[Robert_Ball]

Great story Chip!

I remember the #9 green being quite a bit more elevated, it was an uphill tee shot. 

Hi Bill.  You're right, it's a gradual climb all the way to the green.  The photo doesn't capture it very well.

How did you do the dissolve into Mae West photo?  That's very cool.

Glad you and others like it.  It's an animated GIF created in Photoshop.  PM me if you'd like assistance with creating one.

[mike_beene]

The hill to the left of 4 is where they filmed Tarzan,I believe. I can tell you from experience there is ob left and right of 4.

[John Mayhugh]

John,

You're not over-romanticizing it.  The feeling starts when you turn through the gate and on to Bellagio...

And while playing the course you pass former homes of Hitchcock, Reagan, Presley and others.  It can be surreal at times.

Thanks for the extra pic and reassurance.  I'm pretty sure I would have goosebumps when I showed up there.  I'm like a big kid that way.

[Jon Spaulding]

Nice thread, even though Fazio et al have served up a nice, greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ash tray. The Shadow Creek features are incredibly out of place on the Westside of LA. If TF was a doctor he'd be charged with malpractice and a misdeameanor for insensitivity towards Thomas' work. The only things missing were the limo ride, a caddy in a cart, and the $500 charge to my room at the Mirage.

Here's hoping the restoration at LACC comes out well and inspires Bel Air to do the same.

Matt Cohn; #18 Bel Air is straight uphill and fairly open on the tee shot. The 2nd shot is shortish off of a bermuda fairway to a fairly "pinnable" green....so similarities to Olympic start & end with the bird's eye view one gets from the elevated clubhouse.

[Matt Bosela]

Thanks for the pics and the great report. 

[tlavin]

Nice thread, even though Fazio et al have served up a nice, greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ash tray. The Shadow Creek features are incredibly out of place on the Westside of LA. If TF was a doctor he'd be charged with malpractice and a misdeameanor for insensitivity towards Thomas' work. The only things missing were the limo ride, a caddy in a cart, and the $500 charge to my room at the Mirage.

A bit over-the-top, but very clever.  I hereby nominate this as a Top Ten sarcastic post.  For some bizarre reason, I can imagine JUST how a greasy pork sandwich would taste, were it served in a dirty ashtray.

[Jon Spaulding]

Nice thread, even though Fazio et al have served up a nice, greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ash tray. The Shadow Creek features are incredibly out of place on the Westside of LA. If TF was a doctor he'd be charged with malpractice and a misdeameanor for insensitivity towards Thomas' work. The only things missing were the limo ride, a caddy in a cart, and the $500 charge to my room at the Mirage.

A bit over-the-top, but very clever.  I hereby nominate this as a Top Ten sarcastic post.  For some bizarre reason, I can imagine JUST how a greasy pork sandwich would taste, were it served in a dirty ashtray.

John Mayhugh knows the taste well and gets goose bumps whenever it comes to mind

[D_Malley]

greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ash tray.

that is a great line but not an original, can anyone name the movie that line is from?

[Steve Burrows]

A classic line delivered by Chet (a young Bill Paxton), in "Weird Science."

[Jon Spaulding]

Entering TMZ mode.....Chet was not there, but Jerry West was in the group behind us. Rocco is a proposed new member, as is the beloved Cade McNown of the Chicago Bears highlight reel.   I'd have been more elated to see Adam West there....from where RB could have offered up his patented Burt Ward "holy zoinks, Batman, where did the Faz hide all the water pumps?"

I would agree with the selection of Wilshire over Bel Air on the 10 round project......But I might keep a solitary 1 out of 10 alive for Bel Air with the hope of getting my season 3 poster of Melrose Place autographed by the hysterically deviant Dr. Peter Burns, or an old vinyl copy of "All I Need".

Perhaps the largest oddity of the day was Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" playing in the locker room on our entrance.

[Jon Spaulding]

Robert

Thanks for the tour.  I had never seen so many pix of Bel Air before.  Its not what I thought it would like.  For some reason perhaps old pix) I thought the course was more wild n wooly. 

Have you played Cal Club?  If so, is the terrain similar? 

Ciao

The terrain at Bel Air is a more severe than Cal Club; the course is ingeniously routed thru multiple canyons with walkways and/or elevators thru the hills.

Closest similarity to Cal Club would be the stretch from 4 thru 6 which is snugly fit between that mountain on the left and the highways/other on the right.

[John Mayhugh]

A classic line delivered by Chet (a young Bill Paxton), in "Weird Science."

One of MANY classic lines from that movie. Unfortunately, some of the more entertaining ones might not be appropriate for posting.

[Bill_McBride]

That course could only have been built by a club with that kind of well-heeled membership, with the tunnels, elevator and suspension bridge.  I wonder what it would cost to build today.

[tlavin]

Entering TMZ mode.....Chet was not there, but Jerry West was in the group behind us. Rocco is a proposed new member, as is the beloved Cade McNown of the Chicago Bears highlight reel.   I'd have been more elated to see Adam West there....from where RB could have offered up his patented Burt Ward "holy zoinks, Batman, where did the Faz hide all the water pumps?"

I would agree with the selection of Wilshire over Bel Air on the 10 round project......But I might keep a solitary 1 out of 10 alive for Bel Air with the hope of getting my season 3 poster of Melrose Place autographed by the hysterically deviant Dr. Peter Burns, or an old vinyl copy of "All I Need".

Perhaps the largest oddity of the day was Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" playing in the locker room on our entrance.

A fave memory from LACC.  My two friends and I entered the men's locker room around seven one morning.  We were immediately greeted by a member who said, "hey, you aren't members, are you?"  I started to stutter that we were guests of the superintendent when he barged in, "Hell I don't care how you got in here.  You look like you could use some medicine.  I'm gonna introduce you to Juan the Assassin, our Locker Room bartender."  Juan promptly helped us turn of the flickering "Low Alcohol" light in our bodies and we repaired to the first tee, aiming, of course, at the Beverly Hilton sign.

[Mark Bourgeois]

You're saying you took double out of play on every hole except the 19th and the naught?

[tlavin]

You're saying you took double out of play on every hole except the 19th and the naught?

True 'dat.  Hey, I was on vacation...

[Glenn Spencer]

One of my favorite posts ever!!! Thanks.

[Eric LeFante]

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2017/u-s--amateur/articles/bel-air-about-to-get-back-to-basics.html


Should be an awesome restoration...

[Edward Moody]

Agree on restoration and that's exciting news.  Such a cool club with a great vibe and the property is cool, too.  Hopefully the Fazio touch will be wiped away...

[Morgan Clawson]

This is a really enjoyable thread.  Love the stories and the animation on the Mae West hole.

The architectural malpractice in the first photo alone is really shocking. 

And the inconsistent look throughout the course is puzzling.  I'm glad Renaissance is on the case.

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