Golfing with the Guys- 2012
We’re back at it for a third year in a row. We’ve picked up a couple newcomers as the popularity of this trip has obviously become big news. I mean, who wouldn’t want to golf with Craig, Jon, Boyd and myself. Not only are we awesome golfers, but great company as well. The waiting list was packed, but only three showed themselves worthy to make the cut:
Frank Bernier- Frank quickly becomes the old timer of the group although he’s probably in better shape than most of us. He also has a lot of personality and is fun to be around. The problem is that he’s a better golfer than me which means I’ll slide further down the pecking order for the best golfer of the trip.
Brad Lundell- I used to live across the street from Brad. We golfed a couple rounds together when I lived in South Ogden. Brad’s a soft spoken guy, but a good fit for the trip. He won’t ruffle any feathers and he’ll play some good golf. Once again, I’m shot further down on the best golfer list.
Logan Wentz- Logan works with Boyd and has the same passion for golf that Boyd does. He might have a little bit of a temper, but I’ve always found that entertaining. Logan’s game is a little unorthodox and I’m hoping he’s not a threat to move me further down the best golfer list. I guess this trip will be the test of that.
I dub this trip the I-15 series. Each golf course isn’t too far off of I-15 with maybe the exception of Delta. It’s a little off the beaten path, but I’ve got to get it crossed off my list of courses to golf, so it makes the cut.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
7:00 a.m. The guys roll in to Pleasant Grove in Boyd’s sister’s van. Boyd’s sister has a bunch of kids so they have one of those huge vans. It’s critical that we can all travel in the same vehicle. Especially since we’re going to be on the road for a bunch of this trip.
7:35 a.m. The trip gets off to an ominous start as we’re just a few miles out of town and the traffic is at a standstill. We understand why as we drive past and see a covered body lying in the road. It’s kind of creepy seeing a dead body (or at least one that is covered), but it’s sad to know that someone’s life just ended a few minutes ago. Someone suggests that we say a prayer and we ask for safety for the trip. My wife already doesn’t like this trip, but if I died on it she’d really be mad.
8:20 a.m. We arrive in Nephi at the Canyon Hills golf course. It’s a nine hole course and the weather is great. Most of us have our UGA 2-for-1 card. Because I’m using my new push cart and I’ve got the discount card, I pay $5 for this round of golf.
With seven players on this trip, I’ll be golfing with different guys each round. For this round it is Boyd, Logan, Brad and me. I notice that the guys are avoiding golfing with me because I note EVERYTHING. They don’t want to be the punchline of some joke in the blog nor do they want their spouse to know of some of the language that creeps from their mouth.
Hole #4- The day is off to a great start until this hole. Just to the right of the tee box is this big concrete cylinder thingy. It’s probably 20’ high. I wonder aloud, “Has anybody ever hit that thing?”. It’s far enough to the right that it would take a terrible shot to hit it, but I guess you never know.
Boyd steps up (a lefty) and crushes his drive. Unfortunately he hooks it big time and it smacks the concrete thing and goes flying backwards about 50 yards. It’s pretty much the shortest drive I’ve ever seen at -50 yards long. It ended up in the parking lot somewhere. We, of course, get a great laugh out of it. And our golf trip has officially started.
Hole #5- I’m walking to my ball near the green. I hear a rattling sound and look up. Logan just chipped in from off the green. He’s sort of celebrating as the shot was for bogey. Maybe Logan’s short game is coming around.
Hole #6- Or maybe his short game isn’t coming around. Logan takes four chips from 20 yards out to get the ball on the green. But what can I say, I get a triple bogey with a four putt.
Hole #7- After Logan has his four-chipper, the next hole doesn’t go much better. His drive hits the tree right by the tee box and his second shot nearly misses the same tree. A club was then thrown and to top it all off….Logan chips in from 25 yards out for a double bogey. Maybe his short game is coming around after all.
The last four holes we had to deal with a nice canyon wind. The greens were the nicest greens we play all trip. They were smooth and had a nice roll. The problem was that the pin placements were tough and the greens were fast. I think we all had a tough time putting them.
We also play the blue tees which made most of the par 4’s over 400 yards. That’s not my bread and butter.
The story of the day we hear later because it was in the Jon-Craig-Frank group. Apparently Jon made some incidental mistake on hole 5 or 6 and Frank made him take a penalty stroke. At the time Jon was shooting a fantastic round and Frank’s refereeing caused the wheels to come off. I guess we didn’t explain the golf trip rules to Frank. #1 This isn’t official tournament play, #2 The prize money for each round isn’t that good (since there isn’t any) #3 We still have a bunch of golf to play, so go easy on Jon because one stroke isn’t going to make a difference. Or is it…..as we tally the scores and see that Frank ended up beating Jon by one stroke on this course.
Scores for Canyon Hills:
Craig- 44
Frank- 46
Scott- 47
Jon- 47 (Thanks, Frank. Because of you I tied Jon)
Brad- 50
Boyd- 55
Logan- 57 (Boyd sure is glad you made the trip)
Next stop is Paradise Golf Course in Fillmore, Utah. I’ve driven past this golf course numerous times on I-15 and every time I think to myself, “I oughta play this course”. Since I usually have a family in tow, I haven’t been able to play it. It’s a 9-hole course and the weather is pretty mild. The cost is $11.00 with a cart.
