Hello Nebraska! If you built it, I will come.

I'm looking for a field of dreams in Nebraska. Well, maybe a track of dreams. Well, I guess it doesn't have to be cut right out of the corn, either. Starting to get the picture?

Somewhere in the middle of all that corn, there must be golf in Nebraska. They said in Iowa (where the actual "field of dreams" is) there was more corn than people and I managed to find a great little muni course I liked there.

I don't think I have any regular readers from Nebraska, but I sure would appreciate some recommendations in the Omaha area before next week. In my experience, when it comes to public courses, the most expensive course isn't always the best. Besides, I can find those listings on the internet, but I'd like to know about the hidden gems or underrated courses and play like the locals. Can anyone help me out?

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Goose Abuse!

I know they can be annoying and I've had my share of goose by-product on my clubs, ball and shoes. I also know golf can be frustrating. But anger management should be handled appropriately on the golf course. Take it out on the ball with your driver off the tee like the rest of us. Seek therapy off the course. Don't take it out on the poor geese. This moron should be wearing a helmet at all times and should not be allowed to drive a motorized vehicle of any kind or be allowed to hold club-like objects. How could you kill a silly goose? This story made me sick. Misdemeanor disorderly conduct? People in his community should find out if this guy wets his bed and keep an eye on him as a possible sociopath and future serial killer.

I call this one Gary. He's our local orange-footed friend at Mountain View in Santa Paula, CA. He may not even be a goose, certainly not Canadian, but come on. Look at him!

No, this is not what I meant by "the goose is coming," it's just another goose installment. Stay tuned...

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My Michigan golf experience

Last week I had the opportunity to play a little golf in Michigan. I asked for recommendations and got one from an anonymous poster and two from someone called Jeff. Luckily, I got to play two times so I was able to use recommendations from both of them. Thanks!

Coincidentally, both courses I played were also recommended by the local business owner I was there to see for work. He put all his favorite area courses down on a list in order or priority he would recommend them. Thousand Oaks was #1, and Quail Ridge was #3. His #2 (Boulder Creek) wasn’t recommended here on my site, so I skipped it to go to Quail Ridge. I don’t know about Boulder Creek, but boy am I glad I played Quail Ridge!

Thousand Oaks

First, I played a twilight round at Thousand Oaks after work on Wednesday. All the locals I was around raved about it and wished they could go with me. It’s also one of the more spendy courses in the area and in a pretty ritzy neighborhood. (I’m trying to make spendy a word.) Without the recommendations, those things alone wouldn’t mean much to me, but with them, I was expecting good things.

I played from the gold tees, which came with a course rating of 75.4 and slope of 137 for women (69.7/130 for men). The total yardage is listed as 6137, although a lot of the tees were back at the white distances, which have a total distance of 6677, so I guess it was somewhere in between. My drive came and went – usually I either have it or I don’t. The fairways are nice and forgiving, kind of like friendly valleys that kick or funnel your ball back into the middle. That was fortunate for me on a number of holes, although I missed by more than they could help me with on a couple.

Here’s a look from the tees at number 5. My drive went over the hill past the bunkers up there on the left.

The gallery pointed out my ball for me. Seriously, they were right on top of it.

According to my handy-dandy calculator, my 24.2 index translated to a course handicap of 29, giving me a target score of 105, so I played 5 over my handicap with a 110. Ugh. I hate the hundreds, but that’s where I still am most of the time. I’m working on that. It was still a great afternoon and a really nice course. I got some souvenirs to bring home since I live right by Thousand Oaks, CA and we don’t have a course by that name. Pretty neat!

Quail Ridge

The next day, all I had to do was fly home, so I played Quail Ridge at “Magic Hour.” Sunrise tee time. Steam still coming off the lakes. Grass all dewy – cart, ball and feet leaving fresh tracks for all to follow.

Thousand Oaks seemed to be above it on most people’s lists, and it was really nice, but I liked Quail Ridge better. Could have something to do with the time of day I played, I guess. I also thought it might be because I played it better, because my score was lower, but I entered it into my system and it turned out I played 5 over my handicap! I had a couple disastrous holes that really bumped up my score and ended up with a 101. I played the gold tees, which were rated 70.9/117, so my target score was 96.

Here's the evidence of my unlucky-dog pass. On the par 5 #18 (9th for me, since I started on the back nine), my second shot hit that post and rolled backward! I might have made the green in two and three putted for five. Instead, I bogeyed. I have since been told I could have hit my second shot again from the original position without penalty, but I didn't know that at the time.

Score aside, I enjoyed the peaceful serenity of the morning and the quaint, picturesque holes and scenery so much I could barely contain myself. While it would also be nice to share the moment with someone, I think part of the enchantment was the absolute silence and the feeling of being completely alone. Oh, except for the groundskeepers. Thanks for squeegee-ing the tee boxes!

