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Ken Or Other Golfers, Course Nostalgia

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by Breeze147, Feb 4, 2015.

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  1. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

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    I was looking at my collection of old score cards and got real nostalgic over 3 from the Monterey area. This was from a trip back in 1979.

    Fort Ord, Bayonet Course - Long since closed I guess, but very challenging.

    Pacific Grove - Very pretty little course, short but fun and scenic. Once teed off there at 6:00 A.M. and could not see to the end of the tee boxes on some holes because of the fog. First place I found out what an ice plant was.

    Laguna Seca - Fairly short but I fell in love with this place. Really said "California" to me.

    I have a confession. You guys are going to hate me. We had a 6:00 A.M. tee time at Pebble Beach. I was too hung over to make it. The greens fees were $60 at that time. The concierge where we stayed, Doubletree Inn, was thoroughly pissed off at me. She said it really made her look bad.
     
  2. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Blackhorse and Bayonet are indeed alive and much much better than ever.

    The wind can HOWL through PG. One of the coolest sub-$50 courses around. Stunning back nine, pedestrian front. We play there whenever we visit the peninsula.

    Seca has some weird holes, but it is pretty and somewhat iconically Cal central coast in there, as you note. (You should see my home course down here.)

    You committed the ultimate sin. But we still love the sinner as we hate the sin.

    Tokatee Golf Club. Go find it in Oregon if/when you find yourself crossing the Cascades. That's my heart-warming low-cost big-fun play.
     
  3. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    OK, a bit more thought.

    There are some nine-holers that make me smile, some from eons ago and one we found recently. There is (was?) this total goat patch in Eugene called Laurelwood, or Laurelweed as many dubbed it. Looking back there actually were a few really good holes, but overall it was dirt cheap and we tore that thing up round after round. Same for Deerhorn about 40 miles east up the McKenzie River. (Before you get to Tokatee, which remains for whatever reasons on my special list.) Then last time we were in Kauai we played Kukuiolono. Again, dirt cheap, only the greens are watered ... and amazing views. That could be the best 9 bucks in golf.
     
  4. Jerseyguy

    Jerseyguy MIA

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    15-20 yrs. ago my buddy and I were looking for a inexpensive course on Maui. We found a place on the opposite side from Kaanapali ,I think a muni if I remember. It wasnt a great course but the views of the ocean made it a great round.
     
  5. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Waiehu? Sounds like it given what you said about the view.

    Wailua in Kauai is another true muni that has some good chops. For folks who can get access, Kaneohe Klipper on the base on the east side of Oahu is rather stellar in setting.

    OK, here's one in the middle of nowhere: I haven't been there in ages, but talk about a muni at least in its early years: Pinon Hills in Farmington, NM. And while still in the Land of Enchantment, my sleeper vote goes to ... Pueblo de Cochiti. Picture some of the high desert courses of Bend at a fraction of the price.
     
  6. Malibugolfer

    Malibugolfer High-Roller

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    Ok Ken, you've played so many. Northwood?
     
  7. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Alastair Mackenzie up in the redwoods? Nope. Nor Bandon (Bethpage, Cypress, Pinehurst, the sea islands, Scotland, etc.).

    (Tail between legs.)
     
  8. parallax

    parallax High-Roller

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    I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. There was an 18 hole public golf course in Evanston which we called Canal Shores. Many of the tee boxes were just dirt and it was a par 61 course. It was perfect for me and my hacker friends growing up. It was $2 to play on Thursday, I believe. The best part of it was on two of the holes you hit it over the Chicago Sanitary Canal. Over Christmas break, I was showing my daughter my scrapbook from when I was a kid. Inside the scrapbook there was card from the course. I believe I kept it because it was the first time I broke 100.
     
  9. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    :thumbsup:
     
  10. TheCooler

    TheCooler Professional Gambler and the Best Football Handica

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    My local muni lost funding about 6 or 7 years ago. I miss the hell out of that place.
     
  11. M_ILIS

    M_ILIS VIP Whale

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    I've played Pacific Grove and Black Horse and loved 'em both. Need to get out at Bayonet, too (Not to mention Pebble/Spyglass/Spanish Bay/Poppy).

