June 20th at Capitol Hill didn't work out. One of the courses was closed for green maintenance, so I drove on past there and went to Oxmoor Valley outside of Birmingham. Oxmoor Valley has 2 full length courses and an 18 hole short course. I walked all three courses, which was very difficult. These courses were not designed with walking golfers in mind, not even as an after-thought.
The Ridge course is, as one might expect, designed over the highest ground on the property. It has some extreme elevation changes but had some fairly solid holes. But in general is was nothing special, my overall review was 4 out of 10, which is solid.
The Valley course is much more easily walked. The first hole plays sharply downhill and then 17 and 18 play sharply uphill, but in between, the holes are reasonably flat. Flat enough to be a decent walk. But as is standard, there are sometimes huge distances between green and tee. Once again, course is decent, but nothing special. 4 of 10.
The routing of the short course is even worse than the other two. The hills are really out of hand. The course is decent, but there is a lack of variety in the holes. Not terrible, but not great. 3 of 10.
Ross Bridge, however, was very, very good. There is a decent variety in the holes, doglegs of different directions, straight holes, the par 3's are solid, par 5's are quite nice, and very good variety in the par 4's. Some differing lengths in the par 4's would be nice, such as one or two 300-350 yard holes, and perhaps make one of the par 3's a bit longer and a par 5 longer, but overall, the course was quite nice and varied to be nearly 8,200 yards long from the back tees. This course is, so far, the best on the Trail by a wide margin at 6 out of 10.
Individual reviews upcoming for these with pictures.
As a side note, I did walk the 54 holes at Oxmoor Valley. It was a very good "warm-up" for my Hundred Hole Hike on July 9th. Showed me that I will need to change socks more often than I expected and also change shoes. But in general, my hike should be a major success if I take time to make sure my feet and other body parts are doing well.
Monday
Course Prospects update
Well, May didn't turn out as hoped, but I wound up adding one new course to the list: Osceola in Pensacola. Early June started off with a new course, Lakewood (Azalea), a course that I had been looking to play for quite a while and I was, sadly, quite disappointed. It was an slightly above average course that charged a greatly above average fee. I generally wasn't pleased. But the rest of June is shaping up fairly well, with Quail Creek, a municipal course in Fairhope, AL coming up on Wednesday, possibly with a follow on 9 holes somewhere that afternoon. And on June 20 I fully intend to play all three courses at RTJ Capitol Hill.
July remains quite open for new courses. I may still play the two that I listed before, but I will have to see because now, as I have been writing about, I am doing the Hundred Hole Hike on July 9. After that is done, I'll have to see how much desire I have to travel and play somewhere that month.
But I fully expect to make up for any deficiencies in July during August. I will be making my second trip to Alaska during the first part of August and hopefully, since my in-laws are not able to take 15 days vacation (and let's just be 100% honest, I'm not sure if I'd want them to), I might try to just take one day and "machine gun" off 3, possibly 4, courses in a single day. Obviously daylight won't be a problem. Just a matter of finding enough courses in close enough proximity to do that. And on August 20, I intend to take advantage of the RTJ $20 on the 20th promotion and play Oxmoor Valley in Birmingham, along with, most likely, Ross Bridge for a 72 hole day. See how that goes though.
September and October are up in the air, though a tentative thought has me playing 54 at RTJ Grand National on September 20 and 36 at Silver Lakes in Anniston on October 20. December 20 would find me, then, at Highland Oaks in Dothan.
November 20, my birthday, is being reserved to play Pinehurst #2. I've been trying to play #2 for probably 10 years and it has never worked out. Doing everything possible this year to make sure it does. Depending on how things work out with that trip, I'll probably play 3 or 4 additional courses while I am in the Sandhills again. I have an idea where I want to play, but nothing is set; #2 comes first, then everything else builds around it.
And finally, I am going to send a couple of nice letters out to some private clubs in hopes of finding myself standing on the first tee there. Those invitations, especially the ones I really desire, could really change my plans going forward, but that would not be a bad thing.
So, schedule for the year, to include courses all ready played:
March: (2) Little River Resort (Carthage, NC), The River Golf Club (Bunn, NC)
April: (3) Whispering Pines (Hurley, MS), Mill Creek (Citronelle, AL), Silver King (Irvington, AL)
May: (1) Osceola (Pensacola, FL)
June: (6 planned) Lakewood (Azalea) (Point Clear, AL), Quail Creek (Fairhope, AL), Lake Forest (Daphne, AL), RTJ Capitol Hill (Judge, Senator, Legislator) (Prattville, AL)
July: ???
