This is Part 6 and the final of my series covering the Summer Trip. It was now Sunday, July 14 and I faced a day of driving with no scheduled golf. It was killing me. I needed to complete a 740 mile, ten and a half hour drive through Idaho, Utah, and Colorado to my hotel in Silt, CO. I was able to fill some of the time listening to the Cleveland Indians complete a sweep of the Kansas City Royals. I noticed the outside temperature on the car instrument panel as high as 104 degrees through Utah.
I checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Silt at 5:30 and suddenly, felt like a genius! And I hadn’t even spent a night there yet!! I had nearly three hours of daylight left. I quickly called the local course, Rifle Creek Golf Club, to check on availability (and of course, the availability of logo balls) and drove the twelve miles to the course. I would play as many holes as I could before dark.
Rifle Creek fooled me. The pro told me to play the back nine first as it was newer and a bit more interesting. He was not wrong! I could see the front nine was very flat and ragged around the edges. The back nine worked its way up a mountain and then back down. It was not a course that could be successfully played the first time. Too much local knowledge was required. But it had pretty views--and it satisfied my golf fix.
Below is a picture of the par 4 dogleg left 16th hole as I began to make my way down the mountain. You can see the par 5 17th hole, also a dogleg left on the other side of the brush past the aiming post.
I checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Silt at 5:30 and suddenly, felt like a genius! And I hadn’t even spent a night there yet!! I had nearly three hours of daylight left. I quickly called the local course, Rifle Creek Golf Club, to check on availability (and of course, the availability of logo balls) and drove the twelve miles to the course. I would play as many holes as I could before dark.
Rifle Creek fooled me. The pro told me to play the back nine first as it was newer and a bit more interesting. He was not wrong! I could see the front nine was very flat and ragged around the edges. The back nine worked its way up a mountain and then back down. It was not a course that could be successfully played the first time. Too much local knowledge was required. But it had pretty views--and it satisfied my golf fix.
Below is a picture of the par 4 dogleg left 16th hole as I began to make my way down the mountain. You can see the par 5 17th hole, also a dogleg left on the other side of the brush past the aiming post.
The Back Nine at Rifle Creek Golf Club
I walked up the 18th hole as the sun was setting, holed out and headed for the Red Brick BBQ on Main St. in Silt. I had a succulent pulled pork sandwich with a side of homemade beans before retiring for the night.
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