    Nostalgic closed courses for me include Kaluakoi Resort on Molokai (my honeymoon spot), the Village course at Kapalua and a great layout called Quail Ranch in the Inland Empire that succumbed to the recession. I also maintain a soft spot for the old Palm Springs Municipal layout before they built the second course and rebranded as Tahquitz Creek. My friends and I would play for just a few bucks, which included all you can eat "free" grapefruits from people's trees adjacent to the course.
     
  12. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Quail Ranch on Gilman Springs? Wow, that's a name from the past. M, you ever get out to Soboba (running the gaunlet of Tom Cruise and the ScientologistNuts)?
     
  13. M_ILIS

    M_ILIS VIP Whale

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    I played Soboba four days ago! I typically play there a few times a year. (Yes, that Quail Ranch. Excellent layout. Suspect conditioning.)
     
  14. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    I grew up playing a 18 holes semi-private club in my area that is now closed and it breaks my heart! I never knew why it was semi-private as it was not the nicest place on the planet with most public courses keeping better conditions. But it was where I learned the game, where I learned to score and where I learned to really win. It was only 6200 yards, it had quirky holes and barely enough grass to cover the dirt but man was I in love.

    I'll never forget my first ace of my life back in 2001 as a 13 year old on the 10th tee. It was Saturday morning about 9:30 with a bunch of the members on the terrace. I pure 7-iron from 148 yards, two hops and rolled in like a perfect putt. The guys cheered, some of the ones I had actually played with before came running to congratulate me. Something you will never forget for a lifetime.

    I'll never forget setting the course record there when I was 16, shooting a 10-under 62 in a Sunday morning game with some older members. They kept trying to give me putts but I wouldn't take them because I knew I had something special going.

    I'll never forget my first competitive win in 2003 at 15 years old in the Club Championship they held every August. I shot 67-71 and held on to a one shot lead for the last 5 holes and I still remember the feel of my heart pounding in my chest and the desert like dryness in my throat. I went on to win it the next two years, with even better scores including an 11-shot win in 2005.

    Unfortunately it would only take until the next summer in 2006 for the club to shut down and cease operation. For a few years a it grew out there were talks of potential buyers and saving the course but they never materialized. Now I drive past the overgrown piece of land a few days a week. To most its just an overgrown eyesore that you couldn't even make out the routing plan but to me I could take you out there today under a foot of snow and point out every bunker, hazard, nuance in the green. It wasn't my home course it was my home.

    Thanks for this thread for helping me remember some of those great times on the course. Just goes to show how great the game can be and how simple it is to fall in love with it. I didn't need Augusta or Pebble to fall in love with this beautiful game, I needed a 6200-yard dog track of a semi-private club.
     
  15. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    The brilliant eccentric Desmond Muirhead. Played a lot of rounds at Soboba over my many Riverside County years. That's a bit of a haul for you.
     
  16. 4Eyes

    4Eyes Low-Roller

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    Seriously K2v? A West Coast guy, a Duck and a professional traveling golfer and you've never played Bandon?
     
  17. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Yep. I've had four trips planned and four trips cancelled. Also had two weeks at the Scottish Open then British Open scuttled by something as mundane as a close relative's wedding.
     
  18. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

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    I grew up just up the street from Walnut Lane Golf Course, a city owned muni in Philly. We used to sneak on in the twilight in the summer and play the 2nd and 3rd holes. We each had one club which was used for all situations.

    The tee boxes were dirt and the greens were so bad that we had a local rule that if you could putt to within a foot of the hole, it was good.

    Very few holes had actual flags in them, because they would get stolen all of the time.

    It was only 4800 yards and very, very tight. Many a magnificent drive hit a tree branch 100 yards out and came back toward you.

    I must have played 100 rounds on the course through my 20's.

    Sam Snead actually won a tournament there back in the '30's.

    It sucked but we had nothing else and it was cheap so we soldiered on. I remember the first time on a real country club course and just marveling at the velvety greens and soft fairways. Tee boxes with grass!

    It's still there, but mostly forgotten now. Filled with so many memories.
     
  19. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Good stuff, Breeze.
     
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