Dan's Golf Info

EAGLE !!

2011-08-28T16:07:00.001-07:00

Chris Rood and I, playing at The Crossings at Carlsbad. Super early in the morning, 2nd tee time (618am). First couple holes in fog. Caught foursome in front of us by the back 9, they let us pass, jammed with nobody in front. Done in 3:15

My back 9 was bad, wheels had come off, spraying drives, fat chips, etc. My Drive on #15 (par 5, 492 yards, dogleg left) was sweet, straight, directly over aiming tree. Chris' drive drifted right just barely into the (lateral) junk. His 2nd (3rd with penalty) ends just to left of green, in the rough. My drive is sitting perfectly in the middle of the fairway, 200 yards out. 4 iron to just short of the elevated green.

We're both below the hole, such that we can't see the hole, just the flag stick. Level of the green is about 5 feet above our head. Chris to the left of the green as approached, I'm straight in front. Chris goes first, chips up, hits the flag stick. Can't see where it went, take a couple steps up the slope to see that it WENT IN! Birdie.

I'm next, ask Chris to come hit mine for me. I go ahead, nice looking chip, HITS the flag stick, and GOES IN! Eagle! Birdie (only cuz of the penalty) and Eagle both on the same hole, and both hit the flag stick.

This is my "home hole", as it heads straight up towards my office at InterKnowlogy. I sit there and stare out the window at this hole all the time.

Next hole is #16, also par 5. PAR!
Next hole is #17, par 3 way downhill to a green the reaches out over a canyon to the right. BIRDIE! (tee shot ended about 10 feet straight below the hole)

Chris dominated the back 9. After par on #10, he called it: "OK Dan, I'm getting 8 more pars". Close. He birdied 15 and bogey on 18 for PAR on the back 9. Total 78 (+6).

Dan: 90 (6 penalties killed it)

Half Moon Bay

2009-08-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Score: 93

Up in the Bay Area for Janey's wedding, didn't bring any golf stuff. Andrew says they have an opening at Half Moon Bay on Sunday, and it's about half of normal price ($100). My flight isn't till 730p that night, so I jump on it. Oh, but I dont have clubs or shoes. I use Andrew's extra set. Mind you they are normal size (mine are +2") and graphite shafts (mine are steel).

We played the back 9 of Palo Alto Muni on Saturday morning and I did pretty well, so I thought this wouldnt be that bad. Didnt have a driver, just a 3-metal, which I used once, shanked it OB, and never used it again.

Half Moon Bay was beautiful. Cloudy at 1120a start time, but then cleared up. Locals said it was one of their best days, so we got lucky.

42 on the front, after a not so great first couple holes. Par and a birdie. Then a train wreck on the back where I was chunking some fairway shots, missing greens, and bad drives. FOUR 7s, 3 in a row - ugh. 51 on the back.

Blue tees: 70.7 / 128

79 !!

2009-07-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Encinitas Ranch with Steve Green, his dad David, and son Sebastian. This was only the 2nd time holding a club since October (other time was July 4, shot a 91).

EVEN PAR on the front 9, then a bit of a train wreck. Steve was talking me through the back 9 mentally: "if someone told you that you were 5 over with 5 left to play, you'd be stoked. Forget about how you got here, just get some pars.... middle of the fairway, middle of the green..."

Pulled up to 18 tee and Steve says "I need you to par this one". (Had a feeling he meant to break 80). Super lame drive, low burner, not very far, but plenty of time to get it back on this short par 5. Sweet 5 iron straight and far for 2nd, puts me at 145 approach to huge green. 9 iron to front middle, well below the hole. Putt up the hill to about 4 feet. Steve: "I would love to give you that one, but it's a wee bit too long." A bit of a side breaker, I SUNK IT - 79.

Marriott Desert Springs

2009-07-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

Score: 91

Part of the Amor Palm Springs weekend.

