Arg's Travel Log

[jjr]

You're on the course! Awesome, 4 weeks not 6. Enjoy, can't wait for all the reviews.

[sunbeltgolfer]

On 5/1/2023 at 8:27 AM, Argonne69 said:

Bah. Looks like today is going to be a washout. Isn't today May 1st? Mother Nature apparently didn't get the memo. Showers all day with temps in the upper 30's and 15 to 25 mph northwest winds. Not my idea of fun for a first round back. Guess I'll have to be satisfied with yesterday's bucket of range balls before hitting PFAU on Wednesday. No pain today, and I didn't die in my sleep so I assume there's no internal bleeding from a ruptured incision. Nice. Lol.

 

We had a little dusting of snow yesterday with ice underneath. They call it May because it "May rain, May snow, May be 70*, May be20*.

[Argonne69]

4 hours ago, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

What made you decide to play Neuman? Want a better walk and a tougher course? Sharon Woods is a better option! As far as Sugar Ridge, you could play Miami Whitewater Forest GC (in nearby Harrison, Ohio) which is a more enjoyable course and walk! Sugar Ridge would be a crappy walk IIRC! 

 

I'll be riding for a week. No walking until Columbus. 

 

Sharon Woods and Miami Whitewater Forest are both booked solid until late morning this weekend. I'll give them a call on Friday to see if there are any cancelations. 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

On the road again

Just can't wait to get on the road again

The life I love is walking courses in the AM

And I can't wait to get on the road again

 

On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been

Playing courses that I may never play again

And I can't wait to get on the road again

 

- Arg

 

Uneventful drive down to Indy. Topped off the propane tank this morning, and then I hit the interstate. Like riding a bike. 20 to 25 mph cross winds on I-65 made it somewhat interesting. Oh, and the endless construction zones. I've probably traveled I-65 over 100 times, and I don't recall it ever not being under construction. 

 

I'm going to be dragging my behind tomorrow morning. I have an 8:30 tee time at PFAU, and it's a 45 minute drive to the course. I lost an hour crossing into the eastern timezone, so that alarm clock is going to be rude. 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Argonne69

[buckeyevalley]

What courses do you have lined up in Columbus. 

[buckI]

Wish I would have known earlier you were heading to southwest Ohio.  Would have tried to line up a round for you but would have been in Dayton.   Unfortunately will be out of town.   If you are back through here give me a little notice.

 

Will be curious where you end up for brews and restaurants both in Cincinnati and Columbus.

[Argonne69]

9 hours ago, buckeyevalley said:

What courses do you have lined up in Columbus. 

 

Nothing booked at this point, but I'm looking at Players Club at Foxfire, GC of Dublin, Darby Creek, Champions, and Cumberland Trail. I played Virtues, Eaglesticks, and Cooks Creek on a previous visit.

 

[North Butte]

7 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Nothing booked at this point, but I'm looking at Players Club at Foxfire, GC of Dublin, Darby Creek, Champions, and Cumberland Trail. I played Virtues, Eaglesticks, and Cooks Creek on a previous visit.

 

Columbus is a pretty good area for public golf in my opinion.

 

I've really enjoyed Champions of Columbus the two times I've played there. But I suppose I'm somewhat of a Trent, Sr. fan.

 

Foxfire Players is fairly interesting, Darby and Cumberland must not be because I don't remember anything about them a couple decades after playing. 

 

 

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

GC of Dublin can be in terrible shape at times. Cumberland Trail is Ok as well. Northstar GC is pretty decent. Public golf in Columbus is miles behind the private courses for sure. Clover Valley IIRC was not bad at all either. Cooks Creek is NLE now!

Edited May 4, 2023 by BEND OF THE RIVER GC

[Tyrus Webb]

If you haven't been to The Party Source in Bellevue, KY, just across the river from Cincinnati, I strongly recommend it.

 

They have a great little taproom and on-site brewery + distillery, and the store itself has a beer selection for miles. 

[buckeyevalley]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Nothing booked at this point, but I'm looking at Players Club at Foxfire, GC of Dublin, Darby Creek, Champions, and Cumberland Trail. I played Virtues, Eaglesticks, and Cooks Creek on a previous visit.

 

North Star is always one that come up in these conversations but believe they could be fully private now.  Denison Golf Club is an excellent and enjoyable track.  Cumberland has made many improvements over the years.  Champions was always fun, but conditions subpar at times. Apple Valley (a little further north) is a favorite also. 

