Shigaboo Golf

I got a chance to play golf at Western Hills which is a private course in Chino Hills. The course is fantastic, I loved it. The par 4′s there are no nonsense 400 yarders, slight doglegged with bunkers and trees on both sides. I think the part I loved about this course is that it was as standard of a layout as one could imagine, not many surprises. I feel like a lot of the courses I play have too many “strange” holes that come out of nowhere. Some might say that a course that sticks to the norm without much variation is boring but there is just enough on this course to keep things interesting without flying into the outer reaches of golf course design. Babe at Industry Hills is a course that comes to mind that was probably designed in the next galaxy. That course makes me scratch my head when I step onto the tee box but at Western Hills I looked down the fairway and thought, “Now that is a nice looking par 4″.

One thing was strange. In the morning there was moisture on the greens but they were super fast. As the day went on, the greens dried up and they began to slow down. I thought it was supposed to work the other way around.

Me and Kaz decided to do a quick 9 at Monterey Park Golf Course. We grabbed a couple of tall boys and hit the course. I remember eating Corn Nuts as a kid when I used to frequent this golf course and I had a bag during the round. It brought back some old memories.

There was a group behind us where I counted 7 players. We blew ahead of them but I don’t know any other course where players will nonchalantly hit the first hole in such a big group. I’m beginning to suspect that this course doesn’t enforce the traditional 5 players maximum per group rule.

The final course in Kaz’s crazy birthday golf week extravaganza was Redhawk. This course is pretty challenging to say the least. The greens were so slick in the morning but started slowing down towards the end of the day. The fairways were brown but were very easy to hit off of. Hit a straight low drive off the tee on these fairways and they will just roll for days. I haven’t played this course in probably 10 years and I remembered almost nothing about it except that it was difficult. I shot 4 over in the front and 5 in the back for an 81 which I will gladly take for a course with a slope rating of 139.

On the 10th hole a stray dog decided it wanted to be our 4th and followed us for half a hole. It was very friendly but it ran straight at me during my 2nd shot and I had to stop my swing at the top of my backswing. We had to take turns keeping it occupied so that it would run around like crazy while we were hitting. It made for some good laughs, though. It was a beautiful day and a very fun time. I would definitely play here again if the opportunity arose.

Dog to the left and Dogleg left.

Island green signature par 3

Tyler workin' that clubhead speed.

Brown fairways but firm and pristine.

I'd be as happy as Kaz if I played Redhawk for $14 on my birthday too.

Two birdie putts, both of us missed!

What a way to start off 2012! I just played golf back to back two days in a row! Yesterday we played at the Champion’s Club in Corona and today was a chill day at Whittier Narrows G.C.

My friends find the craziest golf deals in LA. They told me to simply “Like” the Facebook page for the Champion’s Club at the Retreat for a coupon that will let you play the round for free! You still need to pay the $14.00 dollar cart fee but its still a pretty unheard of deal. I suppose for most people it was the first day back at work so the course was pretty open. This course’s slope rating is 139 from the Blue tees. It was one of the more challenging courses I have ever played. Course conditions were just okay because some of the fairways were under repair. Other than that the greens played super slick in the morning and started to slow down towards the end. This course is very narrow. I think about half the holes will force you to hit something other than a driver or you’ll be in a gully or a lateral hazard.

I still enjoyed playing here, though, and I even made about a 50 foot putt for an eagle on the front 9. Its always fun to play with your friends and we all thoroughly enjoyed the day. I shot even on the front 9 which is about as good as my game ever gets. Unfortunately, I couldn’t carry it into the back 9 as I made a triple on 16 from putting it into a half-filled lake that I mistakenly thought was a bunker. It was strange. Anyway, still a fun day and extremely warm for early January; something like 87 degrees. I guess that is one of the perks of living in Southern California.

par 3, I forget which hole, back 9 I believe.

I don't remember what hole this was.

Today we played Whittier Narrows for $26 because Kaz used his b-day card. I played better than I have in a while and posted a 76. It was a drastic change from trying to hit fairways at the Champion’s Club. This course is the most wide-open course I know! Duck hook to the left? You’re ok. Banana slice to the right? You’ve still got a shot to the green!

2nd hole long par 4

This hole is a monster! Hole #8 Dogleg Right Par 4 473 yards

Two days of golf? Back to back? That is unheard of for me…but get this: We’re playing Redhawk on Friday!

The Annual Monterey Park Christmas Golf Tournament (which was hosted by Cerritos Ironwood 9 this year) got rained out! Actually, a lot of people got injured or cancelled on top of that and we ended up with only 5 willing and able(barely) to play golf in a light rain. After the first two holes the rain was just a slight drizzle and the course played just fine. We ended up playing as a regular 5-some and it was actually pretty fun. We did closest to the hole for 6 of the 7 par 3′s there which range anywhere from 100 to 160 yards. I really like this course because you can hit off the grass on every hole and even sometimes on the range. The greens are pretty consistent and quick and its maintained quite well.

Apparently, there is a sea monster which lives in the lake in front of the 8th hole. Tyler went to look for is ball and was almost devoured(According to him and David). All in all a fun day. I love golf.

Screw it, we play in the rain

Good times

I played in a Glowball Tournament at Ironwood 9 golf course in Cerritos; also called “The Starlight Tournament”. Our good friend Senh invited a bunch of us and even though it rained the first 2 holes the golf gods decided to smile down upon us through the black of night and gave us a peek of the starry night sky. Well, as many stars as can be seen from Cerritos anyway. We questioned our sanity during our orientation because it started coming down but were soon having a grand ol’ time with all our glowing accessories trying to find our way from tee to green.

