Kenny B

I'm sure it will probably work for some swing issues, but I keep thinking of Tin Cup!!

I'm old enough to know better, but still too young to care.

Not surprising, the distribution is starting to take on the classic bell curve.

Gamble Sands GC - Brewster, WA After the round at Desert Canyon we hopped (well maybe dragged ourselves) into the car and drove an hour up the road to Gamble Sands. Gamble Sands is touting themselves as a destination golf resort, and they have to be because there is literally NOTHING else around it. They recently finished their Inn at Gamble Sands which has 5 two-level buildings with 4 rooms on each level; so 40 rooms. Rooms have 2 Queens or one King; King beds are more expensive, but because it was our anniversary we got the King at the cheaper rate. The rooms all look out over the Columbia River. Here is a picture from inside our room looking out the window, and one taken at sunset. Adjacent to the Inn is a huge practice putting green; must be a hundred yards long for people staying in the units to practice putting. It was just put in from seed and it was not open for use while we were there. Its a short walk or shuttle ride up the hill to the clubhouse and restaurant/bar. The restaurant/bar is not very big considering they could have 150 people staying on property. Most of the tables were reserved, so we sat at the bar… dang!! This place is very upscale and the prices reflect it, plus you are a captive audience. A breakfast buffet voucher is included with the room. After breakfast on Saturday we spent more than an hour on the putting green. Again the ball was rolling quite slow. The grass is a fine fescue, very smooth, but my wife swore she could hear the ball rolling on the grass; making a crunching sound! Somewhat similar to putting into the grain on Bermuda grass. The green speed was faster than Desert Canyon, but not by much. The problem is that the greens at Gamble Sands are massive, and if you don't get your ball to the correct level on the green, well… I did a lot of that!! The weather was a little cooler than on Friday at Desert Canyon with very little sun and a little rain started on our last few holes. We were paired with two young brothers from the “wet side” of the state. Almost everyone there on Saturday was from the Seattle area. The two young'ens did not play very often but they could hit the ball a long way. Unfortunately, more often than not, it was not in the fairway, and the fairways are HUGE. It took a lot of balls to play the way they did. The kids were impressed that we didn't lose a ball all day; they even called me “Professor”. We played from the Regular Tees which are 6200y; my wife played from the Intermediate Tees which are 5600y because she thought the forward tees at 4800y were too short. If you play from the tips (Medal tees that are pink in color), it's 7170y with a rating and slope of 74.2/128. The Starter said that they are adding an additional set of tees, but on some holes I don't know where they would put them. He also said that a local rule was in effect allowing you to pick rocks out of the groomed bunkers. Yes, there were rocks. Some bunkers were better than others, but none of them had what I would call nice sand. The Sands Course at Gamble Sands is designed by David McLay Kidd, designer of Bandon Dunes, and there are quite a few similarities. This course does not have as many views of the Columbia River as Bandon has of the Pacific Ocean, but it's what I would expect a true links course to look like. There are several blind shots off the tee and on some approaches. On a couple of holes there were no aim points, so unless you knew which part of the mountain in the distance to aim at, well... Alongside many dogleg fairways are waste areas that are not considered bunkers and you can ground your club, but don't get in them!! Some have steps to get down into them. There are several tee shots that require you to determine how much of the waste area to cut off. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of one, but here's one of their website pics of the 5th hole; fairway on the other side of the waste area. Clearly, the course was made for walking, but Gamble Sands is not a flat course. I'm glad we took a cart, but they make you pay for it; $25/person to ride. I could walk the course, but I don't think my wife would have made it. Some tees for the next hole are only several yards from the green of the last hole. A mis-club or poor shot into a green could be hazardous to the group in front. For carts the layout is not clearly marked and cart paths are mostly dirt/dust; if you ride, be the cart in front. Many times we drove past the next tee box. There are very few signs, and it was not clear where the next tee box was located. Overall, the course is fun to play if your yardages are accurate. I mis-hit one approach shot and was on the front of the green with a 50-yard putt on very slow greens. No, I didn't 4-putt, thank you. Here's one of the massive greens. The course marshal said that the greens are usually slow because it can be quite windy, and because many people traveling to this location would find it very difficult to play huge, fast greens. I can understand that having putted at Torrey Pines before the US Open, but slow putts can also be quite aggravating. I managed to survive with an 84 and five 3-putts I was asked which course I preferred… Desert Canyon or Gamble Sands. I liked features of each one, but both are courses that have to be played more than once to really understand how to play them. They have caddies at Gamble Sands, and maybe we should have used one but the round would be double the price. A caddy might have shaved a few strokes off my round, but most of the extra strokes came around the green anyway. I would probably pick Gamble Sands as my first choice only because the layout is more straight-forward and although the greens were big, the slopes were not severe. If you are in the area I would recommend playing both courses and as @Ressedw recommended, Bear Mountain Ranch is also nearby outside Lake Chelan. We have played Bear Mountain Ranch, and I do not suggest playing it in a strong wind... just sayin'. Check them out.