[Argonne69]

It feels so good to be back on the course. Five weeks is much too long to not be swinging a club. Beautiful, crisp morning with plenty of sun and moderate winds. The PFAU Course at Indiana University is a wonderful course. It ranks #3 in the state on GolfWeek's Best in State list. Nice rolling terrain with a nice mix of holes. Long, short, left, and right. I really enjoyed the doglegs. Most had nasty turf on the inside corner, so a failed attempt at cutting the corner could be costly. The front is more parkland than prairie, but the back is primarily prairie style. Bunkering was mixed. Very well done on many holes, but rather light on others. They looked great, though. Natural with nasty eyebrows. No bodies of water, but there were a handful of crossing creeks, and a couple of red staked lateral areas. 

 

I thought it was fairly generous off the tee. However, misses were quite punishing. There was a narrow strip of rough on most holes, and it was deep enough to cover the ball. Beyond that was a mixed bag of junk. Some areas had extremely patchy rough with everything from bare dirt to 8 inches of grass. Total coin flip if you wandered in. It looks like there were plenty of native grass areas, but they were cut down. I imagine they're brutal in mid season. The wooded holes weren't extremely dense, but the collection of leaves pretty much guaranteed a lost ball. 

 

Approaches were mixed. Many of the greens were square, so there was plenty of safe space. However, most of the flags were positioned near the edges, and misses left very tricky short sided up and downs. A number of elevated greens had solid bunkering in front. Up and downs were tough. Good amount of slope and speedy greens made chips and pitches challenging out of the patchy rough. Putting was moderately difficult. Greens were speedy with more break than the eye could see, but if putting from below the hole it could be managed. 

 

Par 3s were excellent. Nice mix of lengths, and quite difficult. The three 5s were quite good. The 9th was a great risk/reward hole with numerous bunkers guarding the green. Short 4s were solid. A couple could be driven by a long hitter, and all had plenty of trouble. 

 

Conditions were generally good. Fairways were greening up nicely. Rough was thick. Bunkers were disappointing. Thin compacted sand. Greens were very nice, rolling a good 11. Unfortunately the tournament the past few days had a few too many nitwits that didn't know how to fix a ballmark. 

 

First round in five weeks, so I decided to ease back into the game. Lol. Played the White tees at 6153 yds on the par 71 layout. Still plenty of challenge at 71.2/140. Had my share of very good shots, buy a few too many ugly ones. Having trouble taking a divot, so thin to win was the order of the day. 11 bogies and one birdie. Highlight of the day was simply being out again. 

 

PFAU gets a solid 7 cows. Definitely a top 5 college course for me. Tough, but fair (if you're finding fairways). I imagine the Blue tees at 6736 yds might change my opinion. I'd say it's a bit of a bargain at $80. Not sure if they offer me a walking rate. Definitely a must play. 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

The PFAU Course at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 

 

 

 

 

 

Go or no go on the 9th 

 

 

 

Tough approach on the 18th 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1lxlqn5h2sv62ll/AAAsNcll7IUWMxg8WGQnchq1a?dl=0

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Disappointed in Bloomington's brewpub scene. For a big college town there are only a handful of breweries, and of course most of them are closed today, or open in the late afternoon. Decided to drive an hour north to Indy with a stop at Metazoa Brewing Company. 24 taps with a good mix of hoppy and malty brews. Enjoying a nice Speedy The 3-Legged Cat Belgian Tripel. 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

It feels so good to be back on the course. Five weeks is much too long to not be swinging a club. Beautiful, crisp morning with plenty of sun and moderate winds. The PFAU Course at Indiana University is a wonderful course. It ranks #3 in the state on GolfWeek's Best in State list. Nice rolling terrain with a nice mix of holes. Long, short, left, and right. I really enjoyed the doglegs. Most had nasty turf on the inside corner, so a failed attempt at cutting the corner could be costly. The front is more parkland than prairie, but the back is primarily prairie style. Bunkering was mixed. Very well done on many holes, but rather light on others. They looked great, though. Natural with nasty eyebrows. No bodies of water, but there were a handful of crossing creeks, and a couple of red staked lateral areas. 

 

I thought it was fairly generous off the tee. However, misses were quite punishing. There was a narrow strip of rough on most holes, and it was deep enough to cover the ball. Beyond that was a mixed bag of junk. Some areas had extremely patchy rough with everything from bare dirt to 8 inches of grass. Total coin flip if you wandered in. It looks like there were plenty of native grass areas, but they were cut down. I imagine they're brutal in mid season. The wooded holes weren't extremely dense, but the collection of leaves pretty much guaranteed a lost ball. 

