Cheap Kansas City golf courses - fun golf courses in kc

Cheap but fun golf courses in Kansas City - fun and affordable golf in KC

Cheap golf courses in Kansas City are abundant and we're going to tell you about the best ones for skill level, fun level and of course cheap level. Kansas City golf courses are some of the best courses in the Midwest and offer many levels of challenges and prices. Cheap golf courses in Kansas City are usually some of the most fun courses to play!

Minor Park Golf Course

Probably one of the most notorious cheap golf courses in Kansas City. Minor Park is located on Holmes Road just South of Red Bridge Road in southern Kansas City. Their info is:

11215 Holmes Road Kansas City, MO 64131 - (816) 942-4033

Minor Park Golf Course is typically around $30 per round (including cart), but if you visit the website (click on title link above) they offer rates as low as $15 - it doesn't say if that includes a cart or not. Minor Park is one of the shortest golf courses in Kansas City and it tops our list of cheap golf courses in Kansas City mostly because it is a great little course. We rate it as follows:

Cheap - prices range from $15 to $45 depending on the time of day and the season.
How Crowded - Minor can definitely get crowded. Sundays are tough, be sure and make a tee time. And always call ahead during peak season as they have several leagues and a few local high school golf teams practice there.
Difficulty - Minor is one of the easiest golf courses in Kansas City. It is short (only 5700 yards) and straight. Some of the greens are very small which offers a nice challenge. There are also a couple of challenging holes including a steep uphill par 3 (hole 4) with a contact lens shaped green that does not like to hold your ball.
Condition - Minor Park is usually in pretty good shape. The fairways are zoysia and the greens are usually in good shape. The only thing to watch out for at Minor Park are what the local golfers call "the moats". Most of the greens have a swampy "moat" like ring around the outside of them, so if you hit the ball just short of the green, it will usually stick in the mud or you will get almost no bounce or roll.
Fun - Minor Park Golf Course is a great course if you just want to get out and enjoy the weather, drink a few beers and not worry so much about your golf game as you will probably play better there than most courses due to it's short length and easy holes.

Hodge Park Golf Course

Hodge Park Golf Course located at 7000 Northeast Barry Road Old Kansas City, MO 64156 - (816) 781-4152 is a great course if your timing is good. They tend to get EXTREMELY busy so please call ahead. Hodge Park is listed in our cheap golf courses in Kansas City list because their pricing is very fair (between $20 and $35) depending on the time of day / week. Hodge Park offers a good variety of holes including a massive par 5 (hole 4) that has a blind approach to an elevated green with water (that you can't see on your approach shot on your immediate left. It offers a great drivable par 4 that overlooks a beautiful lake. We rate Hodge in the following golf course categories:

Cheap - prices range from $20 to $35 depending on the time of day and the season.
How Crowded - Hodge gets VERY crowded - definitely make a tee time or call ahead.
Difficulty - Hodge is a good mix of easy and semi-difficult holes, I think that the course record there is somewhere around a 62 originally set by Shawn Cassity.
Condition - Hodge Park is usually in pretty good shape.
Fun - You can really score well at Hodge if you bring your A game. Otherwise you can relax and enjoy some of the easier holes and still land in the 80's or low 90's with minimal effort.

River Oaks Golf Course

14204 Saint Andrews Drive
Grandview, MO 64030-4128
(816) 966-8111

You want to talk about cheap golf courses in Kansas City, well - this one doesn't even have a website! River Oaks is the ultimate cheap golf course in Kansas City. Located in lower class Grandview, Missouri (just south of the Kansas City area on 71 highway), this course literally winds it's way through a lower class neighborhood - like some sort of surreal country club full of poor people. The people that live on the golf course are completely oblivious to the game of golf and will occasionally wander out onto the course walking their dogs or playing with their children. Rates run from $15 - $25 depending on the time of day / week. One of the par 3's is located next to a city park - jungle gym, swing sets and all! You've got to see it to believe it. Unmowed yards, barking ghetto dogs, BBQ grills in every yard, rap music bumping in the distance. It's a site you won't believe.

