The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer

Yesterday we went to golf heaven in Boardman Ohio, about a an 80 minute drive from my house. We played 36 holes at Millcreek. This is a state park in Ohio and the golf courses are simply called Millcreek North and Millcreek South. These courses are over 80 years old and to say that they have stood the test of time would be a major understatement. The courses were designed by famed architect Donald Ross and they are a couple of gems. Both courses are about 6500 yards from the tips and play to a par of 70. The South course is a little longer and harder than the North course but they are by far the best courses we have played so far. Each 9 has only one par 5 and the par 3’s are very good but the meat of the course is in the par 4’s. There are 9 par 4’s that are over 410 yds with the longest being 465. The courses were in excellent shape with the fairways and roughs perfect and the greens running a very smooth 5.5 on the stimpmeter. I don’t think I saw a putt bounce the entire day unless it hit a ball mark. Every hole is tree lined and even though not extremely tight you can not be wild off the tee. The course is very flat and every hole is challenging.  There is not a really easy hole on the golf course but on the other side of the coin there is not a super difficult hole. I think this is what makes a golf course truly great. The hot dog at the turn was delicious with another toasted bun. The group played pretty well also. I shot 75 on the North course and 76 on the South. Pete had 84, 81, and Donna shot 89, 88. The weather was very good with some clouds and a small amount drizzle to start which then cleared into a very nice sunny day with temp’s just touching 80. Obviously this course is worth the trip even if you have to walk to get there. The best thing is the 36 hole rate they give, 37.50 for 36 holes with a cart. Like I said welcome to golf heaven. Thiry five courses down 55 to go.

Today we played Highland Springs in Wellsburg, West Virginia, about a 50 minute drive from my house. This is a golf course that I played some as a teenager and young adult and have played it a few times since moving to Pittsburgh. It is a course that has gone through some hard times but has managed to keep on going and today the course was in very good shape with the greens running 5.5 on the stimpmeter and were very smooth. The course is 6800 yards from the tips, a little hilly with fairly wide open fairways, that were in good shape. This golf course is real enjoyable to play and is definitely worth the trip. One unique thing about this course is it has about 6 holes  in Pennsylvania and the other 12 holes are in West Virginia. The hot dog at the turn was very good with the condiments being quite tastey. The price was right here also, 23 bucks with a cart and the dog and the can of pepsi 2.50. If you live in the South Hills of Pittsburgh you should give this course a try, you will not be disappointed. Yours truly had one of his better days on the course in a long time. Even with some shaky putting I rattled off a 75 and hit some really good shots with nary a real bad one in the lot. Pete shot 82 and Donna had a 91 with the course being a little long for her. I really can’t explain the good round but we will see if the trend continues, or was this just some kind of cosmic blip. If I had been chipping and putting just a little bit better this could have easily been my best round of the year but it still was a very satisfying day. Thirty three down with 57 to go.

Yesterday was a 36 hole day. The first course we played was Hartmans, which is in Zellienople a 40 minute drive from my house. This course is an older course, very flat and easy to walk. There is a lot of water which comes into play on the back nine. The fairways were hard and dry but had grass and the rough was not too bad. The greens were slow running a 4.5 on the stimp. There is a good variety of holes, with most of the holes tree lined. The course played 6300 yards from the tips and some of the tees were moved up, so the day we played, it probably did not play quite as long. The hot dog at the turn was excellent with a toasted bun. The first time that has ever happpened, and the condiments were very good. The course could only be described as being in good to fair shape, as it was dry and some areas were burned out. One green was completely burned out. The price was right however ,15 bucks to walk. I unfortunately stunk out the joint with my game today. I shot 83 and really can’t even describe how pitiful I was. Pete shot a steady 76 and Donna had a 90. Then we went to Strawberry Ridge which was quite a contrast. I assume this course is a newer course. This course plays almost 6000 yds from the tips, and the  greens were good running almost a 6 on stimp and were very smooth. That is about the only good thing I can say about this course other than the fact that it was in pretty good shape over all. This course is extremely hilly and there were some major cart rides from the green to the next tee. Some holes on the front nine were extremely tight and just plain weird. A lot of blind shots and again this course was dry and hard and losing golf balls would become a hobby if you played here very much. I do not know why they make golf courses so unplayable but at least this course is not out my back door. The hot dog at the turn was pretty good but could not compare to the one at Hartmans with the toasted bun. I continued to struggle on the front 9, but put it together on the back a little bit with the help of the shot of the trek so far. The 15th hole is a short 293 yd. par 4 straight away with very little trouble. I put a really good swing on a driver, hit a beautiful draw and with help of the hard ground got a very good kick and with lots of roll put the ball within 6 feet of pin and made the putt for an eagle 2. This allowed me to shoot a 1 over par 36 on the back and salvage a 78 for the day. Pete shot another 76 and Donna an 85. Neither one of these golf courses is worth the trip but Hartmans is very playable and there is that toasted bun. Thiry two courses down and 58 to go.

