Arg's Travel Log

[Argonne69]

10 minutes ago, Mullenboy said:

Very wise.  You're not gonna get to play Pajaro or Poppy right?  That's a bummer.  But while I really like both - and I think you would really like Poppy - neither are worth risking long-term ijury for.

 

The same goes for anything you might play in the rest of the state... assuming you have no ins at private clubs.  Some of those change the equation.  🙂

 

Really depends on tomorrow's range session. If I can (somewhat) hit a ball without pain I'll play both on Saturday and Sunday, even if I have to tee it up in the fairway. If there's any significant pain at the range tomorrow I'll have to take a pass on both. 

 

I played Poppy in 2017 on my Monterey trip, so not the end of the world, but it would be nice to play the course without a dense marine layer. 

 

Here are my pics from that trip. Heck of a golf trip with nine rounds in six days at Presidio, Harding Park, Pebble, Spanish Bay, Spyglass, Poppy Hills, Pasitiempo, Half Moon Bay Ocean, and Half Moon Bay Old. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9wlstgjthkhn2kpge8rrg/h?rlkey=hums1spjkrb5ubbgu48ok0mgz&st=dfm9e1a2&dl=0

 

Edited November 15, 2024 by Argonne69

[Mullenboy]

12 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Really depends on tomorrow's range session. If I can (somewhat) hit a ball without pain I'll play both on Saturday and Sunday, even if I have to tee it up in the fairway. If there's any significant pain at the range tomorrow I'll have to take a pass on both. 

 

I played Poppy in 2017 on my Monterey trip, so not the end of the world, but it would be nice to play the course without a dense marine layer. 

 

Here are my pics from that trip. Heck of a golf trip with nine rounds in six days at Presidio, Harding Park, Pebble, Spanish Bay, Spyglass, Poppy Hills, Pasitiempo, Half Moon Bay Ocean, and Half Moon Bay Old. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9wlstgjthkhn2kpge8rrg/h?rlkey=hums1spjkrb5ubbgu48ok0mgz&st=dfm9e1a2&dl=0

 

Excellent!  Well here's hoping you can play this weekend.

 

And that is one hell of a trip through our area in 2017!  You hit a lot of our great public courses.   Hey one good reason to play Poppy Hills is that they made some fairly significant changes last year... it will be at least a little different for you.  And yeah maybe you might not have marine layer this weekend.

 

Question - and my apologies if this has come up before, or if you don't want to answer.  It seems you seldom if ever play private clubs.  Why?

 

 

[aloha b.]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

I have been to the Taproom... full of history.  Arnie probably had an Arnold Palmer in there.  Otherwise I prefer the Bench, the Stillwater or the outdoor portion of the Terrace Lounge... love that view of the ocean and the 18th hole.

We’ve eaten at all the PB Restaurants so many times that we know some of the staff at the various restaurants. Sitting outside and enjoying a meal from Stillwater’s is nice with the 18th and ocean views. If you stay on property there’s a private club that guests can use at Pebble with a restaurant that overlooks Stillwater Cove and the 17th. We’ve been going down to the Monterey Peninsula for so long that we’ve eaten at more than 60 plus restaurants from inexpensive to fine dining!

[Argonne69]

21 minutes ago, Mullenboy said:

Excellent!  Well here's hoping you can play this weekend.

 

And that is one hell of a trip through our area in 2017!  You hit a lot of our great public courses.   Hey one good reason to play Poppy Hills is that they made some fairly significant changes last year... it will be at least a little different for you.  And yeah maybe you might not have marine layer this weekend.

 

Question - and my apologies if this has come up before, or if you don't want to answer.  It seems you seldom if ever play private clubs.  Why?

 

 

I don't play private clubs because I don't belong to a private club. I don't have a club "pro" to call the courses to get me a tee time. I've called plenty of private courses, and the answer is always the same. Have your "pro" call us. 

 

I've played close to 1400 courses now. The number of private courses is less than 20. I've had a few invites from friends and acquaintances, and won a couple of charity auctions. I've played a couple with invites from business associates. I've got lucky cold calling a couple of courses. Otherwise I've gotten the cold shoulder. 

 

[aloha b.]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Well, other than the nasty pavement on US-101 just south of Morgan Hill, it was a short, pleasant drive to Moss Landing. Don't know why the concrete is so bad on the 101. Had a few items fall off the bed above the driver's cab. Three years on the road and I've never had anything come crashing down due to rough roads. Oy. 

 

Small, but decent RV park adjacent to the marina along the Old Salinas River. I can hear sealions on the other side of the fence. Concrete slab could be more level, but I've certainly had worse. 