The golf pro is a little bit of a familiar face. It’s Ron Abegglen, the former basketball coach at Weber State. He’s probably most known for his team in the late 90’s that, as a 14 seed, beat the third seed North Carolina Tarheels. I think he had some personal problems a few years later and it looks like he’s found a home in Fillmore, Utah as the golf pro at Paradise Golf Course.
My group for this round is Craig and Brad. There’s a pretty stiff breeze, but it’s not affecting our group. Craig pars the first three holes and misses a short par putt on Hole #4. Brad and I both par the hole.
Hole #5- This is a 544-yard, Par 5. I sink a 15 footer for par. I’m shooting a pretty decent round myself. Not quite Craig level, but pretty good for me.
Hole #7- I hit my drive into a fairway bunker. My next shot is just off the green. I chip in for my first birdie of the trip. Brad, in turn, hits a 12 footer for a birdie. And, of course, Craig gets a par. At least for this hole we felt like we were on the PGA tour. We find out later that Jon birdied this hole as well. In hindsight, maybe it’s just an easy hole.
Hole #9- Craig birdies the last hole and gets the last laugh. He finishes with a 37. I finish with a 39 which is probably the third or fourth time I’ve shot under a 40 in my life. Not surprisingly, I really liked this course. In fact I think this is the only course where we all shoot under a 50.
Scores for Paradise Golf Course:
Craig- 37
Scott- 39
Frank- 43
Brad- 44
Jon- 46
Boyd- 48
Logan- 48
Now it’s off to our next destination. It’s Canyon Breeze Golf Course in Beaver, Utah. We need to get their quickly because if we don’t start by 3:30 p.m. they’ll kick us off for their men’s league at 5:30 p.m. As we drive into the parking lot we can see a few “greens” from the road. Craig is already mad. The greens look terrible. The fact that this is the last 9 of 27 holes, we’re not in a good mood for a crappy course. It’s starting to bring back flashbacks of Green River State Park last year when it was the exact same scenario.
I don’t know much about Beaver, Utah, but I quickly surmise that the place is kind of hickish. And really nothing changed my mind over the next two hours. We go to pay for our golf which is $10 for 9 holes and a cart. Sidenote: We played 27 holes today for $26 and 18 of that was with a cart.
The ladies at the counter are a little ornery. We need Jon to work his charm like he did last year, but I don’t think he had any luck. To make matters worse, the course is in bad shape and it’s getting really windy. Canyon “Breeze” should be renamed.
My group for this round is: Craig, Boyd, and Jon. Just like old times.
I actually start out OK, but on Hole #3 I can tell that I should have stopped at 18 holes for the day. I hit a bad tee shot and it lands on the horse track (more on that later). Instead of taking a drop I decide to hit off the track. I chunk it a few feet and hit off the track again. I chunk it again and finally on my third attempt I get back into the fairway. I end up with a quintuple bogey 9. I have a mini-meltdown and just sit there and stew. I had been playing pretty good golf up until this hole. I mean, I shot a 39 just a couple hours ago. And to make matters worse, Jon pars the hole. What a stupid game.
Hole #4- I get a bounce-back par. Take that Canyon Breeze.
Hole #5- This is a 220-yard par 3 with a gale force wind in my face. I hate long par three’s anyway, but this is the first time in my life I use my driver on a par 3. And I still hit it short.
Hole #6- I’m on the green in regulation only to find that “green” shouldn’t be the proper term. More like brown and bumpy. Thoughts of Green River start coming back. The similarities are amazing. Dandelions in fairways, greens that are dirt, and a bunch of rednecks hanging around.
Hole #7- Horse Track Hole- This is a Par 5 in which you tee off in the grass that is in the middle of the horse track. After your second shot you should be outside the horse track and back on the golf course. I think Boyd said at one time that he thought the hole was cool. I had a lot of respect for Boyd up until that statement. I couldn’t believe he was siding with the golf course.
After I hit my second shot and it’s time to drive over the horse track, I see a sign that says, “Horses have the right-of-way.” I’m not sure what to think. Do they golf while there are horse races going on? Do people really think a golf cart is any match for a sprinting horse? And, why the @#$% is there a horse track in the middle of a golf course?
Hole #9- We all par the last hole. Out of all 7 of us, not one of us gets a single birdie. But the golf course got a few birdies as we were walking off it.
Meanwhile, the men’s league is about to start. I didn’t know it was possible to golf in cowboy boots, but apparently in Beaver, its standard issue. That and a beer in your hand. You can probably tell that I have much disdain for this golf course and will never, ever return. I have crossed it off my list of courses to golf and all I can say is “Good Riddance”!
Scores for Canyon Breeze Golf Course:
Craig- 42 (Somebody stop this guy, he is out of control)
Frank- 42 (Welcome to the party, Frank)
Jon- 43 (Because Frank and Jon were in different groups, Frank couldn’t pull the ol’ phantom penalty stroke like he did in Nephi)
Scott- 47
Logan- 51 (Feeling pretty good after breaking out of the bottom 2)
Brad- 52
Boyd- 55 (You can take your horse track and shov…..nevermind)
Now it’s off to Cedar City. We’ve rented a house for the trip and it’s time for some chow and R and R. We find our house and the battle begins for beds. Because I made the arrangements and fronted the money, I take the master suite with a king size bed and my own bathroom. I feel zero percent guilty about this.
We go into Cedar City and find a BBQ joint called Sunny Boys. It was great food because nothing says BBQ like Cedar City, Utah. But, seriously, it was great food and an end to a great day (minus 2 hours spent in frickin’ Beaver).
