Thursday, December 18, 2014

Golfing Rancho Park Beating The King Review


LA has a long golf history including hosting the LA Open beginning in 1926. One of those classic courses in LA is Rancho Park which is in a very LA-location, smack dab in the middle of houses and movie studios. I hadn't had a chance to play the course but when a friend asked me to play 9 at the crack of dawn, I definitely said yes!

Was it really dawn? Well check out this pic:


I hadn't made "first tracks" on a course in awhile and my body was still asleep as I definitely put up some big numbers on the first few holes.

On one of the holes, there was a hawk holding her fresh catch and never had I sympathized so much with prey after those first few holes:


The course wasn't overly difficult and unlike most parkland courses actually had some elevation gains and losses and holes weren't tightly packed together so you weren't always ducking from other golfers.

My mind and body finally starting connecting and I started hitting some good shots.


What is fascinating about Rancho is that on the back 9 there are no par 5's until 17 and then there are two par 's back to back, a truly unusual configuration.

Now about that golf history. A very big piece of that history happened on Rancho's 18th hole.


During a LA Open, Arnold Palmer hit a good drive and then proceeded to make a 12 on the hole. A plaque is erected on 18 to commemorate the meltdown and to inspire golfers that even the best screw up. Well folks, I bested Arnie by 8 shots firing a 40 foot birdie putt to end the round.

That is truly the beguiling thing about golf, you can be having a lousy round and then a few shots keeps you coming back. That and I know that I am soooo much better than Arnold Palmer.

For more info about Rancho, check out this link: http://www.golf.lacity.org/cdp_rancho.htm

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Holiday Golf Gift Guide

This year has been great for me. I got back into golf after a long layoff, started this golf blog and had a lot of great adventures playing cool courses. Over the course of the year, I found out about some great golf products that I think would make good stocking stuffers for any golf nut. Check em out!

EBars Golf Bars:



Power bars are everywhere nowadays in all different flavors for all different purposes. However, the best one I have found for golf is EBars. Specifically formulated for a round of golf, this bar is my favorite discovery of the year.  It not only tastes good (which is a rarity for power bars) but also is all natural and doesn't contain bad preservatives or other harmful junk which shows up in these bars. I eat these before every round and it really gets me up and going!

For more info on EBars, check em out here: http://www.ebars.com/all-products

Monsta Golf Balls:


The golf ball market is saturated with big companies, Titleist, Bridgestone, etc. but every once in awhile a small manufacturer pops up that offers a great golf ball. Enter Monsta with its distinct eye and no nonsense spin on the greens. The distance is pretty good and so is the durability of this ball. If you are looking to go outside the big guys, give this "little" guy a try!

For more info on the Monsta, check out: http://www.monstagolf.com/

Birdie Gift Card:



The great thing about having a lot of golf courses in the US is that there are a lot of coupon books to give you discounts to those courses. In Southern California, Roger Dunn is the best golf shop and their savings card is the best coupon card around. Who doesn't love savings? If you are in the Southlands, get thyself to Roger!

For more info on the Birdie book, check this out: http://www.worldwidegolfshops.com/2015-Birdie-Savings-Card--USGA-Handicap/10115723/Product