To say that golfing in the Monterey area is one of my favorite things to do would be a strong understatement.  Not only do I have three of my GolfTop18 List Courses right there, but there are also other great courses nearby in Carmel and around the bay in Santa Cruz (as well as my dream course, Cypress Point, which I can only drool at as I drive by on the 17 mile drive).  This time around I was able to go out and play a round with my family at Pacific Grove, which i contend is still one of the best golf values in the entire world.  I then, (less than 24 hours later) played at Spanish Bay, which remains one of my very favorite golf courses on earth.

This summer, I re-played two very different courses for the first time in several years and updated two very different course reviews.  See them at Buenaventura and TPC Vegas.

After many years of wanting, I was able to finally play Hualalai on the Big Island of Hawaii.  The price was steep though, as only homeowners (I'm not one and don't know one) and registered guests of the resort can play.  The resort, while fabulous, isn't cheap, and, so, I paid the price of admission to get a couple of shots at the golf course.  Fortunately, the weather was great (little wind) and I played awesome as well, with two rounds in the 70s.  Kudos to the resort, who allows children to play free with an accompanying adult.  Both my kids were able to come along and join the fun.

On my recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, I played both courses at Mauna Lani in one day.  In the morning, my son joined me for my first round on the North Course at Mauna Lani.  It is a pretty tough track and the rough was very thick for a Hawaiian course.  It also featured many goat friends that hung out with us (and a couple goats almost got killed by errant shots on #7, one of which you can see in the picture herein if you look closely).  I tried to choke #18 but after getting a miraculous bounce, I limped in with a strong 79.

In the afternoon, i played the South course for the 4th time in my life and I yet again played well, firing a 78.  This time, although technically alone, I was joined by thousands of gnats (or some Hawaiian version of them).  They were everywhere and would stick to your shirt, hair, pants and anything else as you drove the cart.  They tried to ruin my round but the course was so good, they could not; after, we found the nearest beach (happened to be black sand) and i washed of the gnats and grime in a perfect end to a great golfing day.

By the time I reached 20 years old, I had probably played somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 rounds of golf.  Approximately 450 of those were played at Saticoy Country Club.  Since then, I've probably played another 500 times, with only about 20 times at S.C.C, and my last round there was in 2005...until this month when an old friend and former co-member with my father invited me to play yet again. 

To be honest, this was the first round I've played there in my life as a neutral participant.  It was no longer the golf course I played 500 times, but just another course to look at as if it was the first time, or at least that is what I thought.  Still a fantastic challenge, I love the design and still hold it as one of the better, true tests of golf around.  It was in great shape and the only issue I have is that the seismic activity of Southern California has taken about 6 pin placements that used to be great and rendered them unusable.  By about half way through, even though I was looking at it as fresh as possible, it was impossible to ignore the memories of shots I'd hit decades before as if the wounds and glory were all still fresh; even if i could not place the date, I could place the feeling.  It was surreal, good and bad, all at once.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to play it once again and suggest all check out the review and never pass up an opportunity to play it, if given the chance.

For the first time since launching the website, I simply forgot to upload a golf course I played.  Usually, there is some lag between when I play and when I post, and some reviews may be uploaded purposefully out of order, but this is the first time I actually just forgot to upload.  So, without further delay, you can now see the review of Lake Tahoe Golf Course, which I played last October and pictured above.  Additionally, the updated review of Edgewood (improved and still on the GolfTop18 Course list) can also be found.

I recently was able to finally go experience Bethpage in Farmingdale, NY.  Although I used rental clubs that were pretty good, that still hampered my ability to score well as is the norm with learning new clubs.  I still mixed in a few good shots and was very happy with the 36 holes of walking golf.  I was indeed tired, especially after the butt kicking I received at the hands of the Black Course back nine in the afternoon, but the Red Course was also a good challenge for my morning round.  I am also proud to announce that, like every other golfing yahoo ever who has played the Black Course, I got the quite famous picture below.  I do not understand why anybody would play the back tees, other than a scratch golfer or below, as the white tees are hard enough for most mortals.

I recently played Westridge Golf Club in La Habra and updated my review.  They switched nines, which I can only surmise has something to do with trying to get more snack bar business between nines, but it took a very good three closing holes and relegated them to holes 7-9, which is less dramatic.  They also, due to drought I think, removed a couple of cool tee boxes, but the golf course is still fun.

The tour has come this week to TPC Louisiana with a new team format, which I think is a good move; I played the course for the first time last year and I always like watching the pros play some place I've been.

Sometimes the golfer's game completely disappears. Such was the disaster that happened to me at my last visit to the Players Course at Milesquare.  Fortunately, I was with three friends and, although they took my money, the weather was nice and the company was outstanding.  At least a got a few new pictures for the review.