• Sky Mountain Golf Course, Hurricane, UT

  • Maureen O’Shea at Torrey Pines

On April 24, 2025 I received an invitation to the 90+ Complimentary Honorary Luncheon May 8, 2025.  

I was quite curious as to how many members of the club would be over 90 years of age and who would be attending this luncheon. I became a member in the summer last year and apparently they have this luncheon every May and of course I wasn’t a member last May.   I should’ve realized it was open to all members to attend and congratulate all the Honorary members.  And it was the first luncheon in the spring, and everyone was to see their friends after a long winter.

I looked around the room of about 50 people and in the first row I saw a smiling face and immediately asked if I could sit in that row. It was Connie and she said the seat next to her was taken, but there was a space across the table which I immediately selected.

Connie

In no time the lunch of chicken pot pie and green salad with bites of apple was served by many volunteers. They not only brought our food, but came back to take away our plates and bring us the chocolate cake.  Everything was delicious

After lunch, the Prairie Mountain Fiddlers entertain us starting with a dance called the “schottische”. This brought back memories of my cousin Colleen and myself learning how to do this dance in my home living room. This dance is more like skipping, twisting and twirling. However, there were several couples who could do this dance and did it with us cheering them on.  

The band was very good and played a  lot of songs I knew from in the 1940’s.

Prairie Mountain Fiddlers

There were 23 of us in the 90+ age group in attendance. You can see that some had left before the photo below was taken.

The 90+ group of the day

All the activities at Good Companions Club are organized by Shauna. This gal is one of a kind. She is up beat and considerate. She treats everyone member as though they are the most important person in this moment. Her enthusiasm is mirrored in the many member volunteers behind every activity. We are so lucky to have Shauna at the club.

Shauna.

And here she is with me.

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For those of you who truly love golf I don’t need to explain how we went golfing that Saturday at 1 p.m. For everyone else, I’m sure you would think we were crazy. It is late October and you can already see the snow to the west in the Rocky Mountains. And the forecast was for wind from the west as well at approximately 20 kms. The golf course is closing for the winter. Sunday will be the last day to golf till spring.

My daughter Bridget made the booking a few days earlier and really didn’t think it would be warm enough for us to play with a possible high of 9°C. Then by 11:30 a.m. the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. Bridget called me and said “Let’s go golfing Mom. I’ll pick you up shortly.” In 15 minutes we were at the golf course. Wehit a few balls on the range before our tee time.

On the first hole the wind was at our backs and both of us hit our drives long and straight. I was on the green in two shots and made a Par. Bridget had a Bogey

Bridget said, “Maybe, Mom, just maybe, today is the day l can score less than you”.

Bridget regularly out drives me on every hole. Hole #2 she said that she really loses her”tempo” and misses her shots. Well she ended up with a bogey and I had a double bogey..

The wind came up and was quite strong from the west. We both had a few problems, keeping the ball on the fairway and/or on the proper hole.

After nine holes I told Bridget that she had to play better on the back because she needed to make up more than seven shots.

River Spirit Golf Course, the Birch trees on #8 Millburn Nine

We were joined on the back nine by a man and his son. They were very nice people and good golfers. It turns out that the son had gone to Luther College in Regina, Saskatchewan the same time Bridget was going to Notre Dame College at Wilcox, Saskatchewan. They knew many of the same people so they had lots of conversation at the tee boxes.

On the back nine would you believe Bridget and I had identical total score with only a few holes that were different. We both scored 39 and if it wasn’t for that few holes on the front nine, Bridget probably would have scored less than I did. Maureen 79, Bridget 86

Fast forward to May 29., 2024. We played at River Spirit again. Bridget was the winner on this day by 11 strokes. Maureen 97, Bridget 86 .`

“

Great memories. Bridget is so much fun to golf with. She doesn’t take the game too seriously but tries to get better every time she golfs. Like most of us we need to polish up our short game.

Bridget and Maureen June 8, 2017 Pinebrook, Calgary

Ttyl

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The flight from Calgary to Las Vegas was early and only two hours and 26 minutes.  Of course when we did arrive, there was no gate available for us to park. So we sat on the tarmac with nothing to do but wait and finally we were parked at a gate. Then the hustle bustle through the busy airport to the escalator that takes you down to the rapid trains. Take the Red Line to terminal 3 where our luggage is waiting. And waiting also were Tracy and Lisa. Soon Tracy had my luggage and my golf clubs loaded into the SUV. In no time we were out of the airport and to their home.

The weather here has been beautiful. I sit by the pool with my coffee early each morning with the temperature already about 60°F and no wind!

Lisa was out running errands on Wednesday and when she came home she had purchased seven large Honeycrisp apples. She promptly went to the pantry and brought out the sugar, flour, oatmeal and cinnamon.  Grammo, she said, “ Your job for tomorrow is to make an Apple Crisp.” In the morning I found an apple crisp recipe – Easy Apple Crisp by Chef Dennis. In no time I had the crisp in the oven and here is the result.

Hey it is even great for breakfasts!

Thursday night we had a small celebration of Tracy’s Birthday. We went to Biscuit’s and Bourbon on Water Street here in Henderson.  

