Golf Top 18 Recent Courses Blog - Golf Top 18

Father's Day Fiasco

6/16/2013

This Father's Day weekend, we visited my wife's parents. Full knowing that my kids would want to spend a lot of time and energy with their grandparents, I was able to sneak away for a round of golf on Saturday at a course I had not played before, in a town I had not played golf in before in San Diego County, Escondido, CA.

Needless to say, I was punished for my selfish behavior and accomplished something I can't remember having done before: Hitting Zero Fairways. To be fair, Meadow Lake Golf Course may have been more aptly named Steep Hillside Golf Club or Uneven Lie Links. I actually had six tee shots that hit fairways, but none of them actually ended up there. The course is challenging for the aforementioned slope reasons and small greens, but let's just say the course design doesn't line up well with my type of shot.

Pretty Don't Matter None

5/27/2013

ojai golf Picture, ventura golf picture, ojai golf review photo, santa barbara golf review photo

First, let me say congratulations to Boo Weekley on winning at Colonial this week and let me say that I love his down to earth style. So, the title of this blog is something I thought of when my wife took this picture, but something I think Boo might have also told me after witnessing my tee shot above (red circle shows where the ball was). The picture below is me posing for what a golf swing finish "should" look like, but, i'm not sure it would have ended up better as, believe it or not, the ugly swing above went about 265 with a high fade over the trees exactly as I had hoped it would, minus the ridiculous looking finish.

ojai golf Picture, ventura golf picture, ojai golf review photo, santa barbara golf review photo

Secondly, for those of you wondering, this awesome golf hole is #18 at Ojai Valley Inn, the review of which I've updated. This time I played on a perfect day and they let me bring along my wife, kids and mother (paid for a second cart). I want to reiterate how great the course is and, although we've never stayed at the resort because my mom lives so close when we visit this area, it looks awesome for a nice golf/spa weekend getaway from Los Angeles or a longer vacation from elsewhere, especially in spring or fall when the weather is ideal.

Good Golf in Badlands

4/6/2013

Vegas golf Picture, vegas golf review photo, badlands golf photo

After a morning of hiking at Red Rock National Conservancy (I think a must if you like the outdoors and visit Las Vegas), I took the family on a twilight rate golfing adventure at the Badlands (Desperado-Diablo) golf courses. I was VERY impressed by the service received as not only did they let me play the two nines I wanted to (Outlaw being the third) but they also allowed my family to come along and watch without any fuss whatsoever. So, hats off to the staff at this course. The golf itself was also right up my alley as it was desert / target golf, which I really enjoy, at least when I'm hitting the targets, which I did most of the time on this beautiful day in spring.

My wife and kids also suggested I include the picture below. I'm not sure the golf was their favorite part. They counted over 200 bunny rabbits during my round. Keep an eye out for BunnyTop18 coming soon!!

Badlands golf Picture, vegas golf photo, badlands bunny photo

Attack of the Snow-Birds

3/2/2013

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of freezing cold Canadians who come south seeking sun and golf for the winter months. I did my patriotic duty by playing with my long-time friend from the frozen tundra of Alberta. He was so disappointed to be wearing shorts and playing golf in 80+ degrees (that's 26+ for you Celsius lovin' folks) I can't even begin to tell you how tough it was for him. I introduced him to Westridge Golf Club (see my updated and improved review), which I think is under new management. It was in the best shape I've seen it in my nearly dozen attempts at playing it, so kudos to the new management team. However, I think they're toying with switching the nines, but if my opinion means anything, I say leave them alone. Having the last three holes stay as they are makes a much more interesting finish to the round.

Is this the face of a golf snob?

2/10/2013

This is one of the earliest pictures of me holding a golf club. My formative golfing years were spent at Saticoy Country Club, which is a great golf course, but I never felt like a snobby golfer or person, especially since there were plenty of those to go around at the course and my father as an oilfield worker was far from one of those. When my father eventually sold his membership, I started finally playing lots and lots of other golf courses, hence this website.

Now, as GolfTop18 approaches 200 golf courses I have reviewed officially, I think I'm becoming more and more of a golf snob. Let me be clear, I'm far from snooty when it comes to interactions with most golfers, clothes (i don't specifically buy golf clothes), clubs (i buy them rarely), a golfer's skill or anything like that. However, a recent round at a less than savory golf course where I actually walked off in the middle, let me to come to the conclusion that I can no longer stomach playing golf courses that are mundane, poorly manicured or otherwise just bad. I'd rather spend more money or drive farther to find a course that inspires me, and there are many of those. They say the first step to address a problem is admission, and I'm there. However, I don't really feel like I want a cure.

