Two PGA Tour sites near Los Angeles

A single entry blog about the Gurus' five-day trip to Southern California.

January 29th - February 2nd, 2008

January and February weather in southeastern Idaho can be less than pleasant - especially for a couple of golf addicts. With an average temperature in the mid 20s, an average low 10 degrees cooler than that, and a well-earned reputation for wind, we invite traveling golfers to wait for 3 or 4 months and for more golf-conducive times of the year, before making Pocatello their golfing destination. However, for traveling golfers who make Bannock County their permanent residence, like ourselves, January and February are the perfect times to get out on a little golf trip - to a much warmer destination. We considered multiple sunbelt locales but eventually settled on sunny Southern California as our ultimate destination - this time traveling as a golfing three-some, with Daren Almond - who had come with us previously on a northern California trip - as our third.

On Tuesday, January 29th we weathered blinding and accumulating snow most of the way from Pocatello to Salt Lake City, while keeping our speed to a questionably safe maximum in an effort to reach a Uinta Golf store before closing, so that we could purchase balls for the trip with a couple of $75 gift certificates that we received for winning a tournament last fall. But we made it. We then grabbed a bite to eat at the Bountiful, Utah location of Chuck-A-Rama buffet (a tradition in the family), and headed to the airport as anxious to leave the snow and cold behind as we were to officially swing the sticks for the first time in 2008.

In classic fashion, our first real challenge of the trip was rental-car-related. Our plane was delayed 45 minutes due to snow, which put us precariously close to the closing time of the Burbank Airport location of Enterprise Rental Cars. In fact, I called them on my cell phone at the same moment that our tires hit the runway to ask them to please wait for us; that we had landed and would be there shortly. When we got to the counter, however, it was vacant and shut down tight for the night. In a panic, I again called and was shocked when someone answered the phone. They informed me that they were an off-site location and that their shuttle had made its last run . . . but that they would send the driver back for us since we had called ahead. This eased our anxiety, at least until the last piece of baggage had come out and been picked up by other passengers . . . all except for my clubs and Bill's. We delayed the shuttle driver for about as long as we dared, had decided that the inevitable lost or delayed luggage incident had finally happened to us, were about to give up on them, when suddenly a side door opened and out came the over-sized luggage. Why Daren's clubs, which had come off with the regular luggage (and had served to concern us just that much more when ours failed to show), were not considered over-sized is still a mystery. We crammed ourselves and our gear into a Chrysler Seabring (which was somehow listed as a free upgrade from our full-size reservation ??) and headed to Daren's brother house in Valencia, where we stayed each night for the duration of the trip.

The first rounds of the trip were scheduled for Wednesday morning (1/30) at Lost Canyons, a Pete Dye / Freddie Couples designed, 36-hole complex in Simi Valley. As we arrived, we caught sight of the course - deep distinctive bunkers, large undulated greens, and close-cut fairways . . . all of it glistening brightly, completely white with a heavy frost!

We had the 8 am tee time, the first of the day at the Shadows Course, but were informed that we were facing at least a 2 hour frost delay - which threatened our ability to finish both courses with daylight to spare. At about 9:40 we were teeing off. The conditioning on the Shadows Course was extremely rough, some of it due to the time of year and some runoff from some very heavy recent rains, but much of it seemed to be a maintenance issue. Its poor conditioning was unfortunate as it really distracted from a course that demanded shot making, featured a lot of natural hazards and changes in elevation, and some great Pete Dye signature bunkers. Upon finishing the 18th hole, and without pausing even to eat, we headed past the very impressive clubhouse and headed to the 1st hole of the Sky Course.

3rd hole at Lost Canyons Golf Club (Shadow)

In our opinion the Sky Course was the obvious choice as the best course on the property. The conditioning was markedly improved (though still not exceptional), and the piece of ground offered a greater variety of strong and distinct holes, as it played along broad ridges, and through strategic canyons, offering a variety of hazards. As would prove typical for the remainder of the trip (and is a running theme on most, if not all, golf trips), we finished with just enough daylight to play the final hole.

2nd hole at Lost Canyons Golf Club (Sky)

Rather than head back to the house for the night we took off toward Staples Center to watch the LA Clippers play host to the Atlanta Hawks, but not before stopping to gorge ourselves at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian-style barbecue called Picanha's. It wasn't busy, so we were the first, and sometimes only, stop all night for the meat-carrying servers, and we all ate double or triple what we should have. At the game, we had a connection with one of the executives in the Clipper's front office, and ended up getting lower bowl tickets for $10 apiece. When we found our seats, however, we realized that they were behind the basket and not at a premium angle for watching the game, so at half time we relocated to a group of seats that we noticed had been vacant throughout the first two quarters. The unfortunate guy that followed us to the improved location got kicked out, but, as luck would have it, we were able to watch the entire second half from great seats right on the mid-court line.

