Day 47 - Wednesday, October 5 - Kansas << Index

Anticipated: Play golf at Willow Tree Golf Course in Liberal, Kansas.

Travel:   Itinerary: Leave motel for 9:AM tee time at Willow Tree Golf Course. After golf we will drive to a motel in Ponca City, Oklahoma. casino   States/Provinces Played:

Web: Willow Tree Golf Course - Liberal, KS

Actual: (Photos and text)

Click on the photos below to enlarge Welcome to Kansas sign (notice the grain elevator behind the sign) and Willow Tree Golf Course sign Brad Beer, golf course manager and Hillary Brown, golf shop attendant. Flag in front of the clubhouse (notice the brisk wind) Golf course scenery (lower right picture – notice our van in the parking lot)

As we drove into Liberal, Kansas yesterday afternoon, we decided to check out the golf course before going to the motel. There were two students manning the pro shop, and we talked to them about our golfing marathon. Unfortunately, we forgot to take their picture before we left for the motel, but we just want to say it was nice meeting them. Last night a few showers blew through Liberal; however, we awoke to cloudy skies and no rain. The wind was very brisk again today as we headed for our 47th day of golf at Willow Tree Golf Course. Hillary Brown, the morning golf shop attendant was expecting us, and greeted us with a sleeve of balls and ball markers with the club’s logo on them for each of us. She also informed us that there would be no charge for our golf today. Hillary said she would not be in the pro shop when we finished our round because she had classes later in the morning. She is a student at Seward County Community College in Liberal. The wind was blowing during our full 18-hole round. In fact, Pat’s cap blew off several times during the day (see some of the pictures). The course has small, fast greens and water comes into play on some of the holes. The fairways and greens were very good, and we enjoyed our round of golf in spite of the gusty wind. There was only one group playing in front of us, and when we caught them, they waved us on. We finished the round in less than three hours Jim shot 85 (yardage = 5900) and Pat shot 109 (yardage = 5052). When we got back to the pro shop after our 18-holes, we met the manager, Brad Beer, and talked with him for a while about the different courses we have played so far. We want to thank him and his pro shop staff for their interest and generosity during our visit at Willow Tree. Since we knew it would take us only about 4 hours to reach Ponca City, Oklahoma (our next stop), we decided it was a good time to get the oil changed on our van. We have traveled over 10,000 miles (16,700 km) and hadn’t had the oil changed since we left home. While that was being done, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the McDonalds next door. Our route took us from Liberal on Route 64 across the panhandle of Oklahoma, to Interstate 35, and on to Route 60 into Ponca City. The sky was overcast all the way, with the clouds getting darker and darker with each mile. About 40 miles west of Ponca City, the rain began to fall, and just as we reached the outskirts of the city, we were hit with a downpour. We checked into the Super 8 motel, and by that time it was raining, but not quite as hard. So, we decided to check out the golf course we’re planning to play tomorrow, Lew Wentz Municipal Golf Course. The pro shop was open, but we were told that we’d have to wait until tomorrow to see if the course would be open. So, back to the motel we went, to watch the weather channel.