Golf Top 18 Recent Courses Blog - Golf Top 18

Do You Like Having a Third Nine?

1/9/2021

Living in Luxembourg, there was a nearby golf course that had three nines that I played a bit; the upside was that it was rarely too busy out there with the third nine providing extra room. However, if you didn't know the timing of what tee times started where, you could get frustrated at not playing the combo you wanted. Well...

No such problem here as I've likewise made room for a "Third Nine" in my Favorite Courses List since I've now played more than 300 golf courses. There will be no timing issues here though. Some courses were rescued back off the Honorable Mention List (for now) and some came on as more recent plays when I refreshed my mind-set.

I had vowed to do this in 2020 but like so many other things in 2020, it didn't go according to plan. I will be updating the Favorite Holes listings too sometime soon.

I'm excited for 2021 golf as this year I will get to play several new courses that are highly touted and a few old haunts I have not seen in over a decade as well.

Wrapping it Up

12/5/2020

The Ledges Golf Utah Picture

One would think, during CoVID, that I might have more time to do reviews timely, but it has not proven so, with other distractions taking precedent. That being said, here we are, three months later, and I'm finally reviewing the final course in my September golf trip, The Ledges in St. George Utah. Enjoy!

Golf without A Building in Sight

11/15/2020

Built about 40 minutes to the north of Las Vegas, Coyote Springs is a desert oasis and worth the drive to play it. However, it is not easy so don't expect to go low unless you have your A-Game. The fun part about the course, other than trying to avoid the water and desert, is the fact that other than golf course related properties, I don't think there is any buildings in sight from any hole in any direction, which is refreshing in this day in age.

las vegas golf review Picture

Trick or Treat

10/31/2020

Strawberry farms golf review Picture

For Halloween you get a small update to Strawberry Farms, which I played for the first time in 13 years. Ironically, normally I'm fairly aware of my previous ratings and do meaningful updates. This time, due to me playing in a tournament of sorts, I did not deliver on as many golf hole updates as I would have liked to, but it is an update nonetheless and my overall rating didn't change. To be fair, the golf course is actually better than it's rating (which is still a decent rating), but the sur-charge that orange county seems to put on most of it's golf courses usually harms golf courses in that area for being over-priced relative to value and keeps them from being truly outstanding as, even I who enjoys good golf, have a hard time paying the prices they want and usually settle for cheaper local golf if I can find it.

A Planning Pinnacle

9/20/2020

Sand Hollow Golf Course Review Picture

I just got back from a "socially distant" golf trip for 2020 that featured some desert golf. The only course on our rotation that I had played before was the Championship Course at Sand Hollow, in Southern Utah.

I played it back in April 2014 with my daughter along for the ride. The golf course was great but the weather was very overcast and chilly. But, I knew the golf course was great and the weather in September was likely to be much warmer.

The pressure I put on myself to organize good golf trips involves several things beyond my control (weather, how well people play, etc) but golf course choice is always presents the risk of polarization and/or the general feel that time could be wasted, if the golf courses don't get general approval. I can say, without question, this day was one of the most gratifying experiences I could have had as a golf trip planner. Not only did we get cloudless sky, but there was limited wind and the temperatures were actually quite pleasant. It was so enjoyable that half of our group elected to do a replay while the other half headed over to the nearby state park for an enjoying swim in the lake.

It's great when a trip can come together and I'm very pleased that my golf buddies (some of whom only see each other once a year) got to enjoy a golf experience that exceeded even my planning expectations.

An unusual review

9/5/2020

I'm not normally negative on my reviews of courses, but Rancho San Joaquin golf course earned an initial 1.5 stars. To be fair, the course was in disastrous condition, which maybe has something to do with CoVID, but between that and some of the most unusually ridiculous greens on planet earth, I had to deliver this very low review. I've never been happier to birdie the 18th hole, as I shot 79, which, in my own skewed mentality, means i don't have to go back...

An Update for an Update

8/26/2020

When I played Edgewood in June with my son (pictured here), and updated the review, I realized that the 8th hole picture was out-dated, still having the old green before the re-design. However, due to CoVID, we re-configured our summer vacation plans and went to Tahoe a second time, and I was able to snap an updated picture on this hole, albeit from behind the front tee box.

Edgewood Golf Course Review Picture

Another Unexpected Update

8/15/2020

I can honestly say that when I played Pine Mountain Lake golf course for the first time nearly a decade ago, I didn't envision coming back. That had nothing to do with the golf course, but the community is set about 1 hour northwest of Yosemite and would mean that we'd be doing a multi-day Yosemite trip and wanting to stay outside of the national park. We like camping and our first trip to this area was due to a family friend offering up their vacation home for us to stay, which we took. The community is nice and the lake there is great for swimming and the golf course is fine, with lots of deer roaming its hills. However, it just wasn't in our conscious plans. Enter CoVID, which led us to wanting to take driving vacations to nature, but camping in Yosemite, being heavily restricted, was out of the picture. So, we returned here, which was fun to be able play with my son, who was too young the last time we were there. The course also got an upgrade in the reviewing system.

Pine Mountain Lake Golf Course Picture

I Like What I Like

7/18/2020

oak quarry golf review Picture

I recently went out and played Oak Quarry for the first time in 8 years. I didn't look at my previous review and went about my business taking pictures for the review; upon returning to the website to update the review, I found that, although I have pictures of more than half the holes, I took a picture of only one new hole. I did, however, replace a few of the old pics as this day was a prettier one. I found it funny that 8 years separated, my view of what the "good holes" were basically didn't change.

Near New Home

6/21/2020

Long Beach Golf Course Review Picture

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.