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.

Last round of 2014

10/24/2014

Got an email earlier this week from golf buddy Jack about playing this Friday in Omaha. I said sure and here is a list of Omaha courses that I need to play.  Jack booked a morning tee time at Pacific Springs in west Omaha and also contacted another former co-worker John to join us.

Besides a short game center, Pacific Springs has very unique bent grass 18 hole putting course "The Greens" which features par 2 and par 3 holes bordered by sand bunkers, native grasses and water hazards.

The course was on the short side measuring just over 6000 yards from the tips which we played. A lot of dogleg holes and sever mounding with medium sized undulated and fast greens made the tee ball placement a must.   Also the changes in elevation made club selection critical on approach shots.

John brought a contractor friend of his that launched the longest and highest ball I have seen since playing with Jim Ahern in the early 70's who played and on the PGA and won two events on the Champions tour.  But the best part of the whole day was playing golf with my Cook's buddies Jack and John!

Scorecard: 89 courses played

Miles Driven: 94

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 1146

Wymore and Beatrice trip

10/20/14

Being weary of the fall winds in eastern Nebraska, I scoped out this weeks forecasts and could not let Monday's perfect weather go by without playing somewhere.  I had two courses left to play in the southeast section so  I headed out to Wymore Country Club south of Beatrice.  And then back to Beatrice for Hidden Acres.

Wymore CC is a gently rolling country course with out-of-bounds on the first 8 holes and a pond on the last hole, an uphill par 3. No bunkers on the course but elevated small green that are an easy target if you are a good wedge player. I hit 3 greens but had only 11 putts. My chipping has improved immensely thanks to Alex Carper at Hidden Valley-Lincoln.

1st fairway at Wymore

9th hole at Wymore

Back on the road to Beatrice and Hidden Acres just southwest of town. Originally a 9 hole country course with a creek meandering through the property with medium sized greens but no bunkers was expanded in 1996 with a back nine of wide contoured fairways and larger elevated contoured greens and about 300 more yards of length. But the most unique thing about this course that I have never seen before is the front nine ending with two 177 yard par 3's.

18th green from 10th fairway

9th green from tee.

Scorecard: 88 courses played

Miles Driven: 147

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 1052

Long Day and Big winds

10/14/14

After the fall monsoon season appeared to over and somewhat dry, I decided to make one last full day trip of golf for the year. Starting at Wildwood in Nebraska City, I mapped out a trail that would take me to five communities in southeast Nebraska that would put me with only two courses left in all of this section of the state.  In hind site if I had waited one more day, I could have avoided the 20-30 mph winds which beat me up while walking all the rounds. 

Wildwood is one of three during the day that was very hilly giving me a great cardio workout. Nestled along the city park, Wildwood was well maintained with large undulating greens that were very receptive to well struck medium iron shots and putted very true. Tree lined fairways made it imperative to hit fairways to score. 

Second hole tee shot at Wildwood

Two things that I need more than anything when playing alone are a range finder and the ability to read greens that I have never seen!

Next I headed 20 miles south to Auburn. The course is located a couple miles south of town on another hilly layout that starts out with a 209 yard downhill par 3 with heavy grass behind  the green. The greens are somewhat smaller than Wildwood and all elevated with no bunkers but a couple of ponds and creeks that come into play on half of the holes. I found this interesting statue by the clubhouse.

I call him Jack in honor of one of my Lincoln golfing buddies that I have been golfing with for over 25 years and is from Auburn, 

First tee at Auburn

Headed about 25 miles southwest to Humboldt and Kirkman's Lakeview Golf Course. It is located north of town along the shore of Kirkman's Lake. The clubhouse is an old quaint farmhouse across the road from the course. My legs got new life as this course is an easy walk compared to previous two. Gentle rolling hills along the shore of the lake with very generous fairways and large contoured greens made this a fun course to play. The toughest hole was a 200 yard par 3 uphill into a breezy north wind.  

A true hidden gem in southeast Nebraska!

Another 15 miles southwest is Pawnee City. As you drive into town there is a large billboard a picture of their favorite son Dan Whitney a.k.a Larry the Cable Guy. Ironically he lives 5 minutes east of me in Lincoln near Walton. Fairview Golf Club is a sand greens course located on the county fairgrounds. It is the only sand greens course located in eastern Nebraska with the closest one located in Central City. I have not played on sand greens for over 40 years since playing one round at Fairplay in Norfolk before they converted to artificial greens and then grass. If you cannot hit a high shot onto the "greens" you must play bump and run and guess how short to land the ball hoping for a chip shot to the target area. 