Friday, May 4, 2012
Next stop is the Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Cedar City. We have great weather again and this is the only 18-hole course in which we play the all 18 holes. It’s $36 for 18 holes and a cart. My group for this round is Frank and Brad.
This really was kind of a pretty course. It had a nice mix of mountain golf course style holes and then others that were more regular. The only issue with the course is that it is a prairie dog village. They are everywhere. Someone says they are protected by some state or federal regulation. It’s probably Obama’s fault that we can’t exterminate them. The problem is that they dig holes everywhere. If I’m ever going to get a hole-in-one in my life, this is probably the course to do it.
My problem is that I get off to a horrendous start. I triple bogey Hole #2 by taking 5 strokes from 15 yards out and then follow up with another triple bogey on Hole #3. This is the tough thing about golf. At this point my round is essentially over. Mentally it takes all I have (which isn’t much) to stick with it.
Hole#4- Brad hits a 28’ putt. I’m pretty sure it’s the longest of the trip.
Hole #7- My third triple bogey. But then I tell myself, “It could be worse. We could still be golfing in Beaver.”
Hole #9- Redemption. I birdie the hole on a 25’ putt. Unfortunately it doesn’t save me from shooting over 50. One of my goals was to not shoot over a 50, but I guess we’ll have to reassign that goal to next year.
After the round we find out that:
Jon birdied both of the Par 5’s. It helped that Frank was golfing with me.
Boyd lost four balls on one hole. I’m sure it was the prairie dogs that were confiscating them.
Logan hit for the cycle scoring everything from a par to a quad-bogey. I didn’t catch how many clubs were thrown during the round.
Scores for Cedar Ridge Front Nine:
Jon- 39 (Finally someone beats Craig)
Craig- 43
Brad- 45 (Starting to move up the ladder)
Frank- 48
Scott- 51
Logan- 53
Boyd- 54
One good thing about playing 18 holes is that mentally you can tell yourself that they are two different 9-hole rounds. Especially if your first 9 was terrible. I don’t know if this back 9 was particularly memorable, but it sure felt better than the front 9.
Hole #11- This is a Par 3 with an elevated tee box. It’s almost a blind hole as we could only see part of the green. The yardage wasn’t particularly long (I think about 160 yards), but it’s one of those holes where you club down a couple clubs because you’re essentially shooting downhill.
I don’t remember how we did, but I do remember sitting on the tee box for #12 when we hear golf balls ricocheting amongst the trees way past the green. Apparently Boyd thought the green was somewhere else and was hitting a 5-wood off the tee box. Not until he got near the green did he realize that he was on some mountainside a long ways away from the green. I guess it doesn’t help when it’s your first time to play a course.
Hole #15- This was a 600-yard Par 5. The longest hole that we play all trip. The whole plays downhill and the wind is at our backs. It’s our one chance to see what it’s like to be Tiger Woods. Minus the infidelity, of course.
This turns out to be my favorite hole of the course. Probably because I par it.
Hole #17- What goes down, must come up. After shooting downhill with a ferocious wind at our back, everything is reversed on this hole. It’s not a 600-yard par 5, but a 435-yard par 4. This turns out to be the hardest hole on the course. Frank pars the hole and gets my profound respect. I bogey the hole which in my book was the equivalent of a birdie. Which is what I tell myself anyway.
Hole #18- I end with a par and as I’m wrapping it up, I wax reflective and think about how great this trip is. Good friends, good fun, and sometimes good golf. I think times like this are the reason God put us on the earth.
Scores from Cedar Ridge Back Nine:
Frank- 45
Brad- 45
Scott- 46 (Had to put my name before Craig. It just doesn’t happen)
Craig- 46
Jon- 50 (Wait, was this the same guy that shot a 39 on the front?)
Logan- 55
Boyd- 58 (Cheer up Boyd, this isn’t Burch Creek)
We head into Cedar City to grab some lunch before we cruise to St. George. We spot a Gandolpho’s and we think a sandwich seems like a good idea. The problem is that half of Cedar City thought it was a good idea as well. And Gandolpho’s has one (yep, one whole person) guy working the lunch rush. He takes a few orders and then turns and makes the sandwiches. While a big line of us sit and watch him.
Craig heads over to Sonny Boy’s (which is right next door) and gets a BBQ sandwich. Some of us that aren’t so smart decide to wait out the Gandolpho’s lunch rush. Meanwhile the poor kid making sandwiches is feeling the anger of those in line. He tells us he’s called for back-up. But it seems his help is coming from Brigham City or somewhere, because he wasn’t showing up anytime soon. We finally get our sandwiches, chow them down (because now we’re late) and get out of Dodge. It’s time to play some St. George golf.
Part of this trip is the food experience. The meals need to be timed and planned out because we’re usually working around a tee time. As we’re heading down to St. George we agree to eat at Benja Thai in Washington City after our round. I’ve been there a few times myself and absolutely love the place.
For any lack of skill we have in golf, we make up in eating. Except Craig, who doesn’t need to make up for his lack of skill in golf. Which must explain why he thinks this is the Biggest Loser contest or something. While the rest of us are pounding endless rolls of sushi, McDonalds and Betos, Craig is eating oatmeal, bananas and apples.
Dixie Red Hills Golf Course, St. George, Utah
This is a 9-hole course and probably the most expensive as we pay $27.50 for the round with a cart. It’s warm and windy. It seems we can’t really shake the wind the whole trip. My group for this round is Jon, Brad, and Boyd.
