Golfing outside of Nebraska

Golfing outside of Nebraska  

Arkansas - After a short stay in Branson, MO for our 47th anniversary, we headed to Bella Vista, Arkansas to visit Pam's cousin Mike and Lisa. I had setup a tee time on the Berksdale course for Saturday morning.

09/02/2017

Arizona - My first introduction to Golf in the Sun was in the early 90's during a company IT meeting in Phoenix at the Wigwam Resort. We played the Gold and Heritage courses.

A few years later in April of 2002,  I went with our sales manager Rick Ruge, our president Gene Dembkoski and 13 of their customers to a week of golf in Scottsdale. We had four man teams that played net score matches at great courses such as Troon, Grayhawk, TPC  Stadium Course and Sunridge Canyon. I will never forget the Sunridge Canyon course when I hit a 7 iron tee shot on the 6th hole over a canyon area into the hole for my first and only hole-in-one!

A couple of years ago we visited some friends of my wife in Showlow  up in the White Mountains where I played a challenging mountain course, Bison GC through a new housing development.

California - After a pleasant stay in the Bay area with our son Andy, we headed up to Chico to visit a longtime family friend of Pam's.  Finally a chance to play golf in California!  Pam dropped me off at Bidwell Park Golf Course and went for a drive in Chico with our host Pat.

08/27/2016

Colorado - My first golf experience outside of Nebraska was in 1968 during a high school trip after graduation with 5 friends to Estes Park. Two of us played the Estes Park Golf Club in the valley around the lake.

Five years later I was in the Air Force stationed at Peterson Field at Colorado Springs. I played the local public courses and played a few events on the  base golf team at a new course at Peterson Field and at the Fitzsimmons Army Hospital course in Aurora. But the gem of area was the Air Force Academy course. Capt Toby and I decided one day to skip work and play the Eisenhower Course nestled  in the hills above the Academy. We also played in a golf league at Fort Carson's Cheyenne
Shadows.

Eagle Vail Golf Club

Fort Carson Cheyenne Shadows

I Like Ike

Played during Family reunion on July 8, 2017

Florida - A few years after the 2002 group trip to Arizona, I joined up with a couple of co-workers and their customers to Naples, another golf mecca. I got my first look at gators on golf courses. A great week of golf on The Colony, Hammock Bay, Palmira,  Raptor Bay and Grandezza was topped off with both of Greg Norman's Tiburon  courses on the last day. A fantastic week of golf in southern Florida!

Tiburon  Club House

  

Georgia - My sister and brother-in-law lived in western North Carolina in the early 2000's. Don and I have been playing golf together since we were teammates on the 1969 Norfolk NE Junior College golf team. They lived 8 miles from Georgia so we had plenty of opportunities to play north Georgia mountain courses. I really enjoy playing mountain golf. They were members at Butternut Creek in Blairsville, so we played there every trip down there. Innsbruck in Helen, White Path in Ellijay  and Brasstown  Valley in Young Harris  were other courses we played in Georgia.

Brasstown Valley

In the early 90's I went to a computer conference at Lake Lanier Island and played the Stouffer Pine Isle Resort course that used to host the LPGA Nestles Open.

Iowa - This was my second golf home while my sister and golf bro Don lived in Sioux City for about 30 years before they moved to North Carolina. We played all of the Sioux City courses and several in the Siouxland area  several times over. My daughter and her husband have had stops in Alta, West Bend, Farragut and currently in Woodbine as school teachers and administrator giving me more opportunities to experience many small town Iowa golf courses. Additionally, Don and I attended the 1999 Men's Senior Open in Des Moines. While we were there we played Beaver Creek in Grimes and Willow Creek in West Des Moines. Iowa topped the chart of out-of-state courses with 20.

Illinois - While attending a corporate meeting in Naperville, two  of us decided to skip the group activity at the gambling boats and play golf at Pheasant Run Golf club in St. Charles.  This the first time that I scored an even par round on a par 36 course with rented clubs. A round to remember.

Kansas - In the early 80's we lived in Council Grove, a very historic city that was the last outpost for supplies on the old Santa Fe Trail. It also has the oldest restaurant west of the Mississippi River. Council Grove was a member of the Inter-City Golf Association which included Chapman, Herington, Stagg Hill  of Manhattan, Marion, Osage City and Wamego golf  clubs.  Each month during the golf season, a club hosted teams from each city for a handicapped tournament where points where earned in each flight for your team. A traveling trophy listed the annual team champion. An interesting way to meet and play golf with area golfers.  We still visit friends in Council Grove several times a year as well as host friends from there. During my time in Kansas I played a few other tournaments in the area with CG golfers, but the most memorable time I had was when my brother Mark who was living in Crete NE at the time met me at Rolling Meadows in Milford KS with two of his friends. It was a great day of golf. The next time we played together will be discussed in the Wisconsin section.

