Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Fighting The Judge


As many of you may know, I occasionally write golf articles for the great Twitter Hashtag Chat #GolfChat. I have a new article up today regarding the stuffy attitude golf has about clothing on the course. Check it out and let me know if you agree with it (or not)!

http://www.golfchat.org/smails-mindedness/

Any copyrighted material in this or the GolfChat article are used for review and commentary purposes only. 

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

David L Baker Golf Review


Most golf courses have names that paint a picture in your mind. Rustic Canyon, Hidden Valley, Cypress Point. I am always intrigued by courses that go in the opposite direction, naming a course after a specific person. So I was interested in playing the David L. Baker golf course in Fountain Valley the other week.

As you can see from the plaque above, the course is named after David due to his efforts of making the Mile Square project happen (which also includes another golf course and recreation areas for the residents.


The course opens up for a short par 3 then a straight ahead par 4 and continues on with a few par 3s in a row followed by a par 4. The par 3s often have water protecting them which requires a greater level of precision than most executive courses demand.


The course is a pretty straightforward affair, it is all laid out ahead of you but there are bad sides of the holes to be on and the course can bare its teeth if asked. Perhaps the best hole on the course is the par 4 9th which is 310+ yards with netting to the left and water to the right. It is a real tester of a hole.


I had been told in advance that the real slow down in the course happens between holes 12-15 and boy was that ever the case. You have a driveable par 4 followed by a short par 3. Rinse and repeat again and you have a 4 hole stretch where I saw groups peeling off to replay other holes on BOTH the front and back sides rather than playing that 4 hole stretch.

Now I really liked these holes but I also see from an architectural perspective how they completely kill the momentum of the course and I am not quite sure what the solution is. Modern technology and a golfer's overinflated sense of skills contributes to everyone thinking they can drive the green. If you combined some of the holes and say reduced it to a 12 hole course, you would get a tremendous amount of interesting holes and still keep the pace of play to 3 hours or so.

While I doubt DLB would reduce their holes, overall the course IS a really nice executive course that let's you stretch most of your golf muscles. Despite holes 12-15, the pace of play was still 3 hours for 18 holes, which you can't beat with a stick. If you are looking for a quick round near Huntington Beach, DLB is the course for you.

For more info on David L Baker check out this link: http://www.davidlbakergc.com/