A Kiwi in North Cal

[Ash Towe]

I have been home 36 hours from a holiday to San Francisco and Monterey.  During this time I managed to play 5 rounds.
First up was Cypress Point.  Not a bad start for your first round in California.  The weather was perfect, just a little wind got up when we got down to the coastal holes.  The caddies were excellent.  John guided me round brilliantly.  Thanks must also go to the other members of the group, namely Ed Getka, Tom Huckaby and Rick Schefchik, they made a great day even better.  Well the course lived up to expectations and that is possibly the highest compliment I can give it.  The holes that are surrounded by the trees are just superb.  You have options on so many.  It would be a great golf course without the holes that people are familiar with.  15 is a great part 3 and needs to be considered without what comes on the next tee.  17 would be one of the most exciting and exacting par 4's I have seen.  18 was a surprise.  The teeshot with the trees is a bit different but the second shot and green complex can exact their tole if not played accurately.  The biggest disappointment was coming off 18 realising that my round was over.  Without doubt my greatest golfing experience.
The second course was MPCC Shore.  Same weather, great company namely Bob Huntley, Ed Getka and Evan Green.  This was my introduction to Wolf.  I think only Bob truely knows how it works.  The opening holes are a good introduction to what comes by the beach.  Ed made the comment about the variety and quality of the par 3's and fives.  I would endorse this view and the par 4's are also of a high standard.  When you turn back to the clubhouse the quality of the holes does not drop with the exception of 18 which seems a little bland by what has gone before.  A fantastic course made even better by the group I was fortunate to be with.
On to the third course.  Spyglass Hill.  The opening 5 holes have been well discussed on this site.  The quality of the opening hole was second to none.  When the course turns inland I was surprised by the quality and challenge of the holes.  It is certainley a championship test.  The features are not as subtle as can be seen on other courses but would they be appropriate here?  Your ball striking is challenged on every hole and every shot.  To get a good score you need your a game.  I really enjoyed my experience here and would love to return.
Onto Quail.  This was an interesting experience.  The course weaves its way round a housing development.  Water is in play on some holes but not really integral.  The start of the second nine is interesting in the canyon.  Then some holes with changes of direction.  Not as memorable as the first 3 courses but how can you not enjoy your second experience of Wolf?
Lastly SFGC.  I will never forget walking round the front of the clubhouse and seeing the vista of the course in front of me.  The wide fairways keep you in the game but clearly there are better angles to approach the greens from.  You also need the ball from the the prefered side of the hole to put from.  The bunkering has been well documented before and I can only support was has been said.  A superb closing hole brings to an end a great experience.  Like Cypress it is a great disappointment to leave the property.  Once again the weather played its part and I was very fortunate to have the company of 2 great hosts who did their best to make sure I had the very best day possible.
There was so much to see and take in.  The courses themselves, the people you meet and play with.  It is great to put faces to the names I have seen on this site.  The differences to how the clubs operate and the facilities available.  I could go on.
In finishing I would like to thank publicly those who gave the invitations and their time to make sure it all happened.  The people I played with were fantastic and I hope I have the opportunity to meet them again either in California or in NZ.

[David_Tepper]

Ash -

Sorry you could not make it out to the OC Cliffs Course late Tuesday afternoon. It was beautiful out there!

DT  

[ed_getka]

Ash,
    Nice report. I particularly liked the Wolf hypothesis. Perhaps Sir Bob IS the only one who actually knows how it works. I had never considered that before, I just figured I was dense.
     It was a great pleasure to have you and Chris visit us after you were such wonderful hosts while I was down visiting in April. I look forward to our next opportunity to get together.

   Were there a few noteworthy holes at Quail that would make it worth a visit? I've never been to check that one out. Also, if you could pick one hole from SFGC that was a particular favorite and explain what made the hole so good.

    Our group at Cypress was certainly one of the most enjoyable I've experienced. Between the weather, the course, the great shots and bounty of birdies sprinkled through the group, one couldn't ask for more at the Sistine Chapel of golf. It was really great to see you elevate your game at Cypress with some really outstanding golf. Very impressive. Of course, none of us will ever forget the glorious shot of Rick Shefchik on #16 that came so incredibly close to an ace. A special day I'll not soon forget. Thanks for the memories.

[Ash Towe]

Ed,
There were a few holes at Quail I really liked.  There was an uphill par 4 near the start, maybe 4.  Very strong hole and a challenging green complex. 10 was good because of the options off the tee then a small green to hit.  The last par three put a premium on accuracy and was quite deceptive.
At SFGC Little Tillie.  Great bunkering, premium on accuracy and if you hit a good shot a birdie is very possible.  I liked everything about SFGC, the routing, variety of holes particularly those in the valley.
Cypress was my most enjoyable golf day ever.  Thanks for your part in it and making the whole trip memorable.

