Lone Tree

I recently joined the Lone Tree Golf and Hotel Men's Association and yesterday I finally played the course. Cyndy has been taking lessons from one of the professionals there and I fell in love with the facility. It's close to our home, the facilities are top notch and as I found out yesterday, the course is sneaky tough.

I am convinced that playing golf well deep into your 60's and beyond is achievable but only through a regimen of exercise, a disciplined stretching program and unfortunately eating well.
The last one really sucks as I very much enjoy junk food to include burgers, mini combinations, ice cream, fast mexican, italian, sandwiches, and the list could go on. Exercise and stretching on the other hand are actually enjoyable for me. I get to the gym when I can and stretch regularly.

Taking a cart seemed out of the question to me given the weather and how good I have been feeling physically. It was a bit warm yesterday with the high getting somewhere above 85. Not knowing the course I believed a pull cart would work perfectly and I could get a work out in while learning the course. After about the second hole, the legs had warmed up and a good portion of the front side was relatively flat. So far, so good.

I was lucky enough to join a twosome who just happened to be members of the men's association at Lone Tree. Jim and Joe were playing a match play event and they were gracious enough to help guide me around the course and wait for me as I walked.

The course itself is not long, 7,012 yards from the tips. In Colorado, most of the nicer courses are over 7400 yards from the championship tees. What the course does not have in length, it more than makes up for in shot making and the close game. Jim and Joe both said the greens in July, August and September are lightening fast. On this particular day, they were more than fast enough for me.

I played a reasonable front side and really hit the ball quite well. My inability to put together any type of short game cost me several strokes. Many of the par 4's require only a hybrid or a 3 to 5 wood off the tee and the front side par three's are nicely thought out and fairly benign. I managed to hit some very nice approach shots with number nine being the best. After a nice drive I had about 90 or so yards to an uphill pin for my approach. I hit a nice low punch wedge up the hill about 5 feet away and slightly above the hole. Three putts later, I walked slowly over to the clubhouse grabbed an ice water and filled the gatorade bottle.

Jim and Joe were nice enough to give me a ride to eleven after playing 10, a very demanding par three. After jumping on the back of the cart, I should have had my first clue about the soul crushing walk the back side would be. The eleventh is a great par 5 that is reachable in two but requires a long and straight drive to get there. I tugged the drive ever so slightly and ended up in 4 inches of rough with a side hill lie. I hacked out a 7 iron and managed to hit it well enough to be about 80 or so yards from the pin. While walking to my third shot it dawned on me how much I was going up hill.

After hitting a sweet punch wedge again, I three putted from about 10 feet. Then came number 12. There was a UFO sighting on this part of the course as I teed up for this treacherous little par 4. Nine strokes later I was done with the hole and the aliens had been very unkind to me. The next hole is a beautiful uphill par 3 which I managed to par. The walk on this hole really started getting tough and my 46 year old legs were feeling it. The next hole a short dog leg right par 4 ended up being quite a bit uphill from the dogleg up to the green. By this time my water was long gone and the walk between 14 and 15 is all uphill and it is a long one. Number 15 may have the finest view of the Rockies I have seen. A very short par 4 that is drivable should you want to go birdie hunting. No water on this hole but thank god its all down hill. I crushed my drive with a slight fade that looked to be tracking right at the green. Never did find the ball.

After another long walk to the 16th, a long par 5, no water was to be found on this tee either. After pushing my drive into the weeds, I tried to hit my second shot with a 5 iron and failed to advance the ball more than 50 yards. The good news at this point was when Joe told me there was water on the next tee. My second shot luckily almost got to the fairway and was sitting up on a slight uphill lie. I pured a three iron from there and had about 25 feet for birdie.

Three putts later I was at the water fountain filling up both bottles with water and drinking the stuff like I had just started shore leave. By now it was a endurance test and my only goal was to play well on the final two holes and be able to walk to my car. Joe and Jim were coming down the stretch and I noticed each of them still had a full ice water. Funny how driving a golf cart helps in the dehydration area... When we arrived at the 18th, they were tied. Both guys had been incredibly gracious and a lot of fun, especially when you consider my abduction, horrid putting and not knowing the course.

Joe pushed his drive into the rough and Jim drove his ball dead center and that concluded a hard fought match. I managed to par both 17 and 18 coming in and felt content about my play with the exception of my continued horrible putting and the abduction. The course can be had but it does require your full attention. There is a long walk from 18 to the parking lot and thankfully, Joe and Jim gave me a ride. While I was loading up, Jim calmly said "most people walk the front and ride the back."

Another wonderful day of golf.