Good Good’s 50-State Road Trip: Delaware To South Carolina

Wesley and George Bryan join the Good Good guys on their 50 states in 50 days adventures as the group visits South Carolina and Solina Golf Club.

PGA TOUR

Good Good embarked on an ambitious 50-states-in-50-days golf trip, working its way south from Delaware to South Carolina as the group set out to play golf and see the sights in every state.

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The group aimed to play a team-based match in each state, battling the elements, life on the road, life on the bus, and one another as they competed in different formats to win each state’s respective coin.

For those interested in following Good Good’s footsteps on its 50-state journey, or for golfers looking to play a course the group visited, this is a comprehensive look at the next five courses they played, along with a few highlights from their journey.

Game formats and teams changed at each stop, with additional Good Good members and a few other golf content creators joining in the activities.

Episode 26 — Delaware: Baywood Greens Golf Club ($250)

The episode opened with a mixture of triumph and defeat. It began with a Pokémon card pull that yielded a few foil cards. Clark attempted to find a restaurant through TikTok, but the search failed miserably. Meanwhile, Mullen made reservations for North Carolina. The location settings may have needed some refinement.

At the bar, Scharff nearly set a new record on the arcade basketball game. Meanwhile, the key to the bus jammed and broke off in the lock, leaving the guys locked out. Clark would go on to set the high score as they called a locksmith.

“Remember when the key bent and we bent it back?” Bubbie asked. “Well, it broke in the lock.”

The match format was a 3v3 scramble-style game called Pick Your Poison. Played on the back nine, the format required teams to select the final shot hit by one of their players. If the first player hit an acceptable shot, the team could choose to take it or move on to the second player’s attempt. However, once they moved on, they could not return to the first player’s shot.

The game was highly strategic. Clark and Ghetti led off on most holes early in the round. With Team Clark trailing, however, they reversed the order, favoring more aggressive plays.

On the ninth hole, Castaneda hit a great approach shot. Needing a birdie, Clark and Scharff opted to hit their own shots, moving the selected ball farther from the hole.

“Two putts gets it done today. Some hard-nosed golf,” Ghetti said. “Shout-out to Baywood Greens Golf Club. I would love to come back and play it on a sunny, nice day. This place is great.”

Rating: 86.3

Episode 27 — Maryland: Bulle Rock Golf Course ($124)

The guys opened Episode 27 with a comprehensive review of Wawa gas stations. With an estimated $200 spent on snacks, the group was stocked up for the drive to Maryland.

“It’s supposed to be all about Maryland crabs in the area, and I called to make sure they were serving them. They’ll have medium and small. We got in late, so they may not have the larges,” Castaneda said. “Who needs a large? Me, though.”

Woody’s Crab House is famous for its blue crabs, crab cakes, and PEI mussels. The guys returned to the classics, ordering plates and plates of oysters. The hammers arrived, followed by the crabs. The food received the highest marks from Good Good’s resident food expert, Castaneda.

Bulle Rock Golf Course is a Pete Dye design and a former host of five LPGA Championships from 2005 to 2009. The holes wind through beautiful, rolling hills, with views of Chesapeake Bay. The match featured a 2v2v2 alternate-shot format with no tee reset.

“Talk about some good treatment and hospitality,” Clark said of Bulle Rock. “They made us a customized Good Good scorecard for the back nine.”

The match was heated through the opening holes, with Team Ghetti taking an early lead on the second. Castaneda chunked a shot into the water on their third hole, a long par three over water featuring Dye’s signature railroad ties. Mullen followed him into the water.

Team Clark and Bubbie built a commanding lead through six holes, sitting six strokes ahead of second-place Castaneda and Ghetti. Team Clark ultimately won decisively.

“Loved the course. Awesome Pete Dye course,” Bubbie said. “Maryland is awesome. I wish I got to see Baltimore.”

Rating: 81

Episode 28 — Virginia: Cutalong at Tributer Resort ($178)

Bubbie started the episode alone, electing to stay on the bus rather than go to the hotel. It was unclear what was going on with the RV’s door locks. This was the guys’ third state of the day.

The Galaxy Diner was bright, with an abundance of mirrors, glass, stainless steel, and neon lights. Castaneda ordered the meatloaf at 9:30 a.m. After the meal, Good Good stopped at the science center to watch Bubbie race various animals in timed sprints.

The group also took on a hole-in-one challenge at a miniature golf course.

The wind was howling as Mullen stepped onto the first tee. It blew into his gear, puffing out his clothes and prompting the guys to call him “Cookie Monster” and “The Big Blue Monster.” The conditions forced him to back off his tee shot.

Conditions were tough. With high winds and humid air, the group faced what they described as the coldest conditions of the trip so far. The format at Cutalong was a 3v3 scramble.

