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My Home Course Gets Some Ink in Golf Digest

bumpnrun

bumpnrun

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Arcata, Ca
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Well, at least on-line.

Matt Ginella called my home course (Baywood Golf and Country Club in Arcata Ca.) "...one of the toughest 6,200-yard courses in the world." in his Where's Matty G Blog.

Even cooler, he wrote this right after spending a week playing the courses at Bandon Dunes where each round costs more than our monthy dues for a whole family. Life is good here.
 
That's great, should help drum up some business and instill a little pride in the staff :act-up:
 
Well...... is it that tough?
 
MarcW said:
Well...... is it that tough?
Click to expand...

It depends on your style of play. It is rated 70.1/127 at 6149 yards from the white tees but unlike a lot of American parkland style courses there really isn't much water or sand. The defenses are primarily the subtle greens and tight fairways lined by massive redwood trees.

The greens are on the small side and fit into the landscape in a way that makes them tough to read.

The lenth is deceptive in that the cool moist air (average temps are 50's and 60's year around) means the ball doesn't fly or roll as far as it would in warmer and drier conditions. For example, when I play in Sacramento where it is 90+ in the summer I drive the ball 270 where at Baywood I am closer to 230. That is a difference of about 15% so if that ratio is consistent throughout my bag then Baywood plays more like 7000 yards due to the conditions.

Finally the trees. Doglegs take on a whole new meaning when the hazard at the corner is 250 feet tall and 6 feet accross. Miss the fairway here and there is no telling where you will find your ball (if you find it at all that is). Unless I am hiting the ball extremely well with my driver it stays in the bag on all but 8 holes.

So while the course isn't that bad if you hit it straight, it is not a course you can overpower easily dispite its length.
 
I like that style of course. Sounds like Minerva Lake here in Columbus. Old course, small, hard greens, lots of mature trees, short but not as easy as it sounds. Great place to hone your skills.
 
Those tree lined fairways in the 1st picture in the link look to be very narrow, not too sure I could post a decent score on them that tight. The oceanside holes are beautiful.
 
Sounds like a great course. Actually makes me think of a trumped up version of my course, but with awesome redwoods instead of sad 'little' pines. And the best thing about shot maker courses is that they're rated easier than they are. My factor is currently just below 11 from playing almost exclusively at my course, but when I go to a new course that is longer and rated harder I always shoot under my cap, even if I don't feel like I hit the ball particularly well (putting especially I have troubles with when switching courses). Congrats on being lucky enough to have such a nice and affordable course, and being mentioned in GD!
 
Always nice to get a node on line or on paper. The trees look pretty thick, do they reach out and grab stray tee shots?


Kongfrontation
 
Tadashi70 said:
Always nice to get a node on line or on paper. The trees look pretty thick, do they reach out and grab stray tee shots?


Kongfrontation
Click to expand...

They are brutal. You will hit a shot that starts out fine, drifts a bit and then WHACK! Now where did that go? The worst is that you get so many misses that are just off the fairway and are completely blocked by a tree.

The thing that kills me is that there is so little sand I have never learned to deal with it very well and that hurts me when I play other courses. I can however play a 150 yard 5 iron that never gets higher than 6' off the ground. Use that shot a lot!
 
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