><br />We had two days left on our visit to Maryland with both days having rain in the forecast and we had yet check off playing a golf course here. Remember, Denny and I are down to needing only to play golf in Maryland and Oklahoma to fulfill our desire of playing golf in all 50 states. On Tuesdays morning we loaded up our golf clubs in a fine mist and started heading for the <a href="http://www.marltongolf.com/">Marlton Golf Club </a>in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, only to turn around a few miles out when it started raining much harder. Since I'm recuperating from a cold, I wasn't thrilled about playing golf in 60 degree weather in the rain. So I called and cancelled our tee times and we drove home.<br /><br />After our rather late lunch the rain slowed to a drizzle and then a fine mist and then it seemed to stop, so Denny suggested trying to get in a round of golf since the chances of rain on Wednesday were even greater than on Tuesday. I was agreeable so off we went to the course, just a few short miles west of our campground. Located on the edges of a housing development and built apparently as a member golf course, Marlton Golf Club is open to the public now. When we arrived, the man at the counter identified himself as the manager for the past year and explained that the fairways were being aerated that day and the golf course was in rough shape. He said that when he was hired the previous year the fairways had been reduced to dirt and he was working hard at getting the course back into its original condition. Fair enough. We had figured that we would be paying greens fees of $41 for me (adult) and $33 for Denny (senior) to play eighteen holes with a riding cart, but since we arrived at 2:30PM we were in the twilight rate period so we each paid $32 to play. And we were the only people on the front nine.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIik6QdjF1Jp7ya60Im9TbufEntCBf_kRAA_4FUqqYjNMR-w088B24gocnHhs2R6FrWZBTJ-hByUazAv_aqLH2I8UyhzSA2TmO4LgeeDwL3gew5PLEXM2PPFVpcTDPn_0PXWWKL4ehwk/s1600/20110920secondteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIik6QdjF1Jp7ya60Im9TbufEntCBf_kRAA_4FUqqYjNMR-w088B24gocnHhs2R6FrWZBTJ-hByUazAv_aqLH2I8UyhzSA2TmO4LgeeDwL3gew5PLEXM2PPFVpcTDPn_0PXWWKL4ehwk/s400/20110920secondteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654836273010791474" border="0" /></a>Normally the rules here are cart path only, but on this day the manager allowed us to drive using the 90 degree rule. The fairways are indeed rough, as are the tee boxes but most of the greens are in decent shape. The sand traps are currently like concrete and it is obvious the prior management allowed the golf course to fall into near ruin. All of the recent rains and flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee certainly haven't helped the condition of the golf course either. That being said, the layout of the course is fun; the sand traps (when in playable condition) would present obstacles on several holes and there are a couple of par 3 holes with ponds that make you have to be careful of your club choice. There are elevation changes, some sharp dog legs and deceptively slow greens so while the course is relatively short, it's also tricky. From the longest (blue) tees, the yardage is 6181 with a rating/slope of 69.9/122. From the whites it's 5751 and 67.6/116 and the red tee yardage is 4677 with a rating/slope of 68.2/115.<br /><br />You cross the public roadway to access the back nine where there are a few more houses near the golf course but none that make you feel you might hit them with an errant tee shot. There is no feeling of being crowded by the homes at any point on the course.