Arg's Travel Log

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I have and honestly, it was average at best. VERY FEW really good BBQ places here in the Midwest, that I am aware of anyway.

 

My favorite is Johnson BBQ in Plant City, Florida. I still need to sample some Texas, Memphis and KC BBQ however!

[tboh]

On 1/30/2025 at 11:58 PM, JungleJimbo said:

 

@Argonne69 until you decide on roots/ location for a new home... if the travel itch is still burning, then perhaps you could also consider an "outside USA" tour e.g. i hear Thailand is a paradise for all-year-round golf (JYK and her Korean LPGA friends often do winter training sessions in Thailand/ Vietnam).

 

There's a golf content creator called Matt/ "Golf Sidekick" who lives (or lived?) in Thailand, and does golf travel series / vlogs for golf weekend warriors. (including games with Thai/ Asian aspiring pro tour players).

 https://www.youtube.com/@GolfSidekick

  

This travel vlog forum of yours = a gift (thanks for sharing).  Akin to the mature golfer's version of "diners, drive-ins and dives" .  🙂 

 

Good watch ... good golf typically too

Edited February 1 by tboh

[Argonne69]

Fun morning. Started with off a little chilly, but it was near 70 by the end of the round. I'll be brutally honest, though. Many of my recent rounds have been 3 hours or less. These 4:15 weekend rounds are tough. Lol. I was the only walker that I could see, which was a surprise given that it was cart path only. I should probably be grateful that it wasn't a 5 hour round. 

 

Played the Lakes course at Wildcat GC today. I played the Highlands course two years ago. I believe the entire complex is built on an old landfill, and they've done a heck of a job. Nice elevation changes, and plenty of wet stuff. Decent views of the city on a few holes. I was told that they flipped the nines a few years ago, and the new starting holes are tough. Reminded me of the opening five holes at Lost Marsh (aka Lost Marbles, Lost Balls) in Hammond, IN. Love a forced carry over a pond on the opening shot. Lol. Solid mounding. The prairie/marshland style layout has plenty of trouble. Definitely gives Redstone a run for its money. Water on a dozen holes. Fairway bunkering was decent, but like yesterday, with so much water it would be overkill to add more sand. That said, give me more sand. Six holes with left/right movement, including three doglegs. 

 

Another course that's tough off the tee with numerous forced carries. That includes the opening three holes. Minor misses would generally catch the rough, but an uneven lie on the mounds wasn't uncommon. Big misses on nearly every hole was a goner. The 15th was the exception. Approaches were also tough with well defended greens. A handful were quite shallow, so distance control was at a premium. Greens had a moderate amount of contouring, slope, and tiering. Had a couple of putts from above the hole that were dicey. Not a lot of easy putts out there. Up and downs were also tricky with plenty of uneven lies from the Bermuda. 

 

Par 3s were pretty good. The 4th and 17th both had forced carries over ponds. The 17th was especially treacherous. Variety in length was lacking with three playing mid irons. Par 5s were decent with a couple of forced carries on the teeshot and/or layup. The 16th was a very good risk/reward hole with the green tucked behind a pond with pract no room to miss. Two of the three short 4s were meh, but the dogleg 18th was a beaut. A long hitter could possibly drive the elevated green, but it was a long carry over the pond to the elevated green. 

 

Conditions were pretty good. Fairways were in good shape with only a handful of really soft spots. Rough was thicker than I've seen recently. Bunkers were very good with plenty of sand. They're redoing the bunkers, so a few were still in the process of renovation. Greens looked and rolled great. Speed was near 10. 

 

Played a Gold/Blue combo at 6290 yds (70.0/123). Could have been a special round, but I ran out of gas late. The waiting on every shot thing is just not my cup of tea. I was even par after 11 holes, but leaked oil coming in. One birdie and five bogies. Grrr. Highlight came early with a 30' birdie putt on the 1st, and a 21' par putt on the 2nd. Irons started getting sloppy on the 12th. 

 

I think this one squeaks into the 7 cow category. Tough course with trouble galore. Needs a short and long par 3, and a little more trouble on the short 4s. No walking rate, but the $127 weekend rate wasn't crazy. Nice to play another course that wasn't lined with homes. Plenty of wildlife to keep me busy while I waited. Can't say it's a must play, but it's certainly worth a visit. 

