The 4th Annual PNW Spy golf-a-thon.

[Thin2win]

[Yellow Ball]

On 6/24/2022 at 9:04 AM, fixyurdivot said:

PNW Spy Meet-up | Round 4 | Appletree GC | Yakima, WA

Appletree is really gorgeous - a must play if you're in the area. Unfortunately, Chris made the often fatal mistake of trying to fit work into golf getaways and was unable to getaway.  So Kenny, Martha, Gavin, his brother Kiren, and I played as a fivesome before the shotgun start Fireman's Youth Charity event forced us to split 3 and 2.  But, the marshal did have us rejoin at #17.

Can you correctly pick which red dot belongs to who? 

True to its namesake

One day you could be taking a bite out of this Red Delicious.

Today is Canyon Lakes... stay tuned 

Looks like you let Martha hit to the green twice!

[fixyurdivot]

PNW Spy Meet-up | Round 6 | Wine Valley | Walla Walla, WA

Add this one to your list folks... it's a fantastic golf course!  With the addition of two of Chris's business friends, the two groups split up by age; youngsters out as a foursome with Kenny, Martha, and I following along.  It was another bluebird, near perfect weather day - we definitely chose the right week for this gathering .  I carded a 44/41 and only missed two of the narrow, thread the needle fairways .  Definitely a finalist in my "coolest flag" design contest.

[fixyurdivot]

PNW Spy Meet-up | Round 7 | Wildhorse GC | Pendleton, OR

Yesterday, Kenny, Martha, Chris and I completed the last official round of the meet-up.  The course at Wildhorse Casino Resort is fantastic - I think we were all in agreement that aesthetically, it was the best of the four we played.  The addition of trees, lakes, and surrounding farmland vistas was hard not to gather in while focusing on the game.  We even saw an Osprey dive into the lake at #16 and struggle getting a smaller sized carp airborne.  I carded an 80 after rinsing my drive on #18 and failing to make the one putt for a sub 80 round .  After the round, we had lunch at the casino and said our goodbyes as we headed back for home. 

Today is Timberstone with @GrumpyGolf 

 

 

[GolfSpy TCB]

I have GOT TO make the plans for this event next year.  Thanks to you all for sharing your rounds in words and pictures.  Makes me really homesick!!  Looks like a great time was had by you all~  ~Tim

[Thin2win]

One more note for the trip, @fixyurdivot

Is a monster.  other than Galena where they laughed at him,  he walked every round of this event.  Some of the courses were easier then others,  but Wine Valley was over 6 miles,  almost 90 degrees out and very hilly. 

 

[rkj427]

Looks like a great time was had by all who participated.

Thank you for posting the pictures and recap stories of this trip for those of us who aren't able to make the trek to the other side of the USA.

 

[GrumpyGolf]

8 hours ago, Thin2win said:

One more note for the trip, @fixyurdivot

Is a monster.  other than Galena where they laughed at him,  he walked every round of this event.  Some of the courses were easier then others,  but Wine Valley was over 6 miles,  almost 90 degrees out and very hilly. 

 

Yes!  This!   Even after all of the golf he has played over the last week and he still had the stamina to walk Timberstone with me today!  Beast is a very apt term.

I will let @fixyurdivot post the pics from today as he was taking them from jump today.  I played pretty good for where I am at this point in my journey back but not as well as him.  I do have to take a little humble brag about out driving him on most holes but not all of them since I did my fair share of slices and hooks off the tee while he kept them up the middle for the most part.

Hearing Bill's stories from the PNW Meetup for this year, I can say I am jealous for this year and honestly looking forward to next year and have already began figuring out the courses we can play here in the Boise area.  I know that Timberstone and BanBury are the two musts, so now I am beginning to weed out the rest of them so that everyone can see the diversity of courses around here.

Thanks for posting all the pics from the trip and looking forward to next year.

[Kenny B]

I wish I'd played better for the Spys that made the trip to the Columbia Basin for a very nice 4-5 days of golf.  I started off great in the Wednesday warmup round with Bill, Chris and Martha at my home course... Columbia Point... with a round of 80 that included one birdie, one double and one triple!  

I thought I was going to have a great Outing!!  I was wrong.  Off to Apple Tree in Yakima on Thursday morning and a round of 91 where I hit for "the cycle"... par, bogey, double, triple, and quad!!  Next... back to the Tri-Cities on Friday for a 7:30am shotgun start (actually started on #!) at Canyon Lakes (not one of my favorites in town) and a round of 89 with 4 doubles and only 4 pars.  Saturday was an afternoon round at Wine Valley near Walla Walla where I only had 2 doubles, but also a birdie...Yay!  and a round of 88; just a whole lot of bogeys.  Finally, on Sunday we headed to the Wildhorse Casino Resort in Pendleton, OR for lovely round of 89 with 5 doubles (penalties)!!  