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgGK10ng9Tuz6ZveEuSrK-4w57ikomZxc_DlYBYeqTNk3BfcxMbKBLSvQEXpCTcsTgmLxraF5uAEli1-QxKMo9PAn-CHfuF9PMx9SfmiMawdqQVKoNXjt5mXhxgg5oPNk2zin46nEh5g/s1600/20110920tenthteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgGK10ng9Tuz6ZveEuSrK-4w57ikomZxc_DlYBYeqTNk3BfcxMbKBLSvQEXpCTcsTgmLxraF5uAEli1-QxKMo9PAn-CHfuF9PMx9SfmiMawdqQVKoNXjt5mXhxgg5oPNk2zin46nEh5g/s400/20110920tenthteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654836270267783682" border="0" /></a>As a matter of fact, it's pretty darned quiet on the back nine, as evidenced by the young buck who stood on the 15th tee box with us while Denny teed off. As you can see, it was still pretty wet in the woods and underbrush on the golf course.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR2MwznlUkdk2-94I8oyI6I0qeJU2mbWlKP3hEcuN2REb315iCZWSuFBqL1cNPquS9sW_81Q1Q6TmdUFUCTO4TwbauD1QpxBcA3gr1OuOiG17P7mQw0btMIu_SzfE3PvP96sv0oiyTQk/s1600/20110920youngbuckmarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR2MwznlUkdk2-94I8oyI6I0qeJU2mbWlKP3hEcuN2REb315iCZWSuFBqL1cNPquS9sW_81Q1Q6TmdUFUCTO4TwbauD1QpxBcA3gr1OuOiG17P7mQw0btMIu_SzfE3PvP96sv0oiyTQk/s400/20110920youngbuckmarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654836263770859410" border="0" /></a>Denny and I played winter rules due to the extremely rough conditions on the course but if the grounds crews can ever get it back into shape, this would be a course we'd definitely play again should we be in the area. In the fall it would be beautiful. I hope that new young manager is able to make his dreams for this course come true.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNNwI8bZ-p6vajbbV3FPHONRB_3UDSTen0Kci1Kv1dGFpy2Gtewf3wgbNjGIg5wmyb88Cq1b58KNcyOejXRw6mFT7UA8byUJ-fg3e5hUlSPefBHgdGeIofIuEeH3F_UwmVzdC2s1vGBw/s1600/20110920seventeenthteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNNwI8bZ-p6vajbbV3FPHONRB_3UDSTen0Kci1Kv1dGFpy2Gtewf3wgbNjGIg5wmyb88Cq1b58KNcyOejXRw6mFT7UA8byUJ-fg3e5hUlSPefBHgdGeIofIuEeH3F_UwmVzdC2s1vGBw/s400/20110920seventeenthteemarltongcuppermarlboroMD+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654836265476893682" border="0" /></a>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-23299887023348501542011-09-14T10:12:00.000-04:002011-09-14T10:13:21.417-04:00Old Landing Golf Course<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihw1Y_1q4hTUR7wimrTZs7A2NRnmW2R88lG-fxDUKYMP5uteGxHmwn3NIL4kg-x3kvH7UoYeoD82q-_jn6cNpT6EObhPXtaz0YLL-b7cezXpNkjtWfgqHSj_zxAEcX0NDBzzI-WIxOoyTR/s1600/20110913firstteeoldlandinggcrehobothbeachDE.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 327px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihw1Y_1q4hTUR7wimrTZs7A2NRnmW2R88lG-fxDUKYMP5uteGxHmwn3NIL4kg-x3kvH7UoYeoD82q-_jn6cNpT6EObhPXtaz0YLL-b7cezXpNkjtWfgqHSj_zxAEcX0NDBzzI-WIxOoyTR/s400/20110913firstteeoldlandinggcrehobothbeachDE.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652213763103968322" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Although the closest golf course to our campground is the <a href="http://www.baywoodgreens.com/">Baywood Greens Golf Course</a>, it was a little too pricey for our budget at $109 per person for an eighteen hole round of golf. If we had the funds to indulge, this would be the golf course we would play in the area of Millsboro, Long Neck or Rehoboth Beach, Delaware as the golf course is gorgeous as seen from the roadway. It appears they are also adding another nine holes in a links-type format.<br /><br />However, Denny and I drove the few extra miles to the <a href="http://oldlandinggolf.com/">Old Landing Golf Course</a> in Rehoboth Beach to play at a much cheaper price. Normally the cost is $49 per person to play eighteen holes with a riding cart on weekdays, however we chose to play after 2 PM which lowered the cost to $37 each. It was a hot and muggy day and the golf course staff had turned off the drinking fountains that were placed around the golf course and there are no coolers of water on the course. Fortunately Denny and I had brought our own water although it would have been nice to have water on the course.