Arg's Travel Log

[Argonne69]

River Ridge Golf Club, Raleigh, NC 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/hftf2dk9lf0g9ss7zu2h4/ALw9WtKpIMClHfppG4jbFOs?rlkey=a3xe6b2swqhuzzeamoi6nbqmf&st=i3am0d8d&dl=0

 

Edited June 4 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Raleigh Beer Garden. Very impressive selection of brews with over 300 taps. Wow. Puts Flying Saucer to shame. Lol. Started with a very nice Bombshell Tripel Vixen Belgian Tripel. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

16 minutes ago, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

If you are near Akron, I'll come up and play a few rounds with you. I have a few on my Ohio list that I still need to knock out:

 

Links Firestone Farms

Boulder Creek

Ellsworth Meadows

Mill Creek Park (36 holes)

Kensington

Avalon Lakes

Buhl Park

Salem Hills

 

Not much decent public golf around Pittsburgh IIRC. The only courses that I have played near Pittsburgh are Totteridge and Birdsfoot.

 

 

Olde Stonewall north of the city is a gem. 

 

[chachang25]

Can't believe I only just today discovered this thread.  Amazing stuff, excited to track your journey!

[Argonne69]

Final stop today was Midwood Smokehouse. Decent, but not award winning. Brisket was tender, but a little too lean. Ribs were tender, but too little meat on them bones. Pulled pork was good. Jalapeño cheddar hot link was very good. Very moist. Beans and mac and cheese were average. Hush puppies were dry. The tangy sauce was OK, but a little on the thin side. Don't quite get the vinegar sauce thing. Good when doused on the pulled pork, but pretty useless on the other three meats. Lol. Can't say I'd recommend it. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

If you are near Akron, I'll come up and play a few rounds with you. I have a few on my Ohio list that I still need to knock out:

 

Links Firestone Farms

Boulder Creek

Ellsworth Meadows

Mill Creek Park (36 holes)

Kensington

Avalon Lakes

Buhl Park

Salem Hills

 

Not much decent public golf around Pittsburgh IIRC. The only courses that I have played near Pittsburgh are Totteridge and Birdsfoot.

 

 

I'd love to play the two courses at Firestone, but I have a hunch the stay and play package is ridiculously expensive. 

 

[Argonne69]

Tomorrow is looking bleak. Heavy rain all morning. 

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

17 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I'd love to play the two courses at Firestone, but I have a hunch the stay and play package is ridiculously expensive. 

 

I think it's probably a $350 greens fee for each course and at least $300 a night. The courses there don't really excite me to be honest. Much, much better places to play at that pricepoint. 

 

They are hurting which is why they opened up a stay and play the past few years. Can't be hurting that much charging those prices.

[Argonne69]

As expected it was a washout today. The rain isn't heavy, but honestly, I'm losing interest in playing in the rain. If it looks like I can get most of the holes played while staying dry I'll take a chance, but no point in driving a half hour in the rain just to tee off in the slop. 

 

My right wrist is swollen and painful from yesterday's tumble. Probably a good thing to give it a day's rest. 

 

Sat down to book rounds for tomorrow and Saturday. The area sure looks like it has a serious shortage of public courses. Almost all of the courses I looked at were booked solid until late afternoon. Wound up booking at Lochmere tomorrow. They punched the greens yesterday, so hopefully they used small tines. Booked The Preserve at Jordon Lake for mid-morning on Saturday. I'll show up early and hope there's a no-show. 

 

Called the eye doctor to see if I could move my 3 pm appointment up, so no cancelations at this point. I'll call again later this morning. 

 

Looking ahead to Sunday, it's going to be a long drive to Kitty Hawk. Probably 4 hours. Haven't had a drive that long in a while. 

 

[Argonne69]

Off to the ophthalmologist, but first a few stops. Raleigh Brewing. Looks like eleven beers on tap. Had a taste of their Hell Yes Ma'am with Strawberries Belgian Strong Golden Ale, but settled on their regular Hell Yes Ma'am. I had the brew a couple of years ago in Charlotte. 

 

 

[tw422]

On 6/2/2025 at 10:44 AM, Argonne69 said:

The Highland Course at Primland Resort, Meadows of Dan, VA 

 

Great view of the practice green, 10th (right), and 18th (left) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/3au8em83sgtwiw28j2u67/AJBnU4n2n5YWb7KbBEhbikY?rlkey=dzv2th0fie7bq0eqd4pxm2etu&st=l7ycs2ee&dl=0

 

Wow, what a beautiful course and great review.  Too bad for all of the rain you are getting.  You said your wrist was hurting?  I didn't see a mention of a "stumble"?  Or is this from one of your old falls?  Maybe those high ABV beers are catching up to you?!?

