Saturday's Ramblings: San Clemente Municipal

I got a text from my friend Sweet Pete late on Friday night. Peter lives in San Clemente, blocks from the course and we are always talking about going to play the local muni. For some reason, we never seem to hook up, but I suddenly found I had no plans on Saturday and his 2:30 tee time sounded just perfect.

Peter and I usually play to about the same handicap. Peter is one of my best friend's wife's sister's husband, in other words, my friend's brother-in-law. We were to be joined by Chicago Bill, who had grown up with my best friend's wife. We have a tradition of playing in a foursome around Christmas every year (see Holiday Golf - Meet the Brookside Butcher) but he was in town for a spring vacation. Bill has always shown that he has a lot of golf ability. This time, however, we got to see him at his full potential. When we play at Christmas, Bill generally hasn't played for months because it is the middle of winter where he lives. In addition, he has been playing us with his backup set of dusty clubs that only leave his parents' garage once a year. He had his gamers with him this time.

The weather was perfect on the first tee, warm, about 70 degrees with a slight breeze. The great thing about San Clemente Municipal is that it is set on the bluffs a few miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. The air is usually fresh and the vibe is very relaxed. We picked up a fourth player on the first tee and off we went. On the third tee, we finally discussed what types of games we were going to be playing for the day. I suggested baseball, a great game for three players that involves the division of nine points for every hole. There are a few possible combinations in this game. If each player ties, they each get three points, or 3-3-3. If one player has the low score (par for example) and the other two are one behind (bogeys) then the scoring goes 5-2-2. There is also a 4-4-1, a 5-3-1, and the deadly 9-0-0, which means that one player has beaten both the other players by at least two strokes (birdie and two bogeys for example). Since there are 81 points possible per side, we generally play for a small and friendly amount, such as $.25 per point. We also decided to play $1 skins, and after some grumbling, my partners gave me credit for the skin I won on the first hole with a par. Little did I know, this was the ONLY skin I would win all day.

An ocean view from behind #15 green

Another funny thing happened on #3 that was a topic of conversation all day. Peter has a brand new Taylor Made R-11. Yes it has that odd but intriguing white paint job, and it is one of the hottest clubs on the market and the tour today. Our fourth player, a total stranger, could not resist and nervously asked Peter if he could try his driver. Peter was a little uncomfortable about it but handed it over to him. After all, it was cherry new and he just spent about 300 smackers for it. The guy teed it up and put an ugly swing on it, topping the ball and taking a four inch divot, sending the drive dribbling about 60 yards down the left side of the tee box. In his recoil, Peter swears that the guy smacked the club on the ground in disgust. When we were in the fairway waiting for the green to clear, Peter turned to me and asked me if I had seen what happened. He also asked me if I would have let a stranger try my club if I was in his shoes. I know better. I once let my FRIEND try my Biggest Big Bertha back in the day and he put the ugliest sky mark on the TOP of the club near the toe. Every time I addressed it from that moment forward, I had to think of his ugly mug and the tee shot that went about 100 yards high and about 40 yards long. Never again! Try my putter, try my irons, my wedges, that's fine, but not my brand spanking new driver. What is the etiquette? Who is out of line in that situation? The guy who oversteps his bounds or the guy who is selfish and won't share his toys? Discuss!

San Clemente's greens gave me trouble all day. They had been aerified about three weeks ago and I could tell that there had been some recent verti-cutting on most of the surfaces. Putts were coming off a little bit bumpy but the worst part was that the greens seemed to all be different speeds. I generally play well at San Clemente and putting is usually a big part of that, but on this day I was having a tough time getting the speed. However, I did not make things easy on myself, as I found that my poor iron play left me area codes away from the hole on many birdie putts. I didn't make a birdie all day and I had several three putts. On a short course like San Clemente, those short iron and wedge shots need to be close to the hole to have lots of birdie chances and make easy pars.