Today we played course no. 30, Village Green in Hickory Pa. which is just about a 30 minute drive from my house. This course playes around 644o yards from the tips and the greens ran a 6.5 on the stimp and were very smooth. This course is fairly hilly and has tree lined fairways and on a few holes water can come into play. The rough was not too long and did not have any bare spots. The fairways were good and course overall was in excellent shape. The hot dog at the turn was good but nothing out of the ordinary. If you don’t have to drive more than  an hour then this course is worth the trip.  Some of the greens can have some false fronts on them which makes keeping the ball on the green very difficult. The group played ok today on another beautiful day. We may have had a miserable spring but we are making up for it now,with some really nice weather the last 4 to 5 weeks. I shot an 80 with some putting woes at the end, Pete shot 82 and Donna had 88. Overall this course was a very pleasant experience. We are a third of the way home now 30 down and 60 to go. Looks like we are headed for 36 this Wednesday.

Yesterday we played 36 holes on a gorgeous day in Western Pa. We went north of Pittsburgh and started with Pheasant Ridge which is about a 50 minute drive from my house. This course plays about 6500 yards from the tips and was in excellent shape. The fairways were great, the rough had very little areas of sparseness, and the greens were perfect. They ran a 5 on the stimpmeter and were extremely smooth. This course is very hilly but most of it is on the par 3’s and the walks from the green to the tee. It is a well designed course and has a nice variety of holes. The par 3’s on this course are very challenging. It has a lot of tree lined fairways and the shorter par 4’s are tight. The hot dog at the turn was ok but nothing special. Overall a very enjoyable course to play and definitely worth the trip. The group played ok. I had a 78, Pete had putting trouble all day and shot 85 and Donna had a 91. This course was also a very lady friendly course with tee markers moved well forward. Next we headed a little further north to Rittswood. This course also plays 6500 yards from the back tees but that is where the similarities end. This course is much flatter and more wide open. It was not in as good as shape as Pheasant Ridge but  was ok. The fairways were good and the rough was good but it was courser and more difficutl to hit out of. The greens were slower as they ran at 4 and were a little bit bumpy. Overall this course was enjoryable to play and had enough variety of holes to make it interesting. No sand traps.  The hot dog at the turn was better here very tasty with some nice condiments. Even though I feel Rittswood was the easier golf course the group played about the same or slightly worse. I shot 80 going on a 6 hole bogey train on the front, Pete contiued to have putting woes and shot 87 and Donna shot 90. Another course that is lady friendly. This is a nice solid little golf course but not really worth the trip. I am not any closer to any answers let alone golf. That corner I thought I was turning around last week, turned out to be just another golf hallucination. The last hole of the day was a great example of why this is such a goofy game. It is a 413 yd par 4, with a slight dogleg to the left. With the ball teed up I hit my drive a good 75 yards right of where I was aiming. I was directly behind a pine tree and just had to pitch out straight across. I didn’t hit it hard enough to get it in the fairway. I am in the rough with the ball sitting a little bit down. I am about 215 yards from the green. Since I have nothing to lose, I take my 3 wood and hit down on the ball perfectly and knock the ball on the green about 40 feet from the hole. Now I ask you, how can you do that? How can you hit a ball that accurately out of the rough, when just before with the ball teed up perfectly from a level lie you hit it  across state lines.  If you can find the answer to that the search is over. Twenty nine courses down and 61 to go.

Today we played course no 27, Fort Cherry which is in McDonald Pa and is about a 30 to 35 minute drive from my house. Fort Cherry  is a solid little golf course which plays 6200 yards at the tips and has a par of 70. The first hole is one of the toughest par 4’s in Western Pa. Another first hole that is the toughest hole on the course which I find very strange but it does seem to be a trait of many of the golf courses that we have played so far. Many times the first hole is one of top 4 handicap holes. The greens were running a 5 on stimpmeter and were very smooth. The hot dog at the turn was  very good as it had that good snap when you bit into it and was very tasty. This course has been around for a good while and it has always had a good and loyal following. This course has a  couple of other unique things about it. There is a motel associated with the course and  at one time they used lights so there could be play at night. I am not too sure why this is but it seems worth mentioning. It is also worth mentioning that I had an extremely good ball striking day. Unfortunately it did not equate into a great scoring day because I was hitting  it so good that I did not have very good distance control and this cost me.  I managed to shoot 78, Pete shot a steady 79 and Donna had a 92. We had very good weather although the first two thirds of the day was very windy. For the first time in about a year I am feeling that I am turning a corner, time will tell. If you live in the area this golf course is worth visiting. It has a nice variety of holes and is in good shape. Twenty seven down and sixty three to go.