But here's the kicker - we LOVE this place! The course is actually pretty challenging - there's a par 3 that's 220 yards long! Another great thing about this course is that (when they're working) they have GPS on the golf carts :) We love this little gem and we rate it as follows:

Cheap - prices range from $15 to $25 depending on the time of day and the season.
How Crowded - River Oaks Golf Course is not usually crowded - there's no real reason to call ahead.
Difficulty - River Oaks is surprisingly difficult as you wind your way around the ghetto housing.
Condition - Part of the reason that River Oaks is surprisingly difficult is because it is not in the best shape. Fairways are a little sparse (it's better to move your ball into the rough and hit).
Fun - You just have to see this place at least once - it's really a fun treat! They offer a FULL BAR which is cool too.

More cheap Kansas City golf courses to come soon - stay tuned!

If you have specific questions, please post them as a comment - no sign up required - quick commenting - and we will try to answer your questions quickly.  Thank you!

Matt Baker murders wife Kari - Minister found guilty

Minister found guilty of murder, receives 65 years in prison.

Matt Baker, a minister at Crossroads Baptist Church near Lorena, Texas was found guilty today of the murder of his wife Kari and was sentenced to 65 years in a Texas state prison.

Kari Baker was found dead just after midnight on April 8th, 2006 in her bedroom where a wine cooler bottle and Unisom sleeping pills were found. Her husband, Matt Baker, called 911 and reported that Kari had committed suicide because she was depressed over the death of her 16 month old daughter Kassidy who had a brain tumor. At the trial, Kari's mother testified that crushed up pills were found in Matt Baker's briefcase a couple of days before Kari's death and that he had accused Kari of being responsible for Kassidy's death.

The strangest thing about the case was that Kari's supposed suicide note was TYPED up and printed out - not the way suicide notes are usually drawn up. The defense attorneys lead by Guy James Gray tried to use this information to discredit the prosecution by claiming that the printer used to print out the suicide note came from a location not accessible to Matt Baker but only to Kari Baker.

Minister Matt Baker was allegedly sleeping with Crossroads Baptist Church member Vanessa Bulls after her divorce, abusing his power as a pastor according to friends and family members.

Matt Baker's defense attorney team asked permission from the court to withdraw from the case two weeks before sentencing and were denied this permission from the judge. Humorous comments from Baker's lead defense attorney Guy James Gray went as follows:

"Matt was kind of a sissy boy, the choices he made in school were ones like joining the choir instead of playing football, he wasn't much of a manly guy." I thought that was hysterical, as it came from his own lawyer! After the verdict In Session interviewed Guy James Gray and he then admitted that they had no respect for Matt Baker whatsoever and that they were just going through the motions in the trial. When Matt was sentenced and was being taken away by security, he reached out to try to say something to Guy James Gray and Gray stood with his back turned to Baker and completely ignored him.

When Kari's mother took the stand the court room got very heated. She pointed at Matt asking him to look her in the eyes and Baker sat with his head down the entire time she was on the stand. If that's not guilt I don't know what is. He pretty much looked guilty throughout the entire case.

The Jury deliberated for 7 and a half hours before finding Matt Baker guilty of murder. Jurors interviewed later said that they were split 8 to 4 due to shaky testimony from Vanessa Bulls. The eventually reached a verdict that would find pastor Matt Baker guilty of murder and sentenced him to 65 years in a Texas State Prison.

Obama, Socialism and Long Term Job Security

Obama and socialism are being used in the same sentence quite a bit lately. It occurred to me that there could be at least one benefit that emerges from a more socialist America - Long Term Job Security.

Socialism and Obama

Many people are taking offense to Obama's direction towards socialism, but to be honest, we have more freedom from the government and especially the media than we ever have before. The only government imposed lifestyle changes that most of us have seen in the past 10 years are the smoking ban in public places, and mandatory auto insurance.

Diverse Media has caused America to be LESS socialized than prior to 1990.

