Go(lf) East, old man, Go(lf) East!
Many years ago Horace Greeley popularized the slogan, “Go West, young man”. Well, 50 years ago I started that journey and can say – “Been there, done that”.
Part 1: “Go West, young man”.
1950 to 1968: Grew up along the Delaware River in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Spent summers “Down the Shore” in Seaside Heights, NJ
1968 to 1974: Started the journey West and made it to Illinois (for college) and the Midwest before taking a slight detour back to NJ/PA to go to work teaching 5th grade.
1974 to 2018: The journey really started with the move to Ft. Collins, CO (not far from Greeley, CO which is named in honor of Horace Greeley) and the next 44 years were spent along the Front Range of Colorado.
2018 to 2022: The final stop on my (now our) journey west was Bend, OR. Even though we were 3 hours from the Pacific Ocean, we traveled there quite often. The journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific was now complete. Yes Horace, I went West as a young man.
Part 2: “Go(lf) East, old man”.
2022 to Present: Now Horace, I am going back East as an old man. Time to return to the “homeland” with my bride of 40+ years. We started the sojourn East from the Oregon Coast with a 6-month detour in Santa Fe, NM. You can read about that stay by visiting the travel section and the Houseless (but not Homeless) Golf Tour in the Land of Enchantment.
The following are the 9-hole courses we played as we left the Pacific Coast and headed east to the new homestead in the Charlotte, NC area and the Jersey Shore:
West
Agate Beach Golf Course – Agate Beach, OR
Old Back 9 – Bend, OR (a fun 4-year sojourn)
American Falls Golf Course – American Falls, ID
Dixie Red Hills Golf Course – St. George, UT
Lincoln Park Golf Course – Grand Junction, CO
City Park 9 – Ft. Collins, CO (the best landing spot back in 1974)
Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe (Great 28) – Santa Fe, NM
Central
Oldham Country Club – Vega, TX
Henryetta Golf Club – Henryetta, OK
Betty Allison Junior Golf Course at Oscar Blom – Springfield, MO
Deer Trails Golf Course at Chaffee Crossing – Fort Smith, AR
Belmont Golf Club – Downers Grove, IL (we are now back in the Chicagoland area where the road west started back in 1968)
Cherokee Golf Course – Louisville, KY
The Course at Sewanee (The University of the South) –Sewanee, TN
East
White Pines Country Club – Mount Airy, NC
Captains Cove Golf and Yacht Club – Greenbackville, VA
American Classic Golf Club – Lewes, DE (The Atlantic Ocean is now in sight, and as Grand Funk Railroad would sing back in 1970…”I’m getting closer to my home”)
Big Little Nine Golf Course – Cape May Courthouse, NJ (We are now “down the shore” and getting a little closer)
Oxford Valley Golf Course – Fairless Hills, PA (We golfed from the Pacific to the Atlantic and are back where it all started in 1950)
The journey has now concluded…or has it?