I really want to do good this round. I want to end on a positive note. Jon’s talking smack so we make a bet that the loser has to buy a Vegas sushi roll for the winner.
Hole #2- This is a 200-yard par 3 and Jon nails a 4-iron to about 3’ from the hole. It was probably the shot of the trip. Who knew that a Vegas roll was such a motivation?
Hole #3- I have a quad-bogey and Jon’s tasting his Vegas roll. So much for ending on a positive note.
Hole #8- I get another quad-bogey including one shot that went backward a foot (not 50 yards like Boyd, but still embarrassing). I’m hot and tired and ready to be done. The dream of a free Vegas roll is long gone and now I just want to get a slightly cold shower and go to bed.
With all of that being said, I think this was the prettiest course we played during the trip. Much like Moab last year, the contrast of the red hills and green grass is scenic. For a nine hole course, it doesn’t seem to come much better.
Scores for Dixie Red Hills:
Craig- 40
Jon- 41 (Maybe him and Craig should have had the Vegas roll bet)
Frank- 42
Logan- 47 (Way to go.)
Brad- 49
Scott- 50 (Awfully glad Boyd’s on the trip)
Boyd- 56
Let me say this about Boyd. There aren’t many people in the world that I’d rather play golf with than Boyd. Maybe he doesn’t have the lowest scores ever, but he’s a great guy to be with on (and off) the golf course. As I was planning the 2013 golf trip, I was having thoughts of postponing for a year. Soon after, Boyd called and was all-in for the trip. That was all I needed to get the motivation to get it planned.
Just when you think this is a golf trip, you soon realize that it’s way more than that. I’ve already mentioned the importance of food, but we have other interests as well. Boyd hooks us up with tickets to The Avengers in Cedar City. It’s opening night and a huge line, but we enjoy the movie and have a great time. So if you haven’t been keeping track, here was the contents of our day:
Eat at McDonalds
Golf 18 holes at Cedar Ridge
Eat at Gandolpho’s (some of us anyway)
Drive to St. George
Golf 9 holes at Dixie Red Hills
Eat at Benja Thai
Drive back to Cedar City
Freshen up back at the house (which includes Frank and Jon turning the water off to the house while Craig is in the shower. Just a follow-up to the yearly prank between Jon and Craig.)
Go to the 10:00 p.m. showing of The Avengers
Go to bed
Somebody needs to remind us we’re not youngsters anymore. Especially Frank, because he’s really old.
So as I write this blog, I fall victim to the “Missionary Journal” syndrome. That’s when you make notes in your journal with the idea that you’ll never forget these moments. But even though it was just a few months back, I have notes in my notebook that I can’t remember the story behind them. So I’ll list them in my blog and those that participated can refresh my memory:
Grapple
Craig using the ladies bathroom at Dixie Red Hills
Jon saying “writing things off”
Boyd missing the exit to the movie theater and Frank being a backseat driver
Saturday, May 5, 2012
It’s off to Delta, Utah to play Sunset View Golf Course. The weather has turned a little chilly and, of course, we have the ever present breeze. The clubhouse attendant is the cutest girl we see all trip. In Delta of all places. They have a deal for a $5 round if your birthday is within a week of the current day. Four of us qualify, but the fine print says that the deal isn’t in effect on a weekend. We let Jon work his magic and he talks the girl into giving us the discount.
I can say that at $5 we probably overpaid for the course. The golf pro did apologize as they had a rough year with the lack of water and that the greens just hadn’t had a chance to recover. The tee boxes were in bad shape as well and once again putting was an adventure. It also appears that we’re the only ones on the golf course.
Strangely enough, I shoot a pretty good round. On Hole #7 I witness Logan throw his second club of the trip. In his defense, we’re on the tail end of 63 holes and we’re on a crappy course.
I see a sign that says, “No firearms on course”. We’re either in gang territory or hunting territory. Otherwise there would be no need for this sign. I’ll have to go with the latter as Beaver makes Delta look like metropolitan New York City.
Hole #8- We decide to finish the last two holes as a sevensome. This hole is a par 3 so we have an impromptu closest to the hole contest. Boyd talks during Logan’s backswing (hey, we’ve all been there, Logan) and Logan promptly calls him a $%^&. I’m thinking we just need to get through these last two holes before we have a major meltdown.
Hole #9- Craig figures he’ll calm the situation down by rolling a ball through Logan’s legs during the backswing of his drive. We think this is high comedy. Logan wants to get mad, but he just hit his best drive of the whole trip so there isn’t much he can say.
We finish the trip with a group picture. We all want to be in the picture, so Jon goes and gets the clubhouse girl to come take our photo. It was a pleasant ending to the trip.
Sunset View scores:
Craig- 43
Scott- 44
Frank- 44
Brad- 48
Jon- 49
Boyd- 53
Logan- 54
Fun facts about the trip as voted on by us:
Best Course- Dixie Red Hills
Best Greens- Canyon Hills (Nephi)
Worst Course- Canyon Breeze (Beaver)
Worst Greens- Sunset View (Delta)
Best Views- Dixie Red Hills
Prettiest- Cedar Ridge
Easiest Course- Paradise (Fillmore)
Hardest Course- Cedar Ridge
Best Clubhouse- Cedar Ridge
Best Horsetrack- Canyon Breeze (Beaver)
Total scores and average:
Craig- 295 total 42.14 per nine
Frank- 310 total 44.29 per nine
Jon- 315 total 45 per nine
Scott- 324 total 46.29 per nine
Brad- 333 total 47.57 per nine
Logan- 365 total 52.14 per nine
Boyd- 379 total 54.14 per nine
Total amount spent on green fees and cart rental- $94.50
Frank Bernier- Frank quickly becomes the old timer of the group although he’s probably in better shape than most of us. He also has a lot of personality and is fun to be around. The problem is that he’s a better golfer than me which means I’ll slide further down the pecking order for the best golfer of the trip.
