I can't say my recent residence change, in the grand scheme of things, was a massive migration, but I did change county lines and, at a minimum, it will shift what I call the "low energy" golf course reviews to a different area from what I had already tapped out in my previous city of residence.  The first of those is El Dorado Park Golf Club in Long Beach.

I'm back!!!!  After months on "leave" from golf due to CoVID, followed by a couple of warm-up rounds locally, I finally went on vacation with the family and renewed my golf spirit (and a couple of reviews) in beautiful Lake Tahoe.  Both reviews have only minor updates since both Edgewood and Incline Village were previously well documented, but both courses continue to be top notch and I was glad to play them, even if I did do not play well.  Fortunately, however, my son did find his game, and broke 100 for the first time while playing from an official tee box, at Edgewood.  What a place to do it!!

Little did I know that this review of Club Campestre in Cabo, which I had left as my last "vacation" golf round to put on the website, could have been my last vacation golf round for sometime, due to the onset of the Coronavirus.  This was delayed as golf has not been on my mind, but recently I was able to dust off the clubs and play some socially distant golf rounds (more to come soon).  However, here's the review, and here's to hoping we can all get back to vacation golf as soon as possible.

Recently played a couple of course that I've visited a decent amount of times in my life; thus, there are only minor updates to the reviews of Diamante Dunes and River Ridge Victoria Lakes courses, but they are updated nonetheless.

Two noteworthy things about this update to the Olivas Links golf course that are odd.  First, I only updated the front nine as I played a very rare nine hole loop at super twilight with my son (I generally do not like being able to only play 9 holes) and I played in a T-shirt as the round was unplanned and the golf course didn't care.

It's been well over a year since any of the Top18 lists has been altered as being on any of them has become relatively tough.  That being said, #3 at the Kidd Course at Kananaskis has made the Second 18 Listing.  

All of this has got me thinking that now that I've played over 300 different golf courses in my life, it is probably time to think through expansion of each of the lists.  So, sometime in 2020, look for each of the lists to be amended to allow for another set of "greats".

I've never been one to shy away from planning things in advance and I put a lot of effort and energy into paying homage to important moments in my life and in the lives of those close to me.  Photographs, like those around which this website are created, are a great way of capturing the images, but also the memories and emotions that accompanied a specific time and place. If one allows oneself to balance enjoying the moment when it happens and fondly reminiscing of the times of the past, these photographs and the places they capture, can create very strong attachment.

To put not too fine a point on it, I finally got to play the most important (from an emotional perspective) round of golf of my life with my son this past year.  When I was 7 years old, I took my first plane flight (at least the first one I remembered) to Calgary and we took a family vacation to Banff and Jasper National parks in Alberta, Canada.  As part of that trip, my father went to play the very famous Banff Springs Golf Course.  At that point in my life, my dad had just started allowing me to hit balls with him at the junior college, but I had not yet ever played a round of golf, let alone a complete golf hole.  I remember standing above the first tee (now just below and to the left of the 15th tee box pictured above) and watching my father hit his bright yellow ball a long way onto the fairway that, at that time of year, was flanked on either side by patches of snow.  The dozen or so people at the restaurant overlooking the tee box gave him some applause, as did I.  All I can remember was thinking how cool my dad was and how awesome golf was and how beautiful the tee and surrounding area was (the picture below was taken, at the time, on the 8th green, now the 3rd green).  Then, the big moment happened.  On the 18th hole (now the 14th) my dad told me I could play.  It was like a bolt of lightning stuck and electrified my hole being.  I grabbed his 7 iron and proceeded to hack my way down the hole with this oversized club.  I remember hitting one or two good shots and finishing with a double digit score, but it didn't matter.  I had played golf, under the shadow of the imposing Banff Springs hotel, and I was hooked.

So, fast forward 35 years, and my wife and I finally got around to planning our own family vacation to Banff National Park, and my son, 10 years old at the time, and at least 4 years into playing golf got to experience the golf course with me, and we played the round I had been dreaming of passing on to my child as soon as I started thinking about children.  For the record, he played all 18 and he played very well.  I hope he takes some pleasure, someday, in realizing how important that day and round of golf was for me, all because I was able to do it with him!

If you can't tell, I love puns.  Thus, can there be anything better than playing a golf course called Kidd with your kid?  I don't know if there is, but I can say that the 18 holes I played with my son, especially the front nine of this golf course (our back nine as we started on #10) was absolutely amazing.  Not only did we play good golf in great weather, but we got to hang out with a big black bear on hole #3.  If the prior post didn't entice you, having two options at Kananaskis should now make it clear that it's a great golfing option for those in Alberta.  I hope you enjoy the review of the Mount Kidd course.

All...due to a primary residence move and a decent chunk of travel, my usual, timely blogging (at least once a month) has hit a slow-down.  Look for updates come January 2020 as I still have not posted some rounds back all the way to September.

I am not sure of the longest break I've had between golf rounds at a course, but my delay at the Lorette Course at Kananaskis Country has to be in the running, with the first round happening in 2000 and the second round happening in 2019.  To make it more stark in contrast, between the two years, the golf course I knew was mostly washed away by flash flooding and was completely rebuilt, with only a few of the holes being ones I could remember (but that might be more of a factor of the delay than actual changes).  See updated review.



The one thing that stayed constant (I made sure of it) was my on-course beverage.  When I played in 2000, it was May and it was very cold.  The nice Canadian gentleman I played with offered me a "hard lemonade" beverage that, at the time, I had not heard of.  He said it would warm me up and, weighing less at that time, it actually did.  Now, that beverage is quite well-known and, although the weather was warmer, I brought along a couple as a salute to my previous round, bridging the 19 year gap.