Here's a shot from the tees at #7. I think it's a good representation of the course as a whole.

All told, I had a splendid Michigan golf experience and really appreciate the recommendations!

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I'm not a beginner anymore

It’s official. Yesterday was my one year anniversary of my first round of golf. I’m told that means I’m now a veteran golfer. I guess now that I can’t claim to be a beginner, my 24 handicap just means I suck. All the more reason to improve each time I play, or at least really really try.

So how did I celebrate? By putting that handicap to good use and winning my match play round in yesterday’s tournament at Camarillo Springs with the Treehouse Golf Club. Some other club members led me to believe beating my opponent would be a cakewalk. (They also told me to bring him a pack of Marlboro lights and buy him shots of tequila from the cart girl, but I had to challenge myself to win “fair and square.”) Of course, they had exaggerated and he showed up with his A-game. We both blew the first hole and tied it, then I blew the second and went down one. I won the next two holes and never was down again. However, I was up three after nine when he really turned it on. He went on a par tear and really made me work for it. I didn’t one-putt all day and his putting was on fire. I only won four holes on the back and was only up one after 17 so he could have tied it. We both bogeyed 18 so I would have won one-up but I got a stroke on that hole so ended it up two.

I also took second place in the stroke play. Guess who took first? My opponent in match play! Well good for him. I think he won $10 more than I did by taking first, and I get to continue onto the semifinals toward the club championship (and the finals for my flight). He can have the ten clams. I’m a golfer now.

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The Goose is Coming

Stay tuned...

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How I like different courses

On the post "courses I've played," I was asked the following questions:

Anonymous said...

I read that you played Ko'loa??? in Hawaii, how did you like it and from the all couses that you have played what was your favorite and which was the hardest.

August 17, 2005

Since that's an ongoing and updated post, I want to keep it relatively "clean" so I thought I'd post my response here. Besides, I've been meaning to comment on some of the courses I've played so here's my first installment along those lines:

Ko'olau was one of my top two for scenery, the other being Luana Hills. I guess I like the jungle courses. In fact, there's a photo from Ko'olau under my post "Reason #2." They were both really difficult, but Ko'olau claims to be the "toughest in the nation."

I played Ko'olau twice, once from the red tees after having played golf for only a couple months and shot a 108. I lost only two balls on this course where they say to bring as many balls as your handicap. Then I played again several months later from the whites and shot a 123. I lost a bunch to all the double carries but the other difference was my putting. I think I lost about nine balls that time. It would have been more, but they have a "special" rule that allows one to drop on the other side of the hazards in the drop area because of the difficulty of the course (they want people to come back). I would like it better if they allowed carts on the fairways. It's too hot and muggy and hilly for permanent cart path only.

The other Hawaii courses I really liked were Turtle Bay Arnold Palmer and Makaha West.

As for around the CA area where I live, there are a bunch of nice ones. Glen Annie is definitely one of my favorites and I'm sure it'll get its own post eventually. Monarch Beach is the most overrated, and I really like the way the ball goes clangety clang in the metal cups at Malibu Country Club.

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Progress and handicap calculator

I have mentioned my calculator/spreadsheet a few times now. Here is its latest entry:

18 Holes	Date	Tees	Course Rating	Slope
Elkins Ranch (Fillmore, CA)	08/14/05	Red	72.7	123

Par	Score	Over Par	Adj Score	Index	CH	Net	Target	PTH?
72	100	28	99	24.9	27	73	100	0

It's a record I keep of all my rounds since I started. I enter in the course information (rating, slope and par), my handicap index that day (it changes almost daily), and my score. The rest of the columns have formulas and calculate for me how many strokes over par I was, what my actual course handicap was, my net score, my target score for the course handicap and how many strokes I played over or under my handicap. It rounds the number off for the display, but my "PTH" (played to handicap) number for the example shown above is actually 0.196460176991152. It would show it in red and with a - sign if it was under my handicap.

To me, this is an indicator of the progress I'm making over time. Of course, statistics are so malleable. If I could measure my competitive spirit that day or my level of focus during tournament rounds, or have it factor in columns for stress levels, distractions or even number of drinks consumed, I might have a more accurate and helpful tool. It might not be a good indicator of anything, but at least I find it interesting.

I'd like to post the actual calculator template so people could copy it if they wanted but I haven't figured out a way to do that on blogger. I doubt the excerpt above will view correctly on all systems, either, but you get the idea.

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Note to Self: Par includes getting to the green

Forgive me, blog, for I have sinned.

