A quest to play every Oklahoma course

David Jones plays a course in South Wales. (Photo courtesy of David Jones)

David Jones’ quest to play every single golf course in Oklahoma began when he was an assistant superintendent and attended monthly meetings across the state through the Oklahoma GCSA.

“We had meetings at private clubs and places I wouldn’t get to play usually,” said Jones, now superintendent at The Club at Indian Springs in Broken Arrow, Okla. “It got to the point where I got quite a few on the list and thought, well, I’m just going to try and play all of them. It’s been a very long journey. I started getting serious about it about 15 years ago.”

By his calculations, Jones said there are currently 190 courses in Oklahoma, but at one time, there were closer to 230-240 — before many of them closed down. He’s also played at about 400 courses total, including ones in Australia, Scotland, Ireland and more.

When asked what courses in his state stood out to him, Jones cited his 100th and 200th Oklahoma courses.

“The 100th Oklahoma course was Karsten Creek in Stillwater. It’s a pretty high-profile course,” he said. “My 200th course was Cimarron County in Boise City. It was a seven-hour drive and only a nine-hole course, so I drove seven hours to play nine holes. I left at 4 a.m. and got back at 8 at night. I wanted the 200th course to be the farthest course from where I live.”

For his last course, Jones said he would like to have a tournament and invite friends to celebrate. And, for his next feats, Jones would like to reach 500 courses played by the time he turns 50 (in two years), and he’d like to play a round in every U.S. state. He has 14 states left.

“Any time I travel, I always take my golf clubs,” he said.