Golf Top 18 Recent Courses Blog - Golf Top 18

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.

Back on the Tahoe Train

6/13/2020

Edgewood Tahoe Golf Picture

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...

5/16/2020

Cabo Golf Review Picture

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.

Tidying Up

4/30/2020

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.

An Odd Update

3/15/2020

Olivas Links Golf Course Review Picture

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.