On Wednesday June 15th we played 36 holes. We played Madison Club in the morning and Manor Vallley in the afternoon. Madison Club is in Madison Pa., which is about an hour drive from my house. This course was built about 20 years ago and is a decent course that plays 6800 yards from the blue tees and is in very good shape except for one thing. The rough is terrible and has always been terrible. What I mean by terrible is the grass is sparse with many bare spots and there is even rocks in the rough. Now it has been this way since day one. To correct this problem it takes very advanced technology, grass seed and a rake. It is a shame because the rest of the course is good. The greens ran a 6 on the stimp and were very smooth. But this lack of care of the roughs makes this course not very enjoyable to play. The hot dog at the term was good but nothing special. The group played ok I shot 81 Pete had a 79 and Donna a 92. Next we went to Manor Valley which is east of Pittsburgh in Export Pa. This is another hillly short course which is typical of the courses east of Pittsburgh. The course plays 5900 yards from the tips and was in pretty good shape. The fairways and greens were firm and this was the first time all year where there was a lot of roll on the ball. The greens were  a 5.5 on the stimp and did have a few rough spots. The rough was not very deep and easy to play from,  considering it had grass that was in all parts of the rough. I liked Manor Valley a little better than Cloverleaf which we played last week. A little more variey to the holes and greens were in a little better shape. The hot dog at the turn was better than Madison’s and I was even offered sauerkrat. I shot 76 Pete 74 and Donna 91. My game is on medication as I continue to struggle with the short game and some from very bad shots. I hit a lot of good shots but when I hit a bad one, it is really bad. We had one of the best weather days we have ever had with the temp around 80 and plenty of sunshine.    Neither one of these courses is worth the trip but Madison could be. Twenty six courses down and sixty four to go.

Yesterday we played 36 holes. In the morning we played Cedarbrook Gold in Belle Vernon Pa. and then in the afternoon we played Cloverleaf in Delmont Pa. Cedarbrooke has 36 holes, and we played the Red last fall. The golf course is one of the more difficult courses, we will play. It is 6400 yards from the tees we played from, and the back nine has a really tough stretch of holes, beginning with 14, a 206 par 3, followed by a 448 yd par 4, and a  417 yard par 4 slightly uphill. The greens ran 6 on the stimpmeter and were in very nice shape. They had some burnt out areas on the fairways for some reason and the roughs were ragged and sand traps were terrible. The hot dog at the turn was very good and the weather was hot but not that humid with a little breeze. The group played ok but no one could get anything going on the greens. I shot 79 Pete shot 90 and Donna 93. I started out ok but my putting was a little off and staggered home with 3 bogeys on the last 4 holes. Is this golf course worth the trip. If you want to play 36 holes then I would say yes. This is  overall, a very nice facility and they seem to run a very tight ship. I think this is the best course I have played that seems to keep running on time when it comes to tee times. The course used to be in really good shape but over the years that has declined somewhat. The afternoon course was Cloverleaf in Delmont which is about a 45 minute drive from my house. This is a shorter easier course, which I think is missing in new golf course construction. The course is 5800 yds from the back tees,and like Chippawa is practically devoid of sand traps. The greens ran a 5.5 and were very smooth. The fairways and the roughs were good and many of the holes were tree lined. The only negative about this course is there were many blind tee shots. The course was relatively hilly but overall enjoyable to play. The hot dog at the turn was very good and it even tasted better with a can of Rolling Rock. I had never played this course before and I made many bad decisions, got off to a slow start, ralllied a little bit on the back nine, but managed only a 79 on a very easy golf course. Pete also had a 79 and Donna shot 89. Of course this golf course is not worth the trip but if you live in this area it is a solid little golf course with a good variety of holes. I could not get anything going all day and really hit some horrible shots in the afternoon but at least I played all 36 holes. Twenty four down and 66 to go.

