Love Hate Relationship-Part 2

     Yesterday I talked to you about Bayonet and Blackhorse.  I mentioned DeLaveaga located in the hills above Santa Cruz.  As was true with Bayonet/Blackhorse.  I truly hated the course and vowed that I would never play it again.  When you go on vacation in Santa Cruz which is a Pacific Ocean Seaside resort located about 50 miles north of Monterey, your affordable  golf options are limited.  You can play Pasatiempo which is a classic Alistair MacKenzie design and is expensive to play, or you can play DeLaveaga which is a municipal course and is much more affordable. The choice is a no brainer when you are on a budget.   
     DeLaveaga is a challenge.  the one thing that you better be good at is uphill, downhill and sidehill lies. there are very few places on the course that afford a level lie.  The fairways are demanding with steep barrancas surrounding most of the fairways. If that was not enough, there are mature pines and cypress trees that make shotmaking a must.  There is a lot of strategy involved when you play this course and patience is a must.
    You must know the course in order to place the ball in the correct position.  Driver off the tee is not always the best choice. It truly is a thinking man's course.  I didn't take it seriously the first few times that I played it and I hated it because of my attitude. I am sorry with that opinion Tim (The head pro at DeLaveaga) but that was just how it was. A few month ago I played the course with a friend and decided it wasn't going to beat me. I decided to take the smart approach and think about strategy. Instead of the normal 105 or 102, I cut ten strokes off my score and shot a 92.  It wasn't because I palayed any better, it was because I played the course smarter. I actually enjoyed my round.
     I plan to go back to the course and do a complete evaluation of the course with pictures and comments.  I have to talk to Tim about that one and I will do so soon.  My greatest success on this trip was on the #10 hole, which is a par 5.  There is a very small landing area because you have to carry a huge barranca on the left side of the fairway with out of bounds on the right.  I hit a huge drive into a great position and then took the barranca out of play.  I was so excited about my second shot being safe and in position for a possible par that I wound up getting too excited and double bogeyed the hole. I was still satisfied that I didn't take a higher number and was really excite that I finished the hole instead of evoking equitable stroke control.

1.      The views from the course are wonderful and the holes are very picturesque. It is a great place to play but by all means buy a course guide.  FOLLOW IT!!!!

   

Stay With Me

     I have to almost apologize to you my reader.  It has been a very long time since I have actually taken this blog seriously, and it really saddens me.  I do have an excuse though.  I have been laid up with a bad sciatic attack and have been unable to do much of anything.  I am just now able to walk for any length of time.  My legs feel like jello and my breathing capacity has to be built up again as I am winded very easily.  But, rest assured I am getting better quickly and hope to be out on the course soon. Another fact of the matter is I have gotten away from my love of writing as well.  I must make it a priority.
     I love golf.  I love writing and taking pictures of courses.  I should do that more.  The fact of the matter is that I retired to write and write about golf and travel. I have gotten far away from that.  I enjoy sharing my golf and travel experiences with you as well as the photographic images and stories. At this point, I intend to come back and write.
     

What's Next

      I want to thank you for tuning in on my blogs.  My task today is to let you in on a bit of my thinking as to what I am going to do with this blog.  I am going to continue writing it, make no mistake about it.
     The direction I think I am going to take is to bring you more courses to play.  I want to post more pictures and comments about the courses I play.  That should be the thrust of this.  I must make a confession right here that my health has not been what it should be. The truth of it is, I am now just able to walk.  My back has gone out in a sciatic episode that was the mother of all attacks.  I haven't touched a club in over a month   and that was a painful adventure at best.  At any rate, watch for more articles and pictures.
     For now, most of the courses will be reruns that I probably have written about in the magazine I wrote for.  They are some great courses though.  Well, that's it for now, enjoy and wish me luck.

It Still Hurts

     It still hurts!  I know it is a sign of getting older, but that doesn't make it any less painful.  Your body starts hurting in places that you didn't know you had and those pains come more often.  Your best friend priorities list changes from spouse/significant other (wife, girlfriend and since it is 2012 domestic partner), golf buddies to health care provider--in my case, chiropractor.  He plays golf by the way and is very good, a single digit handicapper who is a member at a local exclusive country club. I know, I have payed his dues recently with my office visits and my sciatica pain.
     My friends list has taken on a different look.  Top of the list is my chiropractor and health care provider, significant other and then --sorry guys--my golf buddies.  Guys, I love you like brothers but when I am in pain decisions have to be made. Bottom line is I have to rest my back so it doesn't hurt.  I am not going to play tomorrow to rest it.  Besides, I am down on quarters and have to do my wash.  Me not playing is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.  Actually, I'm not playing so it won't hurt.  Look out for Monday--I hope.

   
     See what a sciatica problem will do to you.  This was me before I  went to the chiropractor yesterday morning.  Ice and bed rest and I will feel like myself again. Off to the couch to sit with an ice pack on my back.






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Pain

     No golf today or Friday.  For an explaination of this, please go to my other blog http://davidralliswrtes.blogspot.com.  Owwwwwww!!!!!!!

Darn!!!!!

     Today is Wednesday.  That shouldn't come to a shock to any of you.  However, it is not going to be golf day for me.  Since I retired, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are golf days and the days that I play in the seniors quarter skins game.  I can't do that today, I have to be mature and actually work on one of my other business opportunities.  I am stuck with a very difficult decision, that of taking quarters--more like donating quarters--in the skins game and possibly making $2.00 or working and earning $300 and eating.  It is a hard choice, but I think I made the more mature--I hate that word--decision.
    Don't pity me or feel sorry for me.  I want to assure you that I will be back at it on Friday and play.  Sometimes the boy has to become a man.

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Its a Tough Life, But Someone Has To Do It

     Please don't think any less of me.  Its not like I chose what I do.  It kind of fell in my lap.  Playing golf courses and traveling sort of just evolved.  Sometimes life steers you on a course that you just can't alter.  That is how it has been with my golf writing.  When the road opens up a hole in front of you that you just can't go around, you just have to fall into it.  That's what happened here. Don't get mad at me, I had to do it and had no choice.
    I tried, I really did try.  I gave up golf for almost a year.  I suspended my blog http://davidralliswrites.blogspot.com for almost a year.  As you can see, that did not work and I have started playing again as well as starting two more blogs, this one and http://travelthewestwithdave.blogspot.com.  Am I a glutton for punishment?  I guess it is my destiny. Don't envy me, pity me.  I am stuck.  You don't know the burden that has been placed on me of being brilliant and entertaining.  It is almost a curse.  Sometimes, as those of you know, I hit it out of the park and sometimes I foul out on the first pitch.  Hmmm...another blog on baseball?  Nahhhhh....
     I hope you understand that what I have said here is all tongue in cheek and I am not trying to boast or blog.  Those who know me understand that I am a very humble person who is very uncomfortable tooting his own horn.  Also, I don't just play golf and write about it.  My life is full of other things as well.

     What time is it by the way?  I don't want to miss my 7:30 tee time.  Oh, its late and I must go. It is a tough life, but somebody has to do it.  Enjoy these pictures in the meantime.