July 27th Day 52 - Elephant Rocks Golf Course, Williams, AZ                                                                                                         Drove 368 miles

I would not have known this golf course existed except a guy I play with occasionally here told me about it. I have played a LOT of golf courses in Arizona, but this was my first one in this state north of Prescott Valley. As you can guess there are HUGE rocks around the perimeter of the golf course and there is a subdivision on part of the course. They have a problem with potable water here and that has slowed the home construction to a crawl. 

I played with Ted, a guy who lives in Prescott, but likes this golf course a lot, and Jerry & Diane from Hurricane, UT who like me, were playing the course for the first time. (Hurricane is pronounced       her-ick-in in Utah, don't ask me why, but it is!). I paid $ 61 green fee and cart and most unfortunately it was another cart path only day, due to the same rains caused the flash flooding. Sixty one seems a little steep for this golf course, but I have had so many bargain rounds I am spoiled by now.

The course itself is really spread out and does NOT come back to the clubhouse at the turn. As a matter of fact holes #9 & #10 are the farthest away from the clubhouse. They often have a beverage cart, but not this day, so if I wanted something I needed to take it with me. I chose water!  The are restrooms on the course after #5 (going) and #14 (coming back) where you cross the road to get to the rest of the course. 

Much of the course is fairly flat , but #'s 16 & 17 are as steep as any uphill holes you'll ever want to play. They are really tough! The blue tees play 6695 yards, 70.8 rating and 130 slope. The white tees that all three of we men played are 6082 yards, rating 68.1 and slope of 121. The front tees (red) are 5427, yards 70.0 rating and 131 slope for women. The course was wet and we weren't getting much roll so it played much longer than the yardage and was too long Diane to enjoy. I don't think Margaret would have enjoyed it on this wet day either, but on a dry golf course at 7200 feet above sea level she could handle it and I would play it better too.  I have played golf in the Canadian Rockies, but this is by far the highest elevation golf course I have ever played so the ball should FLY when it's dry.

The greens were very slow due to the wet conditions and I had 40 putts on my way to an otherwise good round of 92. None of us did a good job adjusting to the speed of the greens. There is water on several holes and not a lot of sand traps, but LOTS of trees and wayward tee shots will cost you here. After the round, the clubhouse bar appeared to be the hub of the subdivision and the nearby town of Williams, which has a population of about 3,000 souls.  I would play here again, but only on a dry day!
  
Jerry is a retired long haul truck driver and was interested in my trip. My next destination was St. George, UT because I wanted to play golf there last year and could not. He told how to bypass all the Las Vegas traffic AND because I have a life time National Park pass (a GREAT THING FOR SENIORS!) it would be toll free. If you look at my travel map you will see the route I took, near Lake Meade and after leaving the park, through a few small towns and up to I-15 about 30 miles west of Mesquite. It was a pretty drive and I almost had the road to myself. I also got to see the devastating loss of water at Lake Meade if you know any thing about the Colorado River water rights problems, you'll pray for rain! 
 
At St. George I ate at a Thai place downtown. It wasn't great, but I should've known better. I have had some great Mexican food in Utah, but other than that I have found the cuisine here lacking in the spicy flavors I like.

I can hear Mark Farner in my head, "I'm getting closer to my home".

          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                          $$

Conquistador Golf Course (Cortez, CO)   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                        $$$

Championship GC at U of NM           4                   YES                             YES                        $$$     (Albuquerque, NM)                  

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

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

Elephant Rocks GC  (Williams, AZ)    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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