The good news of the day was NO RAIN! But the rain of the past four days was still doling out punishment. With a cloudless sky, the sun did an amazing job of pulling all that water into the atmosphere and it was humid!! The high today was 97.
On the positive side, apparently Missouri golfers don't like playing golf during heat advisories. I played both The Country Club at The Legends and Birch Creek Golf Club very quickly because the courses were virtually empty. Including lunch at the Lewis Cafe, I was at the hotel by 3:00 P.M. today.
On the positive side, apparently Missouri golfers don't like playing golf during heat advisories. I played both The Country Club at The Legends and Birch Creek Golf Club very quickly because the courses were virtually empty. Including lunch at the Lewis Cafe, I was at the hotel by 3:00 P.M. today.
I left the motel this morning at 6:30 and was at The Legends in Eureka, MO in plenty of time for my 7:00 A.M. tee time. The Legends is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design with many well-positioned sand bunkers.
Being the first golfer out on the course, I had to contend with the grounds crew for most of the two-plus hour round. There were people setting new pins, mowing greens, raking traps, mowing tees, mowing fringe, mowing fairways...you get the picture. Many of the greens I putted were laden with dew as they had yet to be mowed. It's not a big deal but it is something that comes with securing the first tee time of the day. And with all the water from the dew, the shoes become caked with grass clippings.
The Legends came through with a logo ball and now the tally is nine for fifteen.
Being the first golfer out on the course, I had to contend with the grounds crew for most of the two-plus hour round. There were people setting new pins, mowing greens, raking traps, mowing tees, mowing fringe, mowing fairways...you get the picture. Many of the greens I putted were laden with dew as they had yet to be mowed. It's not a big deal but it is something that comes with securing the first tee time of the day. And with all the water from the dew, the shoes become caked with grass clippings.
The Legends came through with a logo ball and now the tally is nine for fifteen.
Since I was off the course a little after 9:00 A.M. and my tee time at Birch Creek was in the afternoon, I decided to try to find a breakfast spot along Route 66.
Although Missouri isn't quite up to the Illinois standard of marking the route, I am beginning to notice more and more signs.
I started the morning drive near Six Flags Amusement Park in Eureka and was soon in Pacific, MO. One of the things I've noticed as I drive is the railroad tracks that seem to parallel Route 66 no matter where you are.
In Pacific, I drove past what looked like a promising breakfast spot and quickly turned around. I walked into Monroe's Diner (at least I thought it was Monroe's Diner) and found out it had been vacant for some time and had just been purchased by the people with whom I spoke. They plan on renaming the place but will hang the sign by the road inside the diner.
It's sad to see as you drive along Route 66 how many businesses and even towns have been displaced by the interstate highway system, passed by in the name of progress.
Although Missouri isn't quite up to the Illinois standard of marking the route, I am beginning to notice more and more signs.
I started the morning drive near Six Flags Amusement Park in Eureka and was soon in Pacific, MO. One of the things I've noticed as I drive is the railroad tracks that seem to parallel Route 66 no matter where you are.
In Pacific, I drove past what looked like a promising breakfast spot and quickly turned around. I walked into Monroe's Diner (at least I thought it was Monroe's Diner) and found out it had been vacant for some time and had just been purchased by the people with whom I spoke. They plan on renaming the place but will hang the sign by the road inside the diner.
It's sad to see as you drive along Route 66 how many businesses and even towns have been displaced by the interstate highway system, passed by in the name of progress.
As it turned out, I couldn't find a place to eat and was nearing Birch Creek Golf Club so I decided to see if I could move my tee time up. When I drove up to a parking lot with few vehicles, I knew I was in business.
Susan Wolff greeted me at the counter. We had spoken about my adventure a few weeks back when I made the tee time. Before I headed out to the course, she introduced me to her husband, Randy who was the designer of Birch Creek Golf Club and owns it along with Susan. He gave me some quick instructions including what to look out for and asked me to stop in before I left.
Holy cow! The course was way better than I expected. In Golf Digest's old one through five star rating scale, I give Birch Creek a solid four stars. And it is right next to I-44 (Route 66 parallels I-44 for many miles). So if you are passing through Missouri just west of St. Louis, give Birch Creek a try.
Even with the recent hot and dry weather followed by four days of rain, the greens were nearly flawless. And the fairways are Zoysia. If you've ever played golf on Zoysia grass, you know how perfect your lies are.
Again, I have to thank the Missouri golfers who called into Birch Creek to cancel their rounds today because of the heat advisory. They presented me the opportunity to get an earlier tee time on a nearly empty course.
Holy cow! The course was way better than I expected. In Golf Digest's old one through five star rating scale, I give Birch Creek a solid four stars. And it is right next to I-44 (Route 66 parallels I-44 for many miles). So if you are passing through Missouri just west of St. Louis, give Birch Creek a try.
Even with the recent hot and dry weather followed by four days of rain, the greens were nearly flawless. And the fairways are Zoysia. If you've ever played golf on Zoysia grass, you know how perfect your lies are.
Again, I have to thank the Missouri golfers who called into Birch Creek to cancel their rounds today because of the heat advisory. They presented me the opportunity to get an earlier tee time on a nearly empty course.
Randy and Susan Wolff Randy has an interesting story. I asked him how he got into the golf business. He told me he got tired of the cubicle he sat in for five years. He saw a tiny little ad in the paper thirty or so years ago advertising a golf course for sale in Cuba, MO (he showed me the framed copy of the ad). He purchased the course, lived with his family above the pro shop for five years, made major improvements including a fairway irrigation system and tees for a second nine (Cuba Lakes is a nine hole course you play twice for an eighteen hole round) and ran the course for sixteen years.
In the early 2000's, he sold Cuba Lakes and purchased the land for Birch Creek along with some additional acreage.
Randy told me at one time he had aspirations to become an architect. Well he certainly fulfilled that dream. He's a golf course architect. Very cool story.
Once again, I left with a logo ball and the count at the end of the day is ten for sixteen.
In the early 2000's, he sold Cuba Lakes and purchased the land for Birch Creek along with some additional acreage.
Randy told me at one time he had aspirations to become an architect. Well he certainly fulfilled that dream. He's a golf course architect. Very cool story.
Once again, I left with a logo ball and the count at the end of the day is ten for sixteen.
Well now I was really hungry. I had read about the Lewis Cafe in St. Clair, MO while completing my research for the trip. I would be passing through St. Clair on my way to Sullivan where I would be spending the night.
The Lewis Cafe was established in 1938 by Virgil Lewis and is still run by later generations of Virgil. All the beef they serve in the restaurant is home grown and processed right at the Lewis Cafe.
I had a good old lunch plate of home grown roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy along with a green bean/new potato mix.
That meal is just what I needed and it's still sticking to my ribs.
The Lewis Cafe was established in 1938 by Virgil Lewis and is still run by later generations of Virgil. All the beef they serve in the restaurant is home grown and processed right at the Lewis Cafe.
I had a good old lunch plate of home grown roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy along with a green bean/new potato mix.
That meal is just what I needed and it's still sticking to my ribs.
Tomorrow I'll be moving another 120 miles down Route 66. After a round of golf at the Sullivan Country Club, I'll drive 21 miles to Cuba, MO where I'll play the nine hole course Randy Wolff owned for sixteen years, Cuba Lakes. Next, I'll move 26 more miles to the west where I'll play the nine hole Missouri S&T Golf Course. Finally, I'll drive 72 miles to Lebanon, MO where I'll spend the night at the Munger Moss Motel (my home away from home on Route 66 as the slogan says). More on this tomorrow.
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