 

Approaches were mixed. Many of the greens were square, so there was plenty of safe space. However, most of the flags were positioned near the edges, and misses left very tricky short sided up and downs. A number of elevated greens had solid bunkering in front. Up and downs were tough. Good amount of slope and speedy greens made chips and pitches challenging out of the patchy rough. Putting was moderately difficult. Greens were speedy with more break than the eye could see, but if putting from below the hole it could be managed. 

 

Par 3s were excellent. Nice mix of lengths, and quite difficult. The three 5s were quite good. The 9th was a great risk/reward hole with numerous bunkers guarding the green. Short 4s were solid. A couple could be driven by a long hitter, and all had plenty of trouble. 

 

Conditions were generally good. Fairways were greening up nicely. Rough was thick. Bunkers were disappointing. Thin compacted sand. Greens were very nice, rolling a good 11. Unfortunately the tournament the past few days had a few too many nitwits that didn't know how to fix a ballmark. 

 

First round in five weeks, so I decided to ease back into the game. Lol. Played the White tees at 6153 yds on the par 71 layout. Still plenty of challenge at 71.2/140. Had my share of very good shots, buy a few too many ugly ones. Having trouble taking a divot, so thin to win was the order of the day. 11 bogies and one birdie. Highlight of the day was simply being out again. 

 

PFAU gets a solid 7 cows. Definitely a top 5 college course for me. Tough, but fair (if you're finding fairways). I imagine the Blue tees at 6736 yds might change my opinion. I'd say it's a bit of a bargain at $80. Not sure if they offer me a walking rate. Definitely a must play. 

 

 

It's like "old times" again.  Glad you're back at it.  Now for the BBQ and the beer...

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I played PFAU a bit later in May last year and it was $95, same price walking or riding. Good course.  Cincinnati has awesome craft beer. Madtree, Rheingeist and a lot more. High Grain is really awesome as well. 

 

You could play Legendary Run also which is on the East side. Fun  front nine that flows well, with cart golf on some weird holes on the back nine. If you love trees, play The Vineyard. 

 

PS: There is NOT any really GOOD BBQ in this city!

Edited May 4, 2023 by BEND OF THE RIVER GC

[Argonne69]

A very enjoyable morning at The Links at Heartland Crossing. I'm so eager to get back to playing that I arrived early at the course, and no staff were there yet. Lol. After a short wait, they arrived, and I was able to get out. It was 39 degrees, but there was zero wind, and not a cloud in the sky. Felt 10 degrees warmer. Not only was I the first player out, I was the only player out for the first hour or so. Once again it was wonderful to be out on an empty course. 

 

The course is a prairie style layout. I guess it's technically a housing development layout, but the homes are all on the perimeter. Not much elevation change, but a few holes have some decent mounding, and there are a few elevated greens. A couple of the boundary holes have trees on the boundary side, but otherwise it's pure prairie league. Bunkering was mixed. Fairway bunkers were sparse, but greenside was much better. There were a couple of water holes, but the native areas provided the biggest defense. Not a lot of left/right movement. 

 

Very generous off the tee. Definitely a 2nd shot course. The rough was fairly wide before the native areas took over. The native areas were cut low, but again I expect they'd eat balls in the summer. Approaches were fairly difficult. There were a few greens at fairway level that were open in front, but many had serious bunkering, especially on the back. Most of the holes had closely mown areas around the greens, so plenty of options for missed greens. The bunker surrounds were quite tough, though, as the rough was quite nasty. There were a couple of fun greens, but most were rather benign. 

 

Par 3s were on the short side, but still challenging. The 2nd had a forced carry to a small green, and the short 14th was well bunkered. Didn't care for the par 5s on the front, but the two on the back were both solid risk/reward holes. The 10th was guarded right by a pond, and the 13th by bunkers. Short 4s were meh. 

 

Conditions were decent. No complaints on the fairways. Rough was freshly cut on some holes, and uneven on others. Bunkers had plenty of sand, but needed a good grooming. The sand was odd. Extremely grainy. Greens looked good, other than the numerous unrepaired ballmarks. This is really getting annoying. Unfortunately the morning dew kept the speeds slow. 

