July 24th Day 49 - The Rawls Course at Texas Tech, Lubbock, TX                                                                                                     Drove 250 miles

If the map looks strange it's because I drove down to Lubbock and back on the same route, 125 miles each way, a sort of "there and back again" (to borrow from Tolkien). The Rawls Course at Texas Tech was going to be an early course on my 2020 adventure, BUT they had just plugged the greens and I didn't want to play bad greens on what is a highly rated golf course so I played in San Antonio instead. It worked out because this IS A GREAT GOLF COURSE, it was in great condition and I caught it on a day with very little wind. East Texas is kind of well known for its wind so I don't think it could have been any better a day to play here.

The golf course is managed by Troon golf and was designed by Pacific Dunes (at Bandon Dunes Resort, OR) architect Tom Doak. When I booked the round online it was going to be $ 91, but at the course they gave me a senior discount and I paid $ 65 for green fee and cart. NICE! This is a par 72 course with four sets of tees. The longest (black tees) play at 7317 yards, slope 138, rating 74.2. The shortest (gold tees) are 5493 yards, slope 126, rating 71.2 and those are the women's slope/rating numbers. This course is just slightly longer (for Margaret) than our home course here in Clarkston, so while it wouldn't be her favorite, she could handle it.

I played the white tees, 6270 yards, 128 slope and 69.3 rating. I had one BAD hole on each nine and three pars on each nine, so all in all a pretty good round. There is a LOT of sand bunkers on this golf course and somehow I only hit into them twice. On the other hand I had a lost ball (in the high rough) on the hole I screwed up on the front side and three balls in the water on #18, the second of two par fives in a row to finish off the round. This is really a marvelous course and will be the last on this strip to get a five star rating from me.

I was paired with Bill, a local and a little bit older than me. We played about the same and he was a joy to play with. He was very helpful as there are lots of humps and bumps on this links style course and he knew where to avoid hitting the ball. He is a retired professor from Texas Tech. He told me a story that some folks at the college wanted to eliminate some of the bunkers and Tom Doak's reaction was "Fine, but you'll have to take my name off your scorecard because that's not what I designed." The bunkers stayed!

I drove back up to Amarillo and FINALLY had some Cajun food, in Texas, at the Lost Cajun which I found while looking for dinner the previous night. It was quite good (Jambalaya) and I wish I could eat there again. Someday, maybe!  

          Randy’s golf course             ratings          play again               could recommend           Price

Prairieview GC (Byron, IL)               5                  YES                           YES                           $

The Boulder Course (Winchester, VA)    5            YES                           YES                           $$

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

The Walker Course (Clemson, SC)    5                  YES                          YES                            $$

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

The Rawls Course at Texas Tech     5                  YES                          YES                           $$ (Lubbock, TX)                        

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

Turkey Creek GC (McPherson, KS)   4.5               YES                         YES                            $

Slammer & Squire GC                      4.5                 YES                          YES                           $$$       (St. Augustine, FL)   

Links On The Bayou  (Alexandria, LA)   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                         $

Magnolia Grove Crossings GC          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                        $

Eldon Golf Club (Eldon, MO)            4                   YES                            YES                         $

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

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

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

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

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

Natchez Golf Club at Duncan Park  3.5                  YES                             YES                        $                 (Natchez, MS)

Eastern Hills (Kalamazoo, MI)         3.5                  YES                              YES                        $

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

Monroe CC (Monroe, NC)                3.5                  YES                              YES                        $

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

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

Fort Myers CC (Fort Myers, FL)        3                    YES                             YES                        $

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!)

Westwood Park GC (Norman, OK)     3                   YES                                no                         $

Indian Hills Golf Resort (Fairfield Bay, AR)  2.5       no                                 no                         $

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

Crosswinds Championship GC          1.5                    no                                 no                         $  (Savannah, GA)

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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