I had the pleasure this week of attending the Grand Opening of "The Challenge Course" at Monarch Dunes. The Challenge Course, designed by Damian Pascuzzo and Steve Pate, is a unique collection of 12 par-3 holes that presents a fun, and very challenging, alternative for players of all abilities. It's a great place to get a little more golf in after 18 or a quick round in when you don't have time for 18. It's also a great place to learn and improve your game! I used just about every club in my bag to reach these 12 large, undulating greens. It was certainly a "challenge."


The Challenge at Monarch Dunes, by Aidan Bradley

The holes range in length from 82 to 242 yards from the back tees. The course is 1858 yards from the back, 1640 from the middle, and 1377 from the front. The tees are arranged on each hole, not only to vary the shot length, but to vary the angle of attack. Players teeing off from the back tees will face the most difficult shot, while those playing from the front tees will have a far easier line to the green. Each hole has at least 5000 square feet of tee space with three sets of tee markers giving players plenty of choice. For opening day, the superintendent presented us with all the toughest pin placements. It was like playing the U.S. Open in miniature. Not one golfer avoided at least a few bogies.


The Challenge at Monarch Dunes, by Aidan Bradley

The greens are what make this golf course so unique and memorable. I challenge anyone to find a course of any length with such large, undulating greens! You'll encounter ridges and swales running through the greens that may change 3-4 feet in elevation. The 12th hole must rise 15-20 feet from left to right! It reminded me of the famous 16th at Pasatiempo, only sideways! To accommodate this type of movement, the greens are about 8000 square feet (or about 30% larger than normal greens). This vast movement in the greens let the designers create some areas on the green that are quite challenging when approached from the back tees. Players will have to think hard about how they want to attack the hole. The challenge isn't just to land the green, but the end up on the tier where the pin is located. Otherwise, 3 (or even 4) putts isn't unlikely. The greens are so large that the superintendent could probably locate pins in a rotation of 8 or 10 instead of the traditional 4 or 6! We found the greens very playable - both receptive and not overly fast.


The Challenge at Monarch Dunes, by Aidan Bradley

The links style golf course has a natural, rugged appearance, which is enhanced by the dunes that were shaped throughout the fairways and around the greens. The golf course was completely constructed by shaping the native sand into the desired features. There are five lakes which come into play. The residential development uses these golf course lakes to handle 100% of the project's storm water. The golf course uses the same turf grass as found on The Old Course, a blend of fescues for the fairways and roughs and velvet bentgrass greens.

It was pretty fun to record a classic like Pasatiempo as my 50th course, then follow that up by making my 51st such a unique new course! In both experiences, the courses won the 1st round. With those tough pins on opening day, I came in with 5 pars and 7 bogies! But I returned the next day and shot 2-over and finally got my first birdie! I'm pretty sure I can shoot an even par round here, but the onshore headwinds on the 5th and 12th require my fairway wood or even driver to hit the green. And they're no easy greens to 2-putt. I'm pretty sure that these 2 holes are tougher par 3's than I've ever encountered on any 18 holer. But I'm up for the challenge!

I encourage you to take "The Challenge" too. In fact, if you're in the area during the week, and my schedule permits, I'll treat you to a round! Afterall, the green fees are only $12 for Royal Rewards members and $18 for non-members. And if you beat me, I'll treat you to a round on the "Old Course" at Monarch Dunes! Just drop me an email.

Labels: Courses, Monarch Dunes, Rounds, The Challenge

After much anticipation, I joined a group of artful golfers yesterday to play Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, CA - in an event hosted by The Shivas Irons Society. The event celebrated the Society's 16th anniversary, with "The Secret to Golf Revealed" by guest speaker, Fred Shoemaker. Having never played Pasatiempo, this historic Alister Mackenzie masterpiece became the 50th golf course added to my career course list. In case you were wondering, it's not my "artful 50th" birthday yet. That's still 5 months away.


