Golfing with the Guys- 2013

This annual golf trip is a big deal to me.  Our trip in 2013 was our fourth time to do it.  It’s something that I look forward to every year and pretty much start counting down the days 3 months out.  In my mind, the trip is broken down to 4 different aspects.  These are not necessarily listed in order of what is my most favorite.

1.   Golf- This is a golf trip.  So the golf is extremely important.  This trip has been great to help me accomplish my goal of golfing every course in the state of Utah.  Particularly when we hit the rural, out-of-the way courses.  We also hit some nicer courses just so Craig and Jon will keep coming on the trip.  Every year, I get excited about golfing 27 holes in a day and every year I regret the last 9 of that 27. 

Nicest Courses:
South Mountain- Draper (Year 1) I sucked, but a pretty course
Birch Creek- Smithfield (Year 1) Ditto to South Mountain
Wasatch Mountain Lake Course (Year 1)
The Hideout- Monticello (Year 2) I know others in our that really didn’t like this course
Moab- Moab (Year 2)
Beaver- Beaver (Year 3) Just kidding, I hated that place.  Stupid horse track.
Cedar Ridge- Cedar City (Year 3)
Dixie Red Hills- St. George (Year 3)
Oquirrh Hills- Tooele (Year 4)
 
Least favorite courses:
Green River State Park- (Year 2)
Beaver- (Year 3)
Delta- (Year 3)

2.   Food- I like to eat.  I mean, I really like to eat.  So eating needs to be as carefully planned as the tee times for the golf.  Boyd is our resident connoisseur so he is usually in charge of the food.  Sometimes we have to opt for a McDonalds or Wendy’s but we’ve eaten at some pretty good places too. 

 
Favorite places we’ve eaten:
Red Iguana- Salt Lake (Year 1)
Angie’s- Logan (Year 1) I love that place, but I could see if others don’t care for it
Jax’s- Moab (Year 2)
Sonny Boy’s- Cedar City (Year 3)
Benja Thai- St. George (Year 3)
Cheesecake Factory- Salt Lake (Year 4)
 
Least favorite places we’ve eaten:
BBQ at Logan River Clubhouse- Logan (Year 1)
Hamburger at The Hideout- Monticello (Year 2)
Breakfast Haus- Moab (Year 2) I really disliked this place because I was expecting so much more
Wendy’s- Nephi (Year 3)
Gandolpho’s- Cedar City (Year 3) Horrible service
Some random Japanese place- Stansbury Park (Year 4)
 

3.   Accommodations- This is usually my responsibility so that I know it gets done right.  If I left it up to Jon we’d be calling Motel 6 on our way to the destination.  I have to admit the best accommodations have been when we’ve had a house or condo.  It’s way better than a motel.  Plus we have a gathering place to shoot the bull before we go to bed.  That’s a critical part of the trip. 

 
My favorite places:
Crystal Inn (Year 1) Excellent breakfast buffet
Condo- Moab (Year 2) Had a pool
House- Cedar City (Year 3)
Peppermill Casino- W. Wendover (Year 4)
 
Least favorite places:
Holiday Inn Express- Heber City (Year 1) Hot tub was about 65 degrees

4.   Travel- I’m kind of weird because I like it when we can all ride in one car.  It’s nice to be able to spend time in a larger group than a smaller group.  It's fun, unless you’re in a big huge van and two of you are on a conference call the whole time wondering if their boss is going to get fired.  I don’t really have a favorite way to travel because I’ve enjoyed them all.  I especially like riding in Jon’s fancy vehicles.  Or are they Lori’s?

The 2013 trip was having a rough start.  Craig backed out quickly.  I called him one night trying to talk him into it, but it was to no avail.  I didn’t push for a reason why, but rumor on the street was that he didn’t want to play crappy courses that he’s already played.  But if Craig realizes that golf is only ¼ of the equation as I just pointed out, then maybe he would have changed his mind.