                                    

Chapman

                                 

Wichita

After relocating back to Nebraska and living in Lincoln, I met golf buddy Jerry and his son in Manhattan in the early 2000's to play Colbert Hills. Built in the beautiful Flint Hills west of town, Colbert Hills is a must play course!

Kentucky - The company I worked for in Lincoln decided to expand our ham business to the eastern part of the country and chose Grayson KY.  During  my many visits during and after the plant construction, I managed to borrow golf clubs and played some of the area courses. Another memory of Kentucky was flying into Lexington and seeing the fantastic views of the horse facilities.

Massachusetts - During visits to our son near Amherst, not only did we spend a lot of traveling around the area but since the states are quite small we could see as many as 7 states in one day. While there Andy and I managed to play two different courses, Cherry Hills in Amherst and Beaver Brook in Haydenville on  Fathers Day.

Minnesota -  We took a Labor Day weekend trip to Rochester to visit my nephew Josh, whose father is golfer Bro Don as they were there also.  We found time to play golf. GO FIGURE! There were two public courses nearby that had openings that weekend,. Northern Hills and Maple Valley. Northern Hills was your typical flat with few hazards and very short.

Maple Valley is surrounded on three sides by limestone bluffs and the Root River. It has many water hazards and many changes in elevation including a 50 ft drop to a par 3.


Missouri - During a trip to a Chiefs games in KC, my bro golfer Don and I found a public course, Longview Lake to play. Then in 2009 while consulting in KC, I met up with another former co-worker Bruce to play Shiloh Springs in KC.

Shiloh Springs

Nevada - Our son Andy Sewell was 40 on Aug 25th and his mother wanted to be there for his birthday. He lives in Petaluma, CA and works in the North Bay area. We decided to make it a driving vacation and visit along the way.  We pulled into Battle Mountain, NV for my first golf stop.

08/22/2016 - Mountain View lies in a valley surrounded by the Battle Mountains. The course was flat and an easy walk with wide fairways and medium sized flat greens with no sand and a single lake on a double dogleg par 4. Nevada has several mountain ranges as we would find out later on our return trip through the southern part of the state.

North  Carolina - In 2000 we took a vacation to Lake Lure NC with my sister and bro golfer Don. Beautiful mountain golf!  Lake Lure is a beautiful resort golf area. We started off with an old traditional Donald Ross course, Lake Lure Golf Club that was built in the 1930's.  During the next two days we played the courses at the Rumbling Bald Resort were we stayed. Apple Valley and Bald Mountain are two outstanding mountain courses in the Lake Lure area.

In 2002 my sister and bro golfer Don moved to Murphy NC.  From here we made golf trips to Georgia, Tennessee as well as the area North Carolina courses. We made a couple of trips to Hayesville to play Chatuge Shores and The Ridges, two more excellent mountain courses.



New  Mexico - After seeing pictures from the Albuquerque Balloon Fest from a co-worker, my wife and I decided to attend the next year. We stayed with my aunt and uncle and had a great time.

                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                    Their home was on the 5th hole of the Paradise Hills Golf Club. My cousin David and I played the course and enjoyed the sights in the sky with all the balloons floating above us.

Paradise Hills from Uncles yard

                    
Ohio - Another computer conference at a golf resort. This time on the shores of Lake Huron at Huron Ohio, my first visit to their state.  A few the the lectures got pretty boring so I skipped out to play Sawmill  Creek.

Sawmill Creek

Oklahoma - On a return trip from Texas to Nebraska in Oct 2016, I decided to play my first Oklahoma golf course. With Admore being the first Oklahoma city going north with a public course, I called to check on the time they opened. They had an event scheduled so the  next city on the Interstate was Pauls Valley. Good to go at 7am Tuesday so we traveled Monday afternoon to Pauls Valley, just south of Oklahoma City to spend the night.   Up early the next morning and done by 10am.

South Dakota - My golfer Bro Don and I worked the then Hogan and Nike Tours now known as the Web.com Tour as standard bearers while they lived in Sioux City. This fun time earned us complementary rounds at Two Rivers GC and the Dakota Dunes CC.

                                                                                                                                                                   Don was a member of the Elk Point SD golf club so we played several rounds there. We also took a short road trip to Vermillion to play the Bluffs,the  home of the USD golf team built in the bluffs along the Missouri River.

  
Tennessee - While golfer Bro  Don lived in Western North Carolina, we took a couple of trips to nearby Tennessee.   Chatata Valley in Cleveland and Copper Basin in Copperhill were two such courses we played.

Copper Basin

                                                                                                                                    

Texas - Just when I thought my opportunities for new golf venues near family had dried up, my sister and golfer bro Don moved to Texas to be near their daughter in 2011.  I have now made three trips to the central hills of Texas to experience the golf of that area. Just a couple miles from their house is Sammons GC. Built in the 1920's with  plenty  of water hazards.

