This is Part 1 in a series of articles about my summer trip to the western U.S.
Forest Ridge Golf Club
Forest Ridge Golf Club After fulfilling my volunteer duties by noon Wednesday at the Hotel Fitness Championship, the first of the Web.com Tour's playoff, I finished packing and made all the final preparations for the trip.
I left Ft. Wayne at 4:00 A.M. on Thursday, August 28. My first destination was Forest Ridge Golf Club in Broken Arrow, OK, just a bit southeast of Tulsa and near Mickey Mantle country. So fittingly, the first audio book opened for the trip was The Last Boy - Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy. This was a nearly 17 hour biography and I learned some disturbing things about a man so adored by so many people.
I left Ft. Wayne at 4:00 A.M. on Thursday, August 28. My first destination was Forest Ridge Golf Club in Broken Arrow, OK, just a bit southeast of Tulsa and near Mickey Mantle country. So fittingly, the first audio book opened for the trip was The Last Boy - Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy. This was a nearly 17 hour biography and I learned some disturbing things about a man so adored by so many people.
Dan Riddle and Paul Rongey After a twelve hour drive, I arrived at Forest Ridge, recently named the third best public course in the state of Oklahoma. The temperature was a balmy 95 degrees and with nobody on the first tee, I hit a couple of practice putts and headed to the first tee. After four holes, I caught a foursome in front of me and as I waited to tee off on the fifth tee, was joined by two locals, Dan Riddle and Paul Rongey, and we played the final fourteen holes together. Dan and Paul were true traveling golfers just like me and we compared lots of notes as we made our way around the course.
Forest Ridge is a relatively flat golf course and pretty straightforward until the last five holes where club selection for the tee ball becomes important. The course has a good mix of doglegs both left and right and water comes into play on seven holes with three ponds and a creek on the front nine.
Forest Ridge is a relatively flat golf course and pretty straightforward until the last five holes where club selection for the tee ball becomes important. The course has a good mix of doglegs both left and right and water comes into play on seven holes with three ponds and a creek on the front nine.
The prettiest hole is the par 3 15th, one that requires a short iron to a large green with water beginning from the tee and wrapping around the back of the green.
Par 3 15th Hole at Forest Ridge Golf Club
The signature hole is number 16, a par 4 where the drive needs to carry a hazard and land short of a pond setting up a short iron to the green.
Par 4 16th Signature Hole at Forest Ridge
After the round, I drove 100 miles south where I spent Thursday night in McAlester, OK. I was up at 5:00 the next morning for a 172 mile trip to my next tee time in Nocona, TX.
Because of the length of the trip, I was still making tee times for my California rounds while in transit. During the drive to Nocona, I made a tee time for a foursome for the following Friday at Olivas Links in Ventura, CA.
I need to rant just a bit here. Given the state of our game where many golf courses are going out of business, where many courses are reducing rates and using all sorts of mechanisms to fill their tee sheets, you would think courses would make it easy for people to make a tee time in advance. I could not even beg Olivas Links to give me a tee time before I left home. Their policy was no tee times made more than seven days in advance. I don't care how busy or popular a golf course is, their management should go out of their way to accommodate golfers months in advance. I even offered to leave my credit card number. This does not make good business sense.
Because of the length of the trip, I was still making tee times for my California rounds while in transit. During the drive to Nocona, I made a tee time for a foursome for the following Friday at Olivas Links in Ventura, CA.
I need to rant just a bit here. Given the state of our game where many golf courses are going out of business, where many courses are reducing rates and using all sorts of mechanisms to fill their tee sheets, you would think courses would make it easy for people to make a tee time in advance. I could not even beg Olivas Links to give me a tee time before I left home. Their policy was no tee times made more than seven days in advance. I don't care how busy or popular a golf course is, their management should go out of their way to accommodate golfers months in advance. I even offered to leave my credit card number. This does not make good business sense.
Nocona Hills Country Club and The Club at Runaway Bay
Nocona Hills Country Club I arrived at Nocona Hills Golf Course before my 9:00 A.M. tee time. I will not say much about Nocona Hills other than the course was suffering from a lack of rain yet very wet from a recent rain. It needs a lot of work. As one of the few golfers on the course, I finished my round in less than three hours.
My next stop was Runaway Bay, TX, an 82 mile drive nearly due south of Nocona where I would play the course that afternoon and spend the night at the resort. I was greeted by the club's Manager and Superintendent, Darren Hazel and treated exceptionally well by Darren and his staff throughout my short visit.
