California!

Hey Everyone,

Before I get started, this blog will only talk about the golfing side of my recent trip to Monterey, California. If you want to read my other blog about my trip without the golf, visit www.golfingwithglen.com under "Glen's Blogs" and labeled glenscaliforniatrip.blogspot.com

On Sunday, September 5th, Brittany and Mom took me to Valdosta “International” Airport in Valdosta, GA for a 12:00 pm flight to Atlanta, then on to Los Angeles. From LAX, I flew into Monterey, CA while the sun was setting. There’s nothing quite like a sunset on the Pacific Ocean from 30,000 feet! Uncle Dave picked me up from the airport at 8:45 pm (11:45 pm EST) and I began unwinding for the night.

I took the next day off, due to the jet lag and Aunt Jackie had just flown in from New York, too. So Tuesday is when my golfing started.

On Tuesday, Uncle Dave got me a tee time at noon at Poppy Hills Golf Course. On the way there, Aunt Jackie and I drove through some golf courses including one of my favorites, Spanish Bay, and then went by Pebble Beach. We stopped just long enough to take some pictures on 17 and 18 at Pebble, then went to my tee time.

I was paired with two guys and a girl who were all very good golfers. We had a blast. They were from California, but not from the Monterey area. The girl was of Japanese decent and asked me if I was from Australia because of my accent. That was a first for me! Usually it's Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, or Tennessee.

Poppy Hills is an extremely well manicured course, so you hardly ever run into a bad lie. I hit some great shots and posted a 2 under, 70. It was weird having to get use to playing in a jacket again. It was about 55 and windy, and was nice not sweating through all my clothes! A sincere thanks goes out to Kregg Bush and Jesse for the invitation to play.

On Wednesday, I practiced a few hours at Rancho Canada (pronounced Ranch-o Can-yad-da). Ms. Mar Seidel and Aunt Jackie dropped me off at the very nice Spanish Style clubhouse and told me to text when I was through. I hit 200-300 balls and also worked on my putting. It was a great practice day for me.

Early Thursday morning, I went to Pacific Grove Golf Course to warm up before playing golf with Mr. Russ Weiss later that morning. Mr. Russ invited me to play at his club, Tehama Golf Club, which is a privately owned course by Clint Eastwood. This place was unbelievable! I usually don't include links to other sites on my blog, but you ought to check these out.

www.tehamagolflcub.com and www.tehama-carmel.com

Mr. Russ and I pulled under the clubhouse to park on their slate tile parking lot, only to be treated to a view that takes your breath away. Tehama, in my mind, looks like it was built on top of 4-5 mountains. So I said "Hit it straight or go home."

We got to the first tee box and hit our drives down toward the green. There were 5 deer just sitting around in the fairway, two of which were very nice bucks. I stood there thinking, “I'm glad Matt, Dixon, Caleb, and Cricket aren’t here with me!”

The greens at Tehama rolled about 13 on the Stimpmeter. That means it might be easier to putt on glass. It took a little while to get use to them, but it was awesome. I spun a few balls back off the greens, even with my Tour Grooves, but still managed to play well. I could probably sit here and talk about Tehama for an hour, but I'm afraid I may lose my readers’ interest.

A couple holes in particular created unique memories. One was a drivable Par 4 and both Mr. Russ and I drove it. Then a few holes later was a Par 4/5, 435 yards straight uphill. Now, let me redefine uphill…280 feet from the tee box to the green uphill. If it wasn't for Mr. Russ, my approach shot might have ended up back where I hit it from. He asked me what I was going to hit, I said, “7 iron,” and he said, “Use a 4”... glad I listened!

I ended up shooting a 76, which I was pleased with. A few individuals in California said I wouldn't break 80 on my first round at Tehama, but I did. Mr. Russ made a good point. If I would have put the camera down, I probably could have shot lower! It's hard to play golf with your left hand and snap pictures with your right!

Tehama was beautiful...everywhere from seeing a perfectly kept golf course on top of mountains, to Clint Eastwood's new 26,000 sq. ft. mansion overlooking the golf course, to 8 and 10 point bucks walking in front of me while I played, to the breathtaking view from the 18th green overlooking the Monterey Bay. But nothing is quite as good as the friendship that Mr. Russ and I have created over the last 2 years. Without him, Tehama and Del Monte (last year) wouldn't be in my golfing portfolio. A sincere thanks to Mr. Russ for the round of a lifetime! I look forward to playing golf with you again, soon!

On Friday, Aunt Jackie dropped me off at Laguna Seca to put a few hours in practicing for the weekend. I really like Laguna Seca. The driving range looks like it's cut into the top of a mountain. I spent a few hours out there and worked on what needed to be fixed.

On Saturday, I had a tee time at Rancho Canada at two in the afternoon. I played with two guys, Jeff and Yoshi. I started off slow, but after 4 birdies in a row, I was able to post a 64. Yoshi shot a 70, and Jeff shot a 80. Yoshi was my age, from Japan, and played college golf. It was fun going head to head with him.

After church on Sunday, I went back to Poppy Hills and met up with my friend, Spencer Kennedy. We hit some balls and putted for a while. I enjoy playing with Spencer. He is very knowledgeable about the game of golf and is a very good ball striker.

Since I had an afternoon tee time on Monday, Aunt Jackie and I went mountain climbing and cave exploring at the Pinnacles, before I played golf.

I had a 3:00 tee time at Blackhorse and Bayonet Golf Courses, which are the site of round two of the PGA Tour Q-School and some Nationwide events. Blackhorse was narrow and long with trees and Bayonet was links style, with bunkers everywhere and thick rough. Bayonet was VERY Long, 7100+ yards, with two 600+ yards, Par 5’s. I had a bad day driving, but still posted well. I focused on the good shots and prepared to correct the bad ones the next day.

On Tuesday, I was paired with two girls and a guy who play college golf. We played Black Horse but in a different way. We would all hit our shots, then play a shot from each others ball. So we really played 4 shots at a time. We all played eighteen holes real well, then played another 8 holes at Bayonet. That style practice was neat. We hit from every angle on the course and from multiple distances. After the practice on the course, I went to the range and hit a couple hundred more balls, then putted for a bit. Those two courses were so much fun to play.

I left for home on Wednesday night, not really wanting to leave a golfers paradise, but knew the time had come. I got a lot of good practice in California. I played on hills, canyons, lightning fast greens, 30+ MPH wind, and elevation changes that we don't have in Florida. I look forward to visiting the Golden Coast again, soon.

A special thanks to Uncle Dave and Aunt Jackie for taking care of everything while I was out there. All the many meals, miles, and time you devoted to me is greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your kindness!

To Mr. Russ and Ms. Marce, Mr. Bob and Ms. Mar, Ms. Jackie and Spencer, and all the crew at the low country boil on Carmel Beach, thanks for all the kind words and support. I enjoyed our time together and hope to see you again soon!

And finally, thanks to my family for the support during the trip and all the sacrifices made to make it happen.

Until next time,

Glen

"Hit it straight or go home." - My thoughts standing on the first tee at Tehama