I will break up my course review of Desert Canyon and Gamble Sands into separate posts just to keep them straight. There were some similarities. So, Friday April 21, 2017 was our 10th anniversary. To repeat, I met my wife at our golf course in 2003 and we played together in our gangsome for the next several years. I proposed on April 1, 2006 (a date I can remember) on the 1st tee of our golf course. On April 17, 2007 we were married on the 1st tee of the course in a ceremony that took maybe 4 minutes by a Seattle jazz musician who got a minister's license. We turned around and teed off. Everyone could play, eat and drink all day long. Desert Canyon GC - Orondo, WA So to celebrate, last Friday we drove 2.5 hours to Desert Canyon GC which is located north of Wenatchee, WA along the Columbia River. Neither one of us had played there before. (In my young crazy days, I did race my car at the Pine Canyon Hill Climb near there; took 2nd once, but that's another story.) The weather was beautiful with sun and a light breeze, temps in the 60's. After breakfast we spent an hour on the putting green, and I was impressed by how smooth the greens were, but NOT impressed with the speed. Super slow, at least compared to my home course. Desert Canyon is on the slope of a mountain and the Columbia River is about 600 feet below. Putting uphill is very slow, but I also left a bunch of putts short going downhill. Maybe it's because of the time of year; they haven't been open very long after a long snowy winter. Desert Canyon GC also has a lighted putting course. I thought about playing from the Silver Tees because my 70th birthday is in a few weeks, but my wife wouldn't let me. She played from there. We were a twosome, so I played the White Tees at 6144y which was fine. If you play from the tips, it's 7285y with a course rating of 76.3 and a slope of 144. Carts are included thank goodness as there are a lot of steep up and down slopes, and several tee boxes were several hundred yards away from the last green. The carts have GPS with yardage to the pin but I found that yardages were off on some holes while others agreed with my Golf Buddy and Bushnell V3. Tips on how to play each hole was given to me when we checked in, and they are very helpful, IF you read them before you tee off on a hole!! I managed to shoot 83 with four 3-putts. Dang slow greens!! I'm sorry but I did not record which hole each picture represents, but here they are. Desert Canyon describes their course as 2 nines; the Lakes course and the Desert course. Probably their signature hole is #6 on the second nine or Desert course. It's quite a drop in elevation and the landing area is quite narrow. Don't worry, the ball will fit! Here is the view from the top. The green is the farthest green patch on the left side of the picture. From the tips it's 682y, I played it at 630y and made a 3-foot putt for birdie.

It's golf. The day before I couldn't get out of the sand. I guess I was just practicing... and it paid off.

Fun staying in SLC, isn't it?? When I first started flying to Russia, I could get home on Delta in one day. I was always able to make the final leg connection in SLC. The last year that I flew to Russia, Delta changed their schedule, and I could no longer make that connection, so it was either spend the night in NYC or SLC. Guess which one I chose!!!

I made NO putts today in my walking group. Two doubles on the front nine and shot 43, but shot 37 on the back nine with 3 sandy pars. The sandys were NOT from putting; I stuck each one to tap-in distance.

I'll give it a try. I generally like Mexican style beer, Modelo when nothing else on tap looks good.

Three fingers Wild Turkey Honey Sting... X 2.

So... if you don't hack your approach shots, would that mean you have to change your name??

We have already played Bear Mountain Ranch... in the wind!!! I would play it again, but not in the wind. I play in the wind a lot here in the TriCities, and I don't think I would have a problem at Gamble Sands because it's reasonably flat. I hit a straight ball; but at Bear Mountain there was a left-to-right wind on a par 5 and I hit my ball left of the fairway which sloped to the right, and it almost went under the fence down the mountain on the right. My wife landed her ball on the left edge of the fairway and we never found it looking by the fence on the right. Some holes have pretty severe uphill/downhill shots, but the views of Lake Chelan are wonderful.