Brad Lundell- I used to live across the street from Brad. We golfed a couple rounds together when I lived in South Ogden. Brad’s a soft spoken guy, but a good fit for the trip. He won’t ruffle any feathers and he’ll play some good golf. Once again, I’m shot further down on the best golfer list.
Logan Wentz- Logan works with Boyd and has the same passion for golf that Boyd does. He might have a little bit of a temper, but I’ve always found that entertaining. Logan’s game is a little unorthodox and I’m hoping he’s not a threat to move me further down the best golfer list. I guess this trip will be the test of that.
I dub this trip the I-15 series. Each golf course isn’t too far off of I-15 with maybe the exception of Delta. It’s a little off the beaten path, but I’ve got to get it crossed off my list of courses to golf, so it makes the cut.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
7:00 a.m. The guys roll in to Pleasant Grove in Boyd’s sister’s van. Boyd’s sister has a bunch of kids so they have one of those huge vans. It’s critical that we can all travel in the same vehicle. Especially since we’re going to be on the road for a bunch of this trip.
7:35 a.m. The trip gets off to an ominous start as we’re just a few miles out of town and the traffic is at a standstill. We understand why as we drive past and see a covered body lying in the road. It’s kind of creepy seeing a dead body (or at least one that is covered), but it’s sad to know that someone’s life just ended a few minutes ago. Someone suggests that we say a prayer and we ask for safety for the trip. My wife already doesn’t like this trip, but if I died on it she’d really be mad.
8:20 a.m. We arrive in Nephi at the Canyon Hills golf course. It’s a nine hole course and the weather is great. Most of us have our UGA 2-for-1 card. Because I’m using my new push cart and I’ve got the discount card, I pay $5 for this round of golf.
With seven players on this trip, I’ll be golfing with different guys each round. For this round it is Boyd, Logan, Brad and me. I notice that the guys are avoiding golfing with me because I note EVERYTHING. They don’t want to be the punchline of some joke in the blog nor do they want their spouse to know of some of the language that creeps from their mouth.
Hole #4- The day is off to a great start until this hole. Just to the right of the tee box is this big concrete cylinder thingy. It’s probably 20’ high. I wonder aloud, “Has anybody ever hit that thing?”. It’s far enough to the right that it would take a terrible shot to hit it, but I guess you never know.
Boyd steps up (a lefty) and crushes his drive. Unfortunately he hooks it big time and it smacks the concrete thing and goes flying backwards about 50 yards. It’s pretty much the shortest drive I’ve ever seen at -50 yards long. It ended up in the parking lot somewhere. We, of course, get a great laugh out of it. And our golf trip has officially started.
Hole #5- I’m walking to my ball near the green. I hear a rattling sound and look up. Logan just chipped in from off the green. He’s sort of celebrating as the shot was for bogey. Maybe Logan’s short game is coming around.
Hole #6- Or maybe his short game isn’t coming around. Logan takes four chips from 20 yards out to get the ball on the green. But what can I say, I get a triple bogey with a four putt.
Hole #7- After Logan has his four-chipper, the next hole doesn’t go much better. His drive hits the tree right by the tee box and his second shot nearly misses the same tree. A club was then thrown and to top it all off….Logan chips in from 25 yards out for a double bogey. Maybe his short game is coming around after all.
The last four holes we had to deal with a nice canyon wind. The greens were the nicest greens we play all trip. They were smooth and had a nice roll. The problem was that the pin placements were tough and the greens were fast. I think we all had a tough time putting them.
We also play the blue tees which made most of the par 4’s over 400 yards. That’s not my bread and butter.
The story of the day we hear later because it was in the Jon-Craig-Frank group. Apparently Jon made some incidental mistake on hole 5 or 6 and Frank made him take a penalty stroke. At the time Jon was shooting a fantastic round and Frank’s refereeing caused the wheels to come off. I guess we didn’t explain the golf trip rules to Frank. #1 This isn’t official tournament play, #2 The prize money for each round isn’t that good (since there isn’t any) #3 We still have a bunch of golf to play, so go easy on Jon because one stroke isn’t going to make a difference. Or is it…..as we tally the scores and see that Frank ended up beating Jon by one stroke on this course.
Scores for Canyon Hills:
Craig- 44
Frank- 46
Scott- 47
Jon- 47 (Thanks, Frank. Because of you I tied Jon)
Brad- 50
Boyd- 55
Logan- 57 (Boyd sure is glad you made the trip)
Next stop is Paradise Golf Course in Fillmore, Utah. I’ve driven past this golf course numerous times on I-15 and every time I think to myself, “I oughta play this course”. Since I usually have a family in tow, I haven’t been able to play it. It’s a 9-hole course and the weather is pretty mild. The cost is $11.00 with a cart.
The golf pro is a little bit of a familiar face. It’s Ron Abegglen, the former basketball coach at Weber State. He’s probably most known for his team in the late 90’s that, as a 14 seed, beat the third seed North Carolina Tarheels. I think he had some personal problems a few years later and it looks like he’s found a home in Fillmore, Utah as the golf pro at Paradise Golf Course.