 

Normally I'd book an RV park in the morning, but the next stop planned after LA was Vegas, hoping to get a tee time at Shadow Creek. However, until I find out whether I can actually play there's no sense in booking that stay. I'll know one way or another on Monday. 

 

Nearest brewpub is near Watsonville, so I'll probably just hang out here today, and venture out tomorrow. 

 

 

Hopefully you can get a tee time Shadow Creek!

[Argonne69]

1 minute ago, aloha b. said:

Hopefully you can get a tee time Shadow Creek!

 

That would be fantastic, but my first concern is being able to swing a club without pain. Lol. 

 

[aloha b.]

1 minute ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I don't play private clubs because I don't belong to a private club. I don't have a club "pro" to call the courses to get me a tee time. I've called plenty of private courses, and the answer is always the same. Have your "pro" call us. 

 

I've played close to 1400 courses now. The number of private courses is less than 20. I've had a few invites from friends and acquaintances, and won a couple of charity auctions. I've played a couple with invites from business associates. I've got lucky cold calling a couple of courses. Otherwise I've gotten the cold shoulder. 

 

Well, if you’re ever back my way, hopefully I could get you on MPCC with my member connection. Hopefully they won’t be hosting a big tournament like they are this Sunday - Tuesday.😁

[aloha b.]

4 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

That would be fantastic, but my first concern is being able to swing a club without pain. Lol. 

 

That’s very true!

[Mullenboy]

36 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I don't play private clubs because I don't belong to a private club. I don't have a club "pro" to call the courses to get me a tee time. I've called plenty of private courses, and the answer is always the same. Have your "pro" call us. 

 

I've played close to 1400 courses now. The number of private courses is less than 20. I've had a few invites from friends and acquaintances, and won a couple of charity auctions. I've played a couple with invites from business associates. I've got lucky cold calling a couple of courses. Otherwise I've gotten the cold shoulder. 

 

Thanks for answering.  OK, that makes sense.  Yeah it's very tough to access private clubs on your own with no help.  I'm just surprised that you haven't received more offers.  I tried.   You seem like a guy anyone would love to host... or have their friends host.  Like Aloha just said...  I too could get you on MPCC and many other places but... you never seemed open to it until our efforts at Silverado.  I get that btw.  A guest waits to be asked rather than asking.  Good on you for this.  The bummer is we never met and now likely never will.  

 

But..I will continue to follow this and if I can help, I will. To that end I'd encourage you to get to Nebraska in the summer time. 🙂

 

BTW Shadow Creek is a hell of a lot of fun.  The whole experience is kinda hokey but... you just gotta go with it and enjoy it.  And the golf course itself is really world class.  But man... if you have a budget... that place will kill it.  🙂

Edited November 15, 2024 by Mullenboy

[act0fgod]

11 hours ago, Mullenboy said:

Thanks for answering.  OK, that makes sense.  Yeah it's very tough to access private clubs on your own with no help.  I'm just surprised that you haven't received more offers.  I tried.   You seem like a guy anyone would love to host... or have their friends host.  Like Aloha just said...  I too could get you on MPCC and many other places but... you never seemed open to it until our efforts at Silverado.  I get that btw.  A guest waits to be asked rather than asking.  Good on you for this.  The bummer is we never met and now likely never will.  

 

But..I will continue to follow this and if I can help, I will. To that end I'd encourage you to get to Nebraska in the summer time. 🙂

 

BTW Shadow Creek is a hell of a lot of fun.  The whole experience is kinda hokey but... you just gotta go with it and enjoy it.  And the golf course itself is really world class.  But man... if you have a budget... that place will kill it.  🙂

Glad you posted this response, as the why don't you play private courses made me think of the Marie Antoinette quote "let them eat cake."

[Argonne69]

Just now, act0fgod said:

Glad you posted this response, as the why don't you play private courses made me think of the Marie Antoinette quote "let them eat cake."

 

It's certainly not that I wouldn't want to play many of the privates. Heck, it would be a dream. However, after striking out so many times I don't even bother at this point. They're just not on my radar. 

 

Maybe at some point I'll tire of fighting for tee times at the public munis, and wind up joining a private club. Then maybe I'll take a mini-trip in Bessie and try to play some of the better private courses. Of course I realize that I'd have to join a high-end club in order to get on some of the better courses in the country. The key will be making this decision before I'm too old and tired to be traveling around in an RV. If I can afford a high end club, then maybe I'd have to retire Bessie and move up to a high-end motorcoach. Lol.

 

 

[zer0]

On 10/30/2024 at 4:20 PM, Argonne69 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like you parked next to Walt and Jesse.  If you see a pair of tighty whiteys hanging from the side mirror might want to  find a different spot.

