Why 1000?

I have followed other interesting golf blogs with their goal of playing the top 100 in the World or the Golf Digest US top 100. But what happens to those golfers once they have played all the top courses? What is next for them? Will they ever appreciate and enjoy the thousands of other courses that aren't in the top 100 after playing the best there is? Don't get me wrong, I surely appreciate the opportunity to play top 100 courses but I do not enjoy that golfing experience anymore than playing other courses. For me I needed to find an enjoyable, lifelong, golf journey.

In 2004 when I first started adding up how many courses I had played , I was already at around 200. Initially, I thought 500 would be a reasonable goal. But it was definitely attainable. I needed to find something that would be a real challenge for me. At about the same time, I read an article titled "1000 Marbles". The author was about my age, 55, when he discovered his theory of a thousand marbles (www.topachievement.com/chronicles/marbles.html). At that time he went out and bought 1000 marbles (small beads are smaller and cheaper) and put them in a large container. Every Saturday morning he would take one marble out of the container. By watching his time on earth dwindle away he felt it helped him get his priorities straight. If he made it through all the marbles, to age 75, then he had been given some extra time. This story was what gave me the idea of 1000 golf courses and playing in all 50 states.

What a better way for an avid golfer to see your life go by then to be traveling around the United States playing new golf courses? When I started this journey at age 55, I had a bit of a jump on the 1000 (marbles) golf courses. I have found it a harder challenge to play a new course every week than taking a marble out of a container. If I can play around 45 a year until I reach 75 years old I will hit 1000. Easy to say 1000, but with age comes potential health problems and diminished earnings. So, I have three major hurdles to contend with health being the most likely one to stop me short of 1000.

I have created a challenge for myself which I am very much looking forward to the journey to complete. Do I really think I am going to hit 1000 by age 75? Probably not, but just think if I do eventually reach my goal at say age 83. What more could a golfer ask for? And just maybe I might shoot my age along the way! To date I have shot in the sixties twice in competition, most recently in 2008. So maybe in the next 10 years I might be fortunate enough to check one more item off my Bucket List.

This blogs intent is to give you a feel for the golf course from the many pictures I have taken of each course. The only narratives will be about my favorite golf holes from the various courses I have photographed. I will admit my lack of literary skills and I sure thank God for spellcheck. Being I am only writing about my favorite holes at each course the tone of the blog will be very positive.

I have played a broad spectrum of courses. If you look at my simplistic color rating system of all the courses I have played, it pretty much looks like a Bell Curve. If you have not played a course and want a pictorial preview with a little history of the course, this blog will help you become familiar with that course. If you are like me and have played the course but have over the years forgotten most of the holes, I hope you enjoy the memories of when you played there.