Hadnt held a club since Oct of 2008, so was not sure at all how I would play. Ran out of time on the range before play, so got to hit about 5 balls total. What does that mean? Birdie, Birdie start! First hole, perfect drive, perfect approach to 4 feet - downhill bender putt for birdie. Hole 2 - huge slice into a parallel fairway, blind approach from there to about 7 feet, sank that straight putt for birdie. Then the train wreck happened. Couldnt control mid and short irons, whether approach shots, or on par 3s.

Very decent from the bunkers - no flub shots, quite a few were very accurate.

Ended up with a couple other pars, one more birdie late in the round, but sprinkled in a bunch of doubles and triples, some on par 3s.

uPro GPS Rangefinder

2009-06-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

Some day (ok, year), when I get back into golf, THIS is the best rangefinder I've seen. Complete with video flyovers and really great graphics. (Just saw a commercial for it in US Open wrap-up)

Of course, it's pricey ($399 !!) and the video flyover stuff (Pro mode) has an additional cost.

Callaway uPro | Introducing golf's best GPS Rangefinder

World Golf Tour - Online Game

2008-12-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

Stunning online golf game with real camera images of course layout.

Best of all - it's FREE. (Wonder how long that will last?)

World Golf Tour

US Open - Torrey Pines - Amazing Tiger

2008-06-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'll have to post a bunch more about this "home town" US Open (went to the tourney Thursday and Friday). For now, posting these videos for future reference / enjoyment...

Tiger's best in 3rd round

4th round - Tiger putt on 18 to tie.

Tiger's complete 1st round

Tiger's complete 2nd round

Tiger's complete 3rd round

Tiger's complete 4th round

Phil disaster at 13 on Sunday

Daylight Savings Time JC Twilight Rates

2008-03-07T08:52:00.001-08:00

The list of JC resorts courses and they're updated twilight and super-twilight times and rates.

PDF here

Club Achilles - Indoor Golf Experience

2007-08-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

We're on vacation in La Quinta this week, and heard about this place on a tv commercial (during Golf Channel coverage of the FedEx cup naturally).

Called them for more info: like the site says, indoor luxury golf club with 7 hitting bays with 53 world wide courses, fitness center, sports bar & restaurant.

Pretty pricey: $30 / hour for hitting bays walking in off the street. $70 / day for full access to the club.

Club Achilles

Free Golf on Birthday

2007-08-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

I thought I already had a post about this somewhere, cuz I know a few places in San Diego offer it.

Here's one in Palm Desert:

Indian Springs Country Club (where we rent house periodically). Info here.

Standby Golf

2007-08-20T07:48:00.001-07:00

When golfing in Palm Springs a couple years ago, some dudes told me about a way to save $$ by getting a tee time at the last minute (night before). I just came across Standby Golf - which does exactly that. They have a list of courses that they serve, most of which will offer discount tee times after 4pm the day before you want to play. A couple (like Trilogy in La Quinta) show 30 day advance.

Going to the desert on Wed, and may try this out.

Standby Golf

"The Crossings" Grand Opening

2007-07-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Our new local course in Carlsbad (more info here) had it's grand opening today. I hauled the family over there to check it out. We went on a minor little tour of holes 1, 8, and 9 in golf carts - kids loved that. Hot air balloon exhibition was kind of a bust -- too windy.

Later in the day, I went back to walk more of the course. Walked the back 9 (minus #12) and then a few holes on the front 9.

It's looking like it's going to be a challenging course. While most of the fairways are pretty generous in width, they have some slopes towards canyons, and a few carries that will be tough.

Here are some pics of some of the holes.

Measure Hole Layout

2007-07-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I would be going over to the new local course in a couple days to map it for iGolfGPS, so I looked up the official way to find the center of the green. How to measure a green.

They denied me access to the course (for now), since there are still a couple holes under construction. More here.

Palm Springs this Weekend

2007-06-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Amor!! We're playing a couple courses in Palm Desert / Indio this weekend.