My next stop was Runaway Bay, TX, an 82 mile drive nearly due south of Nocona where I would play the course that afternoon and spend the night at the resort. I was greeted by the club's Manager and Superintendent, Darren Hazel and treated exceptionally well by Darren and his staff throughout my short visit.
The Club at Runaway Bay The Club at Runaway Bay has been beset by a multi-year drought although there had been a nice rain the day before I arrived. Lake Bridgeport, along the north boundary of the resort, had a water level well below historic averages. Many islands of land, normally well below the surface of the lake, were visible.
The club has a good local membership and many of the members live in the houses surrounding the resort. Attached to the club are a number of condominiums that can house traveling golfers. The club's restaurant, with a beautiful deck overlooking Lake Bridgeport, is open seven days a week and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The golf course was simply fun to play. It has some good elevation changes with both doglegs left and right. Despite the lack of rain, the course was in very good shape.
The club has a good local membership and many of the members live in the houses surrounding the resort. Attached to the club are a number of condominiums that can house traveling golfers. The club's restaurant, with a beautiful deck overlooking Lake Bridgeport, is open seven days a week and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The golf course was simply fun to play. It has some good elevation changes with both doglegs left and right. Despite the lack of rain, the course was in very good shape.
 Sculpture Off 5th Green at Runaway Bay |  Uphill Par 3 7th Hole at Runaway Bay The number one handicap hole is number five, a downhill dogleg right requiring a blind tee shot to a two tiered green. As I approached the green, there appeared to be a structure just to the right of the green that I couldn't make out from afar. As I got closer, I saw it was a sculpture of a nattily attired golfer standing on a stump. Interesting. |
After a very good meal at the club's restaurant, I retired to a spacious two story condominium at Westwind Manor inside the resort where I regrouped for the next day's drive.
Horseshoe Bay Resort
Two hundred and twenty-two miles due south of Runaway Bay is Horseshoe Bay Resort, about an hour west and slightly north of Austin, TX. I finished the Mickey Mantle biography shortly into the trip and, given my Southern California destination, started listening to Walt Disney - The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler. I would listen to this 34 hour book for the next two weeks!
Two of the four golf courses at Horseshoe Bay, Ram Rock and Apple Rock, are a part of my Quest and the reason Horseshoe Bay Resort was on my itinerary. I would play both that Saturday with my first tee time on the Apple Rock course at 9:00 A.M. I arrived at the clubhouse at 8:30 after a three and a half hour drive.
Two of the four golf courses at Horseshoe Bay, Ram Rock and Apple Rock, are a part of my Quest and the reason Horseshoe Bay Resort was on my itinerary. I would play both that Saturday with my first tee time on the Apple Rock course at 9:00 A.M. I arrived at the clubhouse at 8:30 after a three and a half hour drive.
Horseshoe Bay Resort The Apple Rock and Ram Rock courses play out of the same clubhouse and share a piece of land with considerable elevation changes. Both courses were designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and opened in 1986. Apple Rock is the north course on the site and has some spectacular views of Lake LBJ. I warmed up quickly on the driving range and met my companions for the round, Wayne from Leander, TX (who played just the front nine) and George and Makeea from Houston, TX.
The first tee at Apple Rock is at the highest point of the course and the front nine starts downhill before turning uphill the second half of the par 5 fifth hole.
The first tee at Apple Rock is at the highest point of the course and the front nine starts downhill before turning uphill the second half of the par 5 fifth hole.
Downhill Par 3 3rd Hole at the Apple Rock Course
George and Makeea on Apple Rock's 12th Tee The 10th hole is a scenic downhill par 5 with Lake LBJ in the background. Like the front nine, the back plays downhill before turning back uphill late in the round. Both the par 3 17th and par 4 18th play straight uphill.
It was heating up as I finished the round on the Apple Rock course with the temperature in the low 90's. I checked in with the starter and was cleared to move my 2:00 P.M. tee time up.
As I stood on the 1st tee of the Ram Rock course, I didn't see any other golfers. Apparently, people don't like to play golf in this part of the country when the temperature soars.
I was "en fuego" on the front nine of the Ram Rock course, not only hitting seven of the nine greens in regulation but hitting it close. But I couldn't figure out the greens and finished with two birdies when I could have had five or six.
Oh well. It was a very good ball-striking nine.
