I’ve been walking a lot of golf courses lately, and realized I hadn’t walked Lookout Mountain Golf Club yet. It is one of my favorite layouts, but I just hadn’t thought about playing it lately. I called up JC Wright and Michael Hopper and asked if they wanted to join me for a round of golf. JC decided to walk with me. Michael… Well, he took a cart. But I won’t hold that against him!
I booked a tee time for Sunday, got to the course a little early to warm up, and even used Periscope to showcase my short game skills. I hit 15 chip shots and got a lot of great feedback from the peanut gallery. It was fun and I might try using Periscope more often while I am working on my game. Michael used it throughout our round, sharing with his followers just how crazy JC and I were to walk. Lookout Mountain isn’t a long course, but it has a lot of elevation change.
The walk really wasn’t that bad. I love the layout at Lookout Mountain, and it has a few unforgettable holes. Hole No. 10, though… Well, let’s just say that is a hike from No. 9 green. The tee shot on No. 10 is the highest tee box in Phoenix, and after walking that hill, I would hate to play one higher! The photo I used for this blog post was taken from the tee box. The hole measures well over 400 yards, but with the elevation, I hit driver and a 9 iron to a front pin. I made the putt, too. It was my only birdie on the day, but a fun one to say the least. I made a few long par putts on the back… They felt like birdies! Still managed to break 80, but barely. As Matt Rust likes to say, “Make less bogeys.”
Like I said, it didn’t seem like a hard walk. Besides the elevation changes, it was typically a short distance from tee to green. There are a few spots out there with a long distance between holes, but nothing too bad. So, how many steps and miles is it to walk Lookout Mountain Golf Club? The front nine was 7,925 steps and 3.52 miles. The back nine was 8,490 steps and 3.82 miles for a grand total of 16,415 steps and 7.34 miles. Oh, and for you calorie counters out there, I burned 1,638 calories during my round. Not bad.
I have to admit; it didn’t feel like it was that long… Maybe I am getting used to walking every time I play. Now that summer is over, I might find myself walking every time I play this winter.
Michael kept saying, “You guys are crazy walking this course.” Nonsense! I loved it. I like walking when I play, anyway. It helps me concentrate, I play better, and I have a more enjoyable round. I carried my clubs this round, too. Normally I will take a push cart, but this brought back memories of high school and college golf. It brought back a ton of memories.
I’m playing again this weekend. Playing Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. I know I’ve walked this course in the past, but I’ve never tracked steps and miles there. Look for a blog post on that coming soon. Brady Wilson is playing with me. Think he will walk, too?
