(June 6th) Day 1 - Walla Walla, WA, drove 108 miles

2021 Golf Across American Trip

People asked me if I was going to resume my golf trip from last year. The answer was always, “No. I’m going to start all over because I want to play in all the states on the same trip". I am in Iowa now, just starting to write posts for my blog and later on to be posted on Facebook.  I am reviewing all my writing (since I got home August 5th) and adding what pictures I can find so this year's trip will be more interesting to my friends.

For my friends that do not play golf, here are some minor golf insights. Par is the total number of strokes it should take to play the golf course if you two putt every green AND hit every green in regulation. That means 1 shot to the green for par 3's, 2 shots for par 4's, 3 shots for par 5's and 4 shots for the rare par 6's I have played.  Slope & Course Rating are measurements of how tough a golf course is, regardless of par and vary for men and women AND are different from each set of tees. The average Slope rating is 113 with a low number of 55 (easy peasy, no hazards) and can go up to as high as 155 which means "No thanks, I’ll find another course, because this one is WAY too hard for me". Course Rating is based on yardage and what a low handicap (AKA scratch golfer) might shoot as an average score from this particular set of tees. Neither have anything to do with what the PAR is on any particular course. I don’t pay much attention to course rating when I choose a course & which set of tees to play, but I try to NOT play courses (or tees at least) with slope above 125, and I WON’T play tees with a slope over 130 anymore. It’s just not fun for a golfer of my caliber. Also, I prefer a golf course yardage close to 6000 yards these days, about 400 yards shorter than I used to play regularly. Margaret likes yardages less than 5400 yards and doesn't worry about slope rating so much, but occasionally has to lay up short of hazards to avoid losing golf balls (so do I, but less often). We try to  keep it fun, otherwise why do it?

Margaret & I left Clarkston for Walla Walla, WA on June 6^th , (our 45^th wedding anniversary)  in separate cars. We played golf at Wine Valley, just west of Walla Walla and stayed at the Quality Inn on the north edge of downtown. We had a nice dinner at the Marcus Whitman Hotel lounge, about a three block walk from the hotel. In the morning Margaret drove back to Clarkston and I headed south and then east to Burley, ID, for day two of my journey. 

Wine Valley Golf Club is my favorite golf course in eastern Washington. I like links style golf courses and this is a great one. I don’t hit the ball as high or as far as I used to and links courses always give you a lot of run out (roll!) on low trajectory shots. You just have to avoid the bunkers which is not as easy as you think because the fairways are contoured to roll the ball into the bunkers if you get anywhere close to them.

We both played pretty well, even though I got off to a terrible start. I was 8 over par after 3 holes, but finished the front nine at 9 over par, a great recovery sparked by back to back birdies on #s 7 & 8. Teeing off on #18, Margaret & I were tied with 82 strokes each. I made a two putt par 5 while she made a two putt bogie 6. She DOES beat me at golf, probably more than half the time anymore, but not today.

I rate this course a 5 (out of 5!). Wine Valley has tees that range from 5105 yards to 7600 yards and combo tees for a total of 9 sets of rated/sloped yardages so you CAN play an enjoyable yardage for your skill set. I played the Syrah tees (a combo of White & Blue tees) @ 6090 yards, 69.1 course rating & slope of 123. Margaret played the reds @ 5105 yards, 69.3 rating & slope of 112.

These pictures are from Wine Valley's website. There is not a lot of water on the course and trees do not come into play. Dirt bunkers (not a lot of sand) and upslopes to the greens keep the course interesting and the greens are EXTREMELY grainy and are anything but flat. The greens are bent grass and bent grass ALWAYS grows towards sunlight. The grain can change several times on a long putt so you have to pay attention to the grain of the putt and the slope of the green. SHINEY grass (with the grain) means the putt will pick up speed, even on uphill putts. DULL grass (into the grain) means the putt will slow down (sometimes very quickly) even on a downhill slope. With humped greens (normal for a links style course) the grain can change two or three times on the same putting line because grass will grow in a different direction on one side of a hump to the other.

This is your golf primer for those of you that don't play and probably wonder what the fascination with golf is. Even when you know what you are doing, you still have to hit the shot (drive, chip, putt) correctly, and (almost) every course has its charms and disaster waiting to happen holes.