July 30th Day 55 - Apple Valley GC, Apple Valley, CA                                                                                                              Drove 212 miles

It is so much easier to drive east/west in California than it is north/south. Obviously the state is much "taller" than "wide, but the north/south traffic always seems to be jammed up and today's drive on I-15 was a piece of cake. 

I have to tell you I did not expect much from this golf course, but I chose it because it was on my route, CHEAP, and near my destination (Hesperia, CA) for the night. I was quite pleasantly surprised and would surely play this course again if I am ever in the area. Except for the poor condition of (all) the sand bunkers (and of course I was in four of them!), this course was in tip top shape! The greens were fast and true and the rough thick enough to really cut the distance down if you hit into it. The course is fairly flat the whole way. 

I played with a guy named Steve, a regular at this course, and when he started out par, birdie, par I thought I was playing with one of the greats! Then he fell apart, got frustrated and NEVER got it back together again. I'm sure my play didn't intimidate him. He was good company and helped me navigate the golf course. Most importantly, he mentioned how when he was learning the game, his teacher told him not to run his index finger down the shaft of the putter because it has too much influence on how you stroke the ball. It took me about two holes to figure out that he was talking about MY grip on the putter. When I had started doing this, I don't know, but I have been missing a lot of short putts lately and putting is usually my strength. I normally don't run my right forefinger down the shaft and even stranger the knuckle on that finger has been sore and I didn't know why. Anyway, I never noticed and when I changed back to my old grip the putts started going in the cup again. My knuckle appreciated the change too!

The two of us played along until we let Dustin join us for the last three holes. Dustin looked like a pro on #'s 16 & 17 and then went into full "hack" mode on 18. Golf is funny that way! I shot 48/46 for my round, acceptable, but I only made three pars all day and probably should have played the gold tees at 5848 yards, 67.4 rating and slop of 113. But why make things easy?

Apple Valley is a par 71 golf course and there are 4 main sets of tees. They also have two sets of "family tees" that are unrated and for beginners, a very good I haven't seen before. The longest set are the blues at 6721 with a rating of 71.6 and a slope of 124. I played the white tees at 6392 yards, rating of 70.1 and a slope of 120. Margaret would play the reds at 5246 yards, rating of 70.2 and slope of 122. I THINK she would like this course too. The green fee with cart was a staggering $ 27.

After golf I stopped at what looks like a local chain restaurant (Tom's) and had the best pastrami sandwich I have ever eaten. Quite good and filling enough that I won't need much for dinner. Tomorrow golf here in Hesperia, check into our motel and then pick up Margaret at the Ontario airport. 

                                                        At least that was the plan! 

           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                        $$$

Sunbrook GC (St. George, UT)           4                  YES                            YES                        $

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

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

Boulder City GC (Boulder City, NV)    3.5             YES                            YES                        $$

Apple Valley GC (Apple Valley, CA)   3.5            YES                            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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