“Alright, we have to hammer down there. This is where we have to take advantage,” Clark said after the fourth hole. “We have a one-up lead, and we just have to start pounding them.”

Castaneda hit a beautiful shot into the seventh green, spinning the ball to within a few feet of the hole. Clark, Castaneda, and Scharff maintained their one-stroke lead heading into the eighth hole. On the long par-four ninth, Scharff hit the green in regulation, helping secure his team’s victory.

“Virginia, 81. I thought the hotel was really cool,” Ghetti said. “Proud of the team. Stuck in it all the way to the end.”

Rating: 84.7

Episode 29 — North Carolina: Pinehurst No. 9 ($125)

Pinehurst, North Carolina, is a town steeped in golf tradition. The guys’ first stop, with Malosi in tow, was Drum & Quill, a mainstay pub in the heart of Pinehurst. They quickly found themselves immersed in multiple golf and sports conversations.

“Does it all feel like a blur to you at this point?” Maleosi asked Garrett. “When did this become a thing for you?”

Matt Scharff took some personal time with the camera in the back of the RV to showcase what he had received in a shipment of letters. He flipped through a book containing pictures of his wife and daughter and opened up about some of the stresses of the trip, particularly the time away from his family.

A stop at a panini shop and a gas station quickly drew Clark toward the electronic slot machines. After inserting $100, Clark found it difficult to cash out and accidentally purchased a substantial number of spins instead. Shortly after Clark gave up on the machine and left $97 for the next person, Ghetti won $430 using Clark’s money.

“You still have 25,800 entries,” Scharff said.

After the slot-machine snafu, Good Good headed to an animal preserve, where they purchased feed cups and visited the animals. Aloha Safari Park provides sanctuary and rescue services for a variety of animals. The group’s favorites were the two giraffes.

Pinehurst No. 9 is the only Jack Nicklaus-designed course in the Sandhills. Previously a private club, it is now part of Pinehurst Resort’s lineup of courses and offers a variety of risk-reward shots around and over hazards.

The guys and Malosi played a tee-flip knockout game: a two-hole, 1v1 stroke-play match in which matchups were determined at random by flipping a tee. The winners advanced to a three-hole stroke-play tournament to decide the overall winner.

Clark won the bye, with an odd number of participants, and advanced directly to the final three-hole stroke-play round. On the third hole, Clark made par, Castaneda made bogey, and Ghetti three-putted for bogey, leaving all three players tied and sending them into a closest-to-the-pin chip-shot challenge to decide the winner.

The deciding short-game shot was a downhill bunker shot with a back lip, aimed at a pin on a green that sloped away. Clark hit his shot to within 15 feet, while Ghetti failed to get his ball out of the bunker.

“That’s one of my favorite coins now. Just having the first-ever plane on a coin is pretty sick,” Clark said.

Rating: 88.1

Episode 30 — South Carolina: Solina Golf Club ($150)

This episode began with the most heartwarming surprise of the trip. The Good Good guys were invited to the home of PGA Tour golfer and golf content creator Wesley Bryan for dinner. Upon entering, Matt Scharff was shocked to find his wife and infant child waiting for him. The reunion was tearful!

After a home-cooked dinner prepared by Chef Wesley Bryan, the guys headed to the go-kart track, where Mo took an early lead, but Clark was in the hunt. Claiming he had found the secret to the track, Clark swept past Mo on the final lap to claim the victory.

Two new additions joined the group for the match. Wesley and George Bryan of the Bryan Bros served as captains, splitting the guys into teams. George selected Clark, Bubbie, and Scharff, while Wesley teamed up with Mo, Mullen, and Ghetti.

The 12-hole Ryder Cup-style match consisted of four holes of stroke-play scramble, four holes of paired best ball, and four holes of continuous alternate shot. Solina Golf Club, owned by the Bryan brothers, was wide open, and the crew had the course to themselves.

“Hit some good putts today. I’m hitting them on my line; I just have to lock in. It’s two under to two under,” Scharff said after the second hole.

Through the first four holes of scramble, Team George was up one stroke at four under par. After the paired best-ball segment, Team George had increased its lead to two strokes. Alternate shot is one of the hardest formats in golf.

Clark made a long birdie putt on the second hole of alternate shot to extend the lead to three strokes with two holes to play. A wayward drive on the par five looked like it could turn the tide in Wesley’s favor, but an excellent recovery shot for Team George and a missed putt by Team Wesley kept the lead at three strokes. The match was over on the 11th hole.

“I gave South Carolina my first-ever 100,” Scharff said. “I still get choked up a little bit. That’s my family. I still miss them like crazy. That was a pretty awesome moment, and it was hard to watch them leave. They treated us to an awesome home-cooked meal.”

Rating: 92.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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