The collective American memory is
filled with encouragement by elders
to travel, to explore, to experience
the vast North American landscape
between the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans.
If one is in a hurry, and not particularly inclined to see much beyond the highways
and motels, one could see the entirety of the lower 48 states in three to four months’
drive time. If another has the financial ability to make the trip by air, picking and
choosing a selection of stops, it takes much less time. During the fall of 2015, I had
just such an opportunity to get in my car and drive south and west, then back again.
Among its many purposes was the opportunity to play golf courses from Mississippi to
Texas, California to Washington state. The excuse to make these distinct drives across
America was a singular one for me.
Americans (or at least, United Statesans) have unique views of travel to the opposite
coast. For an easterner, a trip west is a trip toward destiny, targeting a future frontier.
For the cousin from the west, it’s precisely the opposite: a return to origin, back into
history. This latter notion presumes that history began in New England, and not in
southern America, or Asia, or elsewhere. For a western New Yorker accustomed to the
connected framework of eastern cities, the thought of traveling for eight hours across
Texas, or Arizona, New Mexico or up the California spine, is incomprehensible until it
arrives. This vastness is reflected in many of the regions golf courses. I’ll do my best to
explain.
CALIFORNIA
I thought that Texas was wide (660 miles), as my crossing from Arkansas to New
Mexico carried me over the course of two days. Well, California is tall (nearly 800 miles)
and my journey from the Oregon border to San Diego confirmed that assumption.
Being tall or wide usually means diversity in terms of golfing grounds, and California
is as diverse as they come. From the dusty canyons of Moorpark to the green hills of
Santa Cruz, I played golf. From the shorelines of Santa Barbara and Coronado Island to
the solar farms of Primm, I played more golf.
Moorpark and Rustic Canyon
Gil Hanse put the finishing touches on his Rio 2016 Olympic course in Brazil in 2015.
Some fifteen years prior, his Rustic Canyon course north of Los Angeles brought the
notion of traditional golf to Ventura county. The golf course sits in a literal canyon,
vulnerable to the winds that howl down with remarkable inconsistency. Along the
Pasatiempo GC
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