It was heating up as I finished the round on the Apple Rock course with the temperature in the low 90's. I checked in with the starter and was cleared to move my 2:00 P.M. tee time up.
As I stood on the 1st tee of the Ram Rock course, I didn't see any other golfers. Apparently, people don't like to play golf in this part of the country when the temperature soars.
I was "en fuego" on the front nine of the Ram Rock course, not only hitting seven of the nine greens in regulation but hitting it close. But I couldn't figure out the greens and finished with two birdies when I could have had five or six.
Oh well. It was a very good ball-striking nine.
Par 3 4th Hole at Ram Rock
Roger Weibel at Slick Rock Like the Apple Rock course, the Ram Rock course started downhill into a valley. Unlike the Apple Rock course, it worked away from the clubhouse before turning uphill for holes seventeen and eighteen.
The Apple Rock and Ram Rock courses were the first two of eight courses on the trip that were a part of the Quest.
Upon finishing my golf for the day, I drove to the hotel where I checked into a spacious and well-appointed room. Dinner that evening was at the resort's Lantana Restaurant.
I was up early Sunday morning for breakfast at the resort before a 7:40 tee time at the Slick Rock course. I was paired with a member at Horseshoe Bay, Roger Weibel. Roger is semi-retired and in the process of turning his concrete business over to his daughter so he could finally retire once and for all. Roger was originally from Wisconsin. Like me, he loved to travel and play golf. We enjoyed conversing about the many courses we have played in different regions of the country.
The Slick Rock course is more of a resort course, nothing special but comfortable to play. It was the first course opened at Horseshoe Bay Resort in 1971 and was also designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
We were off the course by 11:00 A.M., bid each other farewell and I was off on a 660 mile trip to Albuquerque, NM where I would spend the night before an early morning round on Labor Day.
The drive was uneventful although as I made my way through Lubbock, TX, I noticed the outside temperature was 104 degrees. On only the last 120 miles of the trip did I drive on interstate highways (I-40 and I-25). The bulk of the drive was on Texas and New Mexico back roads with a speed limit of 75. Yes, 75 miles per hour on two lane roads.
I made it to my hotel in Albuquerque before 9:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time.
The Apple Rock and Ram Rock courses were the first two of eight courses on the trip that were a part of the Quest.
Upon finishing my golf for the day, I drove to the hotel where I checked into a spacious and well-appointed room. Dinner that evening was at the resort's Lantana Restaurant.
I was up early Sunday morning for breakfast at the resort before a 7:40 tee time at the Slick Rock course. I was paired with a member at Horseshoe Bay, Roger Weibel. Roger is semi-retired and in the process of turning his concrete business over to his daughter so he could finally retire once and for all. Roger was originally from Wisconsin. Like me, he loved to travel and play golf. We enjoyed conversing about the many courses we have played in different regions of the country.
The Slick Rock course is more of a resort course, nothing special but comfortable to play. It was the first course opened at Horseshoe Bay Resort in 1971 and was also designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
We were off the course by 11:00 A.M., bid each other farewell and I was off on a 660 mile trip to Albuquerque, NM where I would spend the night before an early morning round on Labor Day.
The drive was uneventful although as I made my way through Lubbock, TX, I noticed the outside temperature was 104 degrees. On only the last 120 miles of the trip did I drive on interstate highways (I-40 and I-25). The bulk of the drive was on Texas and New Mexico back roads with a speed limit of 75. Yes, 75 miles per hour on two lane roads.
I made it to my hotel in Albuquerque before 9:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time.
University of New Mexico Championship Course
Univ of New Mexico Course My Labor Day round would be played at the University of New Mexico Championship course, another course that is a part of the Quest. The course was designed by Red Lawrence and opened in 1966. While arranging my itinerary, I had called and could not obtain a tee time although I was told to arrive at daylight. Both the men's and women's University of New Mexico golf teams were playing in separate team competitions to determine who would play for each team in an upcoming conference tournament.
As usual, I was nervous that I would get stuck behind the golf teams and with a long drive facing me upon the end of my round, I was worried.
But just as he promised, Cle Melvin, extremely busy that morning taking care of the University's golf teams, sent me to the first tee as the first golfer of the day. Paul Logan, originally from Chicago, was the starter for the day. We talked a bit and I found out he originally came to Albuquerque as a sports writer.
