Golf blog: charity golf trip across the USA

David Fletcher gives his second blog installment as he and close friend Malcolm prepare to travel to the USA for a charity golf trip

Click here to read David's first Golf Monthly blog installment

Up until recently the 14^th October seemed a long way off but now it’s starting to seem so imminent.  Our flight plans were set early with flights booked in the New Year from Heathrow to San Francisco on the 14^th Oct and back out of Orlando on the 6^th November.

All we had to do now was fill in the gaps between playing in the Cal Golf Invitation in San Francisco and finishing at the new Streamsong resort in Florida which is getting rave reviews for their two courses one designed by Tom Doak and the other by the Coore-Crenshaw partnership.

Because I have travelled extensive on business in the US I was designated “golf course getter” whilst Malcolm was tasked with finding hotels within the budget.  Now Malcolm is Welsh by birth but I’m seriously beginning to think that I’m not the only Scotsman on this trip!

But before the hotel guru could get to work we had to pinpoint proposed courses that would be good to play but also of interest to fellow golfers who may well not have played them but have heard the name.

Drawing a line from west to east across the southern states was a start. Who did we know who was a member or knew of a member of a particular club on the proposed route?

That strategy didn’t get off to the best of starts as we both know the Director of Golf at Clear Creek in Lake Tahoe six hours north of San Francisco and I have a friend whose home is Los Angeles; so a big detour before we actually leave the west coast was called for!

In LA we have three courses to play: Bel Air, LA Country Club, just identified as the 2023 US Open venue, and Mountaingate, where we are playing with the Director of Golf who teaches the Hollywood stars to look good swinging a club in any films involving golf. So, there may be hope for us yet!

From LA we head to Santa Fe and play Sunset and Sunrise courses at the Las Campanas Resort, from there to Tulsa and Southern Hills, host to seven majors, then on to Birmingham, Alabama and Shoal Creek before the short hop to Atlanta to play Peachtree - founded by Bobby Jones in 1947 - and finally over to Sea Island on the east coast, home to a number of pros on tour such as Davis Love and Zach Johnson.

Now it was the role of Malcolm to fill in the overnights and our dietary requirements but that’s a whole different story……..

Click here to read David's first Golf Monthly blog installment follow David and Malcolm's blog at http://foreweekswithfletcherjones.wordpress.com