[Argonne69]

9 minutes ago, tw422 said:

Wow, what a beautiful course and great review.  Too bad for all of the rain you are getting.  You said your wrist was hurting?  I didn't see a mention of a "stumble"?  Or is this from one of your old falls?  Maybe those high ABV beers are catching up to you?!?

 

Lol. I thought I mentioned it yesterday. Took a step back on a cart path to get out of the way of a maintenance cart, and tripped on the curb. Naturally put my hands back to break my fall and landed on my injured wrist. Oy. Ten days ago in Southern Pines I tripped in the parking lot at the course and landed on the same bad right wrist. The thing is never going to heal at this rate. 

 

 

[tw422]

16 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. I thought I mentioned it yesterday. Took a step back on a cart path to get out of the way of a maintenance cart, and tripped on the curb. Naturally put my hands back to break my fall and landed on my injured wrist. Oy. Ten days ago in Southern Pines I tripped in the parking lot at the course and landed on the same bad right wrist. The thing is never going to heal at this rate. 

 

 

Ouch!  Hope everything is ok and heals up fast.  

[Argonne69]

7 minutes ago, tw422 said:

Ouch!  Hope everything is ok and heals up fast.  

 

Sadly, at my age nothing heals quickly, especially if I keep reinjuring it. 

 

The list of aches and pains is endless. Besides the bad right wrist, I've developed golfers elbow in my left arm. Been wearing a compression band to help with the pain. Often wake up at night due to the pain. 

 

Have a stinging pain in my right hip. Think it's a pinched nerve. 

 

My feet and ankles take a beating walking on the soft turf. Shuffling out of bed in the morning is fun. 

 

I have a slight tear in my left rotator cuff. Don't want to undergo surgery, so I've been living with it for years. 

 

My lower back isn't particularly young. Lol. 

 

Blurry vision in my left eye since the vitreous fluid/gel pulled away from my retina last spring. 

 

Probably missing a few. Lol. 

 

[tw422]

40 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Sadly, at my age nothing heals quickly, especially if I keep reinjuring it. 

 

The list of aches and pains is endless. Besides the bad right wrist, I've developed golfers elbow in my left arm. Been wearing a compression band to help with the pain. Often wake up at night due to the pain. 

 

Have a stinging pain in my right hip. Think it's a pinched nerve. 

 

My feet and ankles take a beating walking on the soft turf. Shuffling out of bed in the morning is fun. 

 

I have a slight tear in my left rotator cuff. Don't want to undergo surgery, so I've been living with it for years. 

 

My lower back isn't particularly young. Lol. 

 

Blurry vision in my left eye since the vitreous fluid/gel pulled away from my retina last spring. 

 

Probably missing a few. Lol. 

 

Getting old sucks!  Frankly, with the amount of golf you play, I'm surprised you are not in worse shape (aches/pains). You do a ton of walking/exercise so probably why you're holding up really well.  I've found that after adding a regular stretching routine and more weight training (especially my core) that the aches and pains are either gone or are more manageable.  Feel better soon. 

[Looper34]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Sadly, at my age nothing heals quickly, especially if I keep reinjuring it. 

 

The list of aches and pains is endless. Besides the bad right wrist, I've developed golfers elbow in my left arm. Been wearing a compression band to help with the pain. Often wake up at night due to the pain. 

 

Have a stinging pain in my right hip. Think it's a pinched nerve. 

 

My feet and ankles take a beating walking on the soft turf. Shuffling out of bed in the morning is fun. 

 

I have a slight tear in my left rotator cuff. Don't want to undergo surgery, so I've been living with it for years. 

 

My lower back isn't particularly young. Lol. 

 

Blurry vision in my left eye since the vitreous fluid/gel pulled away from my retina last spring. 

 

Probably missing a few. Lol. 

 

I hear ya. Definitely against the wind anymore but you got to lean into it and keep pushing.

[Argonne69]

11 hours ago, Looper34 said:

I hear ya. Definitely against the wind anymore but you got to lean into it and keep pushing.

 

I forgot to mention the bad knees. Both are down to ~50% cartilage. The right knee had half the meniscus removed 10 years ago after tearing it playing golf. For years I've worn knee supports to increase the blood flow and provide a little lateral support.

