A Discussion of Each of the 50 Courses (in Chronological Order)
Scoring Explained
Total Golf Experience (Scale of 1 to 10) - I didn’t play any horrible courses; a horrible course would get a “1” in this scoring system; it would be mostly a cow pasture with flags stuck in holes, cow patties as tee markers, one cranky employee who takes your money, mows what grass there is, and wades in the pond hawking balls to sell in the pro shop that triples as staff housing and meth lab. Every course I played scores at least a 5. They all had some nice qualities. All were selected ahead of time and reserved in advanced (except North Carolina where, due to an intense storm, I had to change from the northern edge of the state on a Wednesday morning to the southern edge of the state the following morning, making Thursday a two-round day. My course selection process proved to be pretty good: careful study of internet photo galleries, both from the course website and from Google images. I don’t think I was ever severely disappointed and, many times, delightfully surprised by the courses I played.
The score for each course represents my overall, subjective feel for the place based on setting, layout and condition. The kindness of the staff and the people I played with factor in too.
My Golf Performance on This Course (Rank 1 to 50) - Relative to course difficulty based on its index from the tees I played, Rank “1” is the best I played over the 50 days, rank 50 the worst I played.
Day One: Hawaii – Royal Hawaiian
For most of the round, I was thinking, “Wow, what a way to start my adventure.” The course was so “jungley” and mountainous that I truly did expect King Kong to come rumbling down to get me at any moment. The condition wasn’t great and it was extremely penal (I lost 7 balls!), but I didn’t mind. I was alone in paradise on an excellent layout. Every hole was interesting and a huge challenge. I would play this again in a heartbeat.
9 Golf Experience
31/50 My Performance on This Course
$175 Cost
Look at that sleep-deprived old man with the crooked teeth.
Day Two: Alaska - Moose Run
I think this course is getting short shrift from me: the round was played on 3 hours of upright sleep, sandwiched between two 6 hour flights and getting a rental car. Yikes! What was I thinking? I remember I liked the setting and there were some interesting holes but I was also very disappointed: no moose.
6 Golf Experience
17/50 My Performance Rank
$43 Cost