Terra Lago (here)- can't find much info about this, other than the condo associated site for the course.

Classic Club (here) - ahh, a Troon course, probably much like Maderas here locally, and Troon North course in Scottsdale.

Aviara for $130

2007-05-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Heard this on the DSC radio show this morning (they are going there today for Dave's free Thursday golf - lucky bastards):

You can golf Aviara Four Seasons golf course for $130 from now through middle of June (?), seven days a week, after 12pm.

First Round in a While

2007-05-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

Arrowood (white): 85

I think the last round I played was in January at Aviara (ahh, yep) and it was a disaster (99). So I'm finally trading in my softball swing for a golf swing, and will try to play a little more often through the summer (have to get good before going to Tulsa this summer and playing a bunch with Scott).

So this round wasn't that bad. I actually drove the ball decently - not great, just decent. When off the fairway, I was usually just off in the rough, not too many penalties. Putting was decent - that's where I game comes and goes these days. I had one disaster green with a 4-putt, but other than that, nothing more than 2, and a couple 1 putts. Bunker play was good too.

Next stop: The Vineyard for Indian Guides tourney.

Celebrity Handicaps

2007-05-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

A list of various celebrities and their handicaps...

List After List

Carlsbad Muni - The Crossings at Carlsbad

2007-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Union Tribune today had an article with info about the scheduled opening of our new local Carlsbad municipal course - "The Crossings at Carlsbad".

web site

Grand opening August 1, public opening Aug 4, 2007

Update (07/11/07): Recent plane crash on the 3rd hole has postponed the opening. Opening date TBD.

Prices
Carlsbad resident:

Weekend - $80
Friday - $65
Weekdays - $60 (twilight $40)

County residents are + $15 and tourists are + $30
Pretty pricey for a muni to be sure. They've compared themselves against Aviara and La Costa, which is a huge stretch for a muni.

Mandatory carts since it's a 6800 yard course spread over 400 hilly acres, lots of distance between some holes.

article here

Some related news:

article. December 2006 update on construction. 17 years since first talks, $68 million (up from $7 million original estimate, of course that was 17 years ago)
article. Carts will be GPS enabled.
article. Fatal plane crash onto the 3rd green on July 3.
article. "18th hole is every bit as tough as #18 at Oakmont" (recent US Open)

Segway X2 Golf Cart

2007-04-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

I saw this in the Southwest Airlines magazine on a recent flight. There's a buffed out Segway called the "X2" that holds a golf bag, and is made for taking on the course. There is a resort in Phoenix/Scottsdale that is apparently using it for their golf carts: Westin Kierland Resort and Spa. Their site here.

I definitely have to go play some golf there someday...

Trump National

2006-12-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

I got to play Trump National today -- amazing course. Right on the Pacific Ocean, terraced holes that run back and forth, mostly parallel to the ocean as they "switchback" up and back the cliffs over the ocean.

It was HOWLING wind, so it made the already difficult course even tougher.
(TODO: more here about my score)

Here are some videos from the day.

Here is an aritcle from SI about Trump's various courses.

GPS Golf Caddies

2006-12-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

I'm not golfing as much these days, so this is a bit difficult to justify, but it's really intriguing. There are a few "GPS Golf Caddies" showing up on the market these days. Basically they use GPS technology to show you where you are on the hole, with at least distance to the hole, and usually distance to some number of other obstacles.

Most if not all of them rely on a subscription based (example $30/year) web site to download the golf course data to the device.

iGolf GPS Caddie (iGolf.com)
SkyGolf GPS (site).
StarCaddie (site) (software for PocketPC. maps look expensive)
Intelligolf (site) (PocketPC software)
Summary of 3 competitors

The iGolf company also has PC software that (assuming with the same subscription as above) lets you download the course definitions to your PocketPC, etc.