<br /><br />We had actually driven out the day before to play golf but discovered the golf course was closed for aeration, even though we had called on Saturday and were told the course would be open and no tee times were necessary or even taken for those who play after 2PM. They were aerating the greens but not the fairways. At the current time, this golf course is in pretty poor condition, with dying fairways filled with crab grass. Granted, the area has received a lot of rain with Hurricane Irene and leftovers from Tropical Storm Lee, but the conditions of the greens, tee boxes and fairways would indicate a problem long before all the recent rains. That's a shame, because the golf course is nicely set up, plays well for the golf who hits shorter, straighter shots and has enough ponds and sand traps to make the golf course interesting.<br /><br />When we arrived at 2PM there were only three other cars in the parking lot and only 2 golfers in one golf cart in view on the hole ahead of us. The two men ahead of us played rather slowly so we allowed the single golfer behind us to go ahead of us, thinking the twosome would also allow the single through. Instead they joined up to play and thus managed to slow us up through the entire front nine. Play went more quickly on the back nine when two of the three eventually left the course without finishing (it may have been another single we allowed to play through who was hitting in to them when they refused to allow him to play through also.) Considering there was no one ahead of this threesome it was the rudest behavior we've seen on the golf course in a while.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoaTqLM5ddBAzQIHgVDjQqlVgVhUx9Vm107B8EkOtpEGawQeAiHUVy0eFXGGUeAPUrPYhJHhyoFZiVZuRq8-wVxrP240B9Qj2-IaJq6jpl8E6jVxEmRT5isgprvSt3fKjSbyRx_hG9lIE/s1600/20110913ninthteeoldlandingrehobothbeachDE.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoaTqLM5ddBAzQIHgVDjQqlVgVhUx9Vm107B8EkOtpEGawQeAiHUVy0eFXGGUeAPUrPYhJHhyoFZiVZuRq8-wVxrP240B9Qj2-IaJq6jpl8E6jVxEmRT5isgprvSt3fKjSbyRx_hG9lIE/s400/20110913ninthteeoldlandingrehobothbeachDE.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652217148149125474" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Two of the holes on the back nine were roped off to golf carts due to soggy, boggy conditions. On these same holes you also have a few houses along the fairways but there is a thin stand of trees to help protect them from golf balls. I don't know if the soggy conditions have helped breed mosquitoes, but they were thick yesterday as we played so bring mosquito repellent with you if you decide to play here.<br /><br />The condition of the golf course was disappointing for the price we had to pay to play. The layout of the course is nice, with the yardage from the blue tees being 6097 yards with a rating/slope of 68.7/114. From the white tees it's 5830 yards and 67.6/111 and from the red tees the yardage is 5494 with a rating/slope of 70.8/115. The shorter yardage granted us a few pars although I must admit we were playing "winter rules" due to the condition of the fairways and greens. At times the fairways were like playing on hard pan and at times a mud pen. But it allowed us to check yet another state from our list, leaving us with Maryland and Oklahoma yet to play.