Thursday we started the day at a very low-key course (by reputation) called Saticoy Country Club in Somis. We carefully watched the temperature and the terrain as we neared the course, and were a little doubtful about both. However, when we arrived, the course was frost-free, and the property that the course was located on looked extremely promising. We weren't disappointed. Saticoy Country Club ended up being one of the few unheralded gems that occasionally get "discovered" after having been originally slotted to fill in the schedule around the big name courses on the trip. The most notable feature was that of the green complexes, which feature superb surfaces and fantastic bunkering. We learned following the round that John Harbottle III had been hired in recent years to redo all 80 bunkers in the original style of William P. Bell who famously collaborated on the bunkering at Riviera and others. Harbottle is perhaps more famous for his bunkering redesigns than his original designs, and Saticoy added to that deserved reputation.

6th hole at Saticoy Country Club

Other than my slicing a drive and scoring a direct hit on a golf cart of the group behind us (on a parallel hole), and Daren and Bill unknowingly crushing consecutive perfect drives into a blind valley and into the group ahead of us a couple of holes later, the morning round was an absolute pleasure. Interestingly, the group ahead of us spitefully picked up Daren's ball when it almost hit them but found, after they picked it up, that it was actually one of their own balls; as Daren had seen it left lying just off the previous green, had picked it up and slipped it into in his pocket, and then proceeded to play it off of the next tee. They actually wondered if he had intentionally hit it to them, and offered kind of a confused "thanks" when we caught up to them. You're welcome!

9th hole at Saticoy Country Club

The afternoon round was destined to be the controversial round of the trip. Rustic Canyon Golf Course opened in 2002 to some very high honors including the #1 Best New course in America in the Public Affordable category. A Gil Hanse design, Rustic Canyon is an architectural minimalist's dream course. As such, it does not have what has a become a prototypical modern appeal - at least to those who are looking for perfectly manicured fairways, level lies on every shot, and water features that have been created as much for picture taking as for shot making. Having said this, however, Rustic Canyon is a fantastic track, utilizing natural contours, and living up to its namesake by fitting in seamlessly with the arid, sage-brush-covered terrain in which it was built. All of us left having thoroughly enjoyed an affordable, public, true test of golf.

13th hole at Rustic Canyon Golf Course

Comedy for the afternoon round came from our late joining of a single, who was playing in front of us but behind a slow foursome, in our attempt to finish the round before dark. We had been playing with a great guy named Bart throughout the round - who talked Daren's ear off, mostly about his incredible career successes, but he gave us no real comedy. Our 5th, however, gave us plenty of laughs for the final 3 or 4 holes. He was the classic "young buck" (a Steve Satterfield term) who thought that he was SO much better than he actually was. Consequently, almost every shot was less than what he expected it to be. These less-than-perfect shots, we less-than-pleasantly found were always followed by a vocal blue streak capable of boiling the wax in your ears. A nice guy overall, he was just completely oblivious to the fact that some may not share or appreciate his colorful vocabulary.

Friday's day began with at the world-renowned Riviera Golf Club. With the first tee time of the day, and a joint anxiousness to experience a course that was less than 2 weeks from hosting a PGA tournament - the Northern Trust Open, formerly known as the Nissan Open, we showed up plenty early. However, we were met with a very warm welcome by the staff, but quite coldly by another one of mother nature's frost delays. As we waited, club members arrived and insisted on being sent off as soon as possible, resulting again in us teeing off much later than planned, and putting the afternoon round in serious jeopardy.

Early comedy included the starter (who announced each of us at the first tee in tournament style), asking where we were from, and upon hearing that we were from Idaho, said "oh, I went to school near there . . . in Jackson, Mississippi!" We never were able to figure out what he was talking about. Additionally, we were initially asked if we would like to walk or ride (but were told that it was cart-path-only). We chose to walk, which we had strongly considered doing anyway, to take in as complete an experience as possible. However, we were then informed that first-time guests were not allowed to walk without a caddy and were assigned carts . . . as well as a forecaddy. Hmm??

We were joined by an assistant pro named Andy, formerly from England, and now living the life at The Riviera. He proved to be a wealth of information; from a guided tour of the clubhouse and locker room area, to detailing how certain pros had played certain holes in past events, to identifying Tom Hanks as the owner of the home that I hit with a ridiculously wayward shot off of #4 tee. We played back as far as they would let us (the tips were closed for conditioning in preparation for the Open), tried to avoid the hospitality tents and bleachers that were already in place, imagined throngs of people lining tees, fairways, and greens, cherished our well-played holes, and tried not to be to bothered about not scoring extremely well on a fantastic, tour-tested track. We shared a few birdies, dealt well with the famous bunker in the middle of #6 green, played a temporary green on the famous 10th, and beat the assistant pro in a best ball competition over the last five holes. What an experience!!

