Well I can't believe the weather in Los Angeles over the last week. Ideal conditions for the upcoming Northern Trust Tournament, formerly known as Nissan Open and L.A.Open. The weather over this week was in the mid 70's and Monday was 82. I just finished up a week with the Grammy Awards at Staples Center and at lunch everyday I was chomping at the bit to get out and play but unfortunently my hours were long and traffic was awful the few early days I had. But I got some great feed back on my forum thread " reading greens" from Tenthtee and Froghairs, thank you to both of them. I cant wait to go out during lunch this week to a putting green and stroke the putter. I have not had a day off in 2 weeks and not one till next week, which I will hopefully get out and play. I have been doing a lot visualization methods over last week and will do more this week at work.
Has anyone in our group played in the Golf Channel Amatuer Tour events? I just joined the Los Angeles division and hope through out this year to play L.A. , Inland Empire, Palm Springs, and Las Vegas. I live fairly close to them all except Vegas, but I go there about 2-3 times a year for golf so I might as well play in a tournament and play a nice course. I am playing in the Champions Division and only know 1 person that I only see about 1- maybe 2 times a year when we play the High Desert Amatuer Championship. But I have seen his name many times on the results for the tour. If anyone has any insights on what it is like from playing the events such as ...nice courses?....Friendly people?....Sandbaggers? ..... it would be appreciated. So keep swinging, weather is going to get better soon before you know it, yes even on the East Coast where it is 10 degrees now sorry.
I'm glad to hear that you are having nice weather. Here in northern
Illinois, we might see temps above freezing sometime in the next 10
days. I think i've forgotton what the ground looks like under all this
white stuff.
Here is my report on Death Valley Golf. I golfed in 75*F weather, which from my perspective is perfect weather. It did get into the low 80s, but that was during my hiking trips in the after noon. As for golf, the course was in decent shape. That being said the greens are a bit different than what I am use to. By that I mean they are built different. There is some sort of material under the grass that prevent divots, and they were quite a bit faster than what i am use to. This being a very arid region, I guess is what makes up the way way these greens have been built. My first day's round on Saturday I shot an 84. (Par 70) I have not played here in a few years, so it was some what of a new course for me. The greens were quite fast, and I left myself alot of down hill putts. I probably missed 5 or 6 putts that i would normally make on my home course. I did not lose any balls, or have any OBs. I did get lost on the course the first day and played hole 11 instead of 8, (I miss read the sign) On Sunday I shot a 77. I was little more informed on club selection, while leaving myself more up hill putts. Up hill putts are much easier on the score card than down hill putts, especially on fast greens. All in all the course was in pretty good shape for winter time. The greens did take some getting use to. Price wise if you walked it was $55 for 18 holes. If you took a cart it was $67.50. I walked on Saturday, and road in a cart on Sunday since my (non-golfing) wife went with me with the "camera". There is a twilight rate that starts about 4 hours before sundown which will save you about $20 for a round. They also offer 9 hole rates.The course was not crowded, however there was guy in a cart who seemed to be playing "speed" golf, but just letting him play through solved that problem. I would recommend you bring your own food & drinks, or be prepared to pay an arm and a leg for food, and drinks at the $17 buffet/general store. This place is off the beaten path, so things are more expensive. As for acommodations we stayed in Beatty NV for about half the price we would have been charged at the two DV motels. Beatty is about 40 miles away, and is an easy drive to Furnace Creek. There are three camp grounds available if you are more of the out of doors type. Temps at night got down to the high 40s.As for wild life I saw coyotes, road runners, and ravens on the course.Another thing is that this is a national park, and there is an entry fee associated with this park of $20. So, you need to add this cost into your golfing budget. If you get caught, and have not paid the entry fee, the ticket from the NPS can be well over $100. I always purchase an interagency annual pass the first of every year, since i travel so much. I will try to post some picts of the area in a future blog on this website. It was a fun trip. FHs
I guess maybe I should have been a blonde.....(no offense to blondes) I think it would be funny to leave a flag stick in the middle of all that salt. The pictures I found were incredible. It almost looked like the expression " when it snows in hell" Here in the Antelope Valley we have a national park named "Devils Punchbowl" which is in the mountains off highway 138. Still have not found any punch much less a bottled water Somethingabout this high desert area and the term " Devil" . I know in the punch bowl it was from the indians seeing wolves and calling them devils. So much for the history lesson now back to the golf. So FH's be sure to write about Furnace Creek, I am dying to hear about it.
You are quite correct. I was just joking about Devil's Golf Course being a golf course. Just having some fun with the thread. My remark about it being built in the bottom of a dry lake bed is a bit misleading. It was built as the water dried up, but not by man kind. In fact if you do try to golf there, and get caught by the NPS you are looking at a pretty hefty fine. It is a geological tourist attraction, and should not be disturbed. There is only one actual playable golf course in Death Valley. FHs
Well I did some looking myself on "Devils golf course" and I think it is just a title name for that area and never was there a "golf course". I think someone just thought at 1 time this would be a great place for a golf course for the devil being that it is hotter than hell there. Hence the name "devils golf course". If you find a ball careful it may be a charcoal bricket.
There is a second "titled: golf course in Death Valley. It is called "Devils Golf Course". It was built in the bottom of an old dry lake bed. I have yet to find any of the greens on this track. Come to think of it I have never found any of the tee boxes, or fairways. I will take a pict of me by the signage, showing some of the hazrds...lol As for the weather it has turned quite windy. 50mph gusts have blown over a few trees in the Vegas area. 70+ degrees seems about right for DV this weekend. FHs
At the risk of gettting off topic, they did have a golf sequence on lost, on the beach.
But being below sea level, and having the barometric pressure do strange things to the ball, or whatever, and especially with the exotic pine trees and desert setting, now that's something any golfer - 'ere the rainy Northwest, or the frozen Midwest - could appreciate.
" Lost " is a good description from the picture. Froghairs let me know how it was. Today the weather in AV was very cold and windy. So expect maybe some low to mid 70's weather.
Talk about the extremes from Havasu to Furnace creek. I am about 1 hr. From Furnace in Lancaster. I still have not been out there but people say its a very nice course. And yes forget about the Summer time. Can fry an egg on the bald spot on my head.
I was in Lake Havasu Az this past weekend playing golf. The weather there was quite nice. (75*F) Played alittle course where you needed body armor to protect yourself from all errant ball flights. A very crowded course, but for $20 for 18 holes the crowds were not a surprise.
This coming weekend I will be golfing 214 feet below sea level at the Frurnace Creek golf course in Death Valley CA. It is supposed to be in 80s on Sunday.
Here in the Antelope Valley we have a national park named "Devils Punchbowl" which is in the mountains off highway 138. Still have not found any punch much less a bottled water
Somethingabout this high desert area and the term " Devil" . I know in the punch bowl it was from the indians seeing wolves and calling them devils. So much for the history lesson now back to the golf. So FH's be sure to write about Furnace Creek, I am dying to hear about it. 