<br /></span> <div style="margin-top:10px;height:15px" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border:none;float:right" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=092da424-88eb-4c69-a6ae-1e4336c5d59d" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a></div>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-74055999065929451652011-08-31T09:10:00.004-04:002012-05-12T11:59:14.522-04:00An Island Green<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieqrldWQd-73Rco4Y2sr2gg9Tr06gGP4PMvmtzq_yawE8Mdb7K_CaR0vBD2_xyyjFzsGjVll-DzO5LG5gJxCYOgF1be4rnkc9iZnhvbpiKdhT3OOkdrgh7P5L5g60hcVEECQ6O1K7_Peg/s1600/20110830firstholequailvalleygcgettysburgPA+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647007955824763634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieqrldWQd-73Rco4Y2sr2gg9Tr06gGP4PMvmtzq_yawE8Mdb7K_CaR0vBD2_xyyjFzsGjVll-DzO5LG5gJxCYOgF1be4rnkc9iZnhvbpiKdhT3OOkdrgh7P5L5g60hcVEECQ6O1K7_Peg/s400/20110830firstholequailvalleygcgettysburgPA+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>We hadn't planned on being in Gettysburg, but Hurricane Irene forced our evacuation from our campground in Lancaster, Pennsylvania so here we were. Years ago we explore the national park and battlefields here so getting out on the golf course sounded good to us. I chose the Quail Valley Golf Course in Littlestown, PA because of its online coupon specials and because the golf course was about ten miles away from us (it would have been closer, but Taneytown Rd is closed at Rt.15 for repair near our campground.)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gcTs2gM5Nus6xHVPSYQBZshjhuLmW86b0IIrZW_nIL4PvIiYfaJKLvTmdeLJEqswcqgpSSrOFEMw7DR5n_RuCxJ0CqDS8F4apzPH0k_2vDfk4KxTcga5DCvKkyMdpn5bcxtkaHCIs0w/s1600/20110830fourthholequailvalleygcgettysburgPA+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647007955028532146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gcTs2gM5Nus6xHVPSYQBZshjhuLmW86b0IIrZW_nIL4PvIiYfaJKLvTmdeLJEqswcqgpSSrOFEMw7DR5n_RuCxJ0CqDS8F4apzPH0k_2vDfk4KxTcga5DCvKkyMdpn5bcxtkaHCIs0w/s400/20110830fourthholequailvalleygcgettysburgPA+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 281px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>The coupon allowed Denny and I to play eighteen holes with a riding cart for $28 each. That is a bargain compared to the $70+ prices of some of the area golf courses that are closer to our location. The front nine holes have some narrow fairways lined with tall trees while the back nine is more of the "cow pasture" ilk, but the wicked fast greens more than makes up for any advantages the wide open back nine provides. It's been a long time since Denny and I have played a golf course with greens this fast and we considered ourselves lucky when we were able to get off the hole with two putts. There are also several ponds scattered throughout the course, with the most fun/frustrating hole being the island green on hole thirteen. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGmJSbsV3Gf-XM1Qkd-LoPPPsCOZc60B_1WKTasjFO5iTjNPvHAMNJEbgL05h3IwS6-0cYb-cLUZzb_amy00uq2g59fo0mr-1DJOISaRJf2GUKWDWwbzpnkrPSrULM9naooyVcYCsFlY/s1600/20110830thirteenislandgreenquailvalleygcgettysburgPA+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647007953680925282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGmJSbsV3Gf-XM1Qkd-LoPPPsCOZc60B_1WKTasjFO5iTjNPvHAMNJEbgL05h3IwS6-0cYb-cLUZzb_amy00uq2g59fo0mr-1DJOISaRJf2GUKWDWwbzpnkrPSrULM9naooyVcYCsFlY/s400/20110830thirteenislandgreenquailvalleygcgettysburgPA+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 287px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Quail Valley boast five sets of tee boxes with the longest tees having a yardage of 7027 yard with a rating/slope of 74.2/139. The "normal" men's tee box has a yardage of 6202 yards with a rating/slope of 70.5/130 while the shortest tee box has a yardage of 5095 yards with a rating/slope of 69.3/122. Well placed shots can avoid the many sand traps while the ponds are not so large that any level golfer can't play over or around them. The course is in pretty good condition for the weather we've been having lately, although they were just starting to aerate the front nine as we were playing. It's that time of year. The pace of play was a little slow on the back nine but players moved right along and the day was pleasant enough that we didn't mind the wait. This is a course we would play again.