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It seems somewhat short looking at the scorecard, but large elevation changes, wind, shady and wet areas; and it’s proximity to the fog belt more than make up for it.  The course is well maintained with plenty of beautiful trees. This was my first time playing and I realized I’ve been missing out.

We had a stroke play tournament August 27th and as predicted during our Poppy Hills event James Poulson broke through. He leaked a little oil down the stretch during the back nine but posted a tidy net 68 to finish first in his flight.  A few skins added to his winnings made for a very profitable day.

Lyle Lowder lives not too far from the Presidio and plays there fairly often, so his low gross 77 and a scorching net 64 to take his net flight shouldn’t be too shocking However, some serious love from the course were major contributors. Three drives in to the trees on the left and one slice to the right on the back nine all ended up returning to reasonable spots for recovery.

Had always heard the complaints about the conditions there, primarily the wet and foggy conditions, but this is a course I will be playing more in the future and hopefully in a tournament.

Joseph Stevens Winery in Gilroy

What a fantastic weekend it was. Four of us loaded in to my CRV and left shortly after 12 noon on Friday from Jim’s place on the San Jose/Morgan Hill border and took our sweet time on our way to Asilomar and a nice weekend of Golf, Wine, & Dine.

We decided we’d go the coastal route and went through Watsonville via Hecker Pass road. Our first stop was Jason Stephens Winery on Watsonville Road in Gilroy.

We enjoyed a tasting that I thought was pretty solid from start to finish. We started with their 2010 Estate Chardonnay; very crisp/tart with lots of citrus and a lemony finish. I ended up buying their 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon but I’ll lay it down for another year.  They have a Meritage and a Cab-Syrah that are drinking nicely now. The 2008 Estate Zinfandel we finished with was on the jammy side, but not over the top and a good choice for drinking now also.

After our tasting we headed over the hill to Watsonville and up the coast to Moss Landing where we stopped for a late lunch at Phil’s Fish Market, famous for defeating Bobby Flay in a Cioppino Thorowdown.

After lunch it’s on to Asilomar Conference Grounds to get checked and settled in before enjoying a nice Friday Night Twilight golf at Pacific Grove Golf Links just around the corner. James Poulson’s game is ready to break through as he showed us a glimpse of what the future may be, shooting a smooth 42 on the front nine.

A late lunch and 9 holes of golf leads to a very late 9 PM dinner reservation at the Fishwife right across the street from Asilomar Conference Grounds. I cracked a Dusty Pikachu 2008 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and a Spanish Tempranillo, a 2007 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Termes. Love that Pinot Noir, a bit smokier and spicier than the rich red fruit common in the region, but the Tempranillo was spectacular.  Rich pure fruit, velvety mouthfeel, and a long finish but none of if overwhelmed the seafood.

Poppy Hills Tournament

Good times, but we did have a tournament the next day at Poppy Hills Golf Course starting at 8:30. Fortunately we’re only 10 minutes away. It’s always cool this time of year but this day was on the cool side. Not sure we got under 60 degrees, my guesstimate is 62 to 63. Very comfortable weather for golf however. Hard time getting off the tee, but scrambled decently to a mediocre 95.  I did however get a closest to the pin to win a $20 certificate.  Good times had by all as usual.

Dinner again at the Fishwife with a little larger crowd. Ten of us enjoyed a First Growth Bourdeaux courtesy of Jay Dack. I broke out the always solid 2006 Justin Isosceles. Drinking very nicely with full rich fruit, velvety mouthfeel and a lengthy finish. And for good measure after dinner we finish things off with a 1997 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon I obtained from a private cellar. Classic Caymus dark fruit and licorice, but has mellowed with age. We took things back to our lodging and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our evening.

Pacific Grove Golf Links Stroke Play Event

The front nine starts inland and the back nine can be tough out on the coast side with the winds blowing. But we enjoyed the best weather I’ve seen out there before.  I bit overcast but very comfortable with just a short sleeve short on the front, but after expecting to put my pullover at some point, it burned off by the time we reached the back nine and nothing but spectacular blue skies.

Feel free to check out my public albums for more great photos!

Do we really have to leave?

And then before we knew it, time to go home. A great weekend with good friends both old and new, golf, great seafood, and some pretty spectacular wines. Down Highway One to Phil’s Fish Market for Sunday night dinner and head on home. Well, we do have next year booked already.  Saturday July 21st at 10:10 AM, can’t wait!

