July 31th Day 56 - Hesperia Golf & CC, Hesperia, CA                                                                                                              Drove 155 miles

This was the STRANGEST day of the whole trip. What should've been a wonderful day became weird, a pain in the ass and ultimately just bad. I'll start with the golf. 

If I didn't KNOW that the Hesperia Golf & CC had been a PGA tour stop from 1957 to 1961, I never would have believed it after coming here. Gene Littler holds the course record from the Championship tees (62) and Billy Casper would be the biggest name to have won The Hesperia Open. They do have a nice banquet / wedding facility next door, so I'm sure they were a good hospitality club, and the pro shop building contains a nice bar, always a plus for golfers, amateurs & pros alike.

The course sits down in a large wash. The front nine goes one direction and then circles back to the 9th hole and clubhouse and the back nine does the same in the opposite direction. The course has SOME very good holes, but in general it's in poor condition. It is enough golf course that there was a Southern California Jr. Golfers tournament this day, and bad golf courses don't get to host tournaments like that.  They kids went out after I did. The course is fairly flat and the greens are well sloped and fast, the best part of this par 72 golf course. The rough is long and sticky. The back tees play at 7006 yards, rating 73.0 and slope of 129. The white tees that I played are 6261 yards, rating 69.7 and slope of 120. There are two other sets of men's tees (6756 blues & 5903 silvers) and the ladies play at 5431 yards, rating 72.73 and slope of 123, a fairly tough track for most women. I don't know if Margaret would like this one or not. The green fee with cart on a Saturday was $ 44, so it was a pretty good deal.   

The club has a LARGE Men's club group (that's good!) and they were all out playing in front of me. The guys I was supposed to play with did not show up and a foursome that was LATE for their tee time teed off in front of me (they eventually let me play through) so they day started off all wrong. I waited a lot, but shot a 45 on the front and a 48 on the back which wasn't all bad considering I only made 3 pars all day.  I do recommend this course because the layout is interesting and it's probably in much better shape in cooler weather. Hesperia is on the edge of the desert.

I NEVER take my phone out on the golf course, but Margaret was flying in and I knew she might call if there were any changes. Her flight was late getting into Salt Lake SO she was going to be a little later getting in and we decided I would check in at our motel before I picked her up. 

I drove to Wrightwood, CA (about a 45 minute drive), where we had a room reserved, and checked in. It was only then that I discovered I did NOT have my phone. I borrowed the motel phone and sure enough, they had found it in my golf cart.

I had time (but you can imagine my mood!!!) so I drove back to the golf course before heading to the airport. The had my phone in the pro shop and that is another reason I would play the course again, they were helpful. I just wouldn't play it on a weekend.

I got to the airport in plenty of time and had to circle around a couple of times before Margaret called and said she was out front. I was actually heading to the cell phone lot when she did call so I had to do the full loop to get back to where I could pick her up. 

The reason we stayed in Wrightwood is that Mag's best friend growing up lives near there (Pinon Hills) and we had dinner together at a restaurant in Wrightwood about two blocks from our motel. We are heading north tomorrow a.m. and decided to stop by their place on our way north as it was along our route. I think I had met Arlene once before, but never her husband Mike. They are good people.

We went back to the motel to get some sleep and the STUPID management had only 2 (of ten) rooms rented, and unfortunately, they put the other folks right next to us, in an old motel with paper thin walls. We had a long day on the road ahead of and could not get to sleep with the television blaring in the next room. 

I won't go into detail, but let's just say it was a bad night for all concerned, and I and the guy next door are not blameless. We won't be going back to Wrightwood, ever.  

 If you look at the map, the northern loop into Wrightwood is from & back to Hesperia. The southern loop is coming from the Ontario airport. Ontario. 

           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                        $$

Hesperia G & CC (Hesperia, CA)   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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