On the Road Again

BY ALBY SEGALL

How appropriate to celebrate my 75th birthday playing eight golf courses in 11 days all along the Western Slope of Colorado. I started playing when I was 8 years old and my best score is 78.

I have played more than 100 golf courses in the past 67 years and have found something special with each one.  The inspiration for this trip? First, I was looking for a way to celebrate turning 75 by enjoying one of my favorite pastimes but without spending too much money.

Second, a book I read last year, A Course Called Ireland. Author and professor Tom Coyne took six months to walk the circumference of Ireland playing 36 golf courses. He walked the entire way carrying his clubs and a backpack. Swimming laps one morning, it came to me to celebrate this birthday in a similar way.

What could possibly go wrong?

DAY 1

Rollingstone Ranch, Steamboat Springs, sponsored by Elizabeth Reder.

This is a sweet golf course carved out of the mountain hillside. Almost every hole was wide open until you neared the green. Then my lob wedge went into action because every green is surrounded by sand.

While a rolling stone gathers no moss, here it gathers sand. The 16th was the best. A decent drive gets me just before the big dogleg right and the shot to the green is blind.

The pro had warned me to be careful through here. (Narrator: He did not listen).

I decided to try to cut the corner and go for the green about 175 away, and uphill. I hit a great shot and was pretty sure I crossed the woods and hit the green.

Alas, I was smack in the middle of one of three traps that surrounded the green. What a wonderful way to start this adventure on a beautiful private/public course. Shot an 85, 10 off the goal.

DAY 3

Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction. Sponsored by Bill Charney.

Redlands Mesa near Grand Junction is a challenging course under any conditions. When it is 93 degrees out with 15-mile-an-hour winds, it can be downright unkind. It seems as though 100 new homes have been built around the course since I played it last, three years ago.

The first three holes are atypical: they are straight. Many holes – particularly on the back – almost make U-turns. This beautiful course is akin to playing on a different planet. I was playing alone and sure enough there was a 5-some in front. At the 4th another single playing behind me joined me for the remaining 14. At 10 we played through them. Scotty was a message from above. He was an airline attendant and then a golf teacher who had a golf club company that sold specially designed wedges for 12 years.  Now he is retired in Grand Junction and a member at Redlands Mesa.

He gave me four lessons that changed my game:

Lesson 1: Hole 5. Narrow my stance with all clubs above a 6 iron to shoulder width. This kept me from falling back and added yards.

Lesson 2: Hole 7. Square my stance with my shoulders and knees with the ball in the middle. This changed my sometimes push to being straight.

Lesson 3: Hole 9. Keep my forearms level and my left arm straight. This set the golf head straight and at the correct angle.

Lesson 4: Hole 15. When putting, move the ball out away from my stance a few inches and allow my putter to arch a bit on the backswing. It worked! My putts were more on target. The last three holes are dramatic. Twists and turns, tight fairways and the par-3 17th is especially beautiful, built into a rock canyon with an elevated tee box. I will be back again.

Another 85.

DAY 4

Bridges Golf and Country Club, Montrose. Sponsored by Max and Molly Segall.

I always believed Jack Nicklaus to be a nice guy. After playing this Nicklaus-designed links course I now realize he has a sadistic streak.

Almost every hole has some horrific obstacle to get over to get to the green; a field of tall grass, what seems like a dozen sand traps placed just where I hit, water along the side that encroaches into the fairway or in front and behind the green.

Take number 5. Please.

First, you have to drive 220 yards over water, then there is a field of tall grass and shrubs along the right tightening the fairway that leads to a long two-tiered green that has four bunkers surrounding it. That just sets up number 7, par 3 with absolutely nowhere to go except on the two-tiered thirty-yard narrow green. It is a fun track but there is trouble everywhere. The signature 18th has a lake along the left of the narrow fairway that turns right 15 feet in front of the green. Oh, and between the water and the green is a 12-foot-wide sand trap, again nowhere to go except on the green. This course is worth the challenge. I managed to shoot 89, then stayed at the club for the delicious shrimp, andouille and grits at the Remington Restaurant.

DAY 5

Conquistador Golf Club, Cortez. Sponsored by John Head.

The breathtaking drive from Montrose to Cortez across the San Juan mountains is comprised of curvy roads over mountain passes and little (really little) towns along the way. Conquistador Golf Club is a gentle respite compared to some of the others on this trip. However, only 6 of 18 holes are straight and 4 of them are par 3’s. My favorite hole, the 5th, has two turns. You have to hit a 240-yard drive to clear the tall grass and then you still haven’t reached the corner of the big dogleg left. And the greens are tricky. For a relatively flat links course, in the high desert, it is surprising to find eight holes with water in play.