The Courses at  Clear  Creek at Fort Hood offered 27 challenging holes of golf.

Clear Creek at Ft. Hood

Another challenging course was Stone Tree in Killeen. It is named after a large boulder in the crotch of a tree.

We also played Battle Lake at Mart, TX and Greenbrier at Moody, TX.

The par-70 golf course at Greenbrier Golf Club in Moody, Texas measures nearly 6500 yards from the back tees. It opened for play in 1969. The manageable length of our golf course along with our affordable anytime rates make Greenbrier Golf Club your best choice for outdoor recreation. Our golf course features Central Texas rolling hills, magnificent fairways, smooth greens, and a healthy challenge.

10/6 & 8/2017

On a quick trip to Temple with my mom, Don and I played Star Ranch at Hutto and Twinn Rivers at Waco.

When I was at  Air  Force basic in San Antonio in 1972, four of us trainees decided to play golf. We had to wear our khaki shorts and Air Force tee shirts and walk to the course about two miles. A great day away from the regiment.

Utah - After an overnight stay in Chico, we headed out to see South Lake Tahoe.  A beautiful area with many tourists still there. After a steep decent to the desert of Nevada, we drove around in Carson City, but Sunday had everything closed that we wanted to see so we drove a few miles down Hwy 50 to Fallon for the night before embarking on US 50 called the Loneliest Highway in America. The Nevada portion of Hwy 50 has five mountain ranges and desert areas and the Utah portions has only three ranges before arriving at the Provo area. We stopped for the night in Springville and I will play Hobble Creek in the morning.

08/30/2016

Wisconsin - My brother Mark  and  I had last played some golf when he lived in Crete NE and we were in Kansas. Since then he had moved to Boone Iowa and then to Wisconsin Rapids. In the late 80's I took a weeks vacation to play golf in his area. We started off by playing two local courses, Tri-City GC and The Ridges GC.  On day two we headed out to Stevens Point to play Sentry World, a very beautiful course with 35 acres of lakes and over 5 acres of flower beds and warnings NOT to walk into the flowers to look for balls! The course is cut out of a 200 acres of wilderness in central Wisconsin.

Lake Arrow Head GC at  Nekoosa was another challenging and   beautiful course in central Wisconsin. The course winds through a forest of oaks and pines and several lakes and natural and waste areas with large contoured fairways and greens.

We headed to Milwaukee to stay with Mark's future in-laws and play some courses in that area. In Menomonee Falls we played Silver Spring GC. The 8th is an island hole that features  the only natural island green in the state. But the most interesting thing that happened was the spiking of the water jugs on the course with alcohol by the participants of a corporate outing! That night we attended a Brewer's game at County Staduim.

To finish the week off we played  Hawthorne Hills in Saukville  among the rolling country hills north of  Milwaukee.

While living in Wisconsin Rapids. Mark had a case of pneumonia that lead to a pace maker and a defibrillator being installed. In 1989 he and Kathy Levenhagen were married and moved to Mequon.
During the wedding week we played  the  Missing Links Golf Club just north of town that is a par three course that also was setup to use the Caymen golf ball. It is half the weight and  goes  half the distance and floats.

In June of 2001 Mark went into the hospital.  He was put on a breathing machine while he waited for a heart transplant. We went to visit for Fathers Day weekend along with my sister and golfer Bro Don. While we where there, Don and I played Brown Deer in Milwaukee on Fathers Day. After the round we talked to Mark about our day at Brown Deer.


Mark was scheduled for a heart transplant  in mid July so my folks went up a week before the surgery.
We got a call that the surgery was successful. However we got another call a day or so later that the heart had been rejected. We took off immediately for Milwaukee picking up our daughter and niece in Iowa and got there at 4am. We found out that Mark had a second  transplant that night from a patient that had died in the same hospital. Mark passed away on July 17th with all of the family at his bedside.

Recently I was watching the PGA Championship when they talked about next  years tournament being at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. I talked to my sister-in-law in Milwaukee about taking my nephew Jack, Marks youngest son to the PGA next year and she said he can get a free day pass as a Wisconsin Junior PGA golfer. That sold it. I bought a Sunday pass and we are going next August! It will also give me some time to visit Marks grave in Cedarburg.

Wyoming - While working at Neosho Construction in Council Grove Kansas,  we  took on a very large track project in Lusk.  The Powder River Basin is the largest coal producing region in the country. We built the track that links the production areas to the UP main lines. Every time I see coal trains coming through Nebraska, I think of my time in Lusk. I spent a month one summer setting up communication and computer operations to link to our office in Council Grove. I found some local golfers and got invited to play in a 4-man scramble at Niobrara CC , which has been renamed Lusk Municipal in a 2-day event. It was a good time golfing in the eastern plains of Wyoming.

Scorecard:  108 courses in 24 States and 40 courses played with Golfer Bro Don my brother-in-law.