 

Off to the course. Lol. Hope it's not too wet after the heavy rain yesterday. It was a crazy drive back to the RV park from the doctor's office. Visibility was down to 200 yds in spots, and yet dozens of drivers were driving with no lights on. Simply nuts.

 

[Argonne69]

Enjoyable morning. Nice to be done with the rain for a few days, although the course was extremely wet. Apparently it's in a flood plain. Oy. Mostly cloudy and very humid early, but did manage to see some blue skies late in the round. Showed up early, and was able to join two members heading out first, as the cart path only restriction scared away the other two members. Still loving the 3 hour rounds. 

 

Lochmere GC today. The pancake flat parkland layout was designed by Gene Hamm. Not sure when it opened, but it felt old school with the small greens. A few homes visible off property on the perimeter, but otherwise a nicely wooded course. Fairway bunkering was very light. Greenside was a little better. Water in play on ten holes. Five holes with left/right movement including two doglegs. 

 

Moderately difficult off the tee primarily due to the trees. Fairways weren't overly generous, either. Minor misses would catch the light rough, but you might have to deal with a tree or two. Big misses were generally bad, but the interior holes had enough pine straw to located a ball and punch out. 

 

Approaches were also moderately tough due to the small greens. A handful had front bunkers, but most were pretty open in front. Unfortunately it was so wet that one couldn't really run a ball up. Greens had gentle contouring and slope. Putting was fairly straightforward. Up and downs were fairly easy chipping from the light rough. 

 

Par 3s were OK. Sufficient trouble with water in play on all four. The 3rd was good looking. Variety of length was poor playing 8i to 6i. The three par 5s were meh. Nothing reachable and not a lot of trouble. The 9th had a creek in front of the green, but with a short iron or wedge in hand it wasn't really in play. No short 4s. 

 

Other than the punched and sanded greens and teeboxes, and standing water in the fairways, it was in decent shape. Turf was in good shape. Rough was low. Bunkers were nicely groomed, but could have used another half inch of sand. Greens were quite speedy, but the large punches were knocking putts every which way. 

 

Played a Black/Blue combo at 6230 yds on the par 71 layout (70.5/136). Good day off the tee, but watching drives splash in the fairways didn't do much for distance. Woods and irons were spotty. Thankfully missing short made for a lot of easy up and downs. Four bogies and a double. Shot of the day was probably the short sided bunker shot on the 18th to set up a sandy. Highlight of the morning was my two playing partners. Appreciated them let me join them. 

 

Going to be stingy and go with 4 cows. Nothing here to really get excited about. Needs all the usual design stuff. Nice looking, but pretty boring. The $40 weekend walking rate was spot on, and I'd probably play it regularly if I was a local, but it can easily be skipped. 

 

[Argonne69]

Lochmere GC, Cary, NC 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/24skx1w66as5k3hkd9p0b/AEFjtsZDzuwlyPVjpyQtsIk?rlkey=zp45acecp7kne9xvhu7pwkxv2&st=t6niyv4l&dl=0

 

Edited June 6 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Impressive number of breweries in the Research Triangle area, but most don't open until noon. Wound up at BottleDog Bites and Brews in Cary. Small taproom with a dozen regional brews, but they did have a pair of imperial stouts. Went with a pour of the Incendiary Brewing (Winston-Salem) Duice Muerte imperial stout. Quite the kick with chili peppers tossed into the mix. 

 

 

I was originally thinking burger today, but the poutine looked excellent. It was. French fries, cheese curds, gravy, bacon and a sunny side up egg. Hit the spot. 

 

 

Edited June 6 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Village Draft House in Raleigh. Looks like 96 taps with a good mix. Was hoping for more local brews, but the handful weren't quite my style. Wound up with an old favorite, a La Fin du Monde Belgian Tripel. 

 

 

[ZephyrS4]

Mixing it up with the poutine……I like it! Looks good!

[bcjim]

Poutine, sorry.....will remain entrenched in the "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" category of food ideas.  I don't get it al all. The egg and bacon look fine, just eat those. 

[stevopagolf]

16 hours ago, bcjim said:

Poutine, sorry.....will remain entrenched in the "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" category of food ideas.  I don't get it al all. The egg and bacon look fine, just eat those. 

BCjim isn't poutine that stuff in his mouth......