Most of my drives were long enough to reach the bends and short enough to not go through the fairways. Numbers 3 and 11 use water to protect the green; there is no choice but to hit straight and the correct distance. This was an enjoyable golf day on a fun course.

I shot an 81; that elusive 75 was close.

DAY 7

Durango, Dalton Ranch Golf Club. Sponsored by Steve Katich and Ellen Jaskol.

Day 6 was golf-free but spent in the Orios Road House dive bar in Durango. Then came Dalton Ranch.

They say to keep your eye on the ball. That is very difficult on this golf course. The scenery is exquisite. The views of the San Juan red clay cliffs, the Animas River which runs throughout the course and the thick woods and shrubbery are impossible to avoid on this Ken Dye (not Pete) course.

This is a well-designed track. It opens at the tee with trouble just where I tend to hit my drives. The large greens are hard to read with subtle breaks. The pro told me that Ken Dye served 10 years for the crimes he committed while designing this course. Ha ha … I think.

However, with its beauty and well-placed hazards, it plays pretty easy as long as you avoid the hazards. The long, straight 400-yard par 4 hole 16 is the signature hole for good reason. Almost anywhere you hit your drive you wind up in a ditch or sand trap. Yet I parred it and managed to shoot an 80! 75, here I come!

DAY 8

Monte Vista; Monte Vista Golf Club. Sponsored by John Arigoni.

I should have known when the pro at Dalton Ranch asked me where I was playing next and I said Monte Vista, and he laughed. This small, community 9-hole course was quite a change from the well-groomed courses I had played so far. The greens had had a hard summer already. The fairways are laid out side-by-side with a few trees scattered between and the greens are the size of my small living room. I was surprised to see golfers riding with their dogs in their carts; you need to watch your step. The holes are straight, there is no trouble anywhere and it is one of the 10 oldest golf courses in Colorado, built in 1928. Shot a 39.

DAY 9

Salida. No golf, and a needed soak in Mt Princeton Hot Springs.

DAY 10

Salida Golf Club. Sponsored by The Dawgert Family.

After a day soaking in the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, it was time to make my final assault on 75. When you are in Salida do not miss playing this magnificent 9-hole muni. Even though every hole is straight (like most munis) there is trouble on either side of every hole. The par 5’s are 500 yards + and the par 4’s are 400+ yards. The course is extremely well groomed as I found being the first of the day to tee off and bumping up against the grounds crew. The greens are beautifully manicured and subtle with difficult-to-read breaks.

Holes 4 and 8 are special. Number 4 has a big tree right in the middle of the long straight fairway with a target on it, just so you know where to aim. And the 190-yard par 3 number 8 has a pond from 75 feet in front of the tee to 5 feet in front of the green. Not to mention the huge trees growing out of the water blocking half of the green from the tee. The pro told me the course was built in 1926. Hmmmm, also among the oldest in Colorado? I liked this course so much that I played it twice to get in 18. Shot 40 and 42 for an 82.

DAY 11

Sumo Golf Village, Florence. Sponsored by Marilyn Segall and Ed Silverman.

This is the most unique golf course I have ever played. I decided to play this one course  – not on the Western Slope – because it is on my way home, designed by Gary Player and has such an interesting name. Sumo is a Japanese word that means “compete.” And playing Sumo Golf Village was certainly a competition against the local natural elements.

The course is carved out of a dry open range. The holes are long with no shade. The rough is tall grass, dirt patches and weeds. The greens are an oasis and getting to each one is a relief. They are well-groomed and very tricky. On many holes, there is a quarter mile from the green to the next tee. Playing Sumo is like no other course you have played. And, make friends with the grasshoppers, they are omnipresent. I made the right decision on hole 4 to stop keeping score.

I failed to shoot my age. But I sure enjoyed the journey. Eight courses in eleven days, mostly wonderful accommodations in eight Colorado towns, new friends and an improved golf game. Traveling solo and ignoring news allowed me to spend some focused time thinking about the future, aging, career transitioning and what matters most, family and friends.

David Duval once said that “golf is a simple game, one ball, one swing… and a thousand moving parts.” How true. I learned that some very simple adjustments can make a big difference. This strikes me as true not only in golf but also in life.

Maybe as I get older the age/score vector will hit the sweet spot.

 

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