About 40 miles north of L.A. set in an arroyo between foothills covered with arid vegetation Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner, and Geoff Shackelford built a minimalist municipal golf course that screams brown is beautiful. The vistas are straight out of Bonanza. Standing at the bag drop you fully expect Ben Cartright