 

Played a Blue/White combo at 6245 yds (70.0/123). Another up and down day, but a little better than yesterday. It's not helping that I'm messing around with my grip, trying to take a more neutral one. One birdie and eight bogies. Highlight of the round was my approach on the long par 4 12th. Nutted a 9 wood to the middle of the green to set up a stress free par. 

 

I'll be generous and give HC 6 cows. Generally not wowed by prairie style courses these days, and while it could use a lot more mounding, it puts up a strong defense, especially in the closing stretch. No complaints about the $47 riding rate. Would like to see a couple of longer 3s, and tougher short 4s. 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

The Links at Heartland Crossing, Camby, IN 

 

 

 

Go or no-go on the 10th 

 

 

Go or no-go on the 13th 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hpseiwnllvw2lnw/AAAFzFDvmr1l8rP5QyLeckrYa?dl=0

 

[Argonne69]

Grrr. Don't know why brewpubs have websites with out of date tap lists. Drove to Nigh Brewing Company to sample a Belgian Tripel, only to find out that it was tapped out last week. The peanut butter porter isn't bad, but it's no Belgian. Lol. 

 

 

The bacon mac and cheese burger is pretty tasty. 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

I joined WRX 13 years ago. 30,000 posts later and I'm still surprised that I haven't been permanently banned, or have garnered as many 'likes' as I have. Lol.

 

Big thanks to the community for providing a place to learn, share, and vent. Amazing how much time I spend here each day. Travel, pro tours, equipment, rules, and the (almost) always entertaining 19th hole, it's a fun time sink. 

 

Love the game, and love contributing. 'Hope my contributions are adding value. If not, I guess there's always the TruGreen ads. 😁

 

[jvincent]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

I joined WRX 13 years ago. 30,000 posts later and I'm still surprised that I haven't been permanently banned, or have garnered as many 'likes' as I have. Lol.

 

Big thanks to the community for providing a place to learn, share, and vent. Amazing how much time I spend here each day. Travel, pro tours, equipment, rules, and the (almost) always entertaining 19th hole, it's a fun time sink. 

 

Love the game, and love contributing. 'Hope my contributions are adding value. If not, I guess there's always the TruGreen ads. 😁

 

 

Maybe the mods can temp ban you for a day or two so you can cross that off your list?

 

You've got the ultimate travel guide going. It's going to be hard to ever top.

[Double Mocha Man]

7 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

...but otherwise it's pure prairie league.

 

We all saw what you did there...

[JungleJimbo]

 

Saw this tweet and thought of @Argonne69

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Slight change of plans for late next week. There are no RV parks in Detroit that are near the courses I want to play, so I'm going to split the visit into two parts. Booked a site near the airport for 3 nights, and then I'll head north of the city. 

 

[So_Cal]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

Slight change of plans for late next week. There are no RV parks in Detroit that are near the courses I want to play, so I'm going to split the visit into two parts. Booked a site near the airport for 3 nights, and then I'll head north of the city. 

 

Arg,

 

Check out Univ of Michigan course if you haven’t played it before.  A really fun MacKenzie

[jjr]

^+1 Both UoM courses are good tracks! Huge Mackenzie fan here so I'd say yes to any of his designs, hoping to get up north of Ann Arbor soon and play one of his top 5!!

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, So_Cal said:

Arg,

 

Check out Univ of Michigan course if you haven’t played it before.  A really fun MacKenzie

 

Player it a few years ago. Yeah, top notch. 

 

[Argonne69]

I was able to book a tee time at Miami Whitewater Forest GC for Sunday in place of Sugar Ridge. No luck at Sharon Woods, so it'll Neumann tomorrow morning. 

 

[mci711]

Arg, feel a little bit what you were going through recently. Had my first ever surgery this week. Had my appendix removed. It is killing me not being able to get out. Going on a vacation in a couple of weeks, and my only goal is to be able to tee it up then. But man, we have great weather right now and sitting and looking out the window is brutal. Had like 4 months of s*** weather and it happens now 😂

 

Glad you liked Pfau, very good addition to the midwest golf scene. Pfau and Yale are the top 2 campus courses in my limited opinion. 

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

Historically, Miami Whitewater Forest is in nice shape and a fun walking course. Fairly open with some fun holes. I have not played in in at least 7-8 years. It was the very first course I played when I got out of the Army; the ex in-laws lived nearby and we stayed there for a few months until we settled in. It's a good walking course. The front has some hilliness to it, the back nine is quite flat.