I was trying to get commitments from the rest of the group.  Jon wasn’t returning emails as per usual.  Frank was the understudy to Jon on returning emails.  Brad was trying to work out his schedule and Logan was trying to figure out his finances or permission from his wife or something of that ilk.  I was about ready to just bag it when Boyd called me one day and gave me a little pep talk.  That remotivated me to get the thing planned.
 
This year was going to be a western Utah swing.  We were going to his such metropoli as Magna, Stansbury Park, Tooele, and W. Wendover.  No wonder Craig was backing out.  However, the trip got planned.  Jon committed, Boyd committed, and Logan and Brad partially committed because of other obligations.  Frank and Craig were out. 

Things were lining up until I got a phone call at noon on the day before we were to start the trip.  It was one of those phone calls that was so devastating I can still remember today where I was standing when the call came through.  The call was from Boyd and he informed me that he couldn’t make the trip.  Some crummy things had happened at work that forced him to cancel the trip.  I was seriously bummed.  We weren’t canceling the trip, but two of the golf trip veterans (Boyd and Craig) were now out.

But I was still excited for the golf and we still had others that were excited to play.  It’s not like Jon, Logan, and Brad are chopped liver.  We were still going to have a fun time with a lot of golf.

The next morning I arise nice and early so I can get to Magna on time.  I don’t want us to miss our tee time and then have to wait a few hours to get on the course because they are jammed pack for the day.  I get a text from Boyd saying he is now in for the golf trip.  That’s when I realized I had been punked.  These guys were setting me up with their elaborate ruse to toy with my emotions with a “I’m in, now I’m out, now I’m in” game.  Logan had called me the day before after Boyd had called me and confirmed that Boyd was out.  I realized that Logan was part of the conspiracy and his phone call was just additional set-up for the big reveal.  No matter, I’m just glad Boyd is joining us.

I arrive at the Copper Club in Magna and see Logan warming up.  We’re the only two at the whole course.  I get out of my car and start chastising Logan for punking me with their prank.  Logan looks at me kind of funny and says it was all real.  Boyd was having troubles at work, but decided at 1:00 a.m. (apparently with Logan begging him) to re-join the golf trip.  At this point, I’m thinking that I have to get the low-down on Boyd’s work troubles.  It was all starting to sound pretty intriguing. 

I pay for my golf and look at the tee sheet for the day and see that we are the only ones on the sheet for the whole day.  Right there, 9:00 a.m. tee time was spoken for.  Mind you, it’s a beautiful May morning and perfect weather for golf.  I’m starting to understand why Craig chose to opt out.  I order a bucket of balls and head out to the driving range.  The driving range turns out to be a pet peeve of mine.  First of all, it’s pretty much cow pasture.  Second of all, the length of the range was 150 yards.  Not only could you not hit any of your woods, but pretty much all of your irons as well. 

The Copper Club- Magna, Utah

Cost- $10 walking

The rest of the crew arrives (Jon and Boyd) and we get the golf trip started.  Hole #1 has the blue tees in front of the white tees.  For the first time in my life I demand that we play the blue tees.  The Copper Club is listed as a private course.  There is a crummy clubhouse area where people can come and have their country club dinner.  But really all it was, was a private piece of dog doo.  The course and the clubhouse wasn’t very impressive.

What was impressive was me hitting the ball straight and playing some good golf.  I have 5 pars and but for a double bogey on the last hole I could have been in for a special round.  I did notice a couple of things:  Boyd was hitting drives long and straight.  That was kind of new.  Logan had added a little hop into his routine before he hit each drive.  It was good for some entertainment.

Scores:
Scott 42
Jon 43 (I love beating Jon)
Logan 49
Boyd 54

For the first, and last, time of the trip, I’m glad that Craig isn’t with us because I finally got a chance to claim the gold medal on one of the courses that we have played.  Craig probably would’ve shot a 29 if he played this course with us.

We then head over to our motel by the airport to check in and drop off cars.  It feels like we have about 12 cars because we have so many different schedules we’re working with.  But, we’re soon off to our next stop for the last 18 holes of our 27 planned for the day.