Yesterday at Elkins Ranch, I bogey'd the ninth hole... just with putts. That's right. I five-putted. I put one in the water and the next one in a bunker so it took me four just to get on the green and then I five putted for a nine. I had to adjust that down to an 8 to post a 99, which means I didn't even break 100 from the red tees before the adjustment. Disgraceful.

I'm gonna get that hole next time!!!

Oh, I just entered the score in my spreadsheet/calculator and it turns out that my unadjusted score (100) played exactly to my handicap on this course. Still, it felt terrible and I want to get better every time I play!

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Excuses, excuses... why I didn't golf last weekend.

Why didn't I golf last weekend? Drag Racing!

It was the first weekend in a long time that I didn’t golf at all. Not even a nine hole jaunt at Sinaloa. Not even an hour at the range. Shame on me. Well, maybe not. We had a blast at the drag races out at the Pomona Fairplex.

So, this post is off topic, but it at least attempts to explain my lapse in golf that left me jones-ing and feeling guilty.

Greg’s dad drives a Nostalgia Eliminator class dragster, and Greg is on the crew.

Here is Greg working on the car in between passes. I hope he doesn't
mind having his photo here. He doesn't read this so if we don't tell him, he won't know!

So we spent some long days out in Pomona for a GoodGuys event, driving out in the morning and driving back late at night. Even though it’s only about an hour drive, after long hot days like that it would have been much better to get a hotel room. It was difficult to stay awake on the drive home. Oh well, next time. And I'll bring my clubs. There was a golf course right by the track and I could see it from the staging lanes, the starting line and all the way down the track on the way to tow the car back to the pit after each pass.

Here's an explanation of the NE class.

After narrowly qualifying, he ran his first perfect 7.60 ever and moved onto the next round. Unfortunately, he lost the next round even though his ET was shorter, I guess he was slower of the tree. Rats! I think he ran a 7.61, which ought to win!

Here's a shot of the car in the staging lanes.

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Golf courses in Michigan?

I might have time to play a round when I'm in Grand Rapids, MI the week after next. If anyone has a course to recommend or one they'd like to see mentioned and somewhat reviewed here, let me know!

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Fill in the Blank (Iowa: Check)

They seem to have almost everything at the Iowa State Fair. It’s so enormous, they might even have a golf course hidden in there somewhere, but since I was only there for a few hours, I didn’t even come close to seeing everything. Fortunately, I made my way to a golf course directly from the airport the day I arrived and can now officially add Iowa to my list of states played.

I walked onto a course called A.H. Blank around 4:00 P.M. It wasn’t very busy, but there were only foursomes on the schedule so I went out by myself. It’s a municipal course and priced accordingly – I played for 20 bucks including the cart and I brought my clubs, so no rental fees applied. Actually, I don’t think I’ve played any 18-hole course in California for that low of a cost. It was well maintained, well staffed with friendly folks, and had nice facilities. The carts were gas powered, but were in good condition and were equipped with sophisticated GPS monitors. The system had a main controller at the pro shop up on a plasma screen for all to see. From there, one could see the entire course layout and all the carts on it. I’ve never seen anything like it. I imagine most control systems are viewed from some tucked away 17” desktop monitors in back offices.

Here's how hole 12 looked from the tee box (wide open)...

...and from the GPS (not). All courses should have GPS.
How I played this hole: Perfect drive about 250 right in the middle of the fairway. 4 iron chunk (time for those rescue clubs!), 9 iron into the greenside bunker, sand wedge just over the green on the other side, sand wedge chipped in for par!

As for the course itself, if I had played it before, I would probably rate its difficulty just slightly above Westlake. Somehow, it seemed like more of a “real” course than Westlake, which is my local executive jobbie. It has been awhile since I’ve played Westlake, so maybe that’s not a fair comparison. I don’t know if I’m underestimating it or overestimating my progress. A.H. Blank is longer and par is 5 strokes higher but aside from the strokes I always add by playing my usual game, I really only put on strokes due to the unfamiliarity factor, not the challenges of the course. I lost two balls on the same hole into the driving range on the right. The GPS warned me of this and still I went for it. I thought the first one might have stayed in, but no. I wasn’t sure about the other one either because it hit a tree as I was trying to play out of the trouble where I dropped, but I guess it ricocheted back into the range as well. There was a sign that cautioned “Enter at your own risk.” Not worth it. I didn’t like those balls anyway. I count the first of those lost strokes to the course, the other to my game. Not that the score card cares.

My handicap index is now a 24.9 (down from 28.8 not long ago) so that made my course handicap here a 26, which made my “target score” a 96 and I shot 101 – 5 over my handicap. I enclosed target score in quotation marks because that’s only the official target to play to my handicap. My own target or goal is to break 90. Boy, I couldn’t even break 100 and it didn’t feel like I played that badly! I guess it’s time to start beating myself up over double bogeys and not just triples. I need to adjust mentally to keep up with my changing handicap.