My group for this round is Craig and Brad. There’s a pretty stiff breeze, but it’s not affecting our group. Craig pars the first three holes and misses a short par putt on Hole #4. Brad and I both par the hole.
Hole #5- This is a 544-yard, Par 5. I sink a 15 footer for par. I’m shooting a pretty decent round myself. Not quite Craig level, but pretty good for me.
Hole #7- I hit my drive into a fairway bunker. My next shot is just off the green. I chip in for my first birdie of the trip. Brad, in turn, hits a 12 footer for a birdie. And, of course, Craig gets a par. At least for this hole we felt like we were on the PGA tour. We find out later that Jon birdied this hole as well. In hindsight, maybe it’s just an easy hole.
Hole #9- Craig birdies the last hole and gets the last laugh. He finishes with a 37. I finish with a 39 which is probably the third or fourth time I’ve shot under a 40 in my life. Not surprisingly, I really liked this course. In fact I think this is the only course where we all shoot under a 50.
Scores for Paradise Golf Course:
Craig- 37
Scott- 39
Frank- 43
Brad- 44
Jon- 46
Boyd- 48
Logan- 48
Now it’s off to our next destination. It’s Canyon Breeze Golf Course in Beaver, Utah. We need to get their quickly because if we don’t start by 3:30 p.m. they’ll kick us off for their men’s league at 5:30 p.m. As we drive into the parking lot we can see a few “greens” from the road. Craig is already mad. The greens look terrible. The fact that this is the last 9 of 27 holes, we’re not in a good mood for a crappy course. It’s starting to bring back flashbacks of Green River State Park last year when it was the exact same scenario.
I don’t know much about Beaver, Utah, but I quickly surmise that the place is kind of hickish. And really nothing changed my mind over the next two hours. We go to pay for our golf which is $10 for 9 holes and a cart. Sidenote: We played 27 holes today for $26 and 18 of that was with a cart.
The ladies at the counter are a little ornery. We need Jon to work his charm like he did last year, but I don’t think he had any luck. To make matters worse, the course is in bad shape and it’s getting really windy. Canyon “Breeze” should be renamed.
My group for this round is: Craig, Boyd, and Jon. Just like old times.
I actually start out OK, but on Hole #3 I can tell that I should have stopped at 18 holes for the day. I hit a bad tee shot and it lands on the horse track (more on that later). Instead of taking a drop I decide to hit off the track. I chunk it a few feet and hit off the track again. I chunk it again and finally on my third attempt I get back into the fairway. I end up with a quintuple bogey 9. I have a mini-meltdown and just sit there and stew. I had been playing pretty good golf up until this hole. I mean, I shot a 39 just a couple hours ago. And to make matters worse, Jon pars the hole. What a stupid game.
Hole #4- I get a bounce-back par. Take that Canyon Breeze.
Hole #5- This is a 220-yard par 3 with a gale force wind in my face. I hate long par three’s anyway, but this is the first time in my life I use my driver on a par 3. And I still hit it short.
Hole #6- I’m on the green in regulation only to find that “green” shouldn’t be the proper term. More like brown and bumpy. Thoughts of Green River start coming back. The similarities are amazing. Dandelions in fairways, greens that are dirt, and a bunch of rednecks hanging around.
Hole #7- Horse Track Hole- This is a Par 5 in which you tee off in the grass that is in the middle of the horse track. After your second shot you should be outside the horse track and back on the golf course. I think Boyd said at one time that he thought the hole was cool. I had a lot of respect for Boyd up until that statement. I couldn’t believe he was siding with the golf course.
After I hit my second shot and it’s time to drive over the horse track, I see a sign that says, “Horses have the right-of-way.” I’m not sure what to think. Do they golf while there are horse races going on? Do people really think a golf cart is any match for a sprinting horse? And, why the @#$% is there a horse track in the middle of a golf course?
Hole #9- We all par the last hole. Out of all 7 of us, not one of us gets a single birdie. But the golf course got a few birdies as we were walking off it.
Meanwhile, the men’s league is about to start. I didn’t know it was possible to golf in cowboy boots, but apparently in Beaver, its standard issue. That and a beer in your hand. You can probably tell that I have much disdain for this golf course and will never, ever return. I have crossed it off my list of courses to golf and all I can say is “Good Riddance”!
Scores for Canyon Breeze Golf Course:
Craig- 42 (Somebody stop this guy, he is out of control)
Frank- 42 (Welcome to the party, Frank)
Jon- 43 (Because Frank and Jon were in different groups, Frank couldn’t pull the ol’ phantom penalty stroke like he did in Nephi)
Scott- 47
Logan- 51 (Feeling pretty good after breaking out of the bottom 2)
Brad- 52
Boyd- 55 (You can take your horse track and shov…..nevermind)
Now it’s off to Cedar City. We’ve rented a house for the trip and it’s time for some chow and R and R. We find our house and the battle begins for beds. Because I made the arrangements and fronted the money, I take the master suite with a king size bed and my own bathroom. I feel zero percent guilty about this.
We go into Cedar City and find a BBQ joint called Sunny Boys. It was great food because nothing says BBQ like Cedar City, Utah. But, seriously, it was great food and an end to a great day (minus 2 hours spent in frickin’ Beaver).
Friday, May 4, 2012
Next stop is the Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Cedar City. We have great weather again and this is the only 18-hole course in which we play the all 18 holes. It’s $36 for 18 holes and a cart. My group for this round is Frank and Brad.