 

[Argonne69]

Wildcat GC, Lakes Course, Houston, TX 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/kcrszbkzaj84lkuj471ep/AJqRY7ZENOcZi8_gSZTu9MA?rlkey=aol8tkkgnoyjlyddpvassktjm&st=32eiezro&dl=0

 

Edited February 1 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Planning a bit of a pub crawl this afternoon. First Stop is Southern Yankee Crafthouse. Eighteen taps with a decent mix. Went with the Heat Shields Belgian Quad. 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

22 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Planning a bit of a pub crawl this afternoon. First Stop is Southern Yankee Crafthouse. Eighteen taps with a decent mix. Went with the Heat Shields Belgian Quad. 

 

 

 

For a moment there it looked like it was served on a shag carpet. 😄

[Argonne69]

True Anomaly Brewing Company. Small brewery with only 13 brews on tap, but the Sixteen Sunbeams Belgian Tripel is very tasty. 

 

 

I'm a few blocks from Daikin Field (formerly Minutemaid Field), home of the Astros, and parking in this part of the city is nuts. Pulled into a lot next door to the brewery thinking that it was owned by the brewery, but nope, it's $15 to park. Oy. Luckily I found street parking for a dollar after driving the block a few times. 

 

[Argonne69]

22 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

For a moment there it looked like it was served on a shag carpet. 😄

 

You're showing your age. Most young people have no idea what shag carpeting is. My parents had green shag carpet in our living room in the 70s. I learned how to chip on that stuff. Lol. 

 

 

[StoutKing]

5 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

You're showing your age. Most young people have no idea what shag carpeting is. My parents had green shag carpet in our living room in the 70s. I learned how to chip on that stuff. Lol. 

 

 

Better than some greens I've seen

[Double Mocha Man]

10 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

You're showing your age. Most young people have no idea what shag carpeting is. My parents had green shag carpet in our living room in the 70s. I learned how to chip on that stuff. Lol. 

 

 

 

What a nice setup your parents made for their young golfing son.  My dad planted an entire zoysia grass front lawn on which my golfing buddies and I chipped and pitched on all summer long. We were warned not to take divots.

 

It was 20 years ago, when I was buying a house, that I encountered shag carpeting. Emma had dirty white shag carpeting in the living room and when I pulled up a seam you could see oak hardwood floors beneath.  As soon as the purchase was made it was out with the carpet and in came the guys to refinish the floor.

[Double Mocha Man]

18 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

You're showing your age. Most young people have no idea what shag carpeting is. My parents had green shag carpet in our living room in the 70s. I learned how to chip on that stuff. Lol. 

 

 

 

Looks like you were playing from the second cut.

[Double Mocha Man]

24 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

True Anomaly Brewing Company. Small brewery with only 13 brews on tap, but the Sixteen Sunbeams Belgian Tripel is very tasty. 

 

 

I'm a few blocks from Daikin Field (formerly Minutemaid Field), home of the Astros, and parking in this part of the city is nuts. Pulled into a lot next door to the brewery thinking that it was owned by the brewery, but nope, it's $15 to park. Oy. Luckily I found street parking for a dollar after driving the block a few times. 

 

 

Uh-oh, now it looks like you're on Berber carpeting.

[Argonne69]

Lol. The pub crawl came to a crashing halt. Stopped at Equal Parts Brewing to sample their barrel aged Russian imperial stout, but of course they ran out earlier today. They had it in bottles, but I wasn't going to drop $18 on a bottle that I haven't sampled. I've been burned way too many times with lousy imperial stouts. I've been to several breweries that will crack open a bottle and give one a short pour, but they wouldn't accommodate. Oh well. Looks like mole is on deck. 

 

[Argonne69]

36 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

What a nice setup your parents made for their young golfing son.  My dad planted an entire zoysia grass front lawn on which my golfing buddies and I chipped and pitched on all summer long. We were warned not to take divots.

 

It was 20 years ago, when I was buying a house, that I encountered shag carpeting. Emma had dirty white shag carpeting in the living room and when I pulled up a seam you could see oak hardwood floors beneath.  As soon as the purchase was made it was out with the carpet and in came the guys to refinish the floor.

 

Amazing how many quality oak floors were covered with nasty carpeting. 

 

Worse was the plaster walls covered with cheap paneling. 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

20 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Worse was the plaster walls covered with cheap paneling. 

 

I converted an upstairs bedroom into my study. But first came the hellacious task of removing some gaudy wallpaper.  The scraping process was not fun. 