Finally my last stop was 20 miles north of Pawnee City in Tecumseh. If you think that Wildwood and Auburn were hilly, then Tecumseh has two of the steepest fairways I have ever seen in Nebraska.

Here is an example of what I found on the 5th hole.

Would you call this a steep fairway or an extremely  elevated green? How many extra clubs do you hit here? But on the next hole I hit a great second shot for a tap in birdie!

 Then on the 7th hole, the last 300 yards were up another steep incline with a blind second shot to position for the third. 

After a fun day I arrived home to Lincoln just in time to watch the Royals eek out another close game on their quest to baseballs Big Dance!

Scorecard: 86 courses played

Miles Driven: 176

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 905

Double-Dipping

10/8/2014

My Senior Lincoln Golf League partner and I finished off the funday season of our league by playing at Eagle Hills in Papillion, a course I had not played yet. We played a two-man shamble and shot a 58 with one bogey that cost us a chance for first place and ended up 4th.  A very challenging  layout loaded with bunkers and water hazards in a gentle rolling course through a housing area.

Earlier in the year on May 12th, we played a 4-man shamble ( all tee off and choose best drive then each golfer finishes the hole. Best 1, 2 or 3 net scores are used for a team score) at Tara Hills also in Papillion which I had not played either. The course had more sever changes of elevation with less water hazards and more sand, 

Both courses are well manicured and in great shape and well with the trip.

 

Scorecard: 81 courses played

Miles Driven: 189

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 729

Attempt to finish off Lincoln Courses

9/17/2014

What a nice day to finally finish off the Lincoln courses from my list. For a few years I have had two Lincoln courses left to play, a private par 3 in my neighborhood and a new 9 hole course built recently on the north side of town at a apartment complex. This summer I found out that one of my Lincoln Senior league partners was a member of Wellington Greens, a private par 3 executive course about 6 blocks north of where I live. Jeff had made arrangements for me to play there so I met him at the clubhouse which is right out his back door.

Jeff was a little under the weather so I took off on my own on the course which was opened in the late 60's tucked in a quiet townhouse neighborhood bordered by 70th street and South street. The holes range from 90 to 130 yards and are modest sized greens with the 8th and 9th having plenty of undulation making for a tough finish.

With plenty of daylight left, I decided to drive up to the Links on north I-180 and Fletcher Ave. It sounded very encouraging when I heard the pro shop guying talking to someone on the phone and mentioned 9 holes and a cart for $15. I had walked most of the other rounds on my quest and this sounded great until he told me that they have temporary greens all summer. See you next spring was my response as I left for home. 

Scorecard: 79 courses played

Miles Driven: 24

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 540

Patriot Day 9/11/2014

Patriot Day 9/11/2014 Omaha NE

During my first year of golf ( 1965 ) I read about a a hole-in-one recorded at The Miracle Hills Golf Course in Omaha. Bob Mitera aced the 10th hole from 444 yards and set a record for the longest hole-in-one ever. Not until my 50th golf season in 2014 did I get the opportunity to play "the Hole".

Ironically we started on the 10th hole, but I got a 5. The course  was in great shape despite heavy rains the past few days.

From there I traveled over to the Warren Swigart Golf Course near  90th and Maple. It is a par 3 flat course that has also been hammered by heavy rains lately and was a muddy track.  Small, slow greens made it difficult to score but was an easy walk.

Heading west on Maple to 120th is the Knolls Golf Course. Water comes into play on several holes and a steep ditch meanders through the front nine which really helped in the drainage of this weeks heavy rains.

Causal water formed a lot of pooling in the wide contoured fairways but the large greens made for good targets. 

Finished up the day on Maple Street at Eagle Run with the Meadows course. This area of Omaha did not get the heavy rains that I had to tread though earlier in the day. The Meadows is a par 3 of 100 to 140 yard holes in a well manicured layout. 

It was a good exercise for the short irons, but the slow greens had me leaving several birdies putts short.

Scoreboard: 78 courses played

Miles Driven: 110

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 516