Now as far as the media is concerned, it has been revolutionized to a point where Americans are not nearly as influenced by the media as in the 20's - 90's. Today there are choices; the internet, blogs, satellite radio, cable television. In the old days you had 4 maybe 5 TV stations to choose from - and that was it. Whatever commercials were on those 4 or 5 TV channels were what Americans saw and that united us in a way. Did everyone love McDonald's? Did everyone love Coca Cola and Pepsi? Hell yes we did, because those were the commercials that were on every channel, every minute of the day. A VERY small handful of companies had total control over the media, and thus over Americans in general. Now that's what I call socialism. Today most of us have over 100 channels to choose from and are exposed to a much broader range of advertisements. Thus we are more free in this day and age than Americans were prior to 1990. We are aware of more companies, products and ideas because of the large variety of media that currently exists. Due to a limited choice of media prior to 1990, America was about as close to socialism as we've ever been. In other words, everyone in America was watching the same shows and the same commercials during those years so it actually had everyone on the "same page" if you will. Why do you think that we haven't had a generation that we could put a real label on since the 80's? Because with the current media structure and more choices for everyone, it is now impossible to get everyone in America in sync. We are as diverse as we have ever been. And that is NOT what I call socialism. Which is good.

Long Term Job Security and Socialism

In contrast, here is a way that Obama's direction towards socialism can be a good thing:

Some of us may remember a day where the average American worker started working for a company in their early 20's and stayed with the same company until retirement at 65. Think back to your grandparents or parents and look at how long they worked for their respective companies. Most of them worked for the same company for 30 years or more. A few possible reasons for this long term job security was the control that the government and the media had over America during the 20's through about the 90's. As discussed before, Americans were only exposed to a limited amount of media, everyone was on the same page, and therefore it promoted a sense of togetherness, basically because Americans had a lot more in common. This promoted a unified work force and overall employee loyalty. The companies often returned this loyalty by offering long term job security, fair promotions and cost of living raises. Due to long term job security and a unified work force, America was very socialist indeed.

Obama, Socialism and Long Term Job Security

A more socialist America could lead to long term job security. Obama and the democrats are making moves to unify America. This can be viewed as socialism, but it could very well be a positive change. If America can become more unified, as it was prior to 1990, then there could be some positive benefits such as long term job security.

Folgers Kansas City Shutting Down - Folgers Closing

Folgers plant in Kansas City to shut down leaving 179 employees looking for work. The Folgers coffee plant has been in Kansas City since 1908, employing many Kansas Citians throughout the years, including my grandpa back in the 50's, and serving it's product throughout many Kansas City Restaurants. Most people in KC only associate the Folgers plant with the incredibly bad smell that permeates downtown Kansas City. You know the smell, burnt coffee beans mixed with the Missouri river stink, it's less than desirable, believe me. So, on a good note, we will lose the smell in downtown Kansas City.

On the downside, 179 people will have to look for a new job. Some will probably retire as I'm sure that there has to be a substantial amount of senior citizens working there since Folgers has been in Kansas City for over a century and they have a great reputation for keeping their employees for the long term. I think that it was great of Folgers to at least give 2 years notice before pulling the plug on what was probably the only job that some of Folgers employees have ever had. I once thought that the days of the companies that held on to their employees for the long term were over, but with Obama's socialist influence, the big brother companies might become more solidified and actually bring back the days where you started working for a company when you were 22 and retired from the same company when you were 65. That's one advantage of a Socialist nation; long term job security.

In the case of Folgers in Kansas City I'm guessing that they had a lot of employees who had worked there for the better part of their lives. They will move their plant production to New Orleans in mid 2012, according to new corporate owners The J.M. Smucker Company. I don't know if the new owners had anything to do with the closing of the Folgers plant in Kansas City but I'm sure it had something to do with it - Part of a grand plan, no doubt.

Coffee itself is a strange phenom - basically a legal version of SPEED that the working class consume in mass quantities in order to be able to function in a spastic, condescending, pointless, wasteful corporate world. So basically, millions of Americans get all hopped up on SPEED (and yes, it is a version of speed), drive like spazzes to work, drink MORE coffee (speed) when they get to work, and then babble and spaz around the office. Just in case you didn't understand that last rant - the point is COFFEE IS A DRUG. If you think that you're living a healthy lifestyle, setting a good example for your children, an upstanding member of community and all that crap, you're not - you're just a speed junky in training. Don't take yourself so seriously - you're a slave to the man, and your job is most likely a meaningless shuffling of papers, faxes, numbers, sales figures and lies that only fuel a large entity that will certainly not share it's success with you, but will eventually let you go without a moment's thought of regret. Soak that one up.

So, with that said, selling an addictive product like coffee makes Folgers seem a little less sanctimonious and a little more evil. I know that the smell in downtown Kansas City is DEFINITELY evil and we will not miss that.