TPC Scottsdale: The Most Painful Hole in Golf

2/2/2013

In honor of the PGA tour stop at TPC Scottsdale's Stadium course this week, I thought I'd share one of my best and most painful memories of that course. Pictured below is the short par 5 15th with the island green. It comes just before the "Loudest Hole in Golf". I call this the "The Most Painful Hole in Golf". Now, before you take this as a negative review, let me explain:

My second time playing this course was with a dear friend of mine who is now both a respected pediatrician and rock n' roll cover band singer (I know, the usual combo) in the Scottsdale area. I have a history of being with him during some of his most miraculous golfing moments. I was with him at a best ever round (at the time) when we were in our early 20's and I was with him for his first hole in one. On this occasion, it was I who was doing something amazing, playing even par golf going into this hole. That is when IT happened. After pushing my drive right on the hillside, I got aggressive and hit another shot right towards the edge of the rough / tree line. I then went to help my friend, who was debating whether or not to try to hit a wood over the water to the island green. I encouraged him to do so and he did, perfectly onto the putting surface. We then went looking for my ball, which i found in a low area of the desert under a tree. I went to go retrieve it to take a drop and was then ATTACKED by a swarm of bees. I must have tread near a hive as a group of about a dozen swarmed me and chased me around the 15th hole. I ended up taking off my shirt to swat them away and still suffered at least 3 bee stings, one of which was on my neck. To make matters worse, it was about 100 degrees, so I was now also sweating profusely and dehydrated. Long story short, I dropped (probably a few yards farther away than legal, but at that point, I didn't much care), hit the ball on the green and escaped with a bogey. However, I never was able to physically recover fully for the rest of the round and my once vivid dreams of even par slipped to a (still respectable) 75. But, for the silver lining, after knocking in my putt for 6, I helped my buddy line up his downhill breaking putt and he sunk it for his first ever eagle on a par 5. Two golfers playing one hole on the extreme opposite of emotional spectrum: I love it!!

User Rankings / Playing in Wind

1/6/2013

Thanks to the help of several GolfTop18 users, we've hit 25 courses that have been rated / ranked by the readers of this website. We've also added some recently played courses to the list of those that you the reader can rank. Thank you for all your input.

Also, I played golf last weekend in crazy wind and my playing partner and I were wondering if the pros would have to endure those 50mph wind conditions. Upon watching the golf tournament at the Plantation Course at Kapalua get delayed multiple times this week, I guess we got our answer. Other than conditions where somebody gets hurt, I think they should play and we should get to watch to see what they do and how they do. I know how I do, but if those pros can shoot near par in brutal conditions, that would be awesome to watch. My best score from the back tees at Kapalua is a respectable 75, but that was with only 1 club of wind. When I played in 3-4 clubs of wind, I shot about 85.

lost canyons golf Picture

Speaking of windy rounds, check out my updated review of the Sky Course at Lost Canyons and my new review of Lost Canyons - Shadow Course. I can tell you my buddy and I played 36 holes in crazy windy conditions. Of course, we hit many more shots than the pros and had a couple of generous gimmies.

I now enter into the busy time of year for my day job, so my golf (and postings) usually slow down until April. I hope I can scratch together a few rounds between now and then, but we'll have to see...

Walking Down Memory "Boggan"

1/1/2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was going through my old reviews of my various trips to Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland and found a few pictures I had missed along the way, so I've updated many a review in the "British Isles" section to incorporate these little beauties.

By the way, according to the web, "Boggan" is Gaelic for "little road", which one might also call a lane. It's a stretch, but I can live with it.

Where the heck am I?

12/15/2012

This was the frustrating question I had to ask myself throughout the first three holes at Oak Quarry Golf Club when I recently played it for the first time. Although the course is fantastic, I had the misfortune of playing on a day when they were swapping out old carts for new ones. Thus, the GPS was being re-installed on the new carts. When I asked the pro shop attendant, golf cart guy and starter, they all said that the course was well marked but they would bring me a cart quickly that had GPS. It turns out neither were true as I literally saw ZERO sprinklers, painted stripes, poles or anything else giving any indication of distance at all, and no rescue cart was showing up. Fortunately, the 4th hole is near the 1st, so I high tailed it back to the clubhouse and took a new cart right off the "assembly line" and was the hero of the day for our group. So, my recommendation for golfers is to play this course, but make sure their GPS is up and running as otherwise, you won't know where the heck you are.

On The Third Day of Christmas...

12/5/2012

GolfTop18 gave to me, a collection of the best par threes. Check out our newest list of the Top Par Threes I've played. We're working on the listings for the Par Fours and Par Fives, so keep a look out for those, which should be arriving before the end of the holiday season.