Colorado Trip

[TR1PTIK]

I'll break this up so it's a little easier to digest and quote from (if anyone chooses to do that), but I just wanted to share a little about a recent trip I had to take for work.

 

It’s been almost two weeks since I returned home from a business trip to Longmont, Colorado, but this is the first chance I’ve really had to write about it.

My boss sent me to Longmont for a week to do some certification training and since I was the only person going, I decided to take my clubs. Before I left, I reached out on the forums to see if there were any spies in the area and @downlowkey answered the call. He was a tremendous help to me all week long – hooking me up with a push cart, setting up a few rounds for us, pointing me towards a good place to snag some souvenirs for the family, and even lending me an umbrella for said excursion to get souvenirs. It was a great trip!

Day One:

The first day was a busy and exhausting one. I went to bed sometime in the early evening on 6/1 and was off to the airport by about 1:30am CST on 6/2. It’s roughly a 2-hour drive from my house to the Tulsa International Airport and my flight was leaving at 6:00am. In hindsight, I certainly could have slept a little longer, but I didn’t want to take any chances since I don’t fly often and this was my first time flying with my clubs. I wanted to make sure everything was in order. Anyway, I got to the gate plenty early and the flight to Denver went smoothly. I landed around 7:00am MDT, got my luggage and rental car and was off to meet @downlowkey for the first time at Saddleback Golf Club in Firestone, CO. I had some time to kill so after locating the golf course, I found a place nearby with a decent breakfast menu. As soon as I was done eating, it was back to the course to play my first ever round at elevation.

I did some reading beforehand on how to adjust for elevation and it seemed to work quite well – not perfect, but decent. I went out on the front 9 with a 43 (+7). The back 9 was a different story however and I shot an atrocious 51. Chalk it up to the adjustment and the fatigue, but whatever it was I still had a blast and really enjoyed the course. If I ever make a return trip to the area, Saddleback will be on my list of courses to revisit.

After the round, I grabbed a sandwich and a beer with my fellow spy and exchanged a few stories as a pop-up storm moved through the area. When the storm passed, it was off to the hotel to get settled in for the night.

Edited June 20, 2019 by TR1PTIK
Fixed tag

[TR1PTIK]

Day Two:

Wrapped up training super early (about 2:30pm) and ventured out on my own to play one of the three city courses – Ute Creek. Ute Creek is a fun course that offers plenty of challenges and a few surprises to those who’ve never played it before. As soon as I was done, I knew I wanted to go back so I could take a different strategy on some of the holes and see if I could best my score of 43/47/90.

Days Three & Four:

No golf. Just chilled, took in a couple sights, and even grilled up some steak and chicken to have at the hotel for dinners – props to Home2Suites in Longmont for that amenity.

Day Five:

Out early again and back to Ute Creek. @downlowkey was unable to meet up due to a situation at work, and I was paired with a guy from the general area who had played the course a few times. He was pretty quiet and reserved, but I was able to chat him up every so often and we just enjoyed the evening on the course. Eventually we got behind some really slow groups and ultimately decided to play the front 9 twice. After shooting yet another 43, I was hopeful I could hold on and snap this ridiculous streak… Nope, I shot a 45 the second time around. The good news though was that my ball striking slowly improved throughout this round which would yield good results on the final day (Day 7).

Day Six:

Last day of training – out at a decent time and off to play Flatirons in Boulder, CO with @downlowkey. We paired up with two other guys and aside from waiting out a pop-up storm near #2 tee, it was an enjoyable evening. I completely lost it on a few holes, but the driver was mostly solid and I had a few good moments. We weren’t able to finish the round due to darkness so I only wrote down my front 9 score of 46.  

[TR1PTIK]

Day Seven:

The last day of the trip was busy and started early – I had to make sure I was completely packed and checked out of the hotel before heading to Twin Peaks for one last round with my new friend. This was the day when things finally started to come together for me. We played from the back tees (6800 yards) and I started off hot with an easy par and a birdie. After that I settled into what I would consider acceptable (for me) golf. The greens were very challenging and fun. Most were sloped back to front with a variety of contours and tucked pins. I found myself catching the toe of the club quite often on my approach shots which left me short on a number of holes, but my lag putting was absolutely on point. I only had one double on the round after finding water on #8. The rest of my card was filled with pars and bogies and my lone birdie on #2. I shot 40/41/81 on a par 70.

After the round, we put the clubs away and headed back in for a beer before parting ways. It was back to the airport for me with a late night ahead. I wouldn’t get home until nearly 2:00am CST.

I had an absolutely wonderful time while visiting Colorado and I’m so glad I reached out on the forum to see if any spies lived nearby and wanted to meetup. @downlowkey is a standup guy I feel fortunate to have met and hangout with. He’s a stellar player and has an open invite to come see me in SW Missouri anytime.    

Edited June 20, 2019 by TR1PTIK
Fixed emoji

[downlowkey]

On 6/20/2019 at 7:39 AM, TR1PTIK said:

Before I left, I reached out on the forums to see if there were any spies in the area and @downlowkey answered the call. He was a tremendous help to me all week long – hooking me up with a push cart, setting up a few rounds for us, pointing me towards a good place to snag some souvenirs for the family, and even lending me an umbrella for said excursion to get souvenirs. It was a great trip!

What @TR1PTIK is far too nice to mention, is that I unknowingly hooked him up with the push cart that had a slow leak in the left rear tire. And instead of just airing it up once a round - he installed a brand new tube to replace the leaky one.

We had a blast strolling the fairways together. Though I still feel terrible about lending him that limping cart. But most importantly, I feel fortunate to have made a genuine connection with another Spy. Yet another affirmation that MyGolfSpy is the best golf community around... online or otherwise.

[cksurfdude]

Great trip!! 

Recently returned from a week vacay with my wife to Keystone, CO - which is at about 9200 feet (about two hours West of Denver). Definitely recommend it; two fun and challenging courses right there (and a few more a short drive away).

Oh yeah, coming from sea level did I feel it the first night and next day! Really great trip and someday we'll return to the area .... but maybe spend the first night in Denver first!