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In Nov. 2019, June and I joined Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club (SRGCC). The course is now owned and operated by Club Corp, so along with that, for an extra $50/mo, we signed up One Benefits. One of the benefits is being able to play other Club Corp courses in the world for free. We only paid for the carts. We were told that there are several nice courses in Southern California.
See Also: ClubCorp Tour#2
Update: The Keysight Golf League was offered an introductory rate of $500/month for the first year. After the first year with reduced benefits because of Covid, we negotiated a deal for another year. We got to about August when they caught up with us and said that the deal was unauthorized. The rate went to up $799/month. At the end of the year, we moved to a limited membership and $500/month.
In Oct. 2023, June and I QUIT SRGCC! There were a few reasons that we decided to let it go. Not enjoying the course was NOT one of them. June had broke both wrists the previous December and had only played a few times in the past year. She had to quit again because of complications with her surgeries. So that was one reason. Another reason is that, over the years, the dues kept going up and the benefits kept going down. For example, the One Benefits price increased, and it was no longer free to play the courses in the desert. (For at least a couple of years, we traveled to Palm Desert and played 3 courses there, only paying $50 each for a cart fee.) The restaurant at the club continued to serve mediocre meals and the prices were exorbitant. We were required to spend $90/month and we were struggling to do that. The final big reason was that it had become a bit of a job for me, forcing myself to play at least 2-3 times a week, and there were so many other things I liked to do. At the time of this writing (Feb. '24) I have NO regrets for leaving.
One of the reasons we wanted to go is to get out of the cold and rainy weather of Northern California. As it turns out, it was very cold when we went out that first afternoon to play our first round at Morgan Run. It was about 50 degrees and the wind was howling on the first tee. It continued to be almost as cold, but not so windy, that first week.
NOTE: During this time (Feb. 3 - Feb. 15) we heard about the Corona Virus, but we were certainly not taking any precautions.
Here are the 5 courses we played:
Monday, February 3, 2020 We flew out of Santa Rosa and into Orange County. The weather was beautiful and I am always glued to the window to try to identify places I know.
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Point Reyes |
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Catalina Island |
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| Morgan Run GC The wind was howling and cold when we
teed off. Morgan Run was an OK course in pretty good shape.
Most of the holes were very straight-forward, but some were a
little quirky. We played alone, and had trouble finding the second
tee. We both enjoyed the round, especially on the back 9 when the
wind calmed a little and it warmed up. Welcome to So Cal golf in
the spring!
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| I was again disappointed that there was no hole-by-hole map on the score sheet, so we got lost a couple of times. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful course and we had a great time. |
Walk at Solana Beach (Wed, Feb 7)
A couple miles due West of Morgan Run is the lovely community of Solana Beach. To give ourselves a break from golf, and to get a little exercise, we walked on the beach and then had a smoothie at a place with a painted horse.
That evening we had dinner in San Diego at the top of the Symphony Tower, a Club Corp dining establishment.
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| The Cliffs at Solana Beach |
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| Sand Art created by the cliffs captured by June |
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| Painted Horse
from the nearby Del Mar race track |
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| Beautiful View... |
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| And we had the place to ourselves,
at least for the first 30 minutes. |
Shadowridge (Thurs, Feb 6)
On the slightly longer drive north to Shadowridge, we stopped for
breakfast at Healthy Creations, a little Gluten-free cafe
in Encinatas. It was so good that we went back again the following day on
our way to Coto.
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| Shadowridge was another beautiful
and well maintained course. We played alone again, and got lost
again. And we had a great time, again! In the photo, there's a
chipping green at the top of the hill above the driving range. |
Coto de Caza (Friday, Feb.7)
This course is located closer to the LA area, so we played it last
knowing that we would be spending time there with Alicia and Garrett in
LA. We checked out of Morgan Run and made the drive north, stopping first
at Heavenly Creations. June picked up a few Gluten-free cinnamon rolls to
share at Alicia's upcoming baby shower.
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| Par 3 over the lake. The birds had
no idea the danger they were in. |
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| Yes, there's some water. But the far
more prominent danger is that strip of thick brush down the middle
of the course. It may as well be water; any ball into it is lost.
The greens were lightning fast. This course was tough!! |
The second week, we stayed with Alicia as Garrett traveled to Florida in pursuit of his PGA class A golf license. She was close to delivering her baby and we stayed close just in case she went into labor. Fortunately, it didn't happen.
Saturday Feb. 8 - The ladies attended a baby shower. Luckily, I was not invited, so I played golf instead.
Old Ranch This course is Club Corp managed, not owned. But Garrett works here so he got me on before he left for his trip. It is beautifully maintained and designed. Play is fast but usually busy. This round I played with Devon, a 50ish guy who suggested we play the 'Long Round-up' (half the holes from the longest black tees and the other half from the Blue tees. I agreed and actually enjoyed it. The rental set included a 4 hybrid which I used often to hit it 190-200 yds. I have since bought an Adams model.
Aliso Viejo (Tues Feb. 11)
June and I were scheduled to play, but Alicia was having some issues, so June decided to hang with her for the day. I could not let the opportunity go by, so I went by myself.
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| I played with these two older
ladies. June would have loved being there to watch me finally have
to play with 3 ladies instead of her always playing with 3 men. The course was nice but a little funky. There was no driving range; only a net to hit balls into. This was a strange hole, 150ish to the pin. I played a club shorter, hit it easy and to the right, and flew it straight into the water. |
Old Ranch (Wed. Feb 12 with June, and Fri. Feb 14 without June)
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| Hole #18 (fairway to the right)
heading back into the clubhouse. |
Wed. Evening - Dinner at Center Club.
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| No view, but the food was fabulous.
We both had the lobster plate. |
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| "Move over kid, let me show you how
it's done!" |
Flight home - (Sat. Feb 15)
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| San Francisco |
See Also: ClubCorp Tour#2
