Penmar Municipal Golf Course in Venice, California is a typical 9-hole muni golf facility. Which means you need to leave your attitude and your matching set of headcovers in the trunk and go soak in a day of unvarnished golf. Since we all have walked this public course path at some point in our personal golf journey it is refreshing to do it again to remind ourselves that the game at it’s simplest is just pure enjoyment without pretension.

It is a municipal facility…could be a library or the DMV

A bright and welcoming alcove greets you

Lest you forget who is in charge here

There have to be rules…

And a fleet of walking assistants

The course itself is an effortless level walk on well grassed corridor fairways between stands of mature trees. No significant elevation changes, few bunkers, and no water in play outside of the spill of the drinking fountains. Soft lush greens that stimp at about 5.6 but putt very true if you have enough pop in the stroke.

Scorecard with logoless pencil….no eraser

All you need to know next to every tee

The typical view…framed fairway…plenty of room to play

Pretty alcove green settings through out

And a reminder that this is a neighborhood recreational facility

1 hour and 45 minutes…no bull…keep em moving

It is a municipally maintained facility

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Local advice is carry an extra ball in your pocket….not for a mulligan but to protect your golf bag from the gnawing intrusions of the indigenous squirrel population who apparently think Sun Mountain is McDonalds.

These squirrels do have an appetite

For me it was a delightful walk with a couple of chem professors and a public art teacher/mountain climber. No style points for swings, equipment, or fashion….just golf for golf sake. We played fast, kept it in front of us, putted everything out, and had lots of golf hubris to share.

Golf attire that commemorates the start of the two-year reign of Billy Donovan in 2006

A laboratory of the latest in protective and productive golf gear

Who knew that knowledge of the Periodic Table is essential to good chipping and putting

Annie Hall…..cameo appearance….this is California after all

When it is over there is modest facility for after game posting your score, settling the scores, or creating other scores to settle. Some serious big fish stories are hatched here.

The pro shop/grill room….

………/card room…all kinds of recreation are sanctioned

Penmar Municipal Golf Course is a piece of golf Americana pure and simple. From time to time all golfers need a strong dose of this to remind them that golf at it’s essence is not about grinding on handicaps and winning tournaments….it is about taking an unpretentious walk with friends and sharing a few exaggerated tales.

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September, 2014

(Click to read the 2017 follow-up Penmar Municipal Revisited)

Moegolf Reader Muni Memories:

Cantiague Park, Hicksville, NY…Eisenhower Park, Long Island, NY…Needwood, Derwood, MD…Northwest Park, Silver Spring, MD…Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C….Sligo, Silver Spring, MD…Sunken Meadow, Kings Park, NY

(email your favorite muni to keepersgolf@gmail.com)