[Argonne69]

Very enjoyable morning, but wow, that humidity. Mostly sunny and very humid. Walking a hilly course really works up a sweat. Arrived 90 minutes before my tee time, and I was able to head out early in the third group. The lead group sadly didn't set any speed records, but we managed four hours. 

 

The Preserve at Jordon Lake GC today. The hilly parkland layout was designed by Davis Love III. I guess it's technically a housing development layout, but most of the homes are hidden behind the trees. Conditioning is a bit suspect, but still playable. Fairway bunkering was light for my tastes. Greenside was pretty good. Water in play on 11 holes. Seven holes with left/right movement including three doglegs. 

 

Moderately difficult off the tee with a few forced carries, a handful of pinching trees, and some side slopes that fed decent drives into trouble. Minor misses would generally catch the light rough, but it wasn't overly wide on many holes. Big misses were generally big trouble with the dense trees/junk. There were a couple of spots where you'd get lucky and find the ball in the pinestraw. OB was also looming. 

 

Approaches were pretty tough. Many greens were elevated or below your ball in the fairway. Had more than a few uneven lies in the fairways. Bunkering was very effective. Greens had a good amount of contouring and slope. Putting was actual work, although the greens were still recovering from aeration, so putts rarely stayed on line. Up and downs were tricky with plenty of uneven lies and a few shots from well below the green where the putting surface was invisible. 

 

Par 3s were pretty good. Well, three of them. The 11th didn't get the heart racing. The other three all had water in play. Variety of length was poor playing 7i to 5i. Par 5s were meh. Nothing reachable. Three did have tough layups with carries over crossing creeks. The three short 4s were mixed. The RtL dogleg 7th was fun. The fairway was severely sloped so a decent layup off the tee could still spell trouble, and there was a very tall tree that blocked most of the green if you were too far left. A big hitter could attempt to drive the green cutting the corner, but I think it would be crazy. Lol. 

 

Conditions were iffy. Surprised that it wasn't CPO. Teeboxes were a bit of a mess. Fairways were wet and soft. Rough was a good height. Bunkers were groomed, but in need of another inch of sand. Greens looked OK minus the punches and sand. 

 

Played the Blue/White combo at 6468 yds (71.4/135). Lol. Bit off a little too much given the elevation changes and soft conditions. Another solid day off the tee, but drives were going nowhere except for the couple of downhill holes. Woods and irons were spotty on the uneven lies. Wedges weren't dialed in. Putter was useless on the punched greens. Seven bogies and a double. Can't say there was a shot of the day, but after struggling most of the round, I did hit a great drive on the par 4 18th, and a solid 8i to within 21' to at least give me a good look at birdie. Missed the putt of course. Highlight of the day was clearly my three young playing partners. Two players from western Kentucky in town for a wedding were spraying the ball like Roundup weed killer, but were having a good time. The third member of the group was a 17 year old member who lived on the course. Played on the high school team, and had a solid game. Loved hearing about my crazy adventure. 

 

Despite the spotty conditions and the need for the usual design changes, I'll go with 7 cows. Great looking course with more teeth than a Great White. The $80 weekend walking rate was a tad high, but not crazy. $11 cheaper than the riding rate was a little suspect, though. Lol. Definitely think it's worth a visit. 

 

[Argonne69]

The Preserve at Jordon Lake GC, Chapel Hill, NC 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/cmqlhly1yxhs87us44w1x/AKXGcanfUmoV99LN_mbzYVI?rlkey=h504lrvcok1zr22qg72d1xdn5&st=ot64tl18&dl=0

 

Edited June 7 by Argonne69

[ZephyrS4]

‘Like Roundup weed killer’……lol

[Argonne69]

Drove up to Durnham to Growler Grlz. Impressive taproom with 44 taps with regional and national brews. Started with a very tasty half pint of Bombshell Beer Company (Holly Springs, NC) Tripel Vixen w/ Tangelo Belgian Tripel. Yum. On deck is a flight of imperial stouts. 

 

 

Edited June 7 by Argonne69

[Double Mocha Man]

8 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Drove up to Durnham to Growler Grlz. Impressive taproom with 44 taps with regional and national brews. Started with a very tasty half pint Bombshell Beer Company (Holly Springs, NC) Tripel Vixen w/ Tangelo Belgian Tripel. Yum. On deck is a flight of imperial stouts. 

 

 

 

Remember to check your BAC before you drive home to Bessie. ,😄

[bcjim]

Those tees look awful, how does it come to that? Not overnight for sure. 

 

 Looks nice otherwise and prices is right for a weekend.