Pasatiempo Golf Club - 13th Hole, by Rob Babcock

Pasatiempo, ranked #30 in "Golf Digest's 2008 America's Greatest Public Courses" and #55 in the "Top 100 Public and Private Courses in the U.S." by Golf Magazine, recently completed a 10-year, multi-million dollar restoration effort led by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina of Renaissance Golf. Doak's team overhauled Pasatiempo's 18 holes, relying on hundreds of old photographs and drawings to bring back original MacKenzie bunkering, green complexes and tees that had been lost for decades.

The course was incredible - seemingly short, but hard!

The event was a shotgun start and my foursome was assigned to start on the first hole, playing the middle tees (6125 yards, 70.5/136). I was grouped with Ron (a local retiree who had never played Pasatiempo even though he had a 2nd home in Santa Cruz), Todd (the story-telling owner of The Mackenzie Golf Bag Company in Portland), and Dave (surely the friendliest and most competent caddy at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, who was carrying his own Mackenzie golf bag).

We were among the few who decided to walk the course. I thought I was in for an easy walk since the greens and tees were situated close by. But, not only was it a particularly hot day out, I'm convinced that every hole went uphill! Anyway, after little sleep the night before followed by a 3-hour drive the morning of the event, I was zapped of energy early in the round. Fortunately a breeze helped cool things off later in the round.

Tired or not, I had no excuse for poor play since the round was preceded with Fred Shoemaker telling us all about "The Secret." According to Fred, the secret is that we already know how to make a perfect golf swing. We don't have to read books or hire experts to help us "find" our swing, we simply need to look inward to "discover" what's always been there. Fred shared experiences and stories to provide evidence that by simply being present and aware, that which lies hidden beneath our mental noise and emotional interference awaits our discovery - perhaps at Pasatiempo. I was thinking the course name might even provide a tip to untap this hidden ability - to simply take a "pasa" at the ball with good "tiempo."

Inspired by his talk, my round got off to a good start with solid drives on the 2 opening par 4's and an artful chip to within inches on the challenging long uphill par 3 3rd to save par. But I guess I failed to take a pass at the ball with good tempo with my drive on the 4th. A duck hook put me in long grass under a tree, where I stubbornly tried to reach the green with a punch shot that would have had to go under some branches, over a bunker, then stop quickly on the green. Instead, the ball lunged forward about 10 feet. My next shot didn't fare much better. I then tried to lob the ball over the bunker to a tight pin from a tight lie. I ended up in the bunker. I finally got on and 2-putted for a triple bogie! I think I rediscovered my mental noise and emotional interference.

I quickly let go of any thoughts of self-pity and returned to the present moment, taking in the beautiful setting and artful course design. I went on to play a pretty decent front nine, finishing 4-over, with help from a tap-in birdie on the short downhill par 3 8th.

But the challenging back nine proved tougher.

I failed to get up and down from just off the undulating green on 10, but then hit 2 solid 4-woods on 11, leaving a 6-footer for birdie - which I barely missed. Four consecutive bogies followed and put me 9-over after 15. I was particularly disappointed with my bogies on 13 and 15. On 13, a 280 yard drive left me an easy sand wedge in. Somehow, I ended up well over the green from 115 yards out. On the 120 yard par 3 15th, I choose to take an extra club due to a strong headwind. I hit an excellent 9-iron right at the pin, but landed on the back of the green and rolled into the rough, leaving me with a quick downhill chip.


Pasatiempo Golf Club - 16th Hole, by Rob Babcock

But it came together again on the infamous 16th. I hit a perfect 4-wood off the tee that drew a little left and rolled to the end of the fairway, leaving me 105 yards out. With the pin tucked up on the edge of the upper tier near the left side of the green, I took a little extra club. I'd heard horror stories about balls rolling back down to the front of the green. My shot landed 1 foot from the pin, but bounced well over the green, leaving me nearly out-of-bounds with a testy downhill pitch that could easily roll past the pin and down to the bottom of this severely sloped green. I visualized the shot, let go of any fear or tension, and relaxed my arms and grip. I opened my lob wedge way up, opened my stance, and took a perfect pass at the ball with good tempo. I barely landed the green and rolled downhill to just 4-feet past the pin, barely short of the point where the ball would have rolled over the edge to the lower tier. Making the comeback putt made for a welcome recovery.