This really was kind of a pretty course. It had a nice mix of mountain golf course style holes and then others that were more regular. The only issue with the course is that it is a prairie dog village. They are everywhere. Someone says they are protected by some state or federal regulation. It’s probably Obama’s fault that we can’t exterminate them. The problem is that they dig holes everywhere. If I’m ever going to get a hole-in-one in my life, this is probably the course to do it.
My problem is that I get off to a horrendous start. I triple bogey Hole #2 by taking 5 strokes from 15 yards out and then follow up with another triple bogey on Hole #3. This is the tough thing about golf. At this point my round is essentially over. Mentally it takes all I have (which isn’t much) to stick with it.
Hole#4- Brad hits a 28’ putt. I’m pretty sure it’s the longest of the trip.
Hole #7- My third triple bogey. But then I tell myself, “It could be worse. We could still be golfing in Beaver.”
Hole #9- Redemption. I birdie the hole on a 25’ putt. Unfortunately it doesn’t save me from shooting over 50. One of my goals was to not shoot over a 50, but I guess we’ll have to reassign that goal to next year.
After the round we find out that:
Jon birdied both of the Par 5’s. It helped that Frank was golfing with me.
Boyd lost four balls on one hole. I’m sure it was the prairie dogs that were confiscating them.
Logan hit for the cycle scoring everything from a par to a quad-bogey. I didn’t catch how many clubs were thrown during the round.
Scores for Cedar Ridge Front Nine:
Jon- 39 (Finally someone beats Craig)
Craig- 43
Brad- 45 (Starting to move up the ladder)
Frank- 48
Scott- 51
Logan- 53
Boyd- 54
One good thing about playing 18 holes is that mentally you can tell yourself that they are two different 9-hole rounds. Especially if your first 9 was terrible. I don’t know if this back 9 was particularly memorable, but it sure felt better than the front 9.
Hole #11- This is a Par 3 with an elevated tee box. It’s almost a blind hole as we could only see part of the green. The yardage wasn’t particularly long (I think about 160 yards), but it’s one of those holes where you club down a couple clubs because you’re essentially shooting downhill.
I don’t remember how we did, but I do remember sitting on the tee box for #12 when we hear golf balls ricocheting amongst the trees way past the green. Apparently Boyd thought the green was somewhere else and was hitting a 5-wood off the tee box. Not until he got near the green did he realize that he was on some mountainside a long ways away from the green. I guess it doesn’t help when it’s your first time to play a course.
Hole #15- This was a 600-yard Par 5. The longest hole that we play all trip. The whole plays downhill and the wind is at our backs. It’s our one chance to see what it’s like to be Tiger Woods. Minus the infidelity, of course.
This turns out to be my favorite hole of the course. Probably because I par it.
Hole #17- What goes down, must come up. After shooting downhill with a ferocious wind at our back, everything is reversed on this hole. It’s not a 600-yard par 5, but a 435-yard par 4. This turns out to be the hardest hole on the course. Frank pars the hole and gets my profound respect. I bogey the hole which in my book was the equivalent of a birdie. Which is what I tell myself anyway.
Hole #18- I end with a par and as I’m wrapping it up, I wax reflective and think about how great this trip is. Good friends, good fun, and sometimes good golf. I think times like this are the reason God put us on the earth.
Scores from Cedar Ridge Back Nine:
Frank- 45
Brad- 45
Scott- 46 (Had to put my name before Craig. It just doesn’t happen)
Craig- 46
Jon- 50 (Wait, was this the same guy that shot a 39 on the front?)
Logan- 55
Boyd- 58 (Cheer up Boyd, this isn’t Burch Creek)
We head into Cedar City to grab some lunch before we cruise to St. George. We spot a Gandolpho’s and we think a sandwich seems like a good idea. The problem is that half of Cedar City thought it was a good idea as well. And Gandolpho’s has one (yep, one whole person) guy working the lunch rush. He takes a few orders and then turns and makes the sandwiches. While a big line of us sit and watch him.
Craig heads over to Sonny Boy’s (which is right next door) and gets a BBQ sandwich. Some of us that aren’t so smart decide to wait out the Gandolpho’s lunch rush. Meanwhile the poor kid making sandwiches is feeling the anger of those in line. He tells us he’s called for back-up. But it seems his help is coming from Brigham City or somewhere, because he wasn’t showing up anytime soon. We finally get our sandwiches, chow them down (because now we’re late) and get out of Dodge. It’s time to play some St. George golf.
Part of this trip is the food experience. The meals need to be timed and planned out because we’re usually working around a tee time. As we’re heading down to St. George we agree to eat at Benja Thai in Washington City after our round. I’ve been there a few times myself and absolutely love the place.
For any lack of skill we have in golf, we make up in eating. Except Craig, who doesn’t need to make up for his lack of skill in golf. Which must explain why he thinks this is the Biggest Loser contest or something. While the rest of us are pounding endless rolls of sushi, McDonalds and Betos, Craig is eating oatmeal, bananas and apples.
Dixie Red Hills Golf Course, St. George, Utah
This is a 9-hole course and probably the most expensive as we pay $27.50 for the round with a cart. It’s warm and windy. It seems we can’t really shake the wind the whole trip. My group for this round is Jon, Brad, and Boyd.
I really want to do good this round. I want to end on a positive note. Jon’s talking smack so we make a bet that the loser has to buy a Vegas sushi roll for the winner.
Hole #2- This is a 200-yard par 3 and Jon nails a 4-iron to about 3’ from the hole. It was probably the shot of the trip. Who knew that a Vegas roll was such a motivation?