I guess I was fairly consistent with play at courses that are not my home course... averaging about 10 shots higher.  Yeah, I know my course pretty well.  The main difference was in putting.  Each of the other courses was different than my course; mostly slower greens and much more undulations than my course has.  I finally started putting better at Wildhorse because their greens were very similar to my course.

I finally got through my pics of the 2022 PNW Spy Meet-Up, so I thought I'd add a few more...

Columbia Point -

Apple Tree -

 

Canyon Lakes -

 

Wine Valley -

 

Wildhorse - 

Osprey diving into pond for a carp!

 

Kenny's patio for a drink before dinner on Friday night...

 

A roaster pan on Nachos Bill ordered for an appetizer!!

 

All in all... a great week and looking forward to 2023 in ??????????

[gavinski91]

I had an absolute blast on the trip! Didn't take many pictures, but have plenty of great memories!

Round 1 - Apple Tree GC, Yakima WA

Apple Tree was a great start to the trip. @Kieran was looking like he might break 90 for the first time ever, starting off the round with par on the first 3 holes, but unfortunately fell just shy of that mark. My scorecard was a collection of circles and squares - 3 birdies (a personal best), 4 pars, 6 bogeys, 4 doubles, and a snowman for an 87.

Kieran on the 17th tee. In defense of him, @fixyurdivot, and I, there was a tournament coming through after us with a $10k HIO prize, so they had moved the white tees all the way back to the tips (~185 yards). On the bright side, even though we all missed the green, we were close enough that the splash from our balls did hit the green.

Martha was unimpressed that @Kenny B's tee was in front of hers, but they both managed to hit the green.IMG_4391.MOV  

 

Round 2 - Sun Willows, Pasco WA

Kieran and I joined @Thin2win for an evening round at Sun Willows. I don't know that I've ever played 36 holes in a single day, and it was catching up with me on the back 9 - a lot of drives blocked out right, and a lot of putts coming up short. We were moving pretty quick (Arccos says our pace of play was 2:55) so I didn't take any pictures.

As we were adding up the scores in the parking lot, we realized that Kieran's 4-footer that lipped out on 18 was for an 89 - instead for the third time he matched his personal best score of 90. I managed to beat my little younger brother again, this time by just 1 stroke.

Round 3 - Canyon Lakes GC, Kennewick WA

Again, no photos from me here - one of the benefits of playing with the Arccos Caddie Link is that I can leave my phone in the cart for the most part, but the side effect is that I rarely have it handy to take a quick picture.

Kieran had to leave after the front nine and head back home for a friends wedding, so Chris dropped off his OneWheel at that point and joined me in the cart for the back nine, where we had a great time nerding out about golf balls, shafts, spin numbers, course management, and all other kinds of golf topics. I was striking the ball decently well and managed to hit 8 fairways, 9 GIRs, and 3 up-and-downs. Unfortunately what Chris likely remembers most about the round is my 5 3-putts, but my final score of 85 was still my best for the week.

Round 4 - Pasco Golfland, Pasco WA

After Canyon Lakes, Bill, Chris, and I grabbed some lunch and then headed over to a surprisingly nice 9-hole par 3 course next to the airport in Pasco. The notable highlight for me was the 171-yard 6th hole, where my 8-iron tee shot rolled just past the pin and settled inside of 3 feet. I think that's the KP benchmark for @DiscipleofPenick and the rest of the Ohio crew to beat when they get together!

Round 5 - Wine Valley GC, Walla Walla WA

My last round of the trip was at the course I enjoyed the most - Wine Valley. The total absence of trees and significant structures (other than the club house) made aiming off the tee difficult at times, but the course style and conditions made for an amazing experience. It helped that I was hitting my driver and fairway woods well - I was averaging 265 yards with my driver (long of 291) and on 3 of the par 5 holes I was on or next to the green in 2. Unfortunately I carded a 9 on the 15th hole after struggling with some knee-deep fescue and deep bunkers (which are more like waste areas - they use the natural clay-silt soil instead of sand) and finished the round with an 86.

Here's Josh with an approach shot after a great drive on one of the par 4s:

 

And Tiffany with a tee shot on a par 3:

And I would be remiss if, after all the pre-trip talk about eagles (or the lack thereof), I didn't give you all the eagle watch update. Surprisingly to me, over the 3 days that I played I had 4 looks at eagle, but unfortunately I still have yet to capture the majestic bird. One lip-out, two more in tap-in range, and a 66-footer that rolled past but never really had a chance. So for now, my profile picture remains the same and the hunt continues!

[Kenny B]

19 minutes ago, gavinski91 said:

I had an absolute blast on the trip! Didn't take many pictures, but have plenty of great memories!

