Day 4 Donner Pass, Costco (LOOK WHAT I BOUGHT), Lakeridge GC & Sushi, in Reno, NV

3/11 - Day 4 Donner Pass, Costco (LOOK WHAT I BOUGHT), Lakeridge GC & Sushi in Reno

     We got up and went to Margaret's sister Janet's house as she was going to go with us to get Margaret's rental car. Janet had her appointments for the day changed so she didn't need to go with us. Margaret gets her rental cars in Berkley and I dropped her off there and headed off for Reno.

     I don't think Margaret & I have been apart for more than 10 days in the last 44 years so it was kind of weird leaving her in California, especially since with all the weird stuff going on. Masters Swimming Nationals have already been canceled so maybe she will join me sooner than later. Who knows what the next six weeks will bring?

     I had never been over Donner Pass before. It's a pretty good road, but it IS WAY UP THERE as far as elevation goes. Other than flying I don't think I've ever been that high. (WELL, maybe, but maybe not!) Not a bad drive though. Even the traffic wasn't bad.

     When I got to Reno I did the necessary booze shopping (Who buys liquor in Washington anyway?). I bought three half gallons of Jameson Irish Whiskey (to take home!) before heading to the golf course. At CGCC we call it "Birdie Juice". I went to the register with just the booze in a box and a 30 pack of Cliff Bars. The lady in line behind me said "I want what you've got" and I told her there was plenty more where these came from.

     Lakeridge Golf Course is in the SW quadrant of Reno. This was only my 2nd trip to Reno. Mike & Ann Farris used to live there (a LONG, LONG time ago) and we visited them once. There was a Northern Nevada Senior Golf tournament going on and they got done earlier than anticipated so tee times were moved up a bit. I got paired with a couple from Portland, Mary & Gene (I don't know their last name). Gene was about the same type of player I am (used to be better, now an older, wiser, hack) and Mary is a nine holer who I hope was having a good time. Lakeridge has a lot of challenging holes, some water and a fair amount of sand. They are REALLY nice people and I enjoyed playing golf with them. We were also joined by a local young man, Daniel, who only played holes 6 through 9 with us. Daniel is a power hitter, but he didn't always hit it where he wanted to.

     Lakeridge is a good golf course. They aren't watering yet, so it was the opposite of Salem in that the ball rolled forever. The greens were so firm they wouldn't hold a GOOD shot. I thought I played better than I scored. The greens were hard to read, especially for a first timer. I DO recommend this golf course. It is a par 71 and there are only 3 tee choices. The yardage/slope for the Jones tees is 6715/134. The Lakeridge tees which Gene & I played are 6141/130. Mary played the Manna tees (which were a little long for her) at 5472/127 for ladies. Those tees have a 124 slope for men which is a good indicator of the trouble you can find on this golf course!

     Great golf hole? #15 is a LONG way down hill par three over water. Our tees were 220 yards and I shot the distance at 216 to the flag, which was about the middle of the green. I had asked an assistant in the pro shop about how much distance he thought the steep downhill drop took off and he told me about 30 yards.

     Mary took the hole off even though from her tee the hole is only about 93 yards, maybe a 70 yard carry to stay dry. I thought if I could nail a five wood I would be fine. I overswung SO bad I never even got all the way down the hill so I had to take a drop from an unplayable lie. I hit the next shot on the green and two putted for a five. Gene hit the green, but the ball had a lot of GO in it and finished in the rough about 20 yards long. He chipped back a little short and three putted so he also made 5.

     This begs the question, is this a great hole (#6 handicap for men, #14 for women) or not. I say it is! Doable, just takes a little nerve (and/or luck).

     I ate dinner at Tokyo Sushi on Virginia St. in downtown Reno. I like sushi, but had never sat at a sushi bar. The food was EXCELLENT and I enjoyed the experience. I will do that again. A couple sat down beside me and the guy used to live in Pullman & Lewiston. GAWD it's a small world!


 This is a picture of Mary with Gene in their cart. The other picture is looking down at the par 3 15th!