It’s a cute little cafe just started up by locals.  The food was good and we were home early.

Happy Birthday Tracy

Yesterday afternoon Lisa and I got to work on preparing a chuck roast for the oven.  The braising of the roast and browning the carrots and onions took about one hour. Then add the broth and seasonings, put it into into the oven and wait 3-4 hours for the desired result. We made gravy to go with the baby baked potatoes and heated some green peas. Then we sat down to a delicious dinner.

 Just in time for the first pitch of the Dodgers/Yankee’s game of the World Series.Needless to say I was on pins and needles with every pitch for nine innings.

After the top of the 10th inning and now the Yankees were ahead 3 to 2.  The Dodgers had one (Taylor) and two (Edman) on base with singles.  Then they walked  Mookie Betts to bring up Freddie Freeman.  I said to Tracy that we need a walk-off win now.  With two outs he said it was do or die for Freddie…..

AND Freddie Freeman made MLB History by hitting a GRAND SLAM HOME RUN. This is the first time EVER for a grand slam homer in the World Series.  Did you hear: EVER, EVER, EVER.

Way to go Freddie

Game 2 tonight.  Go Dodgers.

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When you look at the scorecard for the Sky Mountain golf course, you may think this it’s an easy peasy track. 6392 yards from the tips.  To anyone who thinks that, all I can say is “Yeah, right!” Here are my views on Sky Mountain – The Course.

Sky Mountain

Sky Mountain Golf Course – Photo courtesy John Armijo

Even from the forward tees at a distance of 5044, Sky Mountain is a challenge.

There are no easy par 3’s, and the terrain plays tricks on your eyes.

Take the second hole, at 100 yards for example. Standing on the tee box, the hole looks like it’s downhill and that may make you change your mind about which club you’re going to take on the tee. Bad choice. Walk the hole and you’ll see: it’s actually uphill!  After playing it a few times you decide to take a longer club and of course you nod up in the bunker at the back of the green.

The eighth hole is from an elevated tee to an elevated green from all tees except the forward tee.  From the forward tee it is uphill 112 yards to a green that is almost impossible to keep a ball on it once it has landed unless it comes in really high.  This green slopes drastically from left to right and the best way to attack this hole is to land it three feet from the green and have it roll on!

The 12th hole, 131 yards, has a lake along the left side to a bunker protecting the green and desert is to the left with an outcropping of rocks and a few trees.  Long and right are out of bounds.

The 16th hole, 151 yards, is so well bunkered that you need to land the ball on the left centre of the green to keep it from rolling into a bunker.  When I first played this hole there was NO bunker on the left and you could land the ball short and left and it would roll onto the green.  Not now.  They added a bunker there to compliment the two bunkers in place both to the right of centre.  Long is OK as there is plenty of grass behind the green.

The ducks at Sky Mountain.

My duck friends. They would come running! to meet me when they heard my voice as far away as 150 yards. !

When I play from the forwards, the par 4’s are all reachable with my second shot.  The first hole, 296 yards, is definitely an iron off the tee to around 110 yards.  With a driver or three wood the ball ends up in the valley that is sloping to the left.  A wedge from there is pretty tricky to the green.  The green slopes AWAY from the fairway.  Land on the green and your ball may just go into the desert over the cart paths.  An iron from 110 is a much better choice to keep the ball on the green.

To read about Sky Mountain and Spring Break, click here!

Number three is 226 yards and driving this hole is possible but the hole is a dogleg and you need to carry a bunker at the green.  A better choice is to play a wood or an iron so you can use a short iron into this green.

The 4th hole, 293 yards, has been my achilles heel from the very beginning. It’s a dog leg to the left with an uphill green protected by bunkers. Although the hole was re-shaped a couple of years back, it’s still a little devil of a hole. It has a two-level green with quite a bit of undulation.  In order to place your tee shot for easy entry into this green you have to be able to draw the ball. From the tee you must carry the hill that is at the 150 yard marker.  This hill slopes extremely to the right and a tee shot straight or with a fade will end up in the right rough.  Good luck on this one.

Sky Mountain scorecard

My second Eagle at Sky Mountain Golf Course Hole #9

The  5th, 11th, 13th,15th and 17th are not long par 4’s.  These holes are comfortable lengths and give you time to enjoy the course and the views.  The 7th hole, 356 y arms is almost impossible to get on the green in two shots.  From the 150 yard marker it is downhill all the way to the water!  This pond goes all the way across in fron of the elevated green.  A bogey is good.

The 14th hole is 347 yards but a dogleg to the left with bunkers along that side as well.  The hole is downhill, then uphill, then slopes down to an elevated green.  Par is great on this one,

The par 5’s are not too long, but each one is a challenge just the same.

The 6th hole, 406 yards.  The 9th hole, 437 yards.  The 10th hole, 368 yards and the 18th hole, 401 yards.  All thes holes you can be on in regulation.  Birdies can be had and even a few Eagles.

The views of the desert are always changing depending on the light on the red rocks and the time of day. It is truly amazing how different it can look from one day to the next. The desert is very appealing in that way. If I could put my finger on it, I’d say that’s what makes Sky Mountain Golf Course the most beautiful course in southwestern Utah.

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