Right down the freeway

(Ritzville, 63 miles from Spokane; 52 miles from Moses Lake)

The last stop on our two-day odyssey was this fun, often tree-lined and occasionally road-lined nine-holer that’s roughly an hour’s drive from Spokane. It opened with six holes in 1938 and expanded to nine holes five years later.

I can’t be positive, but it might be the first time I’ve hit a shot that came to rest in a Zip’s parking lot. I tugged a 9-iron on the 157-yard second hole that was either swallowed up by the wall off trees left or caught a piece of Bauman Road and was heading toward the, um, drive-thru. Either way, missing right is preferable to missing left.

Ritzville is a par 35 that measures 2,812 yards. It’s reasonable for nine holes ($14 weekdays, $16 weekends) or 18 ($20 and $22). The small greens aren’t easy to hit, but they’re smooth and roll true.

We finished in less than 90 minutes and enjoyed several of the course’s unique features. No. 1 and No. 7, both 275 yards, share the same tee box. From the tees, the holes essentially criss-cross early and nearly reconnect at the greens. Trees and rough divide the seventh fairway to the left from the first fairway to the right. The two small, round greens at the closest point are maybe three strides apart.

There’s another brief crossover. The tee shot on No. 9 travels across perhaps the last 30 yards of fairway on the eighth hole. The ninth is a worthy finishing hole at 363 yards with a tiny green. My approach was about 25 feet left of the pin, landed on a slope and bounced 25 yards from the putting surface.

The lone par 5 is the tree-lined 499-yard No. 3. The 139-yard par-3 fourth plays uphill and has trees with overhanging branches that redirect shots headed to the left edge of the green.

Nos. 5 and 6, which are separated by Division Street, are probably the toughest holes. Both are par 4s just less than 400 yards with narrow fairways.