MajorBucketList.com

It’s good to have lifetime goals. That way when a year goes by and you haven’t made any progress you can simply assume you’ll catch up the next year. My quest took an unexpected hiatus in 2018 as I started a new job and built up some vacation time. I finished 2018 exactly where I started – with 55 courses under my belt.

I’m happy to report that 2019 has gotten off to a great start. I recently completed a quick golf trip to Kettering, Ohio, just outside of Dayton. For such a small state, Ohio ranks fourth on the list with eight major championship courses. I was fortunate enough to play two wonderful tracks in this small town – NCR Country Club and Moraine Country Club. I can easily see why the PGA of America selected these courses to host their championship – wonderful layouts, challenging holes and immaculate conditions.

The trip was pretty straightforward – nonstop from Baltimore to Cincinnati, quick drive to Dayton for an afternoon at NCR then a round at Moraine the next morning before a late afternoon nonstop back to Baltimore. The courses are adjacent to each other; in fact I took a picture of NCR before teeing off on hole #5 at Moraine. The only thing that separates them is a small stone wall.

But they couldn’t be more different. The South course at NCR is a traditional woodlands course, each hole framed by mature trees that served adequately as jail for golf balls that went awry. Moraine Country Club is a true links style course with few trees across the landscape. As luck would have it, the morning I played at Moraine there was wind, constant mind-numbing wind, 20+ mile per hour wind that required a two or even three club adjustment.

Ironically, I shot an 88 both days. At NCR, I coupled two birdies with a fair share of double bogeys, some due to the aforementioned jail surrounding each hole. At Moraine, I simply got beat down by the wind. A solid 42 on the front got sideways on about the 13th hole and I limped to the finish.

I’m reminded how much fun it is to experience the variety of courses that we golfers get to play. In this case, these courses have so little in common except a zip code. And yet, they were both gems to play, offering unique challenges in spite of their proximity.

Overall, I’m thrilled to be back on the quest. My goal for 2019 is to knock off a half dozen to make up for last year’s shutout. If the others provide the beauty and challenge of NCR and Moraine, I’ll be one lucky golfer!