I will be road tripping from late August until early September to see various friends and family, and play golf in between. Was hoping that this thread could generate some suggestions and perhaps coordinate a meetup or two.

Dallas: looking for suggestions, and would welcome the chance to play if possible. Ballpark dates are around August 22nd / 23rd (Thursday / Friday).

Illinois/Iowa / Wisconsin: thinking of either playing TPC Deere Run for the first time (where the tour is playing this week) as my mother lives down the street, and/or driving up to Erin Hills for a fairly lengthy day trip.This would be the last week of August.

Nebraska: p0sters at the golfwrx forums speak very highly of a course called Wildhorse. It also happens to be located on I-80 and I plan to be driving right past it so it's a pretty easy add given the reviews. I would punt this though if I thought I could get on to Sand Hill Golf Club given its accolades but it seems like it would be quite a bit of work to pull off. It's a Coore / Crenshaw design which looks pretty incredible though....this would be around August 31st or September 1st (Labor Day).

Colorado: I believe I have a foursome at Ballyneal for either September 1st or September 2nd. Since it's in the middle of nowhere I may end up just playing solo. The plan is to play 36 since it's a stay and play type of setup and is supposed to be incredible. I believe an overnight stay is mandatory for non-member guests anyway so 36 makes sense.

Input/suggestions are certainly welcome. If we can coordinate a meetup for one or more of these places that would be great.

Thanks.

Tuq -

I'd be interested in playing Deere Run if you make it to the Quad.

Obviously a few chop posters here in DFW, maybe a good time to meet Spenda. Will ship wear his golf shoes or his caddy shoes?

BO

If you want to come up in the mountains of colorado I've got a few great courses near me that I'd suggest. 2.75 hours west of Denver in the glenwood springs/aspen area. Maybe it fits into your drive back to AZ.

Ballyneal looks sweet.

Why no wny tuq?

Thanks for the responses.

Absolutely. I'll be there for 5-7 days. Let's plan on it. Have played a ton of golf in and around QC over the years but yet to play Deere Run. Want this to be the year that changes.

Surprised at the number of p0sters in this rather small forum who are from that area so would be disappointed if a meetup doesn't happen. If nothing else, Dallas is the one place of all of these where I could use some good course recommendations as I have no idea.

That could work because my next stop from Ballyneal is Telluride for an annual event called Imogene Pass Run. One of the recommended routes is I-70 to Grand Junction and south through Montrose, taking me right through your area. Would add a half day to my trip but should be able to budget it timewise. I could leave Ballyneal early in the morning and get there in time for an afternoon round.

Mostly because it's about 1000 miles east of the far point of my trip.

If you can play Erin Hills, you should. I believe they say the round is a 9 mile walk. It definitely felt like it (in a good way).

I have not played Harvester in Iowa but hope to later this year. Heard it's great.

If you find yourself in the Chicago area, play the Glen Club. I've also played Dubsdread (Cog Hill) in the last couple of years and wasn't blown away.

Cool. I've never played on a fancy course with fancy people so I'll need to pick your brain beforehand, but I'm excited

Erin Hills is by far the least convenient of my options but your endorsement coupled with seeing it during the US Amateur and the whole backstory makes me want to make the drive, although if I can't find at least one other person to play with I may just bag since I get back near there almost every year. Want to play it before the Open for sure, but still kinda pissed that wacky owner got rid of the Dell hole though.

I appreciate you mentioning Harvester as I have never even heard of it. Will certainly research.

Also appreciate the Chicago recommendation although I'm probably going to stay clear of there this year.

Well my game is going straight to **** and I'll probably be too lazy to get lessons before the trip so I am going in with low expectations, but just watching the tournament on TV yesterday has me excited about the course. I don't expect the course condition to be as nice as this week but grass grows so lush back there I don't expect it to be much worse either.

Just circling back on this. Sent a PM to the Dallas guys about this Friday to make sure we're still on.

CB - still a go for Deere Run I hope. When I get time next week I'll drop you a note. Any day the week after next should work, but not sure if you have availability on weekdays.

KingJames - I have a friend who may be flying to Omaha to meet me for the Ballyneal rounds. If so we're likely to play somewhere on Tuesday afternoon (09/02) around the Colorado Springs area as he's headed down that way for business. If he's not going to make it I can route through Aspen instead and play something there. Should know next week.