18th hole at The Riviera Country Club

At this point, we had already missed our tee time at Valencia Country Club where we were to be joined by Daren's brother, Roger. We called ahead, though, told them of our status, and they were gracious enough to invite us to still come and play and experience as many holes as possible. Did we finish? C'mon! We always finish.

While built by the famous Robert Trent Jones in 1965, and landlocked by development and limited in its ability to stretch out, Valencia still offered plenty of "teeth," and still maintained the country club style isolation from its surroundings. Great water features, a stellar design variety, and impressive greens were the essence of the round. A 237 yard par 3 on the front with a bail-out left and a 202 yard par 3 on the back with a bailout right, both playing entirely over water were both signature short holes, while both sets of 9 ended on good par 5s with the 18th being the most distinct. We again finished as late as the daylight allowed, making our final approach shots in about as little light as you would have wanted to.

3rd hole at Valencia Country Club

Afterwards, not having taken time at any point during the day to eat, we were famished. Unfortunately, we relived the good old days of golf tripping, by having no problem getting on great courses, but all kinds of trouble actually sitting down at a great place to eat. We were trying to coordinate our efforts with our gracious hosts via cell phones, which added to the difficulties, but in the end we chose a local joint called Rosa's only to show up and find that it had closed and out of business. We then chose a second location, a Red Robin, where we were parked, in the restaurant, and waiting for our name to be called before we were alerted that not everyone in the group had had great past experiences there. So we made the 3rd time the charm and settled on a location that was actually still in business and acceptable to all five of us. We ate way too much.

Saturday was the final day of the trip, and we were fortunate to have "saved the best for last." Sherwood Country Club was the final golf experience of the vacation, and it didn't disappoint! Interestingly, we came very close to not getting to play it at all. California had not only had unseasonable cool temperatures, but had had weeks preceding our arrival of torrential rains - getting more rain in January than they often do in a year. As a consequence, many of the courses had taken a beating relative to conditioning. Sherwood CC, with their reputation for impeccable conditioning was hesitant to have us experience the course in less-than-perfect shape. However, we were blessed by the good nature of a first-class head pro, and were given the chance to come and enjoy a course that impressed on every level.

We were given a royal welcome by multiple attendants and Ian Langford - the head pro, as we pulled up to the spectacular clubhouse. We played as a foursome with Mr. Langford, with each of us having our own caddy. I am quite sure that it was the first time that I have played with 8 in a group (counting the 4 caddies). We started on the back 9, then played the front, and enjoyed every inch of the magnificent Jack Nicklaus design. Mr. Langford was a wealth of information regarding the history of the site, the surrounding celebrity homes, and numberless stories from the course. Halfway through the round, the staff brought us each a box lunch that included the best club sandwich that I have ever eaten. Daren ordered a turkey sandwich, but our boxes got switched, and by the time I had brought it to his attention, he had already eaten half of what he described as the "best turkey sandwich" he had ever eaten. My caddie, Chad, was a former collegiate golfer and head pro of a smaller local course. He now caddied at Sherwood as a side job, while selling insurance for a living. Upon finishing we sat down in the clubhouse for a couple of drinks with Mr. Langford, where he continued to give us history and stories of the course that we could have listened to all day. As it turned out, we listened and talked a little too long, and suddenly realized that we were about to repeat the circumstance that we always put ourselves in at the end of a golf trip - we were going to have to FLY in order to not miss our flight!

18th hole at Sherwood Country Club

• Being well connected for priced-right tickets to NBA games . . . Not Hype.
• Conditioning's impact on every other facet of course design and enjoyment . . . Not Hype.
• Cart-path-only golf - Hype . . . please, just let us walk!.
• Sherwood Country Club . . . Not Hype.

Ian gave us directions to miss traffic, but we didn't listen very closely and ended up in a pretty good back-up. We got off of the highway and tried some surface streets that we hoped would be faster, and that took us right past an In-and-Out Burger (even running late, we still have our priorities). We all ordered double cheese burgers, made in the famous "Animal Style," and encountered traffic and poor luck with stoplights, all the way to the off-site Enterprise location. When arrived, we had less than 30 minutes until our scheduled departure and the shuttle pulled out of the lot as we pulled in. When we desperately described our situation to the attendant, he grabbed a Dodge Durango that was on the lot, told us to pile in, and made a special trip to the terminal. As luck would have it, no one was in line, we had a very competent check-in clerk, and we made the flight with all of our bags! We all agreed that, once again, we had cut it a little too close. But, it really is the only way that we know how to end a golf trip.