Road to the Show MLB 10 Franchise Create Player

Road to the Show MLB 10
The Show Franchise Mode and Creating Players

Franchise Mode

Ok, let's say that you're favorite team is really bad like my home team, The Kansas City Royals. You won't have a chance of winning at MLB 10 The Show - you are just going to suck. You may do better than your real life team, but probably not by much. I didn't pay $64.00 to play this game and get my ass beat all night long after a hard day of work. I bought this game to have some fun and to win every once in awhile. I tried playing The Royals as they came stock on the game and oh boy do they suck. I couldn't do anything but ground out and the other teams absolutely SHELLACKED my pitchers. I know that it's cheating (a little), but dammit I want to have fun at MLB 10. So...Here is my solution:

Create Players

It is important that you do this in the exact order that I'm about to tell you.

First, go to the create player screen. Create all of the players that you are going to create. DO NOT attempt to create a player, go draft him, then create another one. It's better if you create all of the players that you want at the same time. I created myself, of course, and I also created a KILLER pitcher, George Brett Jr., Amos Otis, U.L. Washington and John "The Duke" Wathan (these are all players from the World Series Champion Kansas City Royals from 1985). When you create your players be sure and pump up their hitting ability on both the left and right handed sides because for some reason MLB 10 takes both sides of the skill into account when configuring their final skill rating. So basically, if your player is right handed, be sure and pump his skill rating on the left side too, even though he will only be batting right handed. It's a game glitch or something - just do it. I would stay away from switch hitters as they tend to suck in both directions. If your team is really bad like The Royals, you had better create a couple of really good pitchers. Hell, create Dock Phillip Ellis from the 1971 Pirates who pitched a no hitter while taking ACID - now there's a pitcher. Anyway, create some players that will rock.

Second, after you've created your players go to roster movement. This part's a little tricky so stay with me - the best thing to do is go to the left half of your screen, choose the team that you want to play, scroll all the way to the bottom of the players list (the worst players are at the bottom). Let's say you created a pitcher, ok, well then find your team's worst pitcher (at the bottom of the list) and select him. Then, go over to the right side of the screen and use R1 to move the list until it says "Free Agents". You should see all of the free agents that you created in that list. Simply swap crappy players from your team's roster (on the left) and replace those players with your created ones.

Third, once your roster is set go to game modes and select Franchise mode. Pick your team and when it asks you, select CURRENT roster.

Fourth, the game might tell you that your roster is "invalid". You will need to hit "auto" when the game notifies you that your roster is invalid. Go to each of your rosters (major league players, minor league players, and AA players) and hit "auto" fix roster. This part may take some fiddling around - but keep hitting "auto" and you will eventually get past it.

Lastly, set your lineup and go! Hit schedule and it will show your games - select and go. Keep an eye on your players during the season - at the beginning of each game you will see your line up. Your players will have green bars to the right of their name - this is how much energy they have left. You may need to sit some players out every once in awhile to rest them. Road to the Show MLB 10 will tell you when a player gets too low to play.

One last cool thing is the "fast forward" option in MLB 10 The Show. During a game you can pause the game and hit "fast forward". You can skip a half an inning (I do this all the time because I don't really like to pitch) - that way you can just bat - pretty sweet.

That's all I've got for now - have fun playing franchise mode in MLB 10 The Road to The Show!

If you have specific questions, please post them as a comment - no sign up required - quick commenting - and we will try to answer your questions quickly.  Thank you!

Good Neighborhoods in Kansas City

Good neighborhoods in Kansas City are everywhere, but they can be hard to find if you're not from Kansas City.

Obviously, there are several good neighborhoods in Johnson County, which is actually in the state of Kansas but is considered a part of the greater Kansas City area. Neighborhoods in Johnson County that are good include:

Leawood

Leawood, Kansas is an upper middle class neighborhood in Kansas City that attracts upper class people who want to pay middle class housing prices. If you are considered upper class in Kansas City, you are probably considered middle class in larger cities like New York and Scottsdale. Therefore, the neighborhood of Leawood looks very similar to upper class neighborhoods in larger cities, but housing is much more affordable. Good neighborhoods in Leawood include Hallbrook, which has it's own golf course, bank and security gate.