Edited November 15, 2024 by zer0

[Mullenboy]

Love that!

It's all good.  Yeah trying to ask for access to private clubs with no connections is rarely gonna end well.  So it goes. 

 

But...one doesn't have to belong to a high-end club to access other private clubs, though it does help.  🙂

 

You just tend to have to meet that one person who opens doors for you.  Carrera knows well... the common friend I've mentioned several times sure did that for me.  I was a muni golfer for the first 35+ years of my life... then that door opened... and once it did, wow anything became possible.

 

A lot of it is luck.

 

Apologies to anyone reading more into this than I intend.  Quite seriously, it surprises me that Arg doesn't get more invites to private clubs.  But being the good man that he so apparently is, he doesn't seek them out.

[mci711]

Arg, as you know, you're invited to a couple of clubs in St Louis if you ever drive through again! 

 

There are 1000s of accessible good public courses, I 100% get not having to go through extra work trying to play privates when you already spend so much time planning. I think people are scared to invite you and get 4 cows 😂 If you play in St Louis I'll need a guarantee of 6+ cows and the BBQ is better than KC and Carolina's (I'll let texas have their 1 spot). 

[Mullenboy]

32 minutes ago, mci711 said:

Arg, as you know, you're invited to a couple of clubs in St Louis if you ever drive through again! 

 

There are 1000s of accessible good public courses, I 100% get not having to go through extra work trying to play privates when you already spend so much time planning. I think people are scared to invite you and get 4 cows 😂 If you play in St Louis I'll need a guarantee of 6+ cows and the BBQ is better than KC and Carolina's (I'll let texas have their 1 spot). 

That makes sense.  Oh my gosh yes, PLENTY of great public courses.  And yes that is also a great point about being scared to get the dreaded 4 cows or worse.  That's a large reason I didn't push too hard to get Arg to my home club.  😉

 

 

[TBD203]

He's got an open invite to my club in Connecticut - but I recognize that CT isn't exactly on many golfers radar. More of a stop between further north and the NY state courses. 

[Argonne69]

21 hours ago, ZephyrS4 said:

Just go full Kramer and hit balls into the ocean from the beach…..lol

 

Thanks for the idea. Saved myself the drive to Poppy Hills. Drove over to Salinas River State Beach to snap a few pics of the ocean. The beach was fairly wide, and with temps in the 50s pretty sparse on the people front. Saw two fishermen. Walked back to the parking lot and grabbed a wedge, 7 iron, driver, and three yellow balls from the back of the Honda. Teed the balls up on little piles of sand, and... not bad. Not good, but not bad. Kept them out of the big, wet penalty area. 

 

Wearing a wrist brace I can't hinge my wrist, so I'm obviously losing power. However, the ball flew straight with a slight draw. Most important was that there was no significant pain. The wrist is sore, but it's been sore for five days. 

 

Unless it really starts to bother me later today I'll head out to Pajaro Valley for my morning tee time. I'll play 9 holes teeing it up in the fairway, and then play it by ear. Getting bored sitting in Bessie playing word games on my phone. At least I can get out and get a few steps in. 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2024 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Took a short drive down to The Golf Mart in Seaside. Taking advantage of the day off to get new grips on my irons and wedges. 

 

[Argonne69]

Enough work for one day. I'm beat. Lol. Looks like The Brass Tap in Marina finally opened. I stopped here back in the spring, and it was still under construction. The chain has a very nice selection of 60 national and international brews. Enjoying one of my favorite Belgian Strong Ales, Delirium Tremens. 

 

 

Wow, that's different. I've had plenty of Belgian Quads, but never one this boozy. The AleSmith Brewing Company (San Diego) Private Stock 2017 Quad packs a real punch. 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2024 by Argonne69

[Double Mocha Man]

50 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

I've had plenty of Belgian Quads, but never one this boozy.

 

You're going to need all the ABV you can get to numb that sore wrist.

[Argonne69]

17 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

You're going to need all the ABV you can get to numb that sore wrist.

 

 

[Argonne69]

I was planning on a burger today, but it's been a few weeks since I had fish and chips. Stopped at Sea Harvest in Moss Landing for a rather filling meal. The fish was decent, but the garlic fries were excellent. If you like garlic, these will do nicely. Was hoping for a side of grilled scallops, but they only had deep fried. Not bad. Chowder was OK. Creamy, but very light on the clams. 