August: (6 planned) Anchorage GC (Anchorage, AK), Eagleglen (Elmendorf AFB, AK), RTJ Ross Bridge (Hoover, AL) RTJ Oxmoor Valley (Short, Ridge, Valley)
September: (3 planned) RTJ Grand National (Short, Lake, Links)
October: (2 Planned) RTJ Silver Lakes (Mindbreaker, Backbreaker, Heartbreaker, Short) [all those are 9 hole loops]
November: (?? planned) Pinehurst #2, unsure of remainder of trip
December: (2 planned) RTJ Highland Oaks (Highlands, Magnolia, Marshwood, Short) [all those are 9 hole loops]
I made the changes to include as many RTJ sites as possible because the $20 deal is tough to pass up. May as well burn through as many as possible while they are offering that deal.
So, if all goes according to this schedule, that will be at least 26 new courses played, likely closer to 32 after adding in an additional play or two during September, October and December, plus 2 or 3 others in November. Have to see how this turns out.
July remains quite open for new courses. I may still play the two that I listed before, but I will have to see because now, as I have been writing about, I am doing the Hundred Hole Hike on July 9. After that is done, I'll have to see how much desire I have to travel and play somewhere that month.
But I fully expect to make up for any deficiencies in July during August. I will be making my second trip to Alaska during the first part of August and hopefully, since my in-laws are not able to take 15 days vacation (and let's just be 100% honest, I'm not sure if I'd want them to), I might try to just take one day and "machine gun" off 3, possibly 4, courses in a single day. Obviously daylight won't be a problem. Just a matter of finding enough courses in close enough proximity to do that. And on August 20, I intend to take advantage of the RTJ $20 on the 20th promotion and play Oxmoor Valley in Birmingham, along with, most likely, Ross Bridge for a 72 hole day. See how that goes though.
September and October are up in the air, though a tentative thought has me playing 54 at RTJ Grand National on September 20 and 36 at Silver Lakes in Anniston on October 20. December 20 would find me, then, at Highland Oaks in Dothan.
November 20, my birthday, is being reserved to play Pinehurst #2. I've been trying to play #2 for probably 10 years and it has never worked out. Doing everything possible this year to make sure it does. Depending on how things work out with that trip, I'll probably play 3 or 4 additional courses while I am in the Sandhills again. I have an idea where I want to play, but nothing is set; #2 comes first, then everything else builds around it.
And finally, I am going to send a couple of nice letters out to some private clubs in hopes of finding myself standing on the first tee there. Those invitations, especially the ones I really desire, could really change my plans going forward, but that would not be a bad thing.
So, schedule for the year, to include courses all ready played:
March: (2) Little River Resort (Carthage, NC), The River Golf Club (Bunn, NC)
April: (3) Whispering Pines (Hurley, MS), Mill Creek (Citronelle, AL), Silver King (Irvington, AL)
May: (1) Osceola (Pensacola, FL)
June: (6 planned) Lakewood (Azalea) (Point Clear, AL), Quail Creek (Fairhope, AL), Lake Forest (Daphne, AL), RTJ Capitol Hill (Judge, Senator, Legislator) (Prattville, AL)
July: ???
August: (6 planned) Anchorage GC (Anchorage, AK), Eagleglen (Elmendorf AFB, AK), RTJ Ross Bridge (Hoover, AL) RTJ Oxmoor Valley (Short, Ridge, Valley)
September: (3 planned) RTJ Grand National (Short, Lake, Links)
October: (2 Planned) RTJ Silver Lakes (Mindbreaker, Backbreaker, Heartbreaker, Short) [all those are 9 hole loops]
November: (?? planned) Pinehurst #2, unsure of remainder of trip
December: (2 planned) RTJ Highland Oaks (Highlands, Magnolia, Marshwood, Short) [all those are 9 hole loops]
I made the changes to include as many RTJ sites as possible because the $20 deal is tough to pass up. May as well burn through as many as possible while they are offering that deal.
So, if all goes according to this schedule, that will be at least 26 new courses played, likely closer to 32 after adding in an additional play or two during September, October and December, plus 2 or 3 others in November. Have to see how this turns out.
Hundred Hole Hike update- June 11
Fundraising is going rather well, got $60 from each of my two sisters-in-law, Lexie and Whitney Williams, along with a pledge of $50 from Joel Zuckerman. I have a few other pledges that seem to be tentative and I will have to see how those workout. Hopfeully I can get above $1,000 soon and keep going from there.
Still working on getting ready for the Hike itself as well. I have been playing out at Magnolia Grove, mostly on the short course. I am finding myself able to turn 18 on the short course in under 1 hour every time. I have played the Falls course once and played it, while walking, in under 2 hours. I suspect I can do the same on the Crossings course when the time comes. This should be a very interesting experience.
Still working on getting ready for the Hike itself as well. I have been playing out at Magnolia Grove, mostly on the short course. I am finding myself able to turn 18 on the short course in under 1 hour every time. I have played the Falls course once and played it, while walking, in under 2 hours. I suspect I can do the same on the Crossings course when the time comes. This should be a very interesting experience.
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