Round 1 - Apple Tree GC, Yakima WA

Apple Tree was a great start to the trip. @Kieran was looking like he might break 90 for the first time ever, starting off the round with par on the first 3 holes, but unfortunately fell just shy of that mark. My scorecard was a collection of circles and squares - 3 birdies (a personal best), 4 pars, 6 bogeys, 4 doubles, and a snowman for an 87.

Kieran on the 17th tee. In defense of him, @fixyurdivot, and I, there was a tournament coming through after us with a $10k HIO prize, so they had moved the white tees all the way back to the tips (~185 yards). On the bright side, even though we all missed the green, we were close enough that the splash from our balls did hit the green.

Martha was unimpressed that @Kenny B's tee was in front of hers, but they both managed to hit the green.IMG_4391.MOV  

 

Round 2 - Sun Willows, Pasco WA

Kieran and I joined @Thin2win for an evening round at Sun Willows. I don't know that I've ever played 36 holes in a single day, and it was catching up with me on the back 9 - a lot of drives blocked out right, and a lot of putts coming up short. We were moving pretty quick (Arccos says our pace of play was 2:55) so I didn't take any pictures.

As we were adding up the scores in the parking lot, we realized that Kieran's 4-footer that lipped out on 18 was for an 89 - instead for the third time he matched his personal best score of 90. I managed to beat my little younger brother again, this time by just 1 stroke.

Round 3 - Canyon Lakes GC, Kennewick WA

Again, no photos from me here - one of the benefits of playing with the Arccos Caddie Link is that I can leave my phone in the cart for the most part, but the side effect is that I rarely have it handy to take a quick picture.

Kieran had to leave after the front nine and head back home for a friends wedding, so Chris dropped off his OneWheel at that point and joined me in the cart for the back nine, where we had a great time nerding out about golf balls, shafts, spin numbers, course management, and all other kinds of golf topics. I was striking the ball decently well and managed to hit 8 fairways, 9 GIRs, and 3 up-and-downs. Unfortunately what Chris likely remembers most about the round is my 5 3-putts, but my final score of 85 was still my best for the week.

Round 4 - Pasco Golfland, Pasco WA

After Canyon Lakes, Bill, Chris, and I grabbed some lunch and then headed over to a surprisingly nice 9-hole par 3 course next to the airport in Pasco. The notable highlight for me was the 171-yard 6th hole, where my 8-iron tee shot rolled just past the pin and settled inside of 3 feet. I think that's the KP benchmark for @DiscipleofPenick and the rest of the Ohio crew to beat when they get together!

Round 5 - Wine Valley GC, Walla Walla WA

My last round of the trip was at the course I enjoyed the most - Wine Valley. The total absence of trees and significant structures (other than the club house) made aiming off the tee difficult at times, but the course style and conditions made for an amazing experience. It helped that I was hitting my driver and fairway woods well - I was averaging 265 yards with my driver (long of 291) and on 3 of the par 5 holes I was on or next to the green in 2. Unfortunately I carded a 9 on the 15th hole after struggling with some knee-deep fescue and deep bunkers (which are more like waste areas - they use the natural clay-silt soil instead of sand) and finished the round with an 86.

Here's Josh with an approach shot after a great drive on one of the par 4s:

And Tiffany with a tee shot on a par 3:

And I would be remiss if, after all the pre-trip talk about eagles (or the lack thereof), I didn't give you all the eagle watch update. Surprisingly to me, over the 3 days that I played I had 4 looks at eagle, but unfortunately I still have yet to capture the majestic bird. One lip-out, two more in tap-in range, and a 66-footer that rolled past but never really had a chance. So for now, my profile picture remains the same and the hunt continues!

Great to have you and Kieran join us this year!!  Really... you actually carry a tape measure with you??   

[fixyurdivot]

PNW Spy Meet-up | Round 8 | Timberstone GC | Caldwell, ID 

Today I met up with @GrumpyGolf(Wayne) for a round at Timberstone.  We had a single join us and we had near perfect weather - though a little hot on the final stretch. This is a really nice course, well maintained, and a very reasonably price.  It's a little off the beat and track but not too bad.  My only negative score goes to them not having pin flags with logo's.... what's up with that? 

I carded a 44/41 with some local course knowledge help from both Wayne & Kevin.  There are some hidden trouble spots to navigate around.  I'm not sure what to make of the rather unique bunkers; other than hitting one of those railroad ties could yield some unexpected ball position. We had a great time and Wayne is ready for the 5th Annual PNW Spy Meet-up and willing to schedule a Boise area itinerary .

Tomorrow is my final round of this whirlwind trip; Blackfoot ID's local municipal along the Snake River.  9 rounds (9 1/2 if I throw in the 9 hole Pasco exec) in 10 days... piece of cake .