I have played golf in the rain and with the sun completely gone but never golf in the rain and the dark at the same time. It was definitely an experience. Its hard to describe the spatial confusion you get when you are looking down at a glowing ball in complete darkness and try to make contact with it. It kind of felt like I was just floating in outer space. You can’t see the grass or the ground or even your clubhead. You have to go all on instinct and feel and when you actually hit the ball you’re amazed. Then the fun part happens because you get to see your glowing ball trace across a black background and draw or fade or hook or slice accordingly. I thought it was cool how I could see exactly where my ball landed about 210 yards away between some trees.

They did a really great job with the glowing stuff. They made the pin a giant glowing cylinder at the top and made the hole glow with a glowing necklace. Everyone got free necklaces and glowsticks and they lined the fairways with the glowing balls so you can see where the fairways are. They also gave everyone a glowing ball and if you lose it you can buy more.

All in all it was great fun and I would definitely go again! I also ended up winning the tournament with a 3 over par: 32 and my buddies Mike and Tyler also won 2nd and 3rd place respectively! Representing Shigaboo Golf to the fullest!

The Glowing pin and two of our approach shots. Todd sunk his for birdie! The lights in the background are cars.

The tee box

Todd and Wally getting ready to go.

Since I haven’t had the opportunity to go out and play a solid 18 holes in a while (currently trying to fix this) I thought I would post my top 3 favorite golf courses of all time! I have been lucky enough in my life to have had a chance to play courses from Pebble Beach to Torrey Pines and all the courses in between, mostly all in California.

#3. Pebble Beach Golf Links

You might think that if I got to play Pebble Beach it would have to be at the number #1 position right? Well, you have good reason to think that because its really an amazing course. I was only about 14 years old when I played it but I still remember standing on the tee on #7 and asking myself if I really had it in me to play my ball way out into the ocean on the right and just hope the wind would bring my ball back to the middle of the green. It was really windy that day and I had yet to learn how to hit a punch shot. I did manage to get my ball on the green and I remember being nervous because I wanted to be able to say I got a par on the famous signature Par 3 that you see in so many photographs. I two-putted and breathed a sigh of relief. I let my guard down after that, though, and got what was coming to me on #8. Man, is that a difficult hole. Walking down the par 5 18th that day was a strange feeling because I had watched PGA professionals on tv walk down that same hole. It was very surreal.

The 7th at Pebble

#2. Troon North Golf Club

This course is in Arizona and had an effect on me that is hard to describe. I was very young and was only playing golf because my parents would drag me along on their golf vacations. We played this course and for some reason I had the time of my life here. I don’t know if it was the horned lizards running around all over the place (which is on their logo) or the signature par 5 which has a gigantic boulder dead smack in the middle of the fairway. I think the day I played here was when I decided that golf was not just something I was made to do but something I actually enjoyed. I still have the Troon North bag tag I got there which is almost 20 years ago now. It would be amazing to go back there and play it a second time.

The 3rd at Troon

#1 Spyglass Hill Golf Course

This is my favorite course. Its not as well known as Pebble Beach but its part of about 5 courses that make up the Pebble Beach Resorts. The reason this is my favorite is for the simple reason that it is just that beautiful. I’m not sure exactly what kind of trees they are but there are these very thin trees that line the course. We played early in the morning and there was this light mist all along the course that penetrated into the woods. One very vivid memory I have from playing here is when I hit an errant drive into the woods and went in to look for my ball. It was very quiet and when I found my ball I looked up and saw about  3 or 4 deer, including a buck with huge antlers, just staring at me. It was so quiet that every time I hit my ball the sound would reverberate throughout the forest. I don’t remember how I played or what I shot but just being there was an unforgettable experience.

Spyglass

I would put Augusta National in there as well but until I am able to get onto the leaderboard at the Masters I don’t think I’ll be playing there anytime soon. Maybe someday I’ll be able to at least walk around the course while watching the Masters Tournament.

Augusta National

I played here today with with Todd and David. Man, they really let this course go. I don’t remember it ever being a pristine course by any means but its in really terrible condition right now. They must have taken all the money spent on greenskeeping and thrown it into the new clubhouse. Pace of play, on the other hand, was fantastic. Greens were sluggish.

Just played at the annual Cousins Golf Tournament at California Country Club yesterday and had a blast. This was my third time playing and its been fun every single year. Started on the 12th hole as it was a shotgun start and immediately posted a triple bogey. My bad start continued and I three-putted four straight holes in a row and was +7  by the 15th. I shot one over on the front nine and shot 83. Regardless of score this event is always really fun and I can’t thank the cousins enough for putting on such an awesome golf tournament. I think I got lucky and the callaway took my triple and double bogey because I ended up taking 1st place with the callaway! Sorry for not having pictures, I was having too much fun and forgot to take some.

We went again. Its hard to beat $1.00 a hole at twilight. For some reason my long putts where I was just trying to lag them close enough to two-putt were just dropping in. I think I made four pretty long putts outside of 25 feet. I shot even on the front and 2 over on the back to post a 74, the best round I’ve had in a couple of years. Kaz shot his average and is getting pretty consistent with his swing. I think he is going to break 100 any day now.