I made another bogie on 17 from inside 100 yards after another good drive (where our entire foursome teed up alongside each other and hit our drives at the same time). But I finished with a par, finally choosing the correct club on the downhill 143 yard par 3 finishing hole. My pitching wedge and 2-putts got me in with an 80.

Although I'd like to replay a few holes, I did par each of the 3 hardest, made some remarkable shots, and thoroughly enjoyed my friendly foursome, the clear skies and awesome views of the Monterey Peninsula, the challenging Mackenzie design, and of course, learning "The Secret."

But part of uncovering "The Secret" is looking inward to determine "why" I hooked that drive on 4, "why" I didn't just accept that mistake and punch back out to the fairway, "why" didn't I sleep well the night before, and "why" did I consistently pick too much club on my approaches. The biggest reward from this day will come from finding these answers and learning from them. The answers won't just help my game, they'll tell me more about who I brought to the course that day and where I still need growth, in golf and life.

Following the round, the entire group met for cocktails and dinner and enjoyed discussing the course, their rounds, and their challenge to discover the secret and their perfect swings. I think it's safe to say that a few imperfect swings found their way into everyone's round!

To top things off, I found it particularly rewarding that on this day that I played my 50th career course, I found myself seated next to a participant - Larry Berle - who has played all of the Golf Digest Top 100 courses! During 10 years that spanned from 1992 to 2002, Larry found his way on to 117 top U.S. courses (the list of top 100 courses is a moving target over a 10 year span). Larry was introduced to the game by his wife Annie in 1990. She took him to Pebble Beach for his birthday in 1992, where on the 18th hole his caddy informally told him that "you are standing on the greatest finishing hole in golf!" This is where his dream to play the Golf Digest Top 100 was born. Larry has written a book - A Golfer's Dream - that tells the story of his inspiring quest and what he learned along the way. I'm planning on buying a copy!

It was a pleasure to play such a great course and to meet so many interesting golfers like Larry, Fred, Ron, Todd, Dave, and so many others. I highly recommend attending a The Shivas Irons Society event if you're interested in meeting some truly artful golfers. Thanks Steve and Jo for putting on such extraordinary events!

Labels: Alister Mackenzie, Books, Courses, Fred Shoemaker, Pasatiempo, Rounds, Shivas Irons Society

My wife and I just returned from a 2-week trip in our small motorhome, traveling to one of our favorite destinations - Colorado. Over the years, we've traveled to Colorado several times with our children on summer "hiking" vacations. One vacation was spent in the San Juan Mountains, visiting Ouray, Telluride and Durango. During another trip, we stayed in Glenwood Springs and visited nearby Aspen. Two other trips took us to Rocky Mountain National Park, staying once in Estes Park and the other in Grand Lake. We also spent time in Steamboat Springs during one of those trips. I've also traveled to Colorado on several ski trips with friends, each time staying in Summit County and skiing or boarding Arapaho Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Vail. This was my first trip to Colorado that included golf!


The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction, CO

We spent 2 long days driving there to get through the brutal California, Nevada, and Utah desert heat, stopping in St. George, UT or first night, then in a quiet State Park campground just outside Grand Junction the second night. The following morning, I headed over to The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, a Jim Engh design incorporating wonderful views of the Grand Mesa, the Bookcliffs and the Colorado National Monument. I got an early start to beat the heat and ended up playing alone. Along the way, three twosomes let me play through and I finished in only 2 1/2 hours. I played from the blue tees (6486 yds, 69.9/133) and found the course relatively easy from that distance, hitting 8 fairways and 12 greens in regulation. My biggest challenge was club selection, not only due to the higher elevation near 4500 feet, but due to so many elevated tees. I managed to par every par 3, and avoided double bogies except for one on the par 4 6th where my drive carried 300 yards into a lake beyond the dogleg. Fortunately, my only birdie of the round came on the prior hole, so I still finished the front with a 39. If it weren't for that double bogie and overall poor putting - 37 putts including 3 3-putts - my round of 79 could have been closer to 75. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, the setting, and my initiation into high desert golf.


Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club, New Castle, CO

After the round, we traveled along I-70 to to Glenwood Springs, where we stayed two nights in a campground along the Colorado River. The first morning, I headed back 15 minutes on I-70 to New Castle to play Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club, another Jim Engh design. Like Redlands Mesa, Engh provides the golfer with many elevated tees, with drops up to 100 feet to the fairway below. The setting however, had transitioned from high desert to rugged mountain canyons near 5500 feet. Again, I headed off by myself and played through a couple twosomes, but met up with 3 locals about my age from Eagle on the par 3 9th and finished the round with them. I was having a good round on the front, finishing 1-over with 1 birdie and 2 bogies. The course knowledge shared by these locals helped me keep up the good round and I finished with a 3-over 75 from the blue tees (6369 yards, 69.5/126), despite another 37 putts! I hit 14 greens in regulation this round along with 9 fairways. I found these 2 Engh courses fun to play, but might tire of all the elevation changes if played regularly. Plus, both courses are best played with a cart, and I prefer walking. We finished the day with a drive south of Glenwood Springs, including a nice hike along the Maroon Bells Creek, followed by dinner in the quaint village of Aspen.

The following day we drove east, then headed north to Steamboat Springs. The next morning, I played Haymaker, a challenging links-style course designed by Keith Foster, with sweeping views of Yampa Valley and nearby Mount Werner. I joined a local named Steve (who broke 80 that day for the first time ever) and 2 visitors from Austin, TX, one of which appeared to be quite an accomplished golfer. He was tall and lanky, with a fluid swing providing a long straight drives. It wasn't long before I found myself swinging for the fences from the gold tees (6728 yards, 70.9/129), not only to keep up (and surpass) his drives, but to fully take advantage of the warm air and elevation approaching 7000 feet. I was absolutely clobbering my drives here, with carries around 300 yards rolling out to 315 to 325 yards. I nearly cleared a hazard 260 yards out trying to reach the 280 yard par 4 8th from the tee with a 4-wood. After a long drive on the 525 yard par 5 13th, I hit my 5-iron well over a green from 210 yards out. I cleared most of the lake bordering the 406 yard par 4 10th, leaving me with only 83 yards to the pin. Steve told me he'd never seen anyone that close to the green! Unfortunately, my aggressive play and sometime poor club selection (flying greens from 140 yards out with my PW) led to a slew of double, triple and quadruple bogies! For instance, I tried to drive the 318 yard par 4 11th, but failed to carry the 300+ yards required to get over the lake in front of the green by about 2 feet. I then made a mess of the hole after that. Several wayward shots during the round found the long, dense native grasses lining the fairways, where I failed every time to find my ball. I was also the only golfer walking in my foursome, and it was hot. Anyway, what proved to be my worst round in well over a year, my round of 92 was as much fun as I'd had playing golf in some time. I wish I'd had time to play Haymaker again to redeem myself (and swing a little easier), but next up was 3 golf-free days in Colorado wilderness. I still find it hard to believe that I followed up a round of 75 at Lakota Canyon with a 92 at Haymaker!


Haymaker Golf Course, Steamboat Springs, CO

After enjoying a night dry-camping along a 30-mile stretch of gravel road starting near Rabbit Ears pass and passing through Buffalo Park (and only seeing 4 other vehicles all day), we made our way to a campground near Bear Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness. Here, we found the best campsite we'd ever stayed in, surrounded by pine and aspen, along with a perfect view of Flattop Mountain. We spent 2 nights here and enjoyed an incredible hike up to the Mandall Lakes. This is just what our trip needed. It was very rewarding to get away from towns and people - and golf - for a few days.

