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It’s been a bit tough planning and committing to my next adventure to play the oldest public golf courses in the US. Work and some homestead responsibilities ramped up big time, which squeezed the golf road trip planning time, which affected motivation, which interrupted blogging time, which...well you get the picture. With great focus on the golf journey, some lucky breaks at work, and an always supportive Wife with United Mileage points I’m heading to Gearhart Oregon this weekend to play Gearhart Golf Links.

This trip is the start of the “Road Trip” style trip. I’m leaving the local surrounding of the California Bay Area. Sure the kick off to this adventure was at DEl Monte in Monterey, but that’s about 2 hours from where I live, and Monterey is someplace I have been to many times. This trip on Friday represents the start of seeing new parts of the country, exploring new travel routes, and playing on a golf course I most likely will only play once but will immediately hope to have the chance to come back and play again.

When I was doing my research on Gearhart Golf Links I got a good feeling that this course might fall into that “hidden jewel no one has ever heard of” category. It has a rich history that states that a three hole course was built and played in Gearhart in 1888. By 1892 it had become a regular past time with hotel guests from across the street heading out each day to play golf. With these historic dates there seems to be good evidence that Gearhart is the oldest golf course West of the Mississippi. However, as you may know, there are a few other courses that stake this claim. While out on my round on Saturday I do plan to get to the bottom of this oldest course West of the Mississippi controversy.

Four months ago I reached out to learn about how I might be able to book a tee time in advance in preparation for this trip. I received a prompt reply from Jason, he gave me good information about the tee time policy, plus he said he would look on the Big Calendar to see if there were any tournaments already booked in the month of June. We went back and forth narrowing down choices until the 29th became the best choice for everyone. In one of our most recent updates Jason asked if I would like to play with the Men’s Club on Saturday. He gave me the choice to play ahead of the outing or after...After finding out I would be a welcomed “club member” for the round I jumped at the chance to play with the group.

Getting to go out with the local club members...oh the stories, and oh yes, the chatter will be flying! I’ve already started preparing my verbal defense! One other thing I learned. There’s a 10 dollar buy in, and I’m guessing the winner on Saturday gets the cash and then buys the beer for the rest of the group? I hope I’ll be buying on Saturday!

I have visualized this trip for quite some time, there were times when life forces were pushing back. Part of this journey that I put in front of me is to do my best to push back on those forces, or maybe it’s more like pushing the forces to the side so I can keep moving forward with this quest.

Already the trip is shaping up to be a good one; playing a round with the Men’s club will be great, and meeting with Jason after the round to learn more about Gearhart Golf Links is a welcome treat. If anyone happens to be in the area on Saturday at about 2pm stop by and say hi, I’ll be the one listening to some good old local stories, and most likely I’ll be 10 dollars lighter.

Up next...The Gearhart recap!