[Rick Shefchik]

Ash,

As I've told a number of people since our round at Cypress, one of the most enjoyable elements of the day was seeing the course and the property through your eyes as well as mine. If it was possible for anyone to be more geeked about a golf course than I was that day, you were. And you played superbly.

Glad to hear the rest of your trip was worthy of the opening act. I also played Wolf with the estimable Mr. Huntley on my trip west; I think the secret to his success, aside from knowing all the nuances of the game better than anyone, is his unyielding will to get everything he can out of a hole -- evidenced when he lowered himself to the bottom of a narrow, 8-foot-deep drainage culvert, extracted his ball with a casual yet expert flip of his wedge, and then nearly holed the next shot for what would have been the most amazing par I'd ever seen. He still managed to halve the hole.

What a great country, eh?

[Wayne_Kozun]

I guess it is better for a Kiwi to be in California rather than back home where mass suicides most be occurring this weekend due to the loss to Les Bleus.  C'est dommage.

[James Bennett]

I guess it is better for a Kiwi to be in California rather than back home where mass suicides most be occurring this weekend due to the loss to Les Bleus.  C'est dommage.

Wayne

I think those Kiwi's that would be so devastated by Saturday's loss as to commit suicide probably died a few World Cups ago.  Those still alive will be disappointed, but perhaps not surprised.

Oh, and I didn't enjoy Australia's loss to the English either, and Argentina defeating Scotland, well .... I can hear the silence now.



James B

[Ash Towe]

Wayne/James
New Zealand is pretty subdued today and will remain so for quite a while.  The exit from the rugby world cup is the only story in town.  It was thee headline yesterday and occupied news broadcasts almost totally.
At least I have the golf trip memories to keep me happy.

[Wayne_Kozun]

I shouldn't have commented - I haven't seen Sunday's games (ARG-SCO, SAF-FIJ) and I have tried to stay away from news reports.  In Canada the RWC is being shown on a channel called Setanta Sports.  They charge $15/month and they showed most of the first round games live but for knockout stages the games are on with about a 24 hour delay.  Unfortunately the games also seem very slow to show up on P2P web sites.

So you have spoiled the Argie game - please don't tell me if the Springboks won but I can't see them losing to FIJI.

Too bad - I was hoping for four southern hemisphere teams in the finals but you have to give England and France credit - they earned their wins even if they didn't score a try.

I guess our Canadian boys took too much out of the Wallabies a week ago in Bordeaux!

[Kyle Henderson]

The second course was MPCC Shore.  Same weather, great company namely Bob Huntley, Ed Getka and Evan Green.  This was my introduction to Wolf.  I think only Bob truely knows how it works.  The opening holes are a good introduction to what comes by the beach.  Ed made the comment about the variety and quality of the par 3's and fives.  I would endorse this view and the par 4's are also of a high standard.  When you turn back to the clubhouse the quality of the holes does not drop with the exception of 18 which seems a little bland by what has gone before.  A fantastic course made even better by the group I was fortunate to be with.

Ash,

I was also blessed with the opportunity to play the MPCC Shore course with "the wolf" this year. Great chap. The tee on #11 has to be one of the greatest places on earth, and the other 1-shotters hold to that high standard.

I am underwhelmed by 95% of the par 3's I play, but Strantz always provides something special. Tobacco Road's (Sanford, NC) are just as unique but also a little more extreme in green contours. Tot Hill Farm's (Ashboro, North Carolina) are a little more contrived but also very memorable, varied and unique. If you ever head to the east coast here in the states, you should definitely try to play another "Strantz" or two.

Glad you had a nice trip to my home state.

[Tom Huckaby]

Hi Ash!  You not only got the grand tour but also the best of our weather... my my what a week you had,  Many thanks for the report/summary - that was fun reading.

Take care, it was fantastic to meet you and the Mrs.... and you sure can golf your ball.  Ash is modest not to mention how darn well he played at Cypress Point - after a slow start, at least three birdies that I can recall, and I believe the best overall round I have witnessed there among GCAers.

Sorry about the rugby.  But take solace, you could root for USC football as I do, and have your team lose to a 41 point underdog.  There is little sports joy these days... thank the lord for Arsenal.

 

[Sean Leary]

Sorry about the rugby.  But take solace, you could root for USC football as I do, and have your team lose to a 41 point underdog.  There is little sports joy these days... thank the lord for Arsenal.

 

Stanford over USC = Huckaby over Kong?

Bigger upset?

[Tom Huckaby]

The former.  If I play King 10 times, I beat him twice.  If 2007 Stanford plays 2007 USC 100 times, they beat them once.  We just saw the once... to my absolute horror.

But it just goes to show, that's why they play the games... and for my friend Pat Mucci, why Vegas is NOT always right.

TH

[Ash Towe]

Kyle
I had a great trip to you home state.  The hospitality and friendship were outstanding.
Mike Stranz had a gift and it is a tradgedy he left this earth so early.  He did leave a wonderful legacy for us to enjoy.