Six rounds of golf, 5 different courses, 4 different states, in the equivalent of three days. That was my goal.
My outlook on life is to take full advantage when opportunities are presented to you. My summary of this site (home page) mentions the conversation I had when I first told my buddy Brian about my plans to play all 50 states. That is, how the heck I was ever going to get to places like Utah and Wyoming. Well it turns out a perfect opportunity fell into my lap last summer. I had the opportunity to take a business trip to Utah State University in Logan, Utah. When this opportunity came about I immediately acted on it, got approval from my superiors and then started planning. The business aspect of the trip would take up a 3 day commitment, so I planned to add an extra three days for my own time. Due to other work and personal commitments, that was the maximum time I could have.
So once my business trip was approved, I went on Google maps to orient myself with the area and then started putting together a detailed plan, identifying how many states I could cover (and play golf in) in the equivalent of a three day period. I set a goal of playing in four different states. I was flying into Salt Lake City and Logan is located about an hour and a half north near the Idaho border. So figuring out the first two states that I would play in was a no-brainer. I also had in my mind (initially) that I’d like to get up into Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, so that became my third state of choice. Then I thought well, if I go as far as Yellowstone, then I might as well go another couple of hours north into Montana. At least those were my initial thoughts……
After I identified the four states I started plotting golf course locations. I can’t express my appreciation for Google maps enough. Plug in “Utah golf courses” and you will get a pin-point for every course, not only in Utah but all surrounding states as well. Sure makes life a lot easier. Well when I took a closer look at the pin-points, started plotting mileages between where I needed to be (for business) and where I wanted to be (Montana) I quickly came to the realization that I was going to be spending more time in my rental car than actually playing golf! Time for Plan B…..
I’d been to Vegas to celebrate my 50th birthday, but didn’t play golf. I always assumed that I’d go back some day and make a point of playing golf in Vegas, thus knocking Nevada off the list of states to play in. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over time is that you just never know what is going to happen next and the whole attitude of “I’ll get there again someday” usually doesn’t pan out. So as I took a closer look at Google maps golf course locations I noticed this little dot in the middle of no-where to the west of Salt Lake City. And upon closer inspection, the dot was inside the state of Nevada, only 90 miles from the Salt Lake City airport. I still want to go back to Vegas some day, but here was a way to play in Nevada on this trip. Plan B identified. I would play in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.
Now that I had finalized what four states I would play, it was now a matter of maximizing playing time and minimizing travel time. The other caveat was to identify potential pitfalls in my plan and how would I adjust if necessary to make sure that I play in all four states. The unfortunate reality is that I had to fly through Chicago. What if I got fogged in there (it’s happened before)? What if it rains and the course gets closed? What if there is a tournament going on, on the day that I plan on playing that particular course? All things I had to take into account.
Identifying the course I was going to play in Nevada was easy. It is literally right on the Nevada/Utah border. Well as it turns out, there is also a course in Evanston Wyoming, right near the Utah/Wyoming border and there is also a course in Idaho as soon as you enter the state from Utah. Man I love it when you actually don’t have to make many decisions!
So I finalized my plan. My business commitment was slated to start on Tuesday afternoon. I was flying out on Saturday morning, arriving in Salt Lake around noon. That meant I could golf Saturday afternoon, Sunday, Monday and possibly Tuesday morning…if, as stated previously, there weren’t any hiccups along the way. I booked my tee times at the courses I identified (after first checking with each to make sure there were no tournaments) and then waited impatiently for the date to arrive.
Well my trip finally arrived and setting aside the minor glitch of having to wait an extra three hours at the Salt Lake City airport for my clubs to arrive on a totally separate plane, my well thought out plans went off without a hitch. I hit my first golf ball at approximately 4:15 on Saturday afternoon on a course about ½ hour from the airport (on the way to Nevada) and made my final putt just shy of noon hour on Tuesday morning, in Logan. I played 18 holes Saturday, 36 holes Sunday, 36 holes Monday and 18 holes Tuesday morning, thus fulfilling my goal of 6 rounds of golf on 5 different golf courses in 4 different states in the equivalent of 3 days.
The icing on the cake? I played my final round on the Logan River Golf Course. Yes..that’s right. Logan on the Logan in Logan !!!
And aside from the golf, I got to see some great scenery along the way. Prior to my rounds in Wendover, Nevada I woke up early and drove out into the desert. Very peaceful and somewhat spiritual is probably the best way to describe my experience. After leaving Wendover, I took a quick detour to the Bonneville Salt Flats, stumbling upon motorcycle speed trials. I also got to see endless valleys of sage bush on my way from Wyoming to Idaho and once in Idaho, one of the most beautiful lakes (Bear Lake) I have ever laid my eyes upon. And finally as I headed to Logan, Utah from Fish Haven, Idaho I marvelled at the beauty of the rock cuts from the mountains surrounding the meandering Logan River as it snaked its way toward the city. And naturally, I just had to stop along the side of the road to dip my toes in it!
So the first true test of logistics was successful. I just hope the future plans go off without a hitch as well.
