“Casey – Big Things in a Small Town”

One of the remarkable things about exploring America by RV is that we can begin to feel the states change long before we see the border signs. Mile by mile, the landscape changes – the grass slowly changes hues, the sky inches closer or begins to hold its clouds differently. As we cross state lines, corn fields give way to sunflower fields, low fruiting trees replace pines. And sometimes we see yellow roadside diamonds that urge respect toward horse-drawn carriages.

The second cool thing about traveling in our RV is we get to keep working on our bucket-list of golfing in all 50 states! And guess what? We just added another sticker to our state tracker. (As a reminder, we can’t add a state sticker to the map unless we GOLF AND STAY in our RV overnight in that state.)

This time it was the state of Illinois. Our one night stay provided us an opportunity to golf and stay in our RV.

How we found this little gem is a fun story.

We finished up our time in Elkhart, Indiana and needed to head south to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We routinely do single overnights along our routes to each monthly destination and use Harvest Hosts as our stops.

Our first overnight stop was at the Harvest Host location of Richards Farm Restaurant located in a little town halfway between Indianapolis, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri – called Casey.

Richards Farm is a classic American style restaurant. There is a picturesque 1930’s barn for dining, and the Richards have owned the historic farm since 1972. The main attraction of the restaurant is the World’s Largest Pitchfork located in the parking lot.

Yes that’s right – The World’s Largest Pitchfork.

The Pitchfork handle is made of reclaimed Western Red Cedar and the metal portion was created primarily from parts of old streetlight illuminator arms. The Pitchfork received the title of “World’s Largest” on October 20, 2015.

Naturally we were very curious about the history of the Pitchfork, so after some googling, we learned that there many “World’s Largest” record holding items in Casey. In fact Casey’s motto is “Big Things in a Small Town.”

And let me tell you, Casey takes their motto very seriously.

We were so intrigued by the list that we decided to see what all the fuss was about. So with a map in hand, we started our hunt of all the “World’s Largest” and other “Big Things” in Casey’s historic downtown.

First on the list – The World’s Largest Golf Tee! Of course it would be something golf related right?

Located at the Casey Country Club, just behind the clubhouse we found the World’s Largest Golf Tee. Work began on the Golf Tee in July of 2012. Laminating lumber together to form the tee’s rough form took five months. Once the pieces of wood were secured, a chainsaw and sander were used to shape and smooth the surface. It was accepted into the Guinness World Records in 2013. The enormous wooden structure weighs in at 6,659 lbs. stands 30 feet and ½ inches tall, with a head diameter of 6.26 feet and a shaft diameter of 2.1 feet, and is held together by 60 gallons of glue and 120 lbs. of screws!

And….that is how we found the golf course – purely by accident.

Once we checked off the World’s Largest Golf Tee from our list, we inquired about a tee time for the next morning. The Pro Shop attendant Nycol, was very helpful. She understood our desire to have an early morning tee time so we would be on the road early following our round.

After we secured a tee time for the next morning, we continued on our journey of locating all the oversized landmarks.

Local craftsman and businessman, Jim Bolin, has built fourteen Guinness world record qualifying things which are located all around Casey. Throughout our hunt we found quiet a collection of “World’s Largest Items.

Such As:

And of course the Worlds Largest Golf Tee & World’s Largest Golf Driver!

Bright and early the next morning, we loaded up Dee-Luxe and Big Dee and headed to the golf course. We were on the course by 7:45 a.m. Due to our limited time and wanting to get on the road sooner rather than later, we decided to only play 9-holes.

Casey Country Club is a Semi-Private, 9 hole golf course and first opened for play in 1928.

The Casey Country Club Golf Course is a tree-lined course built on predominantly flat terrain, but a few hills can cause uneven lies. Water hazards (a pond and ditches) come into play on five holes. The small greens are undulating and can be difficult to read. Four holes feature dogleg fairways, so having the skill to work the ball with a draw or a fade can be a real plus.

The course plays to a 9-hole par of 35 and 2,937 yards from the back tees and a par-37 and 2,651 yards from the forward tees.

Well-groomed fairways and greens keep Casey Country Club difficult yet friendly. Speaking of friendly, during our round, we stopped and talked with Billy the grounds keeper. He told us the best places to take a picture of the World’s Largest Tee and provided some fun facts about its construction.

Right around hole number 5, we met Don, a local resident who was celebrating his birthday by hitting a few balls on the fairway in between players. Don shared some tips and tricks for playing Casey Country Club and in exchange we sang him “Happy Birthday”! We really enjoyed chatting with Don.

We finished up our round in just under 2 hours.

Once we loaded up our clubs and added our sticker to our map, we were back on the road with no time lost in our schedule!

As we rolled down the road, I found myself reflecting on this special stop. I smiled as I thought about the feeling of accomplishment I got as we crossed another state off our Golf Bucket List. Thinking about how we are truly living our dream filled my heart with joy. And the extra bonus of crossing the below items off my list were icing on the cake!

• Golf in Illinios – Check!
• See the World’s Largest Golf Tee – Check!
• See the World’s Largest Golf Driver – Check!
• Add another sticker to our Golf Bucket List Map – Check!
• Livin’ Our Dream – Priceless!

My Reads from the Reds: There are so many great places and unique attractions to explore while traveling across this fabulous country of ours. And sometimes, those places are in small town America!

Fairways and Greens – We are 18 Holes and Counting

Written by: Kathy Festa