Like many golfers, my dream would be to travel the world and play the world's best golf courses (and break 80 on every one). However, I lack the time, the money, and the connections to realistically pursue this dream (but I could do the break 80 part!). I've happily accepted the fact that I'm fortunate simply to play a few new good courses each year on vacation, along with some pretty nice courses right here on the Central Coast.


Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point

But, it doesn't hurt to dream. And if you're going to dream, you need to know what courses to dream about. Well, I think I've just discovered the best, and perhaps most impartial, list of top courses!

Jim Colton recently launched Golf Blog 100, a new website with its very own Top 100 list, compiled by some very artful golf bloggers who cover golf courses and golf course design. I want their job!

Each selected panelist rated golf courses they've played from a list of 540 eligible courses around the world. There was no set criteria or scale, allowing each panelist to use their expertise in evaluating golf courses and defining what makes a golf course great. The final ranking is the result of a sophisticated modeling technique that ensures that the output is the best representation of the collective view of the panelists.

So far, Jim's released the Top 100 U.S. Courses. Top Public Courses and Top World Courses are coming soon.

Jim plans to profile a few of these courses each week, as well as link to blog posts from its contributors. This should become a valuable resource for anyone interested in playing these top courses and for learning more about golf course design. Jim's goal is to make Golf Blog 100 the first and only stop for golfers looking for comprehensive information of the top golf courses in the world.

The list of panelists include the following golf bloggers:

Jim Colton, Wegoblogger31
Will Smith, Punchbowl Golf
Chip Gaskins, Golf Course Classics
Anonymous, Top 100 Golfer
Anonymous, The Itinerant Golfer
Tom Dunne, Out and Back
Rob Rigg, The Walking Golfer
Gary D'Amato, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Golf Beat
Jim Tang, Vagabond Golfer
Matt Bosela, Now on the Tee
Bill Satterfield, Golf Course Gurus
Mike Sutorius, Golf Course Gurus
Dean Sivara, A Golfer's Quest: A Journey to Play America's Top 100 Golf Courses
Jay Flemma, A Walk In The Park
Anonymous, The London Golfer

Maybe I'll see you on one of these courses one day!

Top 100 Golf - www.golfblog100.com

Labels: Golf Rated Courses, Top 100

I just redesigned golfslo.com to include Twitter updates from our local golf courses. I'll be adding Twitter updates for our local Wineries, Restaurants, Activities, and Hotels soon.


GOLFSLO - San Luis Obispo County Golf

This is a great place to live or visit! Perfect weather, very affordable golf, growing wine region, great beaches, good hiking, historic missions, and even the Hearst Castle!

If you're ever in the area and need a golf partner, just let me know ;)

Labels: Central Coast, Golf, San Luis Obispo, Wine

This week, I discovered Golf My Way Home, the very artful golf story of John Dunn. John hitchhiked across America with his backpack and golf clubs to help raise money for cancer while on his way home to visit his father, who was dying of pancreatic cancer. John succeeds in raising over $25,000 on an adventure that begins on a Southern California beach, and 125 rides and 37 golf courses later, lands him home in Connecticut.


Golf My Way Home, John Dunn

John had already spent nearly four months at home with his dad the prior summer when he was first diagnosed with cancer. During this visit, they grew close and ironed out the misunderstandings that naturally existed between a free-spirit son and an old-fashioned, responsible father. But when his dad relapsed, he got rattled. The reality of his dad's mortality made John think long and hard about how he could keep living his life and continue the momentum of his own writing career, but somehow include his dad. Then the light bulb went on.

He'd hitchhike home with this golf clubs and write about it, an idea John had actually been toying with for years.

He shares, "the golf course has always been a refuge when the going got tough. I know golf is often considered a game that brings people together and I've got many close friends I met through golf, but it is also a solitary pursuit and in a very real way, many years ago, I golfed my way away from home. It enabled and grounded my personal journey - my search for my own path and my own truth. Of course, the end of the outward journey is often the realization that truth lies in the love and appreciation of home - of family and friends, of shared memories and acts of kindness and love. But that does not diminish the importance of the outward journey. It's as simple as the fact that there can be no light without darkness, no story without conflict. The journey is essential to the return. So now humbly, gratefully and with love I am Golfing My Way Home."

John divides his journey into eighteen "holes" or chapters with the 18th "home" hole being a literal return to his family home in Connecticut. He meets a cast of characters along the way and plays some pretty incredible golf courses. His website is filled with these stories, presented in both words and video. I'd imagine a book or documentary will follow soon!

His adventure proves to be life changing and is filled with many lessons. Mostly, I think, John learns to have faith in life and in each other. This journey reaffirms his faith in people and his country. And he learns that the end of his trip, and the eventual end of his fathers life, are in many ways just the beginning.

Golf My Way Home - www.golfmywayhome.org

Labels: Golf My Way Home, John Dunn