11 Counties checked off this weekend!

NE IOWA

This was one of our toughest golf trips so far.    We had intended to go SW but apparently something big was going on in Council Bluffs and we couldn't find rooms for the overnight.    We are always planning our trips with the understanding that we may have to vary a little bit.   Did I say a 'little' bit?   This weekend was no joke.   We decided to go the complete opposite and do the NE corner of the state.   We got on the road, itinerary and list of courses in hand.   First stop...Butler County

Aplington Rec Complex in Aplington Iowa was our 1st course of the weekend.    It had been raining and they were not even going to open the course but since we called ahead, they let us on.   Jeff, the groundskeeper, swept the worms off the greens for us but one managed to roll up on the green with Shirley's ball, which Jim had to remove for her (HA).    I don't think they actually thought we were going to show up because of the weather but then, they don't know us. 



 

Lunch was a grab-n-go at Casey's on the way out of town.  Drove through Parkersburg and you would have never known the tornado had been there.   Looks like a very nice town now.

This is when the trip took a turn, yep 2nd course of the trip.   We knew they had received a lot of rain in that area but I guess we didn't think they had that much to close the courses, or not let carts out.   Our mistake!  With GPS in hand and a list of all the courses in Iowa, we started calling around and rerouting.  

Second course- Dike Iowa, Fox Ridge in Grundy County.  Beautiful course, we utilized the cart cover and heater, boy was that nice!  Sun managed to show its face on hole 8.   The manager there was super nice, and the other employee was going through school to get his PGA Management Degree.    Both couldn't have been nicer and they even took our picture and posted it on their Facebook page. 

                                                               

We expected we would be driving in to a quiet, small, older town when we went to Dike.   We were pleasantly suprised at how nice the town was and had so much new construction.

We end the first day at Gates Park in Blackhawk County.    Barely got this one in, couldn't find another course that we could get on that was letting carts out.  Got our 9 in and away we went.

First night we stayed in Cedar Falls and went to The Isle Capri for a little bit in the evening.   We were tired so didn't stay too long and got rested for the next day.

Day 2
  We headed for Denver, IA only to find out they were closed and Jim forgot his coat in CF at the hotel.   After the backtracking we went to Waverly Municipal in Bremer County.  It was a great course but I wouldn't say the people were overly friendly.   Couldn't complain though, and we were able to check another county off.

2nd stop was in Oelwein at Hickory Grove (Fayette County).   We were able to use our PGA Card even though it wasn't valid for Fridays so that was nice, but what an odd course it was.      We were not impressed with this course as there were no signs telling the distance and the scorecard was not correct on some of the holes.  We think they may have made some changes in the course so maybe things will improve down the line.

     

   


A little disappointed we only got in 2 courses for the day but the weather was not cooperating so we were lucky to get in what we did.

We decided since we were done early to go get a good steak somewhere and Jones' Black Angus in Prairie Du Chien was recommended.   We had great meals with salad bar.   Wouldn't recommend the cheese curds, they tasted like funnel cake batter.   

We jumped in the shuttle to the Lady Luck boat and the shuttle driver was from the Des Moines area.   The walk into the casino was one we had never seen before.  It was a sky walk over the railroad tracks that went on forever and then a long ramp down.   Shuttle driver advised us that its worse when the water was low.   We could only imagine!   We all stated that if we lived there we would not go there, too much work to lose your money!  LOL   We didn't stay long, it was a filthy place!  We stayed in Prairie Du Chien at Microtel and if you are claustrophobic, do not stay at one of these.   The rooms are the size of a hospital room, and with a queen bed, there isn't any room to move around.

Day 3
Saturday was so much better and we actually got a lot of golf in.
Clayton, Delaware, Jones and Dubuque Counties crossed off our list today.

Elkader Country Club was another course recommended by a couple of my co-workers and it did not disappoint.  The grass was like an Ireland hillside and they had very plush greens.  Weather was a little better and we actually shed our coats by the end of 9.  Went into town and stopped for gas, we couldn't get over how old this town was and the buildings looked very historical.  Off to the next one.

Woods Edge in Edgewood did not impress us.   The wind picked up and even though we started out without coats, we had them on by the end of the course.   Nothing at the golf course stood out, but now lunch was a different story. If you ever are in Edgewood, you have to check out Franny's.   Get a load of Shirley's tenderloin!   Jim and I both had great sandwiches too and the service was great.

Stop 3 was Monticello Golf and Country Club.  Course was nice and reminded me a lot of Woodside in Des Moines.   The fareways were close and there was no rough between.   People were very close and several balls flying into neighboring fareway.

Fillmore Fareways in Dubuque ended our day.   It was a nice course to end on, had a few more challenges and was a County Conservation Park, you can never go wrong with these.   

Jim and I landed our drives in a valley and Shirley was the only one in the fareway on this hole.

  













I get to brag a little on this drive, not too often I out drive Jim.  We wont mention the advantages the women got on this course though, Jim gets a little jealous.

Jim.s is on top, mine is the middle and Shirley's on the bottom.

Shirley says the Comfort Suites in Dubuque gets the vote for the softest towels and the coldest juice.   I was so tired, I didn't even pay attention.   

Heading home, via Jackson and Clinton Counties.  

First stop was Bellevue, oh what a view!   On top of the bluffs and you could see for miles.   The rain started up again rain gear was brought out but we got all 9 in before it started raining too hard.   Would love to go back to this course in the fall.   

We all liked hole 7, par 3, bushes in front and pond on the back of the green.   Had to be precise here and Jim was the only one that drove it on the green.

Wapsie Oaks in Calamus was our last course.   Jim thought the greens were well maintained and fast and that was about the only thing on the pro list.   The con list was too long to list them all.
Can't even say the people were nice.   Just too bad we had to end this journey on one of the worst courses we had golfed on.

I will say that we found a tree at this course that gave us a good laugh.   I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to why.






Even with the cold and wet weather, this was a great trip.  We were all so tired coming home we decided to skip the last course we had planned in Tipton.   We can drive there and back on another day.    

I will leave with a quote dedicated to Jim this trip.

"A 'gimme' can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers, neither of whom can putt very well"  ----author unknown

Hope you enjoyed your read!