I really like this golf course. It was lush; the greens were perfect; the rough was wiry. This is a high desert course with an elevation around one mile. I played the tees at 6913 yards which felt like the 6400 yard tees at my home course in Ft. Wayne, IN.
I saw the coolest sight on the third tee. As I left the second green, a saw a pack of what I assumed was dogs. There were eight or ten. I was cautious but as I got closer, I remembered the mascot of the University of New Mexico. I was looking at a pack of Mexican Grey wolves, commonly referred to as "El lobo". Once an endangered species, seeing these beautiful animals was quite a treat.
As usual, I was nervous that I would get stuck behind the golf teams and with a long drive facing me upon the end of my round, I was worried.
But just as he promised, Cle Melvin, extremely busy that morning taking care of the University's golf teams, sent me to the first tee as the first golfer of the day. Paul Logan, originally from Chicago, was the starter for the day. We talked a bit and I found out he originally came to Albuquerque as a sports writer.
I really like this golf course. It was lush; the greens were perfect; the rough was wiry. This is a high desert course with an elevation around one mile. I played the tees at 6913 yards which felt like the 6400 yard tees at my home course in Ft. Wayne, IN.
I saw the coolest sight on the third tee. As I left the second green, a saw a pack of what I assumed was dogs. There were eight or ten. I was cautious but as I got closer, I remembered the mascot of the University of New Mexico. I was looking at a pack of Mexican Grey wolves, commonly referred to as "El lobo". Once an endangered species, seeing these beautiful animals was quite a treat.
Two of the Lobos Seen on the 3rd Tee at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course
The course has everything needed to identify the best golfers: downhill holes, uphill holes, doglegs left and right, long par threes, short par threes, and large greens that really keep your attention. It's fair and at 7555 yards from the tips, tough.
Downhill Par 4 2nd Hole at University of New Mexico Championship Course
The course begins with a downhill par five followed by a downhill par four. After an uphill par three, the next four holes parallel one another in opposite directions. The par three eighth hole is a 267 yard par three from the tips and 231 yards from the blue tees I played. The green is very deep and a putt of 150 feet is possible. Nine is an uphill par five.
Backbreaking Par 3 8th Hole at University of New Mexico Championship Course at 267 Yards
The tenth hole is a downhill dogleg left par four followed by a gorgeous par three overlooking the Albuquerque skyline.
Par 3 11th Hole at University of New Mexico Championship Course
The fifteenth hole is a dogleg left where tee ball positioning is key. The green is diabolical.
The Championship course is a great test of golf and felt to me like a newer course, not one that's nearly 50 years old. This was one of several highlights of my trip.
After the round, I faced a 714 mile drive to Palm Springs, CA. I left the course at 10:00 A.M. and gaining an hour due to the change in time zones, arrived at my destination just before 7:30 P.M.
To top off a perfect day, I spent the the night at a delightful little hotel called Los Arboles. Although I arrived after dark, it was readily apparent the hotel was much more than a shower and a pillow. My room, shown to me with pride by the owner, could have been a suite from an upscale home. Never have I seen better ceramic tile craftsmanship than in this room. And right outside my door was a gate that led to a wonderful little Mexican restaurant called El Mirasol at Los Arboles where, after a shower, I sat on its deck and drank (what else) Corona beer while observing the other patrons under the clear Palm Springs sky. What a treat! The owner informed me my room in season would cost four or five times what I paid.
Next: My Own Odyssey - Part 2: Palm Springs and Simi Valley
The Championship course is a great test of golf and felt to me like a newer course, not one that's nearly 50 years old. This was one of several highlights of my trip.
After the round, I faced a 714 mile drive to Palm Springs, CA. I left the course at 10:00 A.M. and gaining an hour due to the change in time zones, arrived at my destination just before 7:30 P.M.
To top off a perfect day, I spent the the night at a delightful little hotel called Los Arboles. Although I arrived after dark, it was readily apparent the hotel was much more than a shower and a pillow. My room, shown to me with pride by the owner, could have been a suite from an upscale home. Never have I seen better ceramic tile craftsmanship than in this room. And right outside my door was a gate that led to a wonderful little Mexican restaurant called El Mirasol at Los Arboles where, after a shower, I sat on its deck and drank (what else) Corona beer while observing the other patrons under the clear Palm Springs sky. What a treat! The owner informed me my room in season would cost four or five times what I paid.
Next: My Own Odyssey - Part 2: Palm Springs and Simi Valley
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