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

Triple Play

August 25, 2014

Headed out for a 3 course golf trek at 6:30 am. First stop was at Country Drive Golf Course north of Ashland.  It was an easy walk with wide contoured fairways and very large mostly flat greens that rolled very true. The first and last holes are par 5's on the par 36 course.

From there I headed to Elkhorn to play Elkhorn Ridge, a 9 hole par 3 course built on a hillside south of Elkhorn High School. With holes ranging from 95 to 175 yards and each hole being uphill or downhill about 45 degrees, it is a challenge for your short irons. Large greens can leave you  long putts if you miss club. 

Last stop was The Pines in Valley. A more traditional tree lined country club design with plenty of water hazards and sand traps. A rather flat course makes it a comfortable walk and the large contoured greens puts an emphasis on good  club selection. 

Scoreboard: 74 courses played

Miles Driven: 116

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 406