On the day we left the Flat Tops, I wanted to get on the private Red Sky Ranch (Norman) course, but failed to do so. Instead, I headed over to Eagle and played Eagle Ranch Golf Club, the course recommended by the 3 locals I played with at Lakota Canyon. This Arnold Palmer design was long and included nice mountain views. I joined a local pro who played the tips (7530 yards, 74.4/138), but I played the gold tees (7151 yards, 72.7/135). Although I was hitting some more long drives, his drives were right next to mine in the fairway even though he was 20-30 yards back on the tee. I got off to a rough start on the front with the long irons in and way too many 3-putts and found myself 9-over after 12. But then the rain started coming down, along with some impressive thunder and lightning. My partner decided to call it quits and headed back to the clubhouse. That's when I started playing some golf! I finished the last 6 holes even par in a pretty good downpour to finish with a respectable 82.


Breckenridge Golf Club, Breckenridge, CO

After spending that night in an RV Park along the Eagle River near Gypsum, we headed to Breckenridge. Here, we stayed 2 nights in an upscale RV Park just north of town, alongside million-dollar Prevost motorhomes. Our little Winnebago View looked like a Mini-Cooper. Before heading into town to finally do some shopping, I played a round at the Jack Nicklaus designed Breckenridge Golf Club (Bear/Elk, 6642 yards, 71.5/132). I joined a single named Greg vacationing from Los Angeles and an older couple in their 80's, Ken and Eleanor, from Kansas City. After Ken parred the opening hole with a strong drive and fairway wood, I asked him if he shot his age on a regular basis. He'd obviously played a lot of golf over the years and didn't seem to loose much distance or talent. He said he didn't, but after watching him make some quality chips and putts too, I think he was just being humble. Greg and I walked the course and I found the Bear nine both easier to walk and easier to score than the Elk nine, however I shot 3-over on Bear thanks to failing to get up and down from 3 bunkers and shot 2-over on the Elk after getting my first and only birdie on its 540 yard par 5 8th. On the uphill 274 yard par 4 6th, I drove the ball over the green and nearly ended up in the forest well above the green. I made a Phil-like lob shot back down to the green and 2-putted for par. I found this to be my most enjoyable round of the trip. My 77 was a satisfying score and the course, setting, and scenery were simply beautiful.

The next morning, I put my clubs on my back and rode my bicycle to the course so my wife could sleep in and stay in the RV Park to read and scrapbook. This time I hooked up with 3 guys about my age from Washington D.C. and played the Elk/Beaver course (6542 yards, 71.1/136). The sloppy drives I experienced at Haymaker returned for this round. Instead of shooting 2-over on Elk like the day before, I shot 9-over. That even included a birdie on Elk's par 4 6th where I landed the green from the tee this time instead of ending over the green. Like Haymaker, errant tee shots at Breckenridge turn into lost balls. The native grasses are just too long and dense to waste anytime looking for your ball. I managed a slightly better back nine on Beaver with a birdie on it's par 5 2nd, but still came in with a disappointing 85. The other three avid golfers in my group struggled even more. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed Breckenridge and mountain golf in general, and look forward to a return visit soon.

I managed to drive home from Breckenridge in 2 days. Then, probably due to exhustion, played one more horrible round a couple days later in my travel league. Fortunately, I quickly regained my form and shot 1-over this week in my Tuesday night 9-hole league, then a 1-over 73 2 days later at Cypress Ridge Golf Course (6443 yards, 71.2/129). I spent a little time on the range after that last poor round and got my driver back under control. Over vacation, I just started swinging too hard to take advantage of the elevation and attempt those 300+ yard drives. I think I've finally learned that straight is better than long!

In response to my prior post on making short putts, everyone's advice really helped and was very appreciated. Even though I had trouble adjusting to new greens while on vacation, my putting began to improve over those 2 weeks and was instrumental in my last 2 rounds of 1-over. A regular playing partner recognized immediately how much better my putting stroke looked. Still holding out hope for a sub-70 round before turning 50 next February!

Labels: Colorado, Courses, Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Rounds