“A.H. Blank,” though? I wonder why they call the place Blank. Are we to fill in our own descriptors? I’m sure golfers would vary their choices depending on how they play. It could go from Actually Hit Par to AH F*** in the same cart.

All in all, I played in just over 3 hours and even though it was really hot, it was relaxing and fun.

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Viewing Problems

It has been brought to my attention that some people are having troubles with the display of my site on their computers. I don't really know what I'm doing here and I'm trusting blogger.com to get this right with their templates. However, I have messed with the code a little which might be effecting the overall display. I have tested it using all different resolution settings on my monitor and it looks fine to me.

I wonder if the problem is browser related. I use Firefox, which I really like so I put a link to it in case anyone wants to switch. I have been using it for awhile now and really enjoy the lack of popups and other internet annoyances.

If that doesn't solve the problem, I don't know what else to do! If you other, more experienced and technology-savvy bloggers want to share any tips with me, I'm all ears, er, eyes.

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Tiger Woods, Like Buttah

Butter Putter

If you were a butter sculptor and you had already done a barn and a cow, what would your next piece be? The obvious answer is Tiger Woods. If you don’t see the natural progression, you must not be a real butter sculptor.

What’s that under the bench? Did the butter go to Tiger’s

head and cause him to not only eat a Big Mac, but litter, too?

This week I found myself in Des Moines, Iowa, where I was fortunate to find the Iowa State Fair poised to open its ten day run. The fair actually started the day I left, but the night before there was a free preview to anyone wanting to roam the fairgrounds.

A lot of the features and shows were open and running as well as restaurants and assorted deep fried foods-on-sticks stands. Some of the rides were even running. Most of the animals were there, though "Champions Row" was empty so I didn’t get to see the prize hogs which are reportedly a sight to behold. However, I did see a lot of cattle, swine and other animals I’ve never been so close to before. It was kind of thrilling.


Here is Scooter, the flirting Ostrich. He was into me. I could tell by the
way he kept batting those long eyelashes and leaning in for the photos.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to make your way into the Agriculture building. That’s where you will find the amazing butter sculptures.



I looked up the artist on the internet so I could give her credit since I'm putting her artwork on my site without permission. Her name is Norma "Duffy" Lyon and here is her website. It lists a few of her other subjects and has a picture of another of her sculptures - The Last Supper!

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Update

I will be updating the post entitled "Courses I've Played" from time to time so I'm adding a link to it on the sidebar.

Does the Gear Make the Golfer?

Does it even make a difference?

Do I strike the ball any better with a TaylorMade club? Do I sink more putts with a Titleist putter? Do I even hit the ball any farther with a ProV1? A big resounding NO.

At home, as I’ve mentioned, I play with all TaylorMade equipment. On the road, if I haven’t brought my clubs, I play with whatever rentals are available. At the nicer courses, I can sometimes get newer sets and the latest drivers and the big name brands. Most of the time, I get haphazardly assembled “sets” that look like they’ve seen more action than Paris Hilton. Often, they don’t have any kind of recognizable brand name on them if any at all. Yesterday, I even got a putter that appeared to be “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts” brand. I still played right to my handicap.

I’m a fool, though. People told me I should just start with a cheaper set while I was learning the game. I was so immediately obsessed that I figured I’d invest in the better stuff right from the get go. Well, as I whittle away at my handicap, I’m whittling away my clubs and for all the difference it makes, they might as well have been from Target. They probably have some kind of replica driver with a head and face similar to my R580XD that I’d be just as happy using. Would I hit the ball any better or worse with it? NO.

Maybe it makes more of a difference to better players. You tell me. I’m guessing that by the time I get my handicap down to a single digit, my clubs will be ready for replacement. I’m already starting to rationalize the purchase of the latest and greatest and most hyped equipment when that day comes. I still haven’t learned my lesson as a beginner, though. I’m going to add some hybrids to my set soon, and I’m sure I won’t even consider going to Big5 to get them. I’ll be back down at GolfSmith or some proshop shelling out buckets of clams for the TaylorMades or Pings. Probably the TaylorMades just for aesthetics and continuity in my bag. Will they make me perform any better on the course? Well, better than my long irons I hope, but better than other hybrids? NO.

Speaking of bags, I “need” a couple new ones. A nice cart bag and a new stand bag because I’m not happy with mine. I think I want ones with a separate slot for each club, and I definitely want the ones with the protected slot for the putter. They need to have lots of pockets, maybe a designated umbrella holder and other fancy accessories.

Will any of this make me a better golfer? Say it with me… maybe.

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