Hole #3- I have a quad-bogey and Jon’s tasting his Vegas roll. So much for ending on a positive note.
Hole #8- I get another quad-bogey including one shot that went backward a foot (not 50 yards like Boyd, but still embarrassing). I’m hot and tired and ready to be done. The dream of a free Vegas roll is long gone and now I just want to get a slightly cold shower and go to bed.
With all of that being said, I think this was the prettiest course we played during the trip. Much like Moab last year, the contrast of the red hills and green grass is scenic. For a nine hole course, it doesn’t seem to come much better.
Scores for Dixie Red Hills:
Craig- 40
Jon- 41 (Maybe him and Craig should have had the Vegas roll bet)
Frank- 42
Logan- 47 (Way to go.)
Brad- 49
Scott- 50 (Awfully glad Boyd’s on the trip)
Boyd- 56
Let me say this about Boyd. There aren’t many people in the world that I’d rather play golf with than Boyd. Maybe he doesn’t have the lowest scores ever, but he’s a great guy to be with on (and off) the golf course. As I was planning the 2013 golf trip, I was having thoughts of postponing for a year. Soon after, Boyd called and was all-in for the trip. That was all I needed to get the motivation to get it planned.
Just when you think this is a golf trip, you soon realize that it’s way more than that. I’ve already mentioned the importance of food, but we have other interests as well. Boyd hooks us up with tickets to The Avengers in Cedar City. It’s opening night and a huge line, but we enjoy the movie and have a great time. So if you haven’t been keeping track, here was the contents of our day:
Eat at McDonalds
Golf 18 holes at Cedar Ridge
Eat at Gandolpho’s (some of us anyway)
Drive to St. George
Golf 9 holes at Dixie Red Hills
Eat at Benja Thai
Drive back to Cedar City
Freshen up back at the house (which includes Frank and Jon turning the water off to the house while Craig is in the shower. Just a follow-up to the yearly prank between Jon and Craig.)
Go to the 10:00 p.m. showing of The Avengers
Go to bed
Somebody needs to remind us we’re not youngsters anymore. Especially Frank, because he’s really old.
So as I write this blog, I fall victim to the “Missionary Journal” syndrome. That’s when you make notes in your journal with the idea that you’ll never forget these moments. But even though it was just a few months back, I have notes in my notebook that I can’t remember the story behind them. So I’ll list them in my blog and those that participated can refresh my memory:
Grapple
Craig using the ladies bathroom at Dixie Red Hills
Jon saying “writing things off”
Boyd missing the exit to the movie theater and Frank being a backseat driver
Saturday, May 5, 2012
It’s off to Delta, Utah to play Sunset View Golf Course. The weather has turned a little chilly and, of course, we have the ever present breeze. The clubhouse attendant is the cutest girl we see all trip. In Delta of all places. They have a deal for a $5 round if your birthday is within a week of the current day. Four of us qualify, but the fine print says that the deal isn’t in effect on a weekend. We let Jon work his magic and he talks the girl into giving us the discount.
I can say that at $5 we probably overpaid for the course. The golf pro did apologize as they had a rough year with the lack of water and that the greens just hadn’t had a chance to recover. The tee boxes were in bad shape as well and once again putting was an adventure. It also appears that we’re the only ones on the golf course.
Strangely enough, I shoot a pretty good round. On Hole #7 I witness Logan throw his second club of the trip. In his defense, we’re on the tail end of 63 holes and we’re on a crappy course.
I see a sign that says, “No firearms on course”. We’re either in gang territory or hunting territory. Otherwise there would be no need for this sign. I’ll have to go with the latter as Beaver makes Delta look like metropolitan New York City.
Hole #8- We decide to finish the last two holes as a sevensome. This hole is a par 3 so we have an impromptu closest to the hole contest. Boyd talks during Logan’s backswing (hey, we’ve all been there, Logan) and Logan promptly calls him a $%^&. I’m thinking we just need to get through these last two holes before we have a major meltdown.
Hole #9- Craig figures he’ll calm the situation down by rolling a ball through Logan’s legs during the backswing of his drive. We think this is high comedy. Logan wants to get mad, but he just hit his best drive of the whole trip so there isn’t much he can say.
We finish the trip with a group picture. We all want to be in the picture, so Jon goes and gets the clubhouse girl to come take our photo. It was a pleasant ending to the trip.
Sunset View scores:
Craig- 43
Scott- 44
Frank- 44
Brad- 48
Jon- 49
Boyd- 53
Logan- 54
Fun facts about the trip as voted on by us:
Best Course- Dixie Red Hills
Best Greens- Canyon Hills (Nephi)
Worst Course- Canyon Breeze (Beaver)
Worst Greens- Sunset View (Delta)
Best Views- Dixie Red Hills
Prettiest- Cedar Ridge
Easiest Course- Paradise (Fillmore)
Hardest Course- Cedar Ridge
Best Clubhouse- Cedar Ridge
Best Horsetrack- Canyon Breeze (Beaver)
Total scores and average:
Craig- 295 total 42.14 per nine
Frank- 310 total 44.29 per nine
Jon- 315 total 45 per nine
Scott- 324 total 46.29 per nine
Brad- 333 total 47.57 per nine
Logan- 365 total 52.14 per nine
Boyd- 379 total 54.14 per nine
Total amount spent on green fees and cart rental- $94.50
posted by Scott's Blog at Saturday, March 09, 2013
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