Golf And Travel: A Great Mix

     Two of my favorite things to do in life go quite well together--golf and travel.  I have visited many places over the years in my travels. My heart swelled with pride as a Greek American when I waled through the ruins of The Acropolis of Athens. My Christian faith grew as I wandered the Biblical sites of Israel and witnessed sunset over Jerusalem. My cousins and I were sitting on the banks of the Charles River for the American Bicentennial listening to Arthur Fiedler's concert and then watched the most breathtaking Fourth of July fireworks display I have ever seen. I visited the Caribbean a few times and one of my favorite trips was a cruise to eastern Canada out of New York City where I have been on several occasions. One thing was missing on these trips though, and that was my golf clubs.
     My clubs have traveled with me to many places as well.  We live close to Monterey and I have played a good number of the great courses in the Monterey area. There are a couple of courses I have played in the San Francisco Bay area as well, from Novato all the way down to San Jose. I think one of my favorites was Sharp Park in Pacifica just south of San Francisco,the course sits directly on the Pacific Ocean. Sacramento has many good courses and has become a wonderful golf destination.
     On one trip I went to San Diego and Palm Springs. I was on a writing assignment and decided to go to San Diego as a side trip.  My clubs were along with me but I wasn't going to play in San Diego. It was boring in that hotel room so I convinced myself to tear myself away from the exciting nothingness I was doing and play golf. I wanted to play a new course and Sand Creek in the hills above Chula Vista was suggested to me, so I played it. The course has since been placed on my favorites list. I have also played Balboa Park and Coronado in the San Diego area, with Coronado being my favorite.
     Palm Springs was a great trip.  I got to play Desert Dunes, which was not on my itinerary to play, Mesquite Country Club and Cimerron Country Club. I had never been to Palm Springs before and this was truly a special trip. My editor wanted me to do a story on finding courses with reasonable green fees during their high season of January.  These three courses fit the bill perfectly and were a lot of fun to play. I know it was hard fitting golf in between sitting out by the pool on a warm winter day and going up the Palm Springs Tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto, but I just had to do it.  I was on a mission.
      Have you ever taken a cruise and brought your clubs along to play golf?  I have on a couple of occasions. I have been down to Mexico on cruises and played Bajamar in Ensenada and also a course in Matzatlan which I don't remember the name.  My cruises have taken me to Western Canada as well where I played a course in Vancouver called Mayfair Lakes. That whole cruise and golf experience has a story to it, but I won't tell it here.  We were supposed to go to Mexico, but the H1N1 hit Mexico so we had to sail on a different itinerary.  The course and cruise was very different and I enjoyed the whole experience immensely. And oh by the way, did you know that there is a fun golf course on Catalina Island?
      I have taken my clubs other places as well.  We have traveled to Florida a couple of times and I took my sticks on one of those trips. I got to play in Orlando and in the Tampa area. I didn't get to see any alligators though. It gets hot and humid back there.  I'm used to playing in the heat of the California summer, but the humidity is very low. It was very humid there when I played and I thought I was going to melt. There are some great courses in Florida and I hope to go back and play many of them.
     My daughter, son-in-law and grandson used to live in Salinas, California where we would visit them often and I would--what else--play golf.  When the recession hit things got tough so they decided to pack up and move to Missouri where my son-in-law was from. I have gone back and visited them, taking my clubs the first time. Golf season in Missouri pretty much ends on Halloween, but this visit was set for after Thanksgiving in late November.  I played anyway There was no snow at the time and the course was still in great shape.
     There are other great destinations where I have played golf.  I haven't mentioned The San Luis Obispo County area yet, and there are some wonderful courses there such as Morro Bay and Cypress Ridge. I guess that there are just too many courses in the world and not enough time to play them all. One thing is for certain and that is if you go, take your clubs along and play if you have time. Enjoy the wonderful courses out there. Travel and golf certainly go together.

There are many beautiful courses out there to play.  Take along your clubs.