Next, I would need a GPS of some sort to hook into the PocketPC. There are a bunch of options there, and I found this site for reviews of all those choices (might be a bit outdated - google will find more).

Use handheld GPS (already have one of these) and connect it to a Pocket PC or other handheld. Many cable options described here. The Supply Net Austrailia based web site has lots of options too.

More GPS / PocketPC solutions & issues:

Pocket Streets apparently no longer comes with MS Streets and Trips
Here is info on MS Streets & Trips, including info about the included GPS receiver.
I put some GPS receivers on my wish list at Amazon.
Comparison (old, 2004) of mapping software here.

Desert Willow - Palm Desert

2006-08-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

Score: 94
www.desertwillow.com

Ouch - very difficult course. Desert Willow, Firecliff course. This course has more bunkers on it than any course I've seen. On many holes, bunkers lined both sides of the fairway from the driver landing zone, all the way down to, and around, the green. Luckily I was only in a few of those, but when I was, did not fare too well.

Driver was not working today - slicing almost everything. I was on vacation with the family (rented a house in Indian Springs Country Club, La Quinta) - played with 2 randoms: Jim (England) and Mike (UCSB chemistry research professor). Mike gave me a couple tips that with driver I'm spinning out left way in front of impact, so hands trailing the body, and leaving the clubface wide open. Also, decelerating on fairway approaches (especially after I chunked 2 in a row with a 52° wedge from 60, then 40 yards).

Anyway - Firecliff was a standard desert course, with lots of "waste" natural desert areas. I played a few shots from there. The GPS carts were the best I've seen, including a "lay up crosshair" where you can point to anywhere on the image using the arrow keys, and it will tell you the distance to that "lay up" spot.

Pretty good day to play - I show up without a tee time, slide into the twosome, get the $20 off rate and some free goodies (hat, neck cooler, 2 bottles of water) from their "Beat the Heat" promotion.

Quick calculations show that this score pushes me back up to 10.0 on the handicap, so I've got to start getting some low scores again to get back into the single digits...

Carlsbad City Golf Course

2006-07-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well it's finally taking shape - the Carlsbad city golf course. We can see portions of it from our house up on the hill. It's been interesting to watch the construction - from early earth moving, huge retaining wall on the back 9 by my office, and now finally we can see the forms of the fairways, and greens.

They've laid some sod on seemingly random portions of the fairways, usually accompanied by bunkers.

More info including course map here: Municipal Golf Course | City of Carlsbad

Stanford - Back on The Farm

2006-06-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

I finally had the chance to play the Stanford course. After being there for 4 years during college (of course I didn't golf back then) where I think it was $12 / round for students -- I finally had the priviledge of playing this well respected course. Naturally, it was not $12 -- rather $100 for alumni. Played with my college roommate Andrew, and our friend Dr. Jane.

Score: 88

Had lots of trouble off the tee -- driver slicing (as usual) into the rough and trees almost every hole.

Potential Palm Desert Golf

2006-06-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of places we might golf on this first trip of 3 to Palm Desert this summer:

Escena Golf Club

Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort

Free Lesson Month

2006-05-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

May is the PGA free lesson month. I did this a couple years ago, where the PGA teaching professionals offer a free 10 minute lesson to help grow the game, get people onto their ranges, etc.

2 years ago I went to La Costa, this year I'm going to Aviara. It's a good excuse to get a free "bucket" of balls, and a couple quick tips from a pro.

Start here - and go to instruction. Then enter your zip, and should see an ad for the free lesson in the month of May.

Update 05/30/06
So I had my lesson at Aviara - with Lance Strickland. Great guy, very cool about the lesson. He ended up spending a little over 20 minutes with me. I was hitting 6 irons pretty sweet. Straight, slight fade. Showed him how that fade turns into a slice fairly often with the driver.

Issues: my swing path is pretty steep, combine that with the strong left hand grip and it means I am basically "blocking" the ball through impact (leading with the outside/pinky side of my left hand towards the target).