Several of us will be staying at the beautiful Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove just a few minutes away from Spanish Bay.

I’ve pulled the best bottles from my wine cellar for the occasion.

We’ll arrive early Friday afternoon, get settled in, and perhaps find some place for some twilight golf before heading to the Fishwife for dinner and drinks.

Aaaahhhhh!!! So Relaxing!

He used his new putter he won in a raffle. Looks like it’s a keeper.

Was originally just taking a picture of the deer but saw the putt and waited until it was in the picture.  No idea it was heading for the hole or I would have waited a second longer.

Jim shot a 41 and I shot a 42, but I have to give him a stroke for 9 holes. Jim played well when he had to and beat me in our match 2 and 1. With his new putter I don’t know how much longer I have to give him a stroke.

Several of us will be staying at the beautiful Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove just a few minutes away from Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pacific Grove Golf Links, and Spanish Bay.

A number of us will also take part in a tournament on Sunday at Pacific Grove Golf Links so a great weekend.

Should be a great time!

Jim Lee at Cinnabar

This past Thursday June 16, 2011 we took advantage of a great Super Twilight rate of $30 with a cart at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in South San Jose on McKean Rd. It’s a great course that is normally around $100 for prime tee times.

The weather was gorgeous (finally) and this one of the hottest days in quite a while. It can get a little hot at Cinnabar so fortunately we had some nice breezes blowing through the mountains and canyons.

We had the 5:00 and 5:10 tee times and were able to get out early enabling us to get through 14 holes.

We had a net skins competition for the first 9 holes on the Mountain Course. Seven of nine potential skins were accounted for.  Quite a large in this sort of competition so some nice holes for a few players.

Two skins each were won by guys named Chris; Kunzmann, & Clark.  One skin each for guys named James; Lee & Poulson. Eddy Dere snapped up the last of the seven skins won this fine evening.

A great time had by all despite having to use light from Android phones to update the computer and calculate the skins.  The Club House and restaurant closed at 9 PM. We also had a good time during our back nine skins at Santa Teresa recently. With the long days of summer it was nice get a Super Twilight in but we’ll be doing some more back nine skins when the deadline gets close to 7 AM from the current 6:15.

Thanks to all that attended and hope to see you in future events.

Got a back nine in with James Poulson on Sunday and I was fortunate enough to get out recently and play in the nice weather we experienced before and during Memorial Day weekend. But we’ve had extremely poor luck with our tournaments this year.

Our ninth annual Poppy Hills Golf tournament weekend is coming up quickly, it’s scheduled for Saturday July 23rd beginning at 8:30 am. Should be a good time. Getting our lodging details set up and we’re looking at places in Carmel Valley, Pacific Grove, & Pebble Beach. Can’t really go wrong with any of those choices. Not to mention I’ll be digging deep in to my Wine Cellar to complement our grilled meat and food selections.

We’ve had a lot of fun at The Fernwood Motel in Big Sur in years past, amazing how great the bands are they book there, but staying closer to Poppy Hills this year. Haven’t really had much heat the last couple years, but chilling out on the coast when the weather is triple digits makes the trip even that more worthwhile.

Sign ups will be starting soon, so stay tuned!

Competition was fierce with Cisco Lopez, Scott McReynolds, & James Lee each winning a hole to split the pot.

Scott McReynolds, James Poulson, & Gary Grunther each shot net 37 for the back nine, but when you’re playing skins, timing is everything.

The entire group seemed to enjoy playing a quick nine hole match as well as the company.

Jim Lee, James Poulson, and I play the back nine at Santa Teresa on a pretty regular basis.  It’s a very nice course for the price and the back nine is much more interesting and challenging than the front in my humble opinion.

Things tend to get pretty laid back and usually we’re working on our game rather than focusing on competition, so definitely much more intensity than normal.

Overall, everyone seemed to have a good time and it’s something I’ll set up again in the future.

With the long days you have to get pretty early for the back nine, but playing golf late afternoon during twilight or super twilight becomes an option.  We may consider a super twilight at Cinnabar some time and get in one of the fabulous nines they have there.

Bottom line is a great time had by all and we will definitely be doing something this again in the future.