We travel to Stansbury Park and seek the best place to eat in town and end up at a Japanese place in a strip mall.  Should be pretty authentic.  The fact that their lunch special was in Spanish “Especial” should have clued me into how authentic it was going to be.  I got the curry chicken and proceeded to wade through the mounds of vegetables to find a piece of chicken or two.  I ended up paying (not financially) for the curry for the rest of the afternoon.

Stansbury Park Golf Club- Stansbury Park, Utah

Cost- $28 w/cart.  We can play as many holes as we want to with their “all day” deal.  I’m sure 18 will be just fine for me.

The course has a lot of water on it and the greens had just been aerated.  This really wasn’t shaping up to be a course to shoot a low score.  Because of the aeration the greens were really slow and they didn’t have any sort of true roll to them.  It made it a little challenging.

We start playing and soon a buff, tatted up dude in a tank top starts catching up with us.  He has his token hot girlfriend in the cart with him who is texting away while he’s playing golf.  We let him play through and he even seemed like a nice guy.  I’m quickly finding out that the Stansbury Park clientele isn’t exactly the same you’d see at a country club (unless it was the Copper Club).

I birdie Hole #6 and Logan birdies Hole #8.  Jon then has the hole of the trip when he birdies Hole #14 a 450 yard, Par 4.  It’s soon after this that the controversy begins.  On the Par 3, Hole #16 Jon (needing a gambling fix) announces that the two that are furthest from the pin have to buy the two closest to the pin milkshakes.  I sky my tee shot but clear the water and even though I’m not very close, I end up being one of the winners.  One person (I think Boyd) hits a terrible shot that shoots off the right but stays out of the water.  Jon and Logan both hit further than Boyd but both end up in the water.  So the questions is, who was closest to the pin?  If we went by physical distance then it was Jon.  If we went by the fact that Boyd’s ball was actually playable then it was Boyd.  Needless to say, that issue never got resolved with both of them claiming that they were the victor.

My goal for each course was to shoot 90 or better.  For each nine the goal was to be 45 or better. 

Scores:

 

Front 9

Jon 44
Logan 44

Scott 46 (You’re going to see a theme for the trip with the 46 thing)

Boyd 62

Back 9
Jon 43
Scott 46 (Missed 3’ putt for a 45, probably one of the more frustrating moments of the trip for me)
Logan 53
Boyd 57 (At least he won a milkshake. Or not)

Total- 18 holes
Jon 86
Scott 92
Logan 97
Boyd 119

After a long hard day of golf it was time for some good eats.  Boyd suggested Cheesecake Factory in Salt Lake (this is why we need Boyd on these trips) and we were all in.  We make a quick trip into Downtown and I’m hankering for some pasta.  I order the shrimp scampi, but was quickly disappointed as it had a ton of tomatoes and not a ton of pasta.  Boyd’s dish has a ton of pasta and he eats about half of it.  Boyd offers for me to have a bite of his dinner and I finish the second half of his dish.  I top it off with strawberry cheesecake and $52 later (including tip), I’ve paid a lot for a meal.

During dinner we let Boyd share (vent) his work drama.  We all got to play armchair quarterback and tell him all the things he should have done or said to his boss.  Admittedly, Boyd would have been best off to completely ignore our advice which is what I’m sure he did.

We get back to the motel and it’s time for the hot tub.  I forget my swimsuit (again) so the guys allow me to skinny dip in the hot tub with them.  Well, not really.  I just kept my golf shorts on and hopped in.  It was nice to sit and relax while Jon pinpointed all the problems with Bonneville football and basketball.

Next day was going to be spent in Tooele.  Brad was joining us for the day and we were going to golf with 5 of us.  First stop was Oquirrh Hills which turned out being my favorite course of the trip. 

Oquirrh Hills- Tooele, UT
 
Cost- $28 for 18 holes w/cart

The front nine was in pretty good shape and the back nine was still maturing.  I started out good and was 2 over after 5 holes.  I have visions of the 30’s in my head.  Then I have the proverbial triple bogey blow up on Hole #7 and putter to the finish line.  I am doing better than Jon as he smacked a house on Hole #5.  We somehow end up golfing as a fivesome during this nine holes and carry that through the back nine as there weren’t many on the course.

