(June 27th) Day 22 – Lochmere Golf & CC, Tilton, NH     drove 129 miles

Lochmere was my 2nd choice for New Hampshire, the North Conway CC was my first choice, The weather forecast for the day at North Conway was high winds and when I found out it was a ski area I am probably lucky I didn't play there anyway. I'm going to have my fill of (too) steep golf courses as it is.

Lochmere has four sets of tees ranging from 6711 yards to 5242. I played the white tees at 6212 yards with a slope of 125 and a course rating of 69.4. Lochmere was $ 69 for green fees and cart (you would NOT like to walk this course!), pretty reasonable for a Sunday and they were busy. They have a driving range and probably the worst and smallest practice putting green I've ever seen. 

This course has a lot of elevation changes and I would call the maintenance average. It is an entertaining layout and I'm glad I played with a group so I knew where I was going, BUT the group turned out to be the plus AND minus of this golf day. 

I played with three brothers, John who could play pretty well, Dan who was almost as good and the eldest brother Mark who doesn't play much golf and should never be allowed to be the driver of a golf cart (anywhere) again! The starter reduced our group to two carts and put my bag on the passenger side of Mark's cart. If only he had put Mark's clubs in my cart I think the whole day would have gone better for me.

The group in front of us was a younger brother of these three, Dan's son and a friend of theirs. They were playing a match play 3 man best ball against each other, but it was more like three against two though they did use Mark's score on two holes. The younger set won in a romp.

Mark would drive the golf cart like a 90 year old (he WASN'T much older than me!) and was actually afraid to drive the cart down hills. He is a retired psychologist and I believe he had to be on some kind of medication because he was a real space cadet. The group behind us was waiting (a lot), and Mark just didn't have it in him to up his pace. I found myself rushing (even more than usual), telling Mark to let me out and go to his ball, etc., etc. The kicker came when I walked up to a green on the back nine with my wedge & putter and after Mark hit his shot he walked up too (about 80 yards!), forgetting to drive the golf cart up to the cart path beside the green.

When he was walking back to get the cart I said to Dan & John "He's kind of a space cadet, isn't he!" and they laughed and said "Yeah, but we love him anyway" which I did not doubt. It was not a particularly fun round for me, but I would recommend the golf course. 

After the round I drove up to Biddeford, Maine to spend the night. Had a lobster at a place called "Sea Salt" and it WAS the best lobster I've ever eaten. I also managed to eat it without getting butter drips all over my shirt, so all was well! Before I went back the hotel, I wanted to smell the Atlantic as I have always loved the smell of salt water. Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard are separate towns that kind of run together, and Old Orchard Beach was where the tourists were thick! It is not a port, (that is up the road a few miles in Portland) but there are a lot of beaches and touristy things to do there. Lots of kids and crowded narrow streets. I got my whiff of the salt water and headed back to Biddeford to crash for the night.

           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                          $

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

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

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

Rivers Edge (Burley, ID)                   3.5                    ??                               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!)

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

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






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