Today June 5th I went back to the scene of the crime Linden Hall, where I made my memorable walk off the course on the 12th tee. Since that Memorial day hike I have played 9holes at Mt Lebanon golf course on Wednesday, 9 holes at the same place on Thurday, 18 holes at South Park yesterday and 18 holes today at Linden Hall. Yes I played all 18 holes today. So much for taking some time off but with a bit of a new outlook and a totally new strategy for my game I have thrown in a couple of good rounds. The first 9 at Mt Lebanon did not bode well as I was litterly 9 over for 9 holes. On Thursday I had my ups and downs at the same course and managed to shoot 3 over par. But things began to perk up a little bit at South Park on Saturday when I started out with 3 birdies on the first 6 holes and then cooled off to shoot a 3 over 75. At Linden Hall I had another very good ball striking day but a couple of short putt misses and short game meltdown on the 2ond hole made me shoot 3 over on the front and then with help of 2 birdies on the back I shot 37 for a 4 over 76. This on a course only 6 days ago  that I was not going to break 85. So what happened. Well right now it is too early to tell but what I like about this new process and it is a process, is that it seems to be progessing in the right direction. So I am back in the saddle again and the 90 golf course trek will be continuing in earnest once again.  This game can drive you batty but it drives everyone batty at every level of play. I think the biggest problem with the game is that it makes you feel that you are not playing up to your capabitities. I think we all know that everyone can not be like a Tiger Woods. We all have pretty much established our games. It is when those games go completely south, that is the true mystery of the game.   That is the answer we are searching for, to be able to play at the best of our abitities, no matter what the circumstances. Still holding at 22 down with 68 to go.

Yesterday, Memorial Day we went to course no 22 Linden Hall in Dawson Pa which is about 15 miles north of Uniontown Pa. It is about a 75 minute drive from my house depending on the traffic. This golf course is unique in that it is owned by the United Steel Workers Union. This golf  course plays about 6600 yards from the tips and is fairly wide open with a great variety of holes. The greens were a little slow, running 4.5 on the stimp meter, but were smooth. The course was in good condition, and of course with all the rain we have been having, the rough was lush. We teed off at 7:20, and it was a hot summer day getting into the 80’s by 9 o’ clock.  The hot dog at the turn was delicious, and churned its way into my stomach to a solid 2ond place. In fact, the Firestone farms condiments is the only thing that really gave it the edge. It had been almost 3 weeks since we have been able to play one of the golf courses on the list as a group. I was away for 6 days visiting grandkids and the weather until rccently has been an issue. I have been playing, of course, during this time, with various results as usual, but yesterday for some reason I really did not want to be there. After hitting a beautiful opening drive my day took a steady decline of horrendous driving and spasmotic chipping and putting. After taking 4 strokes from 25 yards in, on a short par  4 and hooking my drive on the 12 hole into the woods that were 100 yards left on where I was aiming, I just starting walking down the right side of the hole with the intention of just skipping the hole, and going to the next tee. Then I remembered there was this dirt road that went along the par 3 no 13 and it headed right up the 17 th hole to the 18th and to the parking lot, and I just kept on walking. No good by to the group, so I don’t know what they thought, but I had had enough. I was dead tired when I approached the 12th tee box and the first thing I noticed as I was walking in, was that there was more of a hop in my step as I felt the exhileration of getting the hell out of there. No more of being totally incompentant. No more humiliation. I must have walked a good solid mile with my clubs on my back but by the end I was no longer tired and could have easily walked another mile in the heat.  I think golf is the individual version of the Peter principle, where you reach your own level on incompentence. I started having a handicap in 1986. During this 25 year period my handicap has been between 2 and 7 and probably for 24 of those 25 years its been betwee 3 and 5. In other words I would go into a slump, and for awhile, and I would be a 6 or 7, or I would get a little bit of a hot streak,and be a 2 or 3. I am sure there are many other players the same way. You start playing golf you improve to a certain level, no matter what that level is and thats it. No matter what you do, you really don’t get any better. I don’t think this is a physical thing either, it is definitely mental. So the 90 golf course quest is going to be put on hold for awhile. After all the blog is called searching for the answer not the 90 golf course trek. I would probably just quit, but I just bought 3 dozen golf balls, and so maybe thats what I will do, play until I run out of balls. Of course I imagine some people already think I have run out of those. By the way Linden Hall is worth the trip, especially if you want to make a weekend ot it because there is a hotel there and other things to do. A very nice enjoyable golf course in a very nice setting with great rates. Yesterday, a holiday  it was 28 dollars with a cart. I am taking a break from playing. I don’t know for how long a week ,a month, a season who knows maybe the answer will come in a dream.