The back nine proves to be a little bit of a challenge for some of us.  At one point Boyd chips in and shows absolutely zero emotion as you can tell that he just wants it to end.  Meanwhile on Hole #17 we’re all on the green except for Jon.  Since we’re playing a fivesome it was a little difficult to tell where everybody was at.  Boyd pulls the pin and sets it to the side of the green.  Jon wasn’t on the green yet and was setting up his pitch shot to get on the green.  Jon hits a beautiful chip that looked as if it was going to bounce just before the green and roll right up near the hole.  Instead it hits the flag that was laying in Jon’s line for his shot to the green.  When the ball hits the flag and stick it promptly stops.  We all get a chuckle out of it and Jon (who has gone into Boyd mode) just wants to finish the round.  He shrugs it off and putts out.

Jon was OK with everything until we tallied up the back 9 scores and Jon tied Logan with a 42.  Now Jon is starting to regret hitting the flag/stick that Boyd had left in his way on Hole #17.  After stewing about it for a minute, Jon decides that it just doesn’t matter and sticks with his 42.

Front 9
Scott 43
Jon 47
Logan 49
Brad 51
Boyd 54

Back 9
Logan 42
Jon 42
Scott 52
Brad 54
Boyd 57

Total
Jon 89
Logan 91
Scott 95
Brad 105
Boyd 111

Birdies- Jon (2) Hole #7 and Hole #14
Don’t know about Boyd or Logan with birdies because they burned their scorecard as soon as the round was over so there was no physical evidence of Logan’s 42.
 
After the round, Boyd and Logan decided they had had enough.  We still had another 18 holes to play that day, but they were done.  We still had Toana Vista set up for the next day, but they were done.  They were outta here.

So the trip then boils down to me, Jon and Brad.  We’re about to embark on another 18 holes for a total of 36 for the day.  This was unchartered territory for me.  I have never golfed 36 holes in one day.

The Links at Overlake- Tooele, UT

This was a true links course.  Not a tree in sight and plenty of sand traps.  It felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere (well, we were in Tooele), but there wasn’t a single structure around except for the golf shed and clubhouse.  The course was built in the mid-2000’s with the intent to sell homes around it.  Unfortunately they didn’t time the market well and subsequently there were no homes around the course.

I actually enjoyed this course.  The greens were slow which is usually a good thing, but we were all leaving a lot of putts short.  I liked the views of the valley from there and I didn’t lose a ball.  That is kind of rare for me as well.  We had a great time with just the three of us and didn’t seem to hardly see anybody else on the course.

Front 9

Brad 42
Jon 43
Scott 46

Back 9
Jon 43
Scott 46
Brad 48

Total
Jon 86
Brad 90
Scott 92 (Shot a 46-46 just like Stansbury Park)

Birdies- Brad Hole #4 and Jon Hole $14

At this point Brad takes off and it’s just me and Jon on our way to West Wendover.  Our once thriving golf trip has turned into just two of us for the last day.  In fact, after this golf trip, Jon and I are the only two to play every hole of every trip over the last 4 years.

We head out on I-80 to W. Wendover with the sun starting to set.  I bought a new pair of sunglasses because I left my old pair at the Copper Club in Magna.  As we’re cruising down I-80 we see a car off the side of the road.  We see a guy standing to the side of his car kind of arching his back and taking a wiz on the side of the road.  This guy wasn’t being subtle at all and he must of really had to go because it was a huge stream coming out in an almost rainbow shape.  Dare I say that with the sun almost setting, it was a silhouette of a man, taking a leak, not caring one bit about the cars driving past him.

We check into our hotel at the Peppermill Casino in W. Wendover.  Our room has two king size beds so I don’t have to worry about Jon trying to snuggle me in the middle of the night.  At this point I’m exhausted from lack of sleep and 18 holes of golf and 120 miles on the road.  We grab a bite to eat and Jon and I start talking about sports betting.