Thanks! I think it's still pricey, especially if you ride in a cart; $25/person for a cart, but I at least they have carts. I don't have an issue walking since it's fairly flat. My wife seems to think she can walk it, so we will take our push carts, but may ride depending on how she feels. No pics of Desert Canyon to speak of. I read about their renovation last year in our PNGA golf magazine but have never been there. I'm not sure what to expect.

"Just do it" I've heard that somewhere before.

I really wanted to attend the Texas Spy Tournament this weekend, but it was scheduled on our 10th wedding anniversary. For those of you who haven't heard this story, I met my wife on a golf course; I proposed to her on the first tee 4 years later, and a year after that we got married on the first tee. We said our vows, and turned around and teed off; everyone could play and drink all day!! So to celebrate we decided to play two courses that we have never been to before - Gamble Sands and Desert Canyon. Both are in north central Washington State, north of Wenatchee, WA Desert Canyon Golf Resort was renovated a few years and is the only true desert course in the state, according to the WSGA course rating committee that I followed around last year. We have one course locally that's close to being a desert course, but houses are growing up all around it now. http://desertcanyonresort.com/ Gamble Sands is a new course in the last few years, and they just completed a new lodge. It is literally out in the middle of NOWHERE!! http://www.gamblesands.com It is a true links course in the high desert of Washington with sandy soil, traditional fine fescue grasses, firm playing surfaces, wide fairways, and massive greens. The course overlooks the Columbia River. The course architect is David McLay Kidd who designed Bandon Dunes, the Castle Course in St. Andrews, and Tetherow GC in Bend, Oregon. I'm sure it will kick my butt... but I will thoroughly enjoy every minute of it!! Here are some website pictures, but I will post my own when we return. The reachable par 4 #2 with the Columbia River in the background The par 3 #16 The par 5 #18

70's and partly cloudy this weekend; winds 5-10mph. Too bad I'm headed north to play golf; temp in the low 60's.

Apparently, there was a road issue on I-20 near Atlanta yesterday. I bet that caused some traffic problems. Now we know what happened!!

And they have several hundred beautiful acres next door that someone else takes care of. Nice!!

Today... My_Brain_ got in the way of my swing. 'nuff said!

We are thinking about heading there for next winter's trip. It's been 3 years since we were last there.

Makes you want to keep coming back... doesn't it? Good job!

I used to know a guy that lived in Tarpon Springs when I just started playing golf. I played somewhere there, but don't have a clue on the name of the course. My wife played in the opening Ladies Club scramble this morning, so I had an earlier tee time. I ended up playing with one local guy and a golf coach from Olympia, WA who was here checking out the course for his kids playing in the WA State championships next month. He played the tips and the other guy and I played from my normal Blues. He sure hit the ball faaaar!! I was +2 on the front, but started to falter on the back and struggled in with a +5 for a 79. After we finished, I headed back to #14 and followed my wife's team. They shot 72 with 5 birdies and 5 bogeys. One player I swear was Mrs. Havacamp!

After shooting 79 today I'm celebrating with a Noir Milk Stout Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

The Challenger's trunk is slightly smaller and shaped differently from the Charger, so no. I thought I might like a 2-door, but I have grown really fond of having those extra doors for access. The R/T is pretty good for power, but the car is heavy. It still handles a lot better than an SUV. The SRT would have been nice in the Charger, but I would be trading a few mpg for the few extra hp. The SRT wasn't on sale like the R/T, and the Hellcat wasn't available yet. On the highway if I don't push the speed limit too much, I have gotten over 26 mpg. Not as good as the V-6 model, but close.

Ouch! Been there, done that! I'm currently trimming about 150 feet of Christmas tree hedge that is between 8 and 12 feet tall. Standing on a ladder reaching out across the top of this hedge with clippers, I wonder what the hell am I doing this for?? My legs, arms, wrists, shoulders are all sore, and it affects my golf swing. Then I remember, the first year that we moved into this house, I had someone trim the hedge and it cost $800. Over the years I have saved over $6000. However, I am about ready to rip them out!!!