Loch Lloyd

Another good neighborhood in Kansas City is called Loch Lloyd, or "The Village at Loch Lloyd". It is a private, membership only neighborhood that is located at the southern-most tip of what is considered to be Greater Kansas City. Loch Lloyd has a country club, a golf course, and it's own zip code!

Prairie Village

Prairie Village, or "perfect village" as it is affectionately called by it's residents, is THE perfect Kansas City neighborhood to raise kids. Littered with the area's best school districts, young parents and children alike thrive in the neighborhood of Prairie Village. The houses are not extravagant or fabulous but they will cost you plenty. A small little 3 bedroom house will double in value if you pick it up and place it in Prairie Village. Security is great in PV as well, patrol cars will stop anyone who isn't white and driving a mini van or SUV full of soccer kids. One thing to remember about the neighborhood of Prairie Village is this: Don't try to drive through PV after school gets out!

More good Kansas City neighborhoods to come...

If you have specific questions, please post them as a comment - no sign up required - quick commenting - and we will try to answer your questions quickly.  Thank you!

MLB 10 The Show Tips - Pitching, Batting, Road to the Show

MLB 10 The Show Tips - Pitching, Batting, Road to the Show

First of all, don't panic! MLB 10 The Show is HARD - I mean REALLY hard. Do yourself a favor and practice. When you first put the game in, go straight to practice mode. The only exception is if you've mastered MLB 09 The Show - then you can probably go ahead and start the Road to the Show, Franchise or Online play. This article is not for you, this article is for people like me who completely SUCK at this game.

The best thing to do is practice. Practice pitching first as that is what you will spend most of your time doing. The first thing to realize about pitching in MLB 10 The Show is that the optimal "line" you are trying to hit on the pitching meter is at the beginning of the curve, towards the middle - NOT at the end of the meter where the colors are (yellow, orange, red). I must have spent 2 hours trying to land the line in the color zone when all the time it is supposed to land in the middle of the whole curve - the color part is just the power. After that it is just a matter of how good your pitcher is at throwing the different pitches. Pitchers with higher skills can throw more pitches correctly etc. If your pitcher sucks then he's just going to suck - there's nothing you can do about it.

Next practice batting. The x button swings normally and the square button swings for the seats. One article I read on MLB 09 The Show said to start (before the pitch) by raising the left joystick up before you swing. In practice mode in MLB 10 The Show you won't need to worry about the pitch count, but it is essential in regular gameplay. Just like the real game, pitch count will determine what kind of pitch you are going to get next. It is wise to let a few pitches go by, especially if you are up in the count. You've got to be really patient. MLB 10 is not an arcade game where you're going to hit home runs constantly - or even get a hit for that matter. You have to wait for your pitch. Oh yeah, and if you're first starting out, set the game on Rookie.

Fielding in MLB 10 The Show is pretty much like any other baseball game - just run to the ball (there is no sprint button in case you're looking for one) pick it up and throw it to the right base or you can throw to your cut off man (R1).

Base running is an art form but the easiest way to do it is R1 means return all runners, R2 means steal (before the pitch) and for some reason R2 means STOP the runner after the pitch. L2 (before the pitch) will make all runners steal - which is good for the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs. The MLB 10 The Show book that comes with the game spends almost the entire time talking about base running - there's 6 pages on it. Read it and you will probably be even more confused then when you started. Just remember that after the pitch L1 advances everyone and R1 makes everyone go back.

To sum it up, practice a lot, drink several beers before attempting to play in the first place. And remember that this game is meant to simulate REAL baseball and therefore it might move a little slow and require a shit load of patience.

If you have specific questions, please post them as a comment - no sign up required - quick commenting - and we will try to answer your questions quickly.  Thank you!

kc auto show - info on the Kansas City Auto Show 2010

kc auto show - info on the Kansas City Auto Show 2010

The KC Auto Show is on this week at Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City near The Power and Light District.

Several great cars will be on display as well as some great Kansas City bands. On Friday night the kc auto show features The KC All Stars on the main stage. On Saturday night the kc auto show features beatles tribute band Liverpool. On Sunday night the Kansas City auto show will feature Woodstock Flashback.

The entire auto show is set in a 60's theme and they have chosen some of Kansas City's best entertainment acts. Kansas City bands for the kc auto show were provided by Adam Blue Productions.