[GrumpyGolf]

37 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

PNW Spy Meet-up | Round 8 | Timberstone GC | Caldwell, ID 

Today I met up with @GrumpyGolf(Wayne) for a round at Timberstone.  We had a single join us and we had near perfect weather - though a little hot on the final stretch. This is a really nice course, well maintained, and a very reasonably price.  It's a little off the beat and track but not too bad.  My only negative score goes to them not having pin flags with logo's.... what's up with that? 

I carded a 44/41 with some local course knowledge help from both Wayne & Kevin.  There are some hidden trouble spots to navigate around.  I'm not sure what to make of the rather unique bunkers; other than hitting one of those railroad ties could yield some unexpected ball position. We had a great time and Wayne is ready for the 5th Annual PNW Spy Meet-up and willing to schedule a Boise area itinerary .

 

Tomorrow is my final round of this whirlwind trip; Blackfoot ID's local municipal along the Snake River.  9 rounds (9 1/2 if I throw in the 9 hole Pasco exec) in 10 days... piece of cake .

Thanks @fixyurdivot for a great time today.  I enjoyed it and meeting up with you was a blast.  Hopefully Kevin will join up on MSG since we seemed to be recruiting him pretty hard  We'll see.

Looking forward to next time and I am willing to be the host next year here in Boise.

[fixyurdivot]

8 hours ago, GrumpyGolf said:

Thanks @fixyurdivot for a great time today.  I enjoyed it and meeting up with you was a blast.  Hopefully Kevin will join up on MSG since we seemed to be recruiting him pretty hard  We'll see.

Looking forward to next time and I am willing to be the host next year here in Boise.

LOL, yeah, I guess we were working on him pretty hard.  Thanks again for the after round beverage!

[Tom the Golf Nut]

@gavinski91 mentioned "My last round of the trip was at the course I enjoyed the most - Wine Valley. The total absence of trees and significant structures (other than the club house) made aiming off the tee difficult at times, but the course style and conditions made for an amazing experience."

I never gave this much thought until now. I have always played courses with something to aim towards ( trees, telephone poles, features on a house in the background, mountain ridge or something) there is always something. I have played over 150 courses and in 25 states so far and there was always something! I think I would have a tough time adjusting. 

[Kenny B]

5 hours ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

@gavinski91 mentioned "My last round of the trip was at the course I enjoyed the most - Wine Valley. The total absence of trees and significant structures (other than the club house) made aiming off the tee difficult at times, but the course style and conditions made for an amazing experience."

I never gave this much thought until now. I have always played courses with something to aim towards ( trees, telephone poles, features on a house in the background, mountain ridge or something) there is always something. I have played over 150 courses and in 25 states so far and there was always something! I think I would have a tough time adjusting. 

Most times there are clouds in the sky... but not this time!!

[fixyurdivot]

On 6/27/2022 at 5:10 PM, gavinski91 said:

And I would be remiss if, after all the pre-trip talk about eagles (or the lack thereof), I didn't give you all the eagle watch update. Surprisingly to me, over the 3 days that I played I had 4 looks at eagle, but unfortunately I still have yet to capture the majestic bird. One lip-out, two more in tap-in range, and a 66-footer that rolled past but never really had a chance. So for now, my profile picture remains the same and the hunt continues!

I could be wrong here but am betting/guessing that you will check off the first Big Bird before leaving the "Still Aceless Thread".  You (and Kiren) absolutely smoke golf balls.  At those hitting distances, you'll have many attempts.  When your putt on #18 at Appletree left the putter, I thought you had it.  Just getting to that green in two shots from the blue tees was pretty impressive. For our readers, #18 has a seriously legit elevated green... I should know... I walked up that mountain . 

[Reesedw]

On 6/27/2022 at 4:32 PM, Kenny B said:

 you actually carry a tape measure with you??   

You Dont'??? @gavinski91's look like a 25 footer.. Mine has a HUGE reel with it... hahahahah.. seriously though You don't... let me guess you also caught a fish >----------------------------------< thiiiiiiiiiiiis big.. lol..

Looks like a great weekend, sorry I couldn't make it.. 

[Kenny B]

2 hours ago, Reesedw said:

You Dont'??? @gavinski91's look like a 25 footer.. Mine has a HUGE reel with it... hahahahah.. seriously though You don't... let me guess you also caught a fish >----------------------------------< thiiiiiiiiiiiis big.. lol..

Looks like a great weekend, sorry I couldn't make it.. 

NO I don't!!  After 3 aces I don't need to measure how close I came anymore.  .  And YES the fish can be as big as I want it to be.  

We will get together one of these days.  

If anyone in the North Seattle area near Snohomish want to get out for a round next Friday afternoon Aug 5 after 1pm, I need to stretch my legs after driving for 4+ hours.