My road trip and the fun continues! Sunday was a perfect Fall day in Austin, Texas. I had the privilege of playing golf at Falconhead Golf Course with Women Who Golf member Karen Warren, along with her friends Kendra, and Beth Ann.

Sadly, I have to confess that we were having so much fun I forgot to take pictures of the course during the round. I was able to get one shot as I left Monday morning, though. So, my apologies for not getting more pictures of the course. It is an interesting course requiring some strategic decisions and I would love to play it again sometime.

Lara Enzor is the one who set this all in motion when she invited me to play and stay with her on the Austin leg of my trip. It turned out the timing wasn't quite right for her because she was scheduled for another event on the day I was going to be in town. She asked around in her circle of friends and Karen offered to step in and become the hostess with the mostess.

Lara was able to come meet us before she had to get to her tee time in another part of town. I was so glad to meet her in person.  

We had a great time and if I could have figured out the speed of the greens I would have shot a way better score.

As many of you know, this trip is also about raising awareness and funds for the First Tee youth development program.  

This program is way more than about teaching kids golf.

It is about teaching kids life skills, developing better students, and creating future leaders. What could be more important than that?

I want to thank my major sponsor Doghouse Motor Sports for their generous contribution to our youth!

Thank you Doghouse Motor Sports!

I'd also like to sincerely thank others who have donated funds to our campaign, including:

June Stanaway - Premier One Properties in Wenatchee
Steve Roller - Big Ideas Publishing (Connecticut)
Lisa Nelson - Wisconsin
Clair & Beverly Klock - Klock Farms & Nursery  Corbett, OR
Roy Altman - Redmond, OR
Nancy Steere - Wenatchee , WA
Ruth Collins - East Wenatchee, WA
MG Bailey - Spokane, WA
Lizette McPhie - Salt Lake City, UT
Cheri Long - Denver, CO
Charlene Lawson, Blue Springs, MO
Nancy & Roman Bielawski - Pittsburgh, PA
Cheryl Chandler - Charlottesville, VA
Lynn Friedman - Atlanta, GA
Dianne Dixon - St. Augustine, FL 
Cathy Mendoza
Jan Green - Phoenix, AZ
Karen & Dave Warren - Austin, TX
And a couple Anonymous donations  

If you are interested
in helping out the kids by donating,
please go to our fundraiser page:

GoFundMe

Still way behind on posting during my road trip but who wants to sit at a computer and post when you can be out having run, right?

When Al (left in pic above) found out Philadelphia was on my road trip route, he invited me to stay with him and his new lady friend. We had a great weekend together which started with the game of golf on Friday at the Bucks Club.  Thi,s was a very fun and challenging course. I would love to play it again.

Time for a birdie shot!

Wednesday, day 13 of my epic 2-month road trip was golf at WinterStone Golf Course in Independence, Missouri.

I played with Charlene Lawson and two of her friends Bev Hembree and Gerri Pulaski, who are now my friends too.  

WinterStone is a beautiful course. We had a lot of fun and managed to earn one birdie shot. In the interest of full disclosure, we also imbibed in a "par shot". Sometimes you have to make adjustments. LOL

After golf, we went to 54th Street Bar & Grill for dinner and drinks. We shared a bunch of awesome appetizers from their Happy Hour menu. Every one of them was good but I think the Tequila wrappers were my absolute favorites.  I recommend them next time you get to a 54th Street Bart & Grill.

It was an awesome day with new friends from the amazing Women Who Golf Facebook Group.

As many of you know, this trip is also about raising awareness and funds for the First Tee youth development program.  

I want to thank my major sponsor Doghouse Motor Sports for their generous contribution to our youth!

Thank you, Doghouse Motorsports! 

I'd also like to sincerely thank others who have donated funds to our campaign, including:

June Stanaway - Premier One Properties in Wenatchee
Steve Roller - Big Ideas Publishing (Connecticut)
Lisa Nelson - Wisconsin
Clair & Beverly Klock - Klock Farms & Nursery  Corbett, OR
Roy Altman - Redmond, OR
Nancy Steere - Wenatchee , WA
Ruth Collins - East Wenatchee, WA
MG Bailey - Spokane, WA
Lizette McPhie - Salt Lake City, UT
And a couple Anonymous donations  

If you are interested 
in helping out the kids by donating,
please go to our fundraiser page:

GoFundMe

Enter your text here...

Day 9 of my epic road trip:
When I put out the original post announcing my intentions to golf my way around the U.S. Cheri Pope Long (who is a fellow member of the Women Who Golf Facebook group) was quick to invite me to be her guest at Blackstone Country Club in Aurora, Colorado.

She said I must experience "The Gauntlet".

Saturday (Sept 4th), was the day!

Oh My! What a fun (and challenging) course. Let me tell you, this is a course you NEED to have someone who knows the course well to give you pointers on where to place your ball on each shot. The execution of each shot is a whole 'nother story, of course, but we won't go into that now. LOL

Cheri and her friend Riz were so much fun to play with and it was a perfect weather day.  After golf, Cheri had her husband Mike come over and meet us in the clubhouse for a drink. Our tee time was 9:42. We were done by 2ish and we didn't leave the clubhouse until about 7:00. We had so much fun visiting. 

I have more photos but they don't seem to want to upload here. If you'd like to see them, I invite you to see them on my personal Facebook page. 