Changes: weaken my left hand grip a bit, making it more neutral. Try to think about a slightly more level swing plane - but dont worry about this too much. It's ok to be steep (which produces the slight outside-in swing path through impact), but very tough, critical timing when combined with a strong left hand grip.

With the "weaker" grip, should be more free to rotate arms through impact. Exaggerate this while learning the new grip. Should feel like I'm going to snap hook it, but will see that it's a straight ball, or even a little draw. This rotation through impact is the proper technique, rather than the "blocking" I'm doing now. Should get a little more distance as well with this proper technique - currently when blocking the swing, the ball is sort of "glancing" off the club face.

The Golf Blog

2006-04-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Some golf fan keeps pretty much up to date on all the latest golf news.

The Golf Blog

Some Thoughts on Golf

2005-10-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Golf! You hit down to make the ball go up. You swing left and the ball goes right. The lowest score wins.

Golf is harder than baseball. In golf, you have to play your foul balls.

A "gimme" can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers, neither of whom can putt very well.

Kral's Last Round

2005-09-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

This was great - our buddy Kral has taken the pill and accepted a job at Microsoft, so he's moving up to Redmond. We had a "going away" round with him at Twin Oaks in San Marcos.

This is the first tee, with about 10 people watching. The exploding ball trick.

We didn't think we'd be able to pull this off. The ball is actually noticeably different than a standard golf ball. Slightly different size, and the dimples look funny. So my x-roomie Dean had a great idea. The night before, he had his daughters color and draw on that ball, plus a dozen real ones. So there were many to choose from this next morning -- we offered one to Kral, knowing which one we wanted him to take.

Check out these other pics and videos from the round, including the goofy putting ball, with strange weighting, to cause it to roll really funny.

Vijay's Funniest Golf Books

2005-09-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Might be worth a read sometime...

The Golf Omnibus, by P.G. Wodehouse
Dead Solid Perfect, by Dan Jenkins
Slim and None, by Dan Jenkins
The Bogey Man, by George Plimpton
The Book of Golf Disasters, by Peter Dobereiner

Pelican Hill

2005-08-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Score: 83

Today, thanks to Amor, we got to play Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, CA ... for FREE !! (Standard weekend green fee: $250)

(Dan at "Double Trouble" #13)

more pics at http://www.volleynerd.com/golf/pelican/

VERY foggy at the start, tee off on 1st without knowing exactly where the green was. By the time we got down to the green and off to #2, it was already breaking up nicely. Enough to record a birdie on the "Sudden Drop" par 3 #4.

Pretty decent driving day, was mostly on the fairway, or just off. Just wasn't great with approaches, and putting.

Lots of cool holes: hitting across canyons, #6 went directly for the green to cut off most of the canyon and made it - ended up about 15 yards from the green. Ugh - skulled the chip and 3 putt for Bogey! :( Par on the Rocks, par 3 #7 towards the ocean. Played it safe on #18, ended up 221 from the green, over the canyon. 3 iron made it to the green, to about 15 feet from pin. 2 putt from there for par finish.

Wind & Elevation Changes

2005-08-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

I have never heard these things quantified before, here's what Golf Digest says:

Add or subtract one club for every 10 mph of wind. Side winds are more about direction adjustments, so take one extra club and shorten your backswing to keep the ball down.

Figure one extra club for every 25 feet of elevation. Subtract clubs the same way for downhill shots.

Bunkers, creeks, trees near the green make the flag look closer than it is -- trust the yardage.

Vacation Idea - Reunion Resort

2005-08-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Saw an add for this in Golf Digest.

Reunion Resort, near Walt Disney World, FL. The pictures of the golf courses and the grounds, with all the pools, etc. just look amazing.

10 Things Every Golfer Should Do

2005-08-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

From Golf Digest (Aug 2005), some things to do before turning in your last scorecard.

