I HOPE this will be my longest driving day on the whole
trip, but we shall see. The 166 miles from Billings to Buffalo wasn’t bad, but
driving to Aurora, CO (think Denver) after a trying round of golf was a bear!
Wyoming has some beautiful mountains in it, but I will think
of it as the “Big Empty”. The elevation is high enough that there are not a lot
of trees along the route (except at Sheridan & Buffalo), just a lot of prairie
grasses and bushy growth. There is NOTHING to slow down the wind and early on the
(frequent) overhead freeway signs (I-25) were warning of wind gusts up to 65
MPH from 5 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the next morning. I knew golf was going to be
difficult. There are amber warning lights pretty much all the way through
Wyoming that tell you if they ARE flashing, get off the highway, the road is
closed, go back to the town you just left. Ominous!
The Buffalo Golf Club is a municipal course and I didn’t
have a tee time, but I had looked at the online tee times and figured I would have no
problem getting on. It turned out to be was their Men’s league day (9 holes) and though the front nine was a little slow (pace of play!) the back nine was pretty quick as most of the Men's club group quit after #9. The pro shop matched me up with Craig & Jeff (a recently
retired United Airlines pilot) and I was glad to have the company. Both good
guys, they had been in the area a short while and were looking at buying homes
there to escape the taxes of Utah (?).
FIRST CALAMITY – Early in the round I looked in my bag
for my sand wedge and it wasn’t there. That’s because I left it near the 17th
green in Huntley, MT. OOPS! This all worked out though. The club was old and
hadn’t been treating me well anyway, so after the round I went into the Buffalo
Pro Shop and found a nice Callaway 56 degree sand wedge and bought it. I liked
immediately. It has a much heavier sole than my old Ping which makes it easier to
get out of the sand. I am also getting a ton of spin on my approach shots, so
MAYBE this will help my horrible chipping!
Jeff has a pretty good golf game. I would guess his handicap
to be in the low teens. Craig could really pound the ball, but was frequently directionally challenged. He also has a REALLY high ball flight which
is NOT what you want on a windy day like this day. Both of them were good guys
and fun to play golf with.
Buffalo was $ 61 with cart, probably less for locals. It’s
not a bad course, but the green fee is a little high for the quality of the golf course. The maintenance was average (at best), but the pro shop staff was accommodating and nice. I will likely NEVER
play golf in Wyoming again, unless I try Sheridan, as I think you would be lucky to ever catch a “calm”
day in Wyoming.
Buffalo Golf Club has 5 sets of tees (including 3557 for
juniors/beginners) ranging from 6518 to 5110. We played the white tees, 5800
yards, course rating 67.6 and a slope of 120. Par was 71. There are some severely
sloped holes on the front nine, the back nine is not flat, but closer to it.
There are lots and lots of trees on the course, a little water as a creek winds
through the course and a smattering of sand traps.
After golf I had a five and a half hour drive to Aurora, CO. I had to fuel once and at the truck stop I grabbed an A & W burger and got right back on the road. There was horrendous traffic near Denver (no surprise) much of it due to road work. This will become a recurring theme as I move into the more densely populated eastern states. The drives will be shorter, but more irritating and my patience will be tested. Got to the hotel and crashed. Man, was I tired! I had a mid-morning tee time for Friday.
Randy’s golf
course ratings play again could recommend Price
Wine Valley (Walla Walla, WA) 5 YES YES $$$
Rivers Edge (Burley, ID) 3.5
?? YES $
Birch Creek (Smithfield,UT) 3.5
no good golfers
only! $
Buffalo Golf Club (Buffalo, WY) 3 no no $$
Pryor Creek (Huntley, MT) 3 no no $ Johnny Walker Course (there’s also a
Country Club course, but you need to play with a member!)
The first of these pictures shows some of the back nine. The other two were probably taken from one of the two REALLY HIGH UP THERE tee boxes from the front nine. Not a great nine holes for a walking golfer!
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