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Lol. Well, I figured out where the racket I heard yesterday afternoon was coming from. A few aquatic mammals have taken up residence in the harbor adjacent to the RV park. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eaqdeuau41m9p9mio0xtx/APy0sjI7k1JLvcT_BrdYZww?rlkey=sqidp84ofdhk57585xoro8806&st=3g6r54ra&dl=0

 

[Nels55]

It's fun seeing your reviews of a few courses that I have played.  Thanks!

 

I live in Watsonville and play Spring Hills a lot.  Not sure how much longer though as the course is apparently going up for sale soon. 

 

Well, I hope that you enjoy your round a Pajaro tomorrow and that you are able to play pain free!

[Nels55]

You know, I think that you might enjoy the Brazilian Steak Hose in Gilroy:

 

https://www.chamanativausa.com/

 

It's a bit pricey but really good and I think that based on your food reviews you might like the variety of meats that they server there...

[Argonne69]

4 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

You know, I think that you might enjoy the Brazilian Steak Hose in Gilroy:

 

https://www.chamanativausa.com/

 

It's a bit pricey but really good and I think that based on your food reviews you might like the variety of meats that they server there...

 

Yeah, I enjoy a good Churrasco. There were at least three in Chicago. The first time I went to one I realized why lions eat and then sleep for 3 days. Lol. 

 

Best part are are caipirinhas. If you like margaritas, you'll really like caipirinhas. 

 

 

[StoutKing]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

Lol. Well, I figured out where the racket I heard yesterday afternoon was coming from. A few aquatic mammals have taken up residence in the harbor adjacent to the RV park. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eaqdeuau41m9p9mio0xtx/APy0sjI7k1JLvcT_BrdYZww?rlkey=sqidp84ofdhk57585xoro8806&st=3g6r54ra&dl=0

 

Fore please, now driving Argonne69

[ZephyrS4]

Always opt for a caipirinha whenever possible…..so good!

[Argonne69]

Felt good to be back out on the course. The 37 degree temperature on the first tee was a bit of a shocker, but it warmed quickly. Cloudless skies and no wind certainly helped. Surprised that there wasn't a frost delay, as the 1st and 2nd holes clearly had a frosty layer. 

 

Pajaro Valley today. Decent looking parkland layout with some nice elevation changes. Nothing extreme, but it was anything but flat. A few homes are visible off property, but otherwise it's nicely isolated. Fairway bunkering was very light. In fact there may have been zero. Greenside was a tad better. Water in play on three holes, but a few more had red staked native areas. Only one hole with left/right movement, the 6th, but the play was to poke the tee shot into the 7th fairway. 

 

Very easy off the tee with no forced carries and light bunkering. Minor misses were no problem catching the light rough. Big misses would generally be playable from an adjacent fairway. Approaches were much tougher. Greens weren't tiny, but darn close. A number had decent front bunkering, but the size was the biggest defense. Greens had very gentle contouring, but plenty of slope. Definitely a course where you do not want to be above the hole. Putting was tricky, but the saving grace was that there were no long lags. Up and downs were tricky due to the sloping greens and a few uneven lies around them. 

 

Par 3s, 5s, and short 4s were meh. Very little stood out. A pair of the 5s were reachable, but no risk. 

 

Conditions were decent. Fairways had a few iffy patches, but were generally playable. Rough was low and patchy. Bunkers were excellent. Plenty of groomed, wet sand. Big tip of the hat. Greens were bumpy, but quick. The dew kept the speed down early, but halfway through the round they were rolling 11. 

 

On a normal day I would have probably played the Blue tees at 6432 yds, but with the bum wrist I moved up to the White tees at 6097 yds (69.4/119). Lol. I've had better rounds. Driver was finding fairways, but I only managed 200 yds. I teed it up in the fairway on the opening two holes, but since I wasn't getting any distance off the tee, I played it down the rest of the round given that I was generally hitting hybrids and fairway woods. I typically pick my wedges, so no real issue there. Nine bogies and a double. Highlight of the round was simply being out walking a course again after a week. My wrist is sore, and I'm sure it'll be worse later today, but I'll have to gut it out. Also enjoyed the company of my two local playing partners. We were the second group out, and finished in 3:25. 

 

4 cows here. Pity, because it's a very nice piece of property. The greens definitely give it teeth, but off the tee it's lacking. Needs all the usual stuff. The $70 weekend walking rate was about right. Certainly not a must play, but it's a decent course if you want to work on your iron play and short game. 

 

[Argonne69]

Pajaro Valley GC, Royal Oaks, CA 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/52ozwcr4p703c4wufepcw/ADb5Qt4ZmVhjqcU1CBkCVcI?rlkey=wexf8adyxq6xg91kiolypz848&st=7xwk60tu&dl=0

 

Edited November 16, 2024 by Argonne69