{"id":492,"date":"2025-07-29T14:27:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/?p=492"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:27:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:27:42","slug":"completing-a-bucket-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/completing-a-bucket-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Completing a Bucket List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Setting goals\u2014often called a \u201cbucket list\u201d\u2014is not just fun; it\u2019s good for your mental and physical health, especially as you age. A goal gives you a reason to get up in the morning, something to plan for, and something to look forward to. As a golfer, you might aim for a hole-in-one or a par round\u2014goals that require not only skill but also a bit of luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, as a golfer and traveler, the joy comes from experiencing different courses, admiring the creativity of course design, and observing how each one is maintained. I was fortunate to travel extensively for work, and our family also enjoys traveling together. Being self-employed for most of my career gave me the flexibility to squeeze in a round of golf during my travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point, I began collecting logo golf balls\u2014little souvenirs from each course. I even made wooden racks to display them. As my collection grew, I built more racks, and eventually decided to build one including a map of the United States. I thought it would be interesting to place a ball from each state in its corresponding spot. And just like that, I set a new goal: to play a round of golf in every U.S. state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"United<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By that time, I had already visited\u2014and even worked in\u2014every state. But I hadn\u2019t played golf in all of them. Once my work travel slowed down, I began planning purposeful trips to the remaining states. That journey came to a close in 2018 with a family trip to Fargo, North Dakota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing that goal, the natural question was, \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d I had a New York\u2013shaped ball rack with balls from various courses across the state. Looking at it, I wondered: Could I play golf in every county in New York State? After some research, I found that every county in New York\u2014except Manhattan\u2014has at least one golf course. That was enough to spark a new quest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I modified the New York-shaped rack to hold 62 balls, labeling each slot with a county name. Some of the courses were quite modest, but that was never the point. It was about playing the game, experiencing new places, and continuing the journey. For Manhattan, I counted the driving range at Chelsea Piers\u2014and yes, they had a logo golf ball for Chelsea Pier Golf Club!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On July 25th, 2025, I completed my final county at Niagara Falls Country Club. The course, the view, and the people made it a fitting finale to a memorable journey. I even got my name in the local paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t yet know what my next goal will be. But for now, I\u2019m healthy, I\u2019m grateful, and I\u2019m still out there chasing tee shots and collecting memories\u2014one round at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Setting goals\u2014often called a \u201cbucket list\u201d\u2014is not just fun; it\u2019s good for your mental and physical health, especially as you age. A goal gives you a reason to get up in the morning, something to plan for, and something to look forward to. As a golfer, you might aim for a hole-in-one or a par… Continue reading Completing a Bucket List<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dickjones.us\/GolfTravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}