Bill took all nine points from us and four skins on Hole #5. I made a mess of the hole and made bogey. Peter had his own adventures and also made bogey while Bill played the hole to perfection and made birdie. Although I was not playing well, I was holding it together until it all started falling apart at Hole #8. I hooked an awful drive up against a tree and had to punch out 30 yards. I still had over 200 yards to the hole on this par-4 and wound up making triple. I was the only player to hit the green on the par-3 ninth hole. With a chance to win a few skins on the line, I managed to leave a 40-foot downhill birdie putt 10 feet short. I missed the par putt and the wheels were officially off of the wagon. Needless to say, I got drummed in our betting games. Bill shot a 37 on the front side, Peter shot a 40 and I shot a disgraceful 45.

Behind #12 green - my ball is in the foreground.

The back nine was no better. I hit a great approach shot about 15 feet behind the hole to a tucked pin on #10. I three putted after an aggressive birdie try, leaving me steamed. The next two holes are the easiest on the course - 488 and 483 yard par-5's back to back. I hit a great drive on 11, and totally stymied myself by hitting my second directly under a tree on the left side of the fairway. I was 60 yards from the green, with tree branches blocking my ideal trajectory. I could not go under the tree because a deep bunker fronts the green. I decided to go over with a super nuked flop shot, made it over the branches but came up way short into the bunker. I hit a bad bunker shot, chipped on, and made double bogey. Ouch. On 12, I hit another good drive, a perfect layup to about 60 yards to a back pin. This shot is right in my wheelhouse, and I like to play a low spinner that usually takes a big hop and checks nicely. Vokey Spin Milled grooves are the only way to go. I hit what I thought was a perfect shot, the ball landing 15 feet short of the flag, but to my dismay there was no "check check" and the ball rolled over the green, across the collar and nestled up right against the rough. I did manage to make par, but I had to work awfully hard for it.

I missed a 5 footer on 14 for par, left a 15 foot birdie putt short on Hole 15, and then I made my worst mistake of the day. Hole 16 is the most challenging hole on the course. The hole measures 405 yards and is a sharp dogleg left. You can cut the corner, but there is out of bounds on the left. You want to hit your ball as close to the corner as you can without going in. You must also drive your ball over a ravine, which isn't far, but still visually intimidating. In addition, the fairway has a steep downslope in the landing area which makes it difficult to get the ball up to a somewhat blind and elevated green. Well, I hit a big hook and ended up in the out of bounds area. After making triple, I was mentally checked out for the last two holes.

Bill played well, but had a bad back nine and shot a 76 or 77. Peter shot around 82 and I fired an embarassing 90. I won one skin, (the first hole) Bill won 10, and Peter won 5. Two were left on the table. I lost the baseball game by a wide margin. I have played San Clemente maybe five times and I think I have shot in the 70's three times. 90 was an awful score there. I am not sure I was mentally into the round from the start. I probably took the course too lightly and was not concentrating from shot to shot, which is something that I tend to do from time to time. Maybe it was the perfect weather and the picture taking that threw me off. I'm definitely not feeling comfortable with the new Callaway X-22's in my bag. Or, maybe I'm just a bad, bad golfer?

San Clemente will be in great shape for a municipal course weeks once the greens are completely finished healing from aerification. This little gem is one of the best golf values in Orange County and I would highly recommend it to value driven players out there. This is a great track to play when you are looking for a mellow day out on the links where having fun and the weather sometimes seem more important than the numbers on the scorecard. I know that despite my hideous play, I enjoyed my day.

A few years ago, the course got a new clubhouse building, pro shop, and restaurant. I never realized how nice the restaurant and bar really were. Called "Irons in the Fire", the 19th hole had a nice bar, plenty of seating for dinner or lunch, 4 flat screens, and even an outdoor fire pit. There was a birthday party on the balcony but we stopped inside for a small dinner. I paid for Bill's tab to take care of my debt, and we enjoyed a light dinner that was very tasty, especially Peter's Hawaiian style steak. We watched the Canucks beat the Bruins only 18 seconds into overtime of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals and I headed home, licking my wounds. I feel a rematch coming.....SOON!