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzsO-Mo6BWsITTYJj3cYhtTVi-ruUzZdqQpvfFm4LXu8pJO7-_-M51CZ-VtNWraKUJwGN0-TpbDuY6plV2verMIBceP6d1INXOq_5jP-0ZjASW-gWophP5OHJBSAEUFWnfBsFr23MFdI/s1600/20110830oldbarnquailvalleygcgettysburgPAcopy+%2528Copy%2529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647007949450940786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzsO-Mo6BWsITTYJj3cYhtTVi-ruUzZdqQpvfFm4LXu8pJO7-_-M51CZ-VtNWraKUJwGN0-TpbDuY6plV2verMIBceP6d1INXOq_5jP-0ZjASW-gWophP5OHJBSAEUFWnfBsFr23MFdI/s400/20110830oldbarnquailvalleygcgettysburgPAcopy+%2528Copy%2529.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-66964275685549498722011-08-25T06:56:00.006-04:002011-08-25T08:13:04.856-04:00A Long Day on a Short Golf Course<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60E640j9RpdPSpGc_JUmX0C2_bFbvmi7iPoYqWcbRywneqFXn5bUI4LnZROwkxX1gPFtIDwghByeBN5F8YhKsHIfZX9mPY-Xl1q5bxRgGcPzvXs-CtJFbDjAB_I5v7Zgh5Ljxew_HCS4/s1600/20110824thirdholegreentreegceggharbortwnspNJ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60E640j9RpdPSpGc_JUmX0C2_bFbvmi7iPoYqWcbRywneqFXn5bUI4LnZROwkxX1gPFtIDwghByeBN5F8YhKsHIfZX9mPY-Xl1q5bxRgGcPzvXs-CtJFbDjAB_I5v7Zgh5Ljxew_HCS4/s400/20110824thirdholegreentreegceggharbortwnspNJ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644746405575606722" border="0" /></a>You have to work a little harder to find affordable golf courses in New Jersey, but about 20 miles from our campground I located the <a href="http://greentree.aclink.org/">Green Tree Golf Course</a> in Egg Harbor Township, operated by the Atlantic County Division of Parks and Rec. Green Tree is a short course, although it is a regulation par 72 golf course. From the longest (blue) tees the yardage is only 5574 yards with a rating/slope of 67.2/112. From the white tees the yardage is 5347 yards with a rating/slope of 66.2/110 and for the women's red tees the distance is 4459 yards with a rating/slope of 66.2/107. Very short, although the golf course surprisingly boasts a par 6 hole on hole number three.
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<br />While there are no online specials for Green Tree Golf Course, there is a senior rate, a resident rate vs. a non-resident rate, twilight rates, etc. For Denny and I to play eighteen holes of golf with a riding cart the cost was $64; $19 each for the greens fees and $12.15 each plus tax. Certainly this is a walkable course and there were many seniors (in their 80s) out there with their pull carts. Play was exceedingly slow when we were there; Denny and I teamed up with a pair of sisters to help speed things up but we still were on the golf course for five hours.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fEXpf2AmwSd-dUsXiq_B4IGGzb7acVAGN2Ac4UsaYeznyAD4AZZPtK7cfUbGi_hojzbg9fouC_-E4hw1jBACAXPfizHjizWu3ZVXT4_JCcRzOcZFVKwPrOiZc0Ld-D9hir0n2DnerRQ/s1600/20110824seventeenthholegreentreegceggharbortwnspNJ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fEXpf2AmwSd-dUsXiq_B4IGGzb7acVAGN2Ac4UsaYeznyAD4AZZPtK7cfUbGi_hojzbg9fouC_-E4hw1jBACAXPfizHjizWu3ZVXT4_JCcRzOcZFVKwPrOiZc0Ld-D9hir0n2DnerRQ/s400/20110824seventeenthholegreentreegceggharbortwnspNJ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644746397750908530" border="0" /></a>One of the first things the foursome ahead of us told Denny and me while we were waiting to tee off was that there is a lot of water on the course. There are creeks and ponds scattered throughout the course, some of which are in play but most are avoidable with well played shots. Other than one extreme dog leg on a short par four (which had well placed signs with yardage to the dog leg) the golf course is not a difficult one and apparently is favored by those just learning to play golf. Hence the slow play. The sand in the traps is soft but balls can be putted out near the green since most of the sand traps don't have big lips.
