(July 4th) Day 29 – The Links at Union Vale, Lagrangeville, NY     drove 333 miles

If you look at the map we went down & up the same highway to play golf. We just finished further north.

This links style golf course has five sets of tees ranging from 6954 yards to 5257. I played the white tees at 6224 with a course rating of 70.0 and slope of 125. We paid $ 105 each for this Sunday tee time and cart, plus Margaret had to rent clubs. She played the 5257 tees, 69.5 rating and a slope of 125.

This is a nice golf course with many changes in elevation and a nod to British open style revetted (stacked sod in the face and deep) bunkers, a small church pew bunker section, and other hazards to make your life miserable (just kidding, but only a little)! The architecture is clever, especially for first time players as sometimes it looks like there is NO place to land the ball until you drive up and discover it was an illusion. Making me uncomfortable off the tee is the easiest way to get me in trouble and hit a shorter shot than is called for.

Though neither of us scored well, at least Margaret could blame the rental clubs. I actually putted OK as these greens were (mostly) readable, but I had problems off the tee due to being a mental midget. Despite the poor play, the course was in very good condition and I would play it again, but move up a tee and book a tee time when the rates were not at their peak. This is a premium golf course (for a decent price at lower rates) and it is in the middle of nowhere except for the REALLY large houses built in the hills surrounding the golf course.

This being the 4th of July, the fireworks at the big homes / mini mansions in this valley (Union Vale) started early. I know many people like fireworks, but having had dogs that freaked out every 4th I just don't care for them any more. People are careless, start fires and seem to have no bounds on when to start and when to quit. It also seems like a HUGE waste of cash (unlike golf, of course) for the short moment of glee some people get. 

We spent this night on the north side of Albany as tomorrow would take us for a golf date in Vermont. We stayed at something called "The Century House" in Latham, NY, a very old and somewhat uniquely furnished hotel. I don't know if the place is 100 years (or more) old, but it it may well be.

           Randy’s golf course             ratings          play again               could recommend           Price

Prairieview GC (Byron, IL)               5                 YES                          YES                        $

Wine Valley (Walla Walla, WA)         5                 YES                          YES                        $$$

Dakota Winds (Hankinson, ND)        5                 YES                          YES                        $$

The Links at Greystone (Walworth, NY)   4.5      YES                          YES                        $$

Raccoon Creek (Littleton, CO)         4.5                YES                         YES                        $$

Brooks Golf (Okoboji, IA)                 4                  YES                         YES                        $$

The Legacy (Springfield, TN)            4                  YES                         YES                        $

Awarii Dunes (Kearney, NE)              4                  YES                         YES                        $$ 

Lake Panorama Nat. (Panora, IA)      4                    no*1                       YES                        $$

Houston Oaks (Paris, KY)                  4                  YES                         YES                        $        

Brandon GC (Brandon, SD)               4                  YES                          YES                        $

Viroqua Hills GC (Viroqua, WI)        4                   YES                         YES                        $

Portland GC (Portland, CT)               4                   YES                          YES                        $

Green Valley CC (Portsmouth, RI)    4                   YES                          YES                       $$

Snow Hill CC (New Vienna, OH)      4                   YES                          YES                       $

Links at Union Vale (Lagrangeville, NY)   4       YES*2                      YES                       $$$

Bear Slide GC (Cicero, IN)                4                    no                             YES                       $$

Lochmere G & CC (Tilton, NH)       3.5                 YES                           YES                       $$

Martindale CC (Auburn, ME)           3.5                  YES                           YES                      $$$ 

Rivers Edge (Burley, ID)                  3.5                  YES                           YES                       $

Eastern Hills (Kalamazoo, MI)         3.5                  YES                           YES                       $

Birch Creek (Smithfield,UT)            3.5                    no                       good golfers only        $

Kimball Golf Club (Kimball, MN)     3                      no                               no                       $

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 Brookside Club (Bourne, MA)    2                     no                                no                        $$

Jones Course (Wheeling, WV)           1                      no                                no                       $$$

*1 = would play again if a different yardage was offered, with slope and course ratings

*2 = would move up a tee and NOT pay weekend green fee. M-Th fee is $ 77 and $ 61 after 2 p.m.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
                                          August 3rd  Day 59 - NO GOLF, a travel only day!                                                                                                                      Drove 382 miles We traveled up US 101 to Port Orford, OR and spent the night. 101 is a scenic highway if you like trees. Until you get to the small cities on the Pacific Ocean, that's about all you're going to see. I had never been on this part of 101 and I'm glad we came this way. Tomorrow we have a shortish drive up to Bandon, OR for a round of golf and then onto Longview, WA. W...
Read more
Image
                                               August 5th,  Day 61 - Mint Valley GC, Longview, WA                                                                                                                          Drove 380 miles The LAST DAY of this golf trip began in Kelso, WA. Kelso and Longview are separated by the Cowlitz River and though Longview is much bigger, Kelso is the county seat of Cowlitz County. The Mint Valley Golf Club is in northwest Longview and very close to the Longview Country Club where Margaret ...
Read more
Image
                                                August 4th,  Day 60 - Bandon Crossings, Bandon, OR                                                                                                                         Drove 318 miles It was a short drive up the coast to Bandon from Port Orford. Bandon is the home of the famous Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and Margaret & I played there, way back in 2007 when walking the golf course was easier and prices were not as steep there as they are now. You can't take a golf cart at an...
Read more