Small World:
It turns out Cheri and I have more than golf in common. I am a retired real estate broker and had made arrangements to meet up with some of my real estate connections on Friday for lunch.  Guess who came to the lunch? YES, Cheri! 

Thanks, Cheri for an amazing day!

As many of you know, this trip is also about raising awareness and funds for the First Tee youth development program.  

I want to thank my major sponsor Doghouse Motor Sports for their generous contribution to our youth!

Thank you, Doghouse Motorsports!

I'd also like to sincerely thank others who have donated funds to our campaign, including:

June Stanaway - Premier One Properties in Wenatchee
Steve Roller - Big Ideas Publishing (Connecticut)
Lisa Nelson - Wisconsin
Clair & Beverly Klock - Klock Farms & Nursery  Corbett, OR
Roy Altman - Redmond, OR
Nancy Steere - Wenatchee , WA
Ruth Collins - East Wenatchee, WA
MG Bailey - Spokane, WA
Lizette McPhie - Salt Lake City, UT
And a couple Anonymous donations  

If you are interested 
in helping out the kids by donating,
please go to our fundraiser page:

GoFundMe

"Sometimes all you need is a full tank of gas."

The first day of my epic U.S. road trip is in the books. Doodad (my little navigator) and I left Wenatchee about 9:30. Our first stop was to see my friend Vicky who lives at her place at the Colockum Ridge golf course during the summer. 

Then Doodad and I got serious about putting some miles behind us and arrived in Kuna, Idaho about 6:00 (Idaho time). I am staying with my dear friends (or should I call them Mom and Dad?) Kathy and Jim until Monday morning. I'm so blessed to have them in my life.

My first tee time for the trip was noon (Idaho time) at the Redhawk golf course.  I'll write about that in my next post.

What did I learn my first day? I learned it is very inconvenient to leave the schedule you've worked on for months at home. Ugh. I also learned Google Docs is a marvelous thing and I was able to recover the schedule but had to spend several hours trying to recapture all of my contacts for each destination. I'm still not sure I have them all but it will have to do.

As many of you know this trip is also a trip to raise awareness and funds for the First Tee youth development program.  I want to thank my major sponsor Doghouse Motor Sports for their generous contribution to our youth!

I'd also like to thank others who have donated funds to our campaign, including:

June Stanaway - Premier One Properties in Wenatchee
Steve Roller - Big Ideas Publishing (Connecticut)
Lisa Nelson - Wisconsin
Clair & Beverly Klock - Klock Farms & Nursery
Roy Altman - Redmond, OR
Nancy Steere - Wenatchee , WA
Ruth Collins - East Wenatchee, WA  

If you are interested in donating, please go to our: 
GoFundMe page.

Gamble Sands takes the importance of
course knowledge to a whole 'nother level.

​I've played a lot of different golf courses and written quite a few articles about my experiences ​ over the years but I don't even know where to start with explaining my ​round at Gamble Sands.  This is the most fun and unique course I have EVER played and​ it was fun to share the day with my friends Vicky, Sandy and Nancy.

​We were nervous about the weather for several days before this much anticipated opportunity to play Gamble Sands. Thunderstorms have been in the forecast for several days and we all took extra clothing in preparation. We kept watching the sky but as it turned out, other than a bit of wind on the last few holes, the weather was great for us. ​We're not so sure the people with later tee times were so fortunate.  ​

​​Gamble Sands is NOT a course you should play for the first time without someone who has played there before.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  

First of all, we've all played courses that required local knowledge to know how to play ​the holes. Gamble Sands takes the importance of course knowledge to a whole 'nother level. ​Every fairway and green has tricks up their sleeves,  from tee to green.  

Secondly, in their effort to keep the course natural and rustic, signage is very limited. Getting from hole to hole can be a bit tricky in places because they don't have obvious cart paths to follow.  

​One of my favorite things about Gamble Sands is there are multiple tee boxes which accommodate all skill levels.  Every senior woman golfer I have spoken to that has played here loved it!

I highly recommend putting this course on your bucket list.  You'll go home​ wondering when you can play it again.
​
​Our friend Margo Riggan arranged some special group pricing for a ​bunch of the ladies from Wenatchee Golf & Country Club.  Thanks, Margo!  

​If you haven't already done so, ​I invite you to subscribe to this Blog so you will be notified of all new posts as they are published. You can do so by ordering the 
FREE Report:
5 Ways To Lower Your Golf Score... Without Lessons

The Three Lakes Golf course is just 4 miles south of Wenatchee, located at 2695 Golf Drive, Malaga, Washington 98828.  It has an 18-hole ladies league, mostly senior women, that plays on Thursday morning and a 9-hole ladies league that plays on Wednesday evenings. League play generally runs from mid April into mid October.  Visitors are always welcome.

Three Lakes has reasonable membership rates and green fees. It isn't a long course but it is challenging with every fairway and green having it's own unique nuances.  Ball placement is very important in the fairways and on the greens to score well.  It's always best to stay below the pin when approaching the green.

Three Lakes​ is one of those courses you will want to play again after your initial outing because you will have a better idea of HOW to play it​ better.  If you're a visitor to the area, there are numerous hotels and motels in the area as well as RV options.  

After your round, I encourage you to enjoy a beverage and/or some food at the Three Lakes Grill. The Grill is a ​wonderful little cafe where they serve generous portions for reasonable prices. They don't have a full bar but do have a good selection of beers and a decent selection of wines. The only thing I think that's overpriced here is a glass wine.