Rancho California

I finally found some time to post a bit about my latest round of golf. I decided to stay in town and play a local track called The Golf Club at Rancho California. I had practiced a few times here as they do have a rather nice short game area along with a pretty decent range. I noticed that the place looked like it was in pretty good condition, especially compared to the other courses I've played so far.

I didn't play particularly well, shooting 85, though the course wasn't the easiest I've ever played. Part of that was my right elbow giving me some trouble. I originally had issues with it around July and while it will bother me when I first start to warm up it usually goes away and I don't even think about it the rest of the day, however this time was different. I wonder if it may have been due to what I was trying to accomplish with my swing (obviously wrong) and thus the extended trouble. I was definitely doing something different as I was missing to the right instead of left like I usually do.

Despite that, I really liked the course. The first hole is a par five that goes significantly downhill, giving you a nice view of the valley.

The first hole at Rancho California

The third hole was even more pronounced, again giving another terrific view from the tee down to the fairway of this pretty cool par four.

The third hole at Rancho California

While these were the most pronounced elevation changes on the course, the track did have a good bit of change in elevation throughout. One thing that I wasn't ready for was the speed of the greens. I ended up above the hole quite a bit during the round but two time in particular was just absolute death. I had an 8-footer for par that nearly holed out but ended up as a 20-something-footer for bogey. I haven't seen a putt like that in a long time. I found something similar on the last, where I tried to putt from the fringe from about 40 feet and it ended up traveling about 65 instead.

The quick greens didn't bother me, next time I'll be ready for it and just try to remember to stay below the hole. One thing I didn't like were the bunkers, which I had occasion to find a few too many times. They were lacking in the actual sand that a bunker generally requires, leaving me to bounce into a few of those shot no matter how much I tried to adjust for it. I imagine all of the rain we've had was a big reason why they were like that so again I can't be too upset. I'll just see if I can't avoid them when I play it again.

My elbow is doing better now so I think I probably just pushed it a bit too much. I had been going out to hit the range for lunch during the week and then try some more on the weekends whenever the weather allows. If a string of good days comes along I want to take advantage before the next storm front comes through and I probably shouldn't be doing that quite so much. I need to learn to mix in the short game a bit more often. Once the spring and summer comes and the rain becomes a nonfactor I'll be better able to pace myself when it comes to that. I broke down and bought one of these elbow strap thingys, just in case I end up needing it. Will it help? Maybe for healing and recovery, I don't know if it'll really help while I play. Maybe we'll try wearing it the next time I practice and see what happens.