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<br />At the turn there is a tiny hut selling hot dogs so you can grab one and head on over to the tenth hole without losing your turn which is nice. And the golfers here seem to all play here regularly so they are friendly and helpful with information about the course and where to try to land your shot for the best line. Thanks to pairing up with Kathy and Jane, Denny and I spent a slow but enjoyable day on the golf course. This one we would play again.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXtcB9Q-Spd75lXgL-z8PpwN__gM2SSNV9Fi64-J5OH7Y09EV-rIq0RUBpzX6IaZM0z7ipbXsiLn8v8w73S6l1UI8baXPIuj1zb_2-2aLGlsXpz-5hhXjfo_5QkIcs3DkCs6zZD5xb_c/s1600/20110824fifteenthholegreentreegceggharbortwnspNJ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXtcB9Q-Spd75lXgL-z8PpwN__gM2SSNV9Fi64-J5OH7Y09EV-rIq0RUBpzX6IaZM0z7ipbXsiLn8v8w73S6l1UI8baXPIuj1zb_2-2aLGlsXpz-5hhXjfo_5QkIcs3DkCs6zZD5xb_c/s400/20110824fifteenthholegreentreegceggharbortwnspNJ+%2528Copy%2529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644746399587749394" border="0" /></a>
<br />RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352451624490296513.post-62288571218094065212011-08-19T14:48:00.005-04:002011-08-19T15:09:31.920-04:00Quarry Ridge Golf Course in Portland, CT<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6Qsq01kjxrWOYQxZAt2uxkR6QvE1bHvuqXcyzDC0alAUzoTJHry1a-fMKesJO6sSpYsrLy_xYFXaHm0UvOeNCYtjGRNGuU1-os01W37MqAY6l5ipk00ywbo-GwruYQF5ylxijXiXkKs/s1600/20110817firstteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6Qsq01kjxrWOYQxZAt2uxkR6QvE1bHvuqXcyzDC0alAUzoTJHry1a-fMKesJO6sSpYsrLy_xYFXaHm0UvOeNCYtjGRNGuU1-os01W37MqAY6l5ipk00ywbo-GwruYQF5ylxijXiXkKs/s400/20110817firstteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642641758424372978" border="0" /></a>
<br />Course description: hilly. Best advice? Stay in the fairway. Duh.
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<br />Denny and I drove a little further afield this week to take advantage of an Internet special price at the <a href="http://http://www.quarryridge.com/default.asp">Quarry Ridge Golf Course </a>in Portland, CT. If you "liked" the golf course on their Facebook page, you could play eighteen holes with a riding cart for $26. So I grabbed the coupon online and Denny paid the senior price of $42. That's a little bit more than we normally spend (2 golfers, one pension, remember?) but this was also the first time we've played golf in Connecticut so we were going to be able to check CT off our list of states.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1YdtfYE6CdRW9thYZxUDn0QnR6X68UD-TpfykMw5jlXCI7XLqXfosx4A3bLZVrgwZKl-f3-YkImcH4eObEyAO4K0hfIj33TtOJeRVVSoCGCGIxrzWQi2HGBDZ7vlR_8Nu0IKEnMDcRM/s1600/20110817thirdteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1YdtfYE6CdRW9thYZxUDn0QnR6X68UD-TpfykMw5jlXCI7XLqXfosx4A3bLZVrgwZKl-f3-YkImcH4eObEyAO4K0hfIj33TtOJeRVVSoCGCGIxrzWQi2HGBDZ7vlR_8Nu0IKEnMDcRM/s400/20110817thirdteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642641757371229154" border="0" /></a>There are actually three golf courses in very close proximity to each other: Quarry Ridge, Portland Country Club and Portland West Country Club. The gentlemen in the threesome in front of us said that the Portland Country Club was a bit shorter but was always in good condition. When Denny and I had driven past the course on the way to Quarry Ridge the parking lot was packed.