Still planning to play Erin Hills, probably as one long-ass day trip.

Take pics and update regularly, tuck. This could be good.

Have fun boys

Tuq get to the northeast so I can hustle you

+1 on the Harvester. One of Iowa's best for sure

Forgot about this thread. Played Harvester last week. We teed off at 9:15 AM and played our last hole at 8:45 PM (somewhere between 45 and 54 holes), with a break for lunch. What a great course.

Thanks for the tip on Harvester - had never heard of it and see it's won "best course in Iowa" by major publications almost every year since it was built. Now I'm trying to find a way to get it to work with my schedule.

This morning I played Paako Ridge with my brother. It is behind the Sandia mountains near ABQ. He had heard of it but hadn't been out there. Glad he had, the course was spectacular, albeit very tight off the tee. And long - from the tips it plays to around 7600 yards and the hardest of the three nine combinations is something like a 75.8 rating / 138 slope. Elevation makes it play quite a bit shorter but the fairways are so narrow - it seems they were rarely wider than 20-25 yards in the landing zone - that the farther the ball travels the more likely it is to end up in the ****.

Rather than lay out the course as three individual nines with their own names, they simply number them 1-27. Apparently holes 19-27 were built a few years after the first eighteen. They acquit themselves well and that nine has three of each par 3/4/5 which I like.

Course is pricey at $92 on a Monday but in good enough shape with great views it was probably worth it. Greens were typically large with a lot of undulation and different tiers and zones that made putting tricky. They rolled great and held well. Only gripe is that people seem to suck at fixing ballmarks but that's everywhere.

I try to avoid boring round details because nobody cares, I am not sure I broke 90. Still need to add it up. Birdied the last hole though so at least it ended well.

The course wends its way through a lot of high desert. From my Arizona courses it reminds me of a mix of Talking Rock (similar vegetation) and Sedona Golf Resort (great views, narrow). We played five par 3s, and all of them played well downhill.

Anyway, took a lot of photos. These are merely some of them.

11th hole, long par 4, from the back tee:



14th hole, long par 3 (270+ yards from this back tee I believe):



15th hole, long dogleg par 5 with water behind and to the left:



16th hole...along with the 17th we were encouraged by two different staff members to check out these holes from the back tees. Great views to be sure, but other holes had no shortage of them as well:



17th hole, this is looking backwards towards the 15th green:



17th hole, medium length par 4, looking forward:



21st hole...this is a long uphill par 4, the picture isn't much but the mow job on the fairway gave it a nice look:



22nd hole, another par 3 that played much shorter because it was downhill. This was my brother swinging and this ball turned out to be lost to the right. If he lost fewer than 40 balls today I would be surprised. Not the best course for a guy who hasn't played in a year:



24th hole...notable because this looks directly back at the 22nd hole off in the distance. Another in the series of "long par 3s that play well downhill":



26th hole, the final par 3 of the day. Downhill of course, other than the house it had a nice backdrop:



Next stop should be the Cowboys course in Dallas on Friday.

Course looks nice. Does seem like all the tees are way elevated which I like (more cause of the views and the scenery than the ego boost)

Wtf 270 par 3... Are there any courses on tour with a par 3 that long?

I've played Paako Ridge. The most memorable course of a bunch of great ones we played when we were in Santa Fe. Happy for you that you played it.

played paako ridge when i drove back from vegas a couple summers ago, loved it! Amazing condition and views, and got paired with a really nice group. Yeah the par 3s were ridiculous, couple over 250, they look like par 4s from the tee.

Looking forward to tomorrow!!!

I don't remember where but I saw luke donald was hitting his driver on a par 3

Merion during the 2013 US Open? Maybe the 3rd or 4th hole?

Buddy just got back from playing Sand Hills/Ballyneal combo. Raved about both though Sand Hills was arguably GOAT. He is actually looking at a national membership for Ballyneal though I'm not sure of the value there.

Legend is that Coore/Crenshaw spent only $300 per green building them and only built one bunker. All others were there.

Played PaaKo a few years ago, playing it again next month, love it!

Just finished playing Cowboys Golf Club with tuq, spenda and BO. Had a blast despite playing awful. Thanks again for the sweet discount BO!

I like this thread, mostly because I anticipate it's greatness. So far, so good.