Cross Creek Golf Club.

Set in the hills just west of Temecula, Cross Creek Golf Club was the first place I visited when I arrived in the area back in October. I've played it a couple of times while trying to get my swing together so those rounds were more about doing that instead of worrying about a score. This time, though still trying to find the elusive swing, I hoped to keep score more in my mind... until I met my playing partners.

I was put with two other guys that had also walked on without a time. Nice enough fellas and all that, though they didn't really have too much of an idea about proper etiquette and such. While it wasn't a constant problem and at times it actually sped up play a little bit, some of the things they did were a bit annoying. On the back nine one fella started getting flustered and actually tossed his club a couple of times. Fortunately he got over each instance pretty quickly as he did have beer in the cart that needed drinking.

Despite all that I did alright, I guess. I shot 81 on a par-71 course that actually played under 6000 yards on the card. The twosome I was with was playing this tee and I really don't like playing a different set from who I play with so I stuck with it. Some of the tees were back a box and several holes have a limited fairway length so the approach shots play like a longer course on some of the holes. Its not an easy track to be honest, especially when you get to the greens as many are elevated and can be tough to read.

On the first hole I decided to hit driver and just simply should not have in hindsight. I thought the fairway had narrowed much closer to the green and it probably would have been fine if I played the same tee as I did in October. I hit it a little right, which meant I ended up going too far and into the marsh/hazard. Bah. A drop, an approach and three putts later and I've started my day with a double. Yay me.

I then smartly hit 3-wood off the next tee and had perfect position in the fairway. I then promptly chunked a wedge short of the green, leading to a bogey. I did start to put things together a bit and actually birdied the 4th after a really nice shot from the fairway bunker to about 12 feet. After a par on the par-5 fifth, I hit my best shot of the round so far off the sixth tee... right into a pot bunker in the middle of the fairway. That lead to another double bogey since I three putted after a horrible green-reading attempt. Other than hitting a great drive on the 7th that I couldn't take advantage of I did nothing special the rest of the way and shot a 42 on the front side.

The par-3 third hole.

The downhill par-3 eighth hole.

The tenth hole is a short par-4 that really had me confused as to what to hit from the tee. Driver was out, no question. I thought 3-wood was too much also and really felt 5-wood could be as well. I decided on 4-iron, thinking that even if I was laying up a little farther back it would be fine. Still, it didn't feel right and I made a horrible pass at the ball, hitting it way left. I was lucky to be able to play it to be honest and managed a bogey out of it. I then managed a couple of pars after that and arrived at the 13th hole, shown below.

The downhill tee shot on the 13th hole.

Well, it shows half of it. The tee shot plays downhill and today it was slightly downwind. The green is across a ravine to the right of the fairway. Again, I didn't know what to hit. I went with 5-wood this time, thinking that I might overswing on the 4-iron again. That didn't work either, I hooked the 5-wood also. The ball also went too far, across the cart path and into what is considered a hazard. At least I found the ball, dropped, hit a decent 5-iron to the green and saved a bogey out of it. Here is the hole looking back from behind the green :

From behind the 13th green, back toward the fairway.

Pretty hole, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to play the bastard.

The back nine has its share of unique holes and a few of them limit your tee options like the 13th did. The 14th was not one of those as it is a par-5 that I hit the best drive of the day on. I had 5-wood to reach the green in two and nearly did, the ball landed just short and found the greenside bunker. I hit a decent shot from there and gave myself a good chance at birdie but I missed it just a bit on the high side. Solid par, though.

On the 15th I found another pot bunker in the middle of the fairway and I was not pleased. At least this time I managed to make bogey, though I had to lay up from the trap and wedge on from there. The 16th was another non-driver hole that has an elusive fairway as well, as you might be able to see below :

The challenging tee shot of the 16th hole.

There is a hazard to the right (where the trees are on the right of the picture) and the fairway slopes severely from left to right in order to help you find said hazard. The tree you see in the middle of the picture marks where the fairway narrows and it can also block your approach shot if you get too close. I hit 3-wood this time and somehow my ball managed to stay on top of the hill to the left, how that ball didn't come down off that slope I will never know. I was far enough back to hit over that tree and onto the green and got out of there with par, a score I was happy to take.

The 17th is a nice short par-3 over a hazard. I hit gap wedge slightly right of a front pin, hit the green, and backed it off the edge and toward the hazard. Unlike at Bear Creek, this one stayed up and I managed to hack the ball out to about a foot from the hole and made another par. Here is a picture of that one :

The short par-3 17th hole. Yes, someone is building a house up on top of that hill.

The last hole is another split fairway hole. When I played a tee further back in October, this fucker was loooong. The hole was playing into the wind and checked in at over 400 yards in length. I hit driver/5-wood in order to get across the ravine that parts the fairway and the green. Today, I'm playing closer but its downwind. Since the fairway runs out of room at about 150 yards from the green, I'm trying to figure out if I should hit driver or 3-wood from this tee. On one hand, I want to be close enough to hit a mid-iron to this green, which is tricky since there is a hill in the fairway at about 180 yards from the green that could stop the ball. On the other hand I'd prefer to find my ball in case I hit driver too far and through the fairway. I decided on driver and didn't hit it well, leaking it to the right and thinking it could be in the trees. Luckily it somehow must have found a good bounce and I was in perfect shape, leaving myself with a 7-iron into the green, shown here :

A look down at the 18th green, taken from a hill to the left of the fairway.

I hit what I thought was a good shot but the ball landed on the green and just rolled all the way through the back of the green. I couldn't get up and down this time and ended up with a 39 on the par-35 back nine to complete my 81. Overall I don't feel I hit the ball overly well, though toward the end I started feeling a little better about what I was doing. The biggest plus was my elbow since it didn't hinder me at all, though it was a little sore afterwards. I received a cortisone shot on the previous Monday so by this time a little of that was kicking in.

Here are a few more pictures of the course :

The uphill par-4 11th hole.

The par-3 12th hole.

The view from the tee of the par-5 14th hole.

A look from behind the 18th green, back toward the fairway across the ravine.

As I type this it is Wednesday the 24th of May. I had a solid practice yesterday and I'll do it again tomorrow. After that its off to Hawaii for the golf trip I've had planned for some time now. Right now I am nearly pain-free in the elbow, though I've still been icing it each day and I'll do so again as soon as I finish this up. Once I return from Hawaii there won't be time to rest as I then move from here to Houston. Fun times. Hopefully I'll find time to post about the Hawaii trip sometime in between all of that. Until then, have a good Memorial Day weekend... I know I will!