Play as a single - meet golfers from all walks of life.
Go on golf-only trip.
Play all day, until too dark to see. Tee off at sunrise and play until sunset.
Dedicate 2 months to a part of the game you hate the most.
Win something - enter a tournament, competition, etc. Pressure of playing for something is thrilling.
Play in bad weather, where you're just about the only group left on the course.
Make a hole-in-one (obviously need some luck), hit 300 yd drive, drive a short par 4, shoot your age, make an eagle... some personal best you aren't likely to repeat
Play at the TPC Stadium course at Sawgrass. Where the Players Championship is, home of the island 17th green.
Watch Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam play in person.
Watch the Masters (or at least a practice round) in person.

Some from the "also ran" list:

play the entire course with a sand-wedge (or some other club)
play in a Pro-Am with a pro you actually recognize
play reverse-handed for 9 holes
play a seaside course and for the hell of it, blast a ball out into the ocean
call in sick to play 18 holes
sleep in your car to earn a tee time

SilverRock - La Quinta, CA

2005-08-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

Damn - here is where I should have played when in Palm Springs last week.

SilverRock is a brand new, Arnold Palmer design, 7553 yard course right at the North-West corner of the PGA West property. It looks like it will be awesome, complete with hotel, spa, etc.

Looks like prices are reasonable for now. Online tee-time booking showed $75 for a summer round.

Killer Flash-based site, hole-by-hole drawings and images, etc.

Hopefully I'll talk Jamie into going there sometime next summer? :)

(update 7/1/06)
Played SilverRock this weekend with Amor, Brett, etc. First off, huge thanks to Amor for this freebie! SilverRock was very difficult. It was quite windy when we played, adding to the already tough layout. Pretty typical desert layout with native areas all over. Back 9 was especially hard, or maybe we were just getting tired from the heat. Car thermometer said 113° when we finished.

Palm Springs Vacation

2005-08-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Day 1

PGA West, TPC Stadium
Score: 86

We've rented a condo in PGA West (on the Palmer course) for the past 3 years.

The Stadium course is just as I remember it from my first time last year. Many rolling, undulating fairways, hiding some of the massive bunkers. There is the one at #12 which wraps around the front, left, and back of the green. I think the green-side face of the bunker is about 15 feet high. This one is hidden by the mound in front of it, so I didn't realize it was there when I was hitting my approach from 125. Luckily, my 9 iron made it to the green. Then there's the bunker on #16 (pictured here), which I also avoided (thank god). I think that face is almost 20 feet!

Green in reg / par on #6 (the par 3 fronted by a lake), as well as on #17 (par 3 island green).

The course was kind of beat up, mostly due to the heat of the summer. Very penal, lots of water, and tons of bunkers. Shot 86 with 2 penalties, so I was pretty happy with that.

Day 2

Golf Resort at Indian Wells
Score: 81

They have a West and East course. Turns out the West course is closed, due for demolition soon. They are apparently rebuilding each course from scratch, one at a time, taking 1 year to do each. The East course (where I played) will be 7000+ yards and will hopefully be hard enough to be in the Bob Hope Classic rotation in the years to come.

I didn't think the East course was as difficult as the 131 rating suggests (white/middle tees). It's definitely not only 1 slope rating point away from TPC Stadium the day before. It's a very "fair" course, with no hidden danger. Not much water, just mostly straight holes with some bunkers, and quite a few trees to either side of most fairways.

I played pretty well here. Driver was working. Although technically I only hit 4 fairways, I was only barely off the fairway on probably another 6 holes, so GIRs were up at 9.

Career longest drive was on #16. 308 yards. Too bad it was on a practice driver, after my "real" pop-up drive of 197 yards.

