July 10th Day 35 - Langston GC, Washington D.C.
                                                                   drove 116 miles

I drove down to D.C from Jessup in the morning and got to the golf course way too early. The golf
course was really busy and there was no getting off early, so I did some writing in the car for before I made my way to the Pro Shop / restaurant to pay my green fees and get a cart.

I paid a LOT more for golf than it was worth, partly because it was Saturday, but mostly because this was the WORST conditioned golf course I have ever played and I have played some "dog tracks" in my life. There was not a lot of grass in some areas of the course and in other areas the grass had not been mowed in quite some time. It's too bad, because the layout is interesting, at least on the back nine. 

I started on #10 with a young couple who had not played a lot of golf (Dominic & Sheila) and John, a local who was helpful in steering us around the course. They had already played the front nine, but starting on the back would get my round done sooner and I was happy to do it.

John has a Caribbean type accent that reminded me of people that we have met in Trinidad & Tobago. He is from England so the accent wasn't far off as T & T were a British colony until 962. John could pound the ball off the tee, but it went where he wanted it to go less than half the time. Dominic lost a bunch of golf balls and we spent a lot of time looking for his shots and waiting for Sheila who was struggling with her "newcomer" game. Things were fine until we started getting people backed up behind us, then John got them moving a little faster. We finally got to some easier holes near the end of the nine.

At the turn I checked in back at the Pro shop as to when I could start the front nine. They were short of
golf carts and the group I was supposed to be behind hadn't made it to the tee when it was time for them to off, SO me and another single (Nick) decided just to go ahead of them instead of behind them and it worked out really well for us.

Nick worked at Langley as an analyst. I didn't ask what he did because he may not have been able to tell me anyway. Nick had a very slight accent and I asked him if he was from Canada and no, he is actually from France. We had some great conversation as we played along and Nick could really play golf so I enjoyed this nine a lot more than my first nine. 

I didn't play well, only had three pars, and had a hard time with the slow greens. Forty-one putts! YUK!
There's no reason to tell you about Langston, because very soon public golf courses in D.C. are all going to be getting a HUGE makeover and they will be completely different. Mike Keiser, who owns and built Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast (along with many other golf properties) is partnering with a couple of other rich guys who are donating millions to D.C. PUBLIC GOLF. Three top notch golf course  architects (who are DONATING THEIR DESIGN FEES) are going to rebuild Langston, East Potomac and Rock Creek golf courses so citizens of D.C. can have decent AND affordable golf to play. There are lots of private courses (Congressional is one) and military base courses in the area, but no good affordable courses for the working guy and all that is going to change. Another player in the game will be Troon Golf, the largest golf course management company in the U.S.A., taking over from the management of these courses. I have played a lot of Troon managed courses, they do a good job.

Maybe I will make my way back east again some day and give the revamped courses a try. Langston has a lot of history in D.C. Pretty much EVERY famous black athlete / entertainer that visited D.C. would play golf there as it was the only place they were allowed to play. I hope they can convey this
bit of history in the clubhouse remodels. People I met at Langston were very proud of the tradition at the course.

I headed to West Virginia after golf and that would leave me a short ride to the Virginia golf course I was to play on Sunday. On the way I passed a small river that people were rafting on. The buses were on the road taking them back upstream to either go down again or just to get back to their cars. It reminded me of the rafting that goes on south of McCall, ID near HWY 55.
 
          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                            $$

Chicopee CC (Chicopee, MA)           4                    YES                          YES                            $ 

The Architects Club (Phillipsburg, NJ)   4               YES                          YES                            $$

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

Heritage Shores (Bridgeville, DE)   4                   YES                           YES                           $$

Houston Oaks (Paris, KY)                  4                   YES                           YES                            $  

Eagles Landing (Ocean City, MD)   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                         $$$

Pilgrim's Oak (Peach Bottom, PA)    3.5                  YES                             YES                         $

Bear Slide GC (Cicero, IN)               3.5                   no                               YES                         $$

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

Rivers Edge (Burley, ID)                  3.5                   YES ?                          YES                        $

Eastern Hills (Kalamazoo, MI)         3.5                   YES                             YES                        $

Brattleboro CC (Brattleboro, VT)     3.5                  YES  ?                          YES                        $$          

Martindale CC (Auburn, ME)           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                       $$$

Langston GC (Washington D.C.)    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.





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