 

Emma spared me the cheap paneling, but she had put down linoleum in the kitchen. That came up to reveal more hardwood floors, which I have now.

[Argonne69]

Something a little different today. Once again had trouble finding a sit down restaurant with mole. Ran across Teotihuacan. Looks like a local neighborhood restaurant, but it had decent reviews. I normally wouldn't order something based on photos on the menu, lol, but the ribeye sure looked good. Decided to go with their combo of ribeye and a pollo enchiladas with mole. Excellent choice. The mole was better than average. Nice and thick. The ribeye was obviously marinated, but it was very tasty. Most places have carne asada that's dried out, but this medium rare steak was almost perfect for a cheap cut of meat. Red and green salsas were good. Margarita was OK. 

 

 

Edited February 1 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

48 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

I converted an upstairs bedroom into my study. But first came the hellacious task of removing some gaudy wallpaper.  The scraping process was not fun. 

 

Emma spared me the cheap paneling, but she had put down linoleum in the kitchen. That came up to reveal more hardwood floors, which I have now.

 

Lol. Forgot about the linoleum. My parents had it in the kitchen, too. Looked good with the yellow and beige wallpaper.

 

 

Basement Rec Room had dark paneling. The living room furniture was beige, gold, and green. Perfect complement to the green shag. The glass and gold end table lamps sitting on the plastic wood-like end tables had fake diamonds hanging from the shades. Good memories. 

 

 

Lol. Forgot about the 12"x12" stick-on mirror tiles. Definitely made the small living room look big. 

 

Edited February 1 by Argonne69

[Double Mocha Man]

3 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. Forgot about the linoleum. My parents had it in the kitchen, too. Looked good with the yellow and beige wallpaper.

 

Basement Rec Room had dark paneling. The living room furniture was beige, gold, and green. Perfect complement to the green shag. The glass and gold end table lamps sitting on the plastic wood-like end tables had fake diamonds hanging from the shades. Good memories. 

 

 

Did you have the avocado or gold harvest refrigerator and electric stove?

[Double Mocha Man]

Out with the linoleum and in with the wood. 

 

 

 

Edited February 1 by Double Mocha Man

[Argonne69]

6 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Did you have the avocado or gold harvest refrigerator and electric stove?

 

Hmmm. I think they were dark brown. 

 

[Argonne69]

Yours truly in his bedroom 1982. The paneling was sweet. Lol. 

 

 

[caniac6]

I’ll be glad when your pictures show a course with green grass. I bet you will be, too.

[caniac6]

1 minute ago, Argonne69 said:

Yours truly in his bedroom 1982. The paneling was sweet. Lol. 

 

 

Pretty intense for a bass player.

[islesmb]

12 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Yours truly in his bedroom 1982. The paneling was sweet. Lol. 

 

 

You are a Rush fan too. I knew I liked you for some reason.

[Argonne69]

44 minutes ago, islesmb said:

You are a Rush fan too. I knew I liked you for some reason.

 

Lol. Saw them five times live. Used to have a Ric bass and Taurus pedals. At one point I could play the entire Farwell to Kings and Hemispheres albums. 

 

[Argonne69]

It's certainly not Los Angeles, but I keep forgetting how large the Houston area is. I was looking at a couple of courses southeast of town, and they're nearly 90 minutes from the RV park 20 miles north of the city when you factor in morning traffic. Took me 45 minutes to drive to Wildcat this morning in light weekend traffic. 

 

I haven't heard from the RV dealer regarding the part that was ordered, so I extended my stay by two days. Going to take a day off tomorrow, and then play two rounds north of downtown on Monday and Tuesday.

 

If I have to extend the stay again, I'm probably going to switch RV parks to something south near League City so I can have a short drive to the local courses. 

 

[hammergolf]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Yours truly in his bedroom 1982. The paneling was sweet. Lol. 

 

 

I’m guessing that’s a Rush banner on the wall in the background???

[islesmb]

I lost count I think I saw them like 20 something times, I took bass lessons once but wasn’t very good lol.

[Double Mocha Man]

5 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Yours truly in his bedroom 1982. The paneling was sweet. Lol. 

 

 

 

With that shirt I'm guessing you just came off the golf course and the concept of traveling in an RV wasn't even in your head yet.

[ZephyrS4]

5 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Yours truly in his bedroom 1982. The paneling was sweet. Lol. 

 

 

Slappin’ the bass…..