Bummer finish: heading into #17 par 3 over water, I knew a par, par finish would give me 79. The pin placement on 17 was tough. Up on the top tier of the green, but only like 10 yards from the back of the green, where there's water. I was between clubs, so took the shorter iron, not wanting to go over the back. So I ended up short, on the lower tier of the green, 3 putt from there (missed 5 foot par putt) for bogey. Then head to 18 (semi-short par 5 along hwy 111, with late fairway turn around water to the green). Decent drive of 247, leaving 206 to the green (according to GPS), but over water. I don't have a lot of confidence in long iron that will FLY 200 yards, and haven't mastered a 3-wood yet. Took the chicken-shit route to lay up along the side of the water, then wedge from there. 7-iron faded right, INTO the water. Nice "safe" play -- ugh. For the hell of it, I tried another shot - 3 iron from the same place. Bombed it long enough, over the water, into the bunker BEHIND the green. Anyway - with penalty, and wedge + 2 putt, bogey - finish with 81.

Course review: course itself was in pretty good shape. Some cool holes: #13 par 4 with island fairway. Over water to get to fairway, then from there, over water to the green. #17 par 3 over water, #18 finish with fairway turn to right around water to green.

GPS carts, although once again, the scoring system crapped out after the last hole, before getting to the shop. ALWAYS keep your score manually even if you're using the GPS card. I've never had one work properly to the end, including a printout from the pro shop. Service was marginal, they had me in a hurry the whole time. Driving range was barely open due to mowing in progress. No water, ice, etc. on the cart. Maybe I'll head back to Trilogy next time?

Coeur d'Alene - Dream Course

2005-08-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Check out this course described in Golf Magazine (Aug 2005). We are actually going to Coeur d'Alene this fall for my sister-in-law's wedding...but sadly, not going to have any time to golf.

Boat to the driving range, where you get a massage -- are you kidding?

Coeur d'Alene Resort

updated 6/5/06 - saw this course profiled on Golf Resorts International. Some other facts:

Golf only available for resort guests
Carts or caddies available
5 minute boat ride to the first tee
Divots in the fairway are filled each night with green grass seed
Bathrooms are underground (so as to not obstruct views)

Aviara (What Could Have Been) -- 93

2005-07-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

A beautiful course, beautiful day, but too many penalties! :)

I shot 93, and had 9 penalties!! On number 10 (cut the corner by the tennis courts), I had the best drive of the day, WAY out there. Turns out -- TOO far out there, drove through the fairway into the shrubs/hazard, and then from there, reached pin high, but along the creek, and hazard again. 2 penalties, for a 6.

I know this is not the right way to think about it, but if I could have just had the driver going straight, the rest of my game was pretty on. Without those 9 penalties, could have been around 84.

3 fairways
6 greens
39 putts

GPS carts, although scoring system crapped out before end - always keep a manual score backup. Practice area is pretty good - unlimited balls, practice bunker.

78 -- Take 2

2005-07-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well I repeated my career best score today. This time, it was at Arrowood, the new JC Resort course in Oceanside.

This time didn't *feel* like a great round like the other one did, at least until the back 9. I knew I was doing well on the back 9 to help the 41 on the front, getting lots and lots of pars. 37 (+2) on the back.

Driver was working great today - straight drives, I think I had 3 that were 300 yds. Hit 10 fairways and 14 greens in reg.

With me: "Doghouse" (Kral, Dean, Brett)

Golf Schools and Vacation Packages

2005-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

Someday it would be awesome to attend a multi-day golf school somewhere. Here are some links from Golf Magazine.

Troon Golf Getaways - have many locations, even close to home.

Golf Magazine Travel (although this site was down this morning)

Here is a list of the top 25 schools in the country, from Golf Magazine.

of course there's always Aviara, which is just down the street from me. :)

JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa -- Scottsdale, Arizona

2005-06-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is the hotel we're staying at in Scottsdale.

Here's the hotel's direct web site.

Some links to golf info where I'm playing:

Wildfire Golf club - courses at or near the JW Marriott. There's a Palmer and Faldo course here.
Actually ended up bailing this one in favor of the next two.