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rIc5e8u7uA2U8e8hirPZEO7ed24neljsDtz5ZkQBrSdI0x-Rpnwr-iUWrAEbEl9d92dtjqXBNdGIubNyvNmcETiLYjEBDQlLLSgAUZJOCaVR2dil8EijQMSceUgnA3PWslK5_dWYpRo/s1600/20110817seventhholequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rIc5e8u7uA2U8e8hirPZEO7ed24neljsDtz5ZkQBrSdI0x-Rpnwr-iUWrAEbEl9d92dtjqXBNdGIubNyvNmcETiLYjEBDQlLLSgAUZJOCaVR2dil8EijQMSceUgnA3PWslK5_dWYpRo/s400/20110817seventhholequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642641755256722770" border="0" /></a>There are four sets of tees at Quarry Ridge, the longest being the black tees with a yardage of 6389 and a slope/rating of 124/70.9. The blue tees which most of the men used have a yardage of 6049 yards and a slope/rating of 119/69.5. The red women's tees have a yardage of 4852 and a slope/rating of 117/68.7. As you can see from the pictures, on the first few holes the course slopes steeply off to the right and on others you might find some granite outcroppings to bounce your ball off.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVVAhyphenhyphenCQ491t5M1WpPUoGq6eTUgbBWnn6OaLTpAYE0vUYoHeK1lf0VXiVwVkIc_z6ODSE3VhKRZ3bVHqO8g1Xhfyl6KeqcEUjo9O7GgcSNhatTaLHAdMHxE80lraXSDCG5QsA2Frxddc/s1600/20110817thirteenteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVVAhyphenhyphenCQ491t5M1WpPUoGq6eTUgbBWnn6OaLTpAYE0vUYoHeK1lf0VXiVwVkIc_z6ODSE3VhKRZ3bVHqO8g1Xhfyl6KeqcEUjo9O7GgcSNhatTaLHAdMHxE80lraXSDCG5QsA2Frxddc/s400/20110817thirteenteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642641750037242834" border="0" /></a>Just to make things entertaining, we discovered a couple of foxes resting and later playing on the seventeenth fairway. It appeared that one of the foxes just might have been playing with a golf ball.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeUmF-e152vXVxKmpejoDextTKUZYS36-cJxjmwR8O7zmLtTa0OL3LONONGwVeOV7Mt1r6E1VsuvnJ2yQtIu1YCb6aAnjiA9jkxg7Wl3GzslV4EQaZdxNW2jZg2FvZ__4SUwa37akECU/s1600/20110817redfox17thquarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeUmF-e152vXVxKmpejoDextTKUZYS36-cJxjmwR8O7zmLtTa0OL3LONONGwVeOV7Mt1r6E1VsuvnJ2yQtIu1YCb6aAnjiA9jkxg7Wl3GzslV4EQaZdxNW2jZg2FvZ__4SUwa37akECU/s400/20110817redfox17thquarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642641747602393586" border="0" /></a>Water really doesn't come into play on this course. There are some thick woods and a few areas of thick weeds where Denny lost a ball or two but for the most part the challenges of this course comes from the uphill/downhill lies and not being familiar enough with the course to know how/where to play the dog legs. Play was a bit slow as there were a lot of golfers out on a Wednesday but the golfers were friendly and pleasant and Denny and I had a nice day despite the length of time we were out there.
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<br />There were some boggy areas on some of the fairways that were in a valley due to recent rains and some of the tee boxes were a little rough but for the most part the golf course was in decent condition for the amount of play that it gets. We had fun, and that's the whole point of being out there.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEca9CBuUiwCk6m4N27SEMFZJRqT16wYzCbPqJKvEalF-OIrOfU3zApvvLC-ou29E360puat5IqUur2VAxSDzmU4nlJ_bcBHz9ew698n0HaqMBg8JTT2iGMPoRncR4JjCqgRQKpfkSSmk/s1600/20110817eighteenteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEca9CBuUiwCk6m4N27SEMFZJRqT16wYzCbPqJKvEalF-OIrOfU3zApvvLC-ou29E360puat5IqUur2VAxSDzmU4nlJ_bcBHz9ew698n0HaqMBg8JTT2iGMPoRncR4JjCqgRQKpfkSSmk/s400/20110817eighteenteequarryridgeccportlandCT+%255B1600x1200%255D.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642644383697460994" border="0" /></a>RVVagabondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447102040075632076noreply@blogger.com0