I have a checkered past that I don’t tell anybody about because I have a sterling reputation to protect.  I’m only telling you this now so that Bishop Hunter can resolve me of all my past gambling sins.  I have placed a sports bet a time or two.  I know how to read a line and I know what certain terminology to use when placing a bet.  I haven’t gambled in about 10 years so I wasn’t about to break that string on this evening.

Jon on the other hand was ready to place a sports bet.  The only game that hadn’t started yet was the San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors basketball playoff game.  The line was -2 for the Warriors and the over/under was 201.5.  I explained what those meant to Jon and he did a two bet parlay to try to get both of them.  He slapped down 20 bucks that the Warriors would cover and that the over would be reached.  If both of these happened then Jon would win about 45 dollars and get his 20 bucks back on top of that.  If only one of them happened or neither of them happened, then Jon was going to make a donation to the power bill of the Peppermill Casino.

Unfortunately for Jon, the Warriors didn’t cover and the final score was under 201.5.  At this point I’m half asleep and Jon tells me he’s heading downstairs as I’m fading off.  Now what transpired over the next few hours is Jon’s story to tell.  All I remember the next day was Jon constantly mumbling things like, “I can’t believe I took out a second mortgage” or “Blackjack again?  How does the dealer keep getting blackjack?”

The next day we head to Toana Vista and I was pretty proud of myself for remembering that we were making a change to the Pacific time zone.  It gave us another hour to sleep (or gamble) and couldn’t help patting myself on my back for remembering to change our clocks.  We get to the golf course to check in and the guy says, “Hey, you guys are an hour late”.  Apparently W. Wendover is the only place in Nevada that is still in the Mountain time zone.

Toana Vista Golf Club- W. Wendover, NV

Cost- $45 for 18 holes w/cart

I had it in my mind that this would be the nicest course we would play on the trip.  It’s in a resort (somewhat of a resort) community and it has a little better weather here (but, not really).  We play the first hole and half the fairway has grass that has been eaten by mold or otherwise dug up.  It didn’t get any better on any of the remaining fairways.  We bumped into the groundskeeper half way through the round because I think he could hear me cussing him under my breath.  He said they had a really windy spring and didn’t have a chance to put much fertilizer or weed killer on the course.  He was apologetic and seemed to be a good guy, so I decided to cut him some slack.

Unfortunately my golf game was just getting hammered.  A crummy course that is kind of hard on a good day, being fatigued and sore, and listening to Jon add up his gambling losses so he could claim them on his taxes was more than I could handle. 

Front 9
Jon 42 (To Jon’s credit he was very consistent this whole trip)
Scott 49

Back 9
Jon 49
Scott 51

Total
Jon 91
Scott 100 (I have a goal to not shoot above a 100 every again.  I shot a 100 four different times in 2013, but never over it.  I just have to avoid Birch Creek in Smithfield and I should be able to reach this goal.)

Birdies- Jon Hole #1

Overall another fantastic trip with some fantastic guys.  Since Jon and I were the only ones to play all the courses, here is our summary:

Worst Clubhouse- Copper Club
Best Clubhouse- Toana Vista
Easiest Course- Copper Club
Hardest Course- Toana Vista
Best Greens- Toana Vista
Worst Greens- Stansbury Park
Best Views- Overlake
Nicest Course- Oquirrh Hills
Worst Course- Toana Vista
Prettiest Course- Oquirrh Hills

Average Scores:
Jon- 44 (9 rounds)
Scott- 46.8 (9 rounds)
Logan- 47.4 (5 rounds)
Brad- 48.8 (4 rounds)
Boyd- 56.8 (5 rounds)

Finishes
1^st Place- Jon 6, Scott 2, Logan 2, Brad 1
2^nd Place- Scott 4, Jon 3
3^rd Place- Logan 3, Scott 3, Brad 1
4^th Place- Boyd 3, Brad 2
5^th Place- Boyd 2