Charity golf trip across the USA

David Fletcher looks back on his charity golf trip across the USA, which took him and playing partner Malcolm from Los Angeles to Georgia

David Fletcher and Malcolm Jones have just completed their odyssey for the Prostate Cancer Charity by playing golf from Los Angeles to Sea Island, Georgia - a trip of just over 4000 miles in three and a half weeks.....

Our 11 rounds for charity were bookended by representing our club, Loch Lomond, at The California Golf Club in San Francisco when 26 two-man teams from as far afield as Australia joined 26 teams from the club to battle for the title.

Needless to say it was a home team that won but a great four days (and nights) at a wonderful golf club.

The final leg of our trip saw us meet up with fellow Loch Lomond members at the relatively new Streamsong golf complex just outside Tampa, Florida for a three-day get together.

Both courses, the Blue and the Red, demand accurate golf but the Red’s designers Coore and Crenshaw offer a fairer game for all standards whereas the Blue, designed by Tom Doak, requires you to accept three putts as the norm when you reach the green.

With our charity rounds we were very fortunate to play some of America’s great courses, highlights of a great all-round adventure included:

• Playing LA Country Club - a very private club in the heart of the city and probable home to the 2023 US Open
• Bel Air Country Club - home course to many of Hollywood’s leading actors and by far the best way to see into their homes rather than from the tourist street tours.
• Clear Creek, Lake Tahoe - a spectacular new Coore Crenshaw course in the mountains in fantastic condition with stunning views.
• Southern Hills, Tulsa - home to seven majors and a wonderful track. Malcolm and I are pictured above with the 110,000 square foot Club House behind us!
• Shoal Creek, Birmingham - our favourite course in superb condition and Nicklaus’s first design long before he found earth movers and concrete.
• Peachtree, Atlanta - Augusta by any other name, with the look and feel of the course being along similar lines.
• Seaside, Sea Island - the hardest of all the courses, we played the week after The McGladrey Classic and it was tough. Don't ask us how many balls we lost!

We had a wonderful time and made many new golfing friends on our travels but the ultimate winner was our charity.

With money still coming in, we have managed to raise more than $13,000.

Our thanks go to everyone who has helped make this happen.

To donate, visit www.foreweekswithfletcherjones.wordpress.com