Day 1 -- TPC Scottsdale, Stadium course, where pros play the FBR open, home of the crazy 16th hole.
Directions
Article about the 16th hole, where the crazy fans bring a football atmosphere to golf during the FBR open.

Played with 3 absolute HACKERS from New York and Phoenix. They hit 2 or 3 balls almost every attempt. Entertaining at least... Came to the Par 3, 16th, there were a few less than 1000's of people there watching - maybe just only the 3 others in my group. :) But I scored PAR!!

Day 2 -- Troon North
Directions

Bob, the older guy from Phoenix I was playing with, rated Troon North #2 on his list of golf courses in the Phoenix area. He should probably know, he apparently played 223 rounds last year at 65 different courses!! His #1 is Dinosaur Mountain at Gold Canyon, located here

The other player in our group was Michael, the 16 yr old phenom from New Mexico. +2 handicap that plays on the high school team, father is the coach, etc. Bombs the ball 290 yds average drive - really fun to watch. Ended up 3 over I think.

Searching around on Google for him, in case he makes it big someday, I want to remember him. Michael from Alamogordo, NM. High school golf team. Can't seem to find anything at the moment.

Google maps pointed me to this article when looking for golf courses in the area. 72 holes in 72 hours - Phoenix golf.

18 questions about TPC Scottsdale, Stadium course

Toughest Public Course

2005-05-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

According to Intern Joe, this is the toughest public course in the country.

Slope from the black tees = 162 !!

Koolau

Wolf Creek - Mesquite, NV

2005-04-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

OMG - what an amazing course. Went here on a private plane out of Carlsbad, as a reward for winning the B flight in our local men's club 2-man better ball tourney. Awesome trip!

The course flows in, around, over the rocks and mesas of Nevada. Great elevation drops and gains, challenging doglegs, etc. Course ate me alive with all the "natural" protected areas off the fairways.

Pics here for now

Dream Golf - Lajitas

2005-03-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Saw this on Golf Escapes, way out on its own at the West edge of Texas.

Lajitas - The Ultimate Hideout

Exceptional Score

2005-03-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

A buddy at work showed me this table after I shot the 78 with my 17+ handicap. Guess I can play EVERY DAY for 3 years and not shoot this score again...

Odds of an exceptional score

78

2005-03-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

It was a magical day indeed. Today, I shot a 78 at Meadows Del Mar (aka Del Mar National). (update: now called The Grand Club)

Scorecard is here

Prior to this, my best was 85, and that was at an easy course. Only 2 other scores at 87 were the only others below 90.

It just seemed like everything was clicking.
Drives were mostly straight.
Approaches from various lengths were mostly ending up on the green.
The putter was really hot - dropping birdie putts from decent distances.

Amazing stuff - definitely makes me want to keep playing. But I'm sure the next score will be back up in the "normal" range.

Yardage Books

2005-03-04T21:22:00.000-08:00

Per Golf Magazine, the yardage books prepared for the PGA tour pros are available on a first come, first served basis.

$20 each, quantities limited.

"Gorjus" George Lucas
561-346-8577

Cure the Hozel Shanks

2005-03-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Put down 2 balls, 4" apart from each other, perpendicular to the target line.

Address the outside ball, swing back, but hit the INSIDE ball. This promotes an inside-out swing.

Putting Distance Control

2005-03-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Stand a ways back from the hole on a green as if you were going to putt from there. Close your eyes and walk towards the hole. When you think you're there, drop a ball there. Open your eyes, and see where you ended up.

Will get a feel for judging distance this way.

SCGA Numbers

2005-03-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

Just needed somewhere to keep these...

SCGA#

Dan   206686   
Kral  202851 
Alex  210009  
Huy   208413

Intro

2005-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I'd start a blog for golf, just to capture all the thoughts, tips, web sites, courses, etc.

Take all the tips with a grain of grass... :)