Fortuitous shots, juicy dogs and good company top personal list
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There’s God and family and the blessing of living in the land of
the free, and, after that, there are a few more things I’m thankful
for today, such as:
The fact that virtually every day of the year in Newport-Mesa is a
golfing day. Even on days with unique weather, like Wednesday, it is
usually a great experience teeing it up.
We live in a place where golf is for everyone -- from the high-end
private country clubs to the bargain-basement municipal courses, and
everything in between.
There are Directors of Golf and head golf professionals who
generously open their doors and golf courses for the Tea Cup Classic
and Jones Cup. Where else in the America, or even the world, does
something so intimate endure every summer for club champions?
And, as a parting shot, I’m thankful for life’s simple things,
like -- tee shots down the middle, sinking a python putt to start a
round, plenty of laughs along the way, juicy hot dogs at the turn, an
opportunity to bond or meet someone new. Golf came to me late in
life, but I’ve loved the bug ever since.
Happy Thanksgiving.
*
While Dec. 7 will always be a day that lives in infamy, it’s a
date next week to circle on your calendar. The best bargain in Orange
County -- playing golf at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club on one of
its two Jim Fetterly-supervised courses -- just got better in the pro
shop. And just in time for the holiday season.
But before I go on, let me emphasize that Costa Mesa County Club
does not employee me in any way, shape or form. Nor do I accept
bribes.
That said, anyone who has played, or plays regularly on the Los
Lagos and Mesa Linda courses, can tell you what a great experience it
is. Fetterly has country club greens playing on municipal courses.
And, yes, the cool ocean breezes are as prominent as any coastal golf
course in Southern California, especially on the bluffs on holes 6
and 7.
Costa Mesa’s Pre-Holiday Tent Sale, which will be from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m., features savings of 20% to 60% on all brands and
manufacturers of irons, drivers, fairway woods, wedges, putters,
bags, men’s and women’s golf apparel and shoes.
Pro shop manager Joe Sperrazza announced that $100 will be taken
off all drivers and fairway woods in stock. The clubs include the new
Taylor Made 500 series, Cleveland, Titleist, Callaway, Nike and Ping.
Details: (714) 540-7500, ext. 3.
*
Costa Mesa Country Club was once a public barn with pockmarked
greens, threadbare fairways and water hazards without water. Play was
excruciatingly slow and customers often complained to head pro Brad
Booth.
“We had some interesting afternoons out here, put it that way,”
Booth once said.
These days, of course, there are no apologies. Thanks to Fetterly
and his staff, Costa Mesa now ranks as one of the top public courses
in Orange County, rivaling places like Tijeras Creek in Rancho Santa
Margarita, Fetterly’s former stomping grounds.
“Jim knows how to grow grass,” Booth said about a year after
Fetterly arrived in 1998. “He has grass in places it never was
before.”
In addition, there’s the pro shop, clubhouse and lighted driving
range and putting green, which I used to love to use on weeknights
when I lived behind the golf course for so many years in the 1990s.
*
In the 2003 Zagat Survey on America’s Top Golf Courses, one of the
more interesting responses came from the question: What irritates you
most about golf courses? Slow play on the course came in at 59%; poor
course conditioning at 27%; poor service from staff at 6%; poor
course layout/design at 4%; and other at 4%. I would be in the
majority in this survey.
The new Zagat golf survey, also presented by ESPN, listed Pelican
Hill Golf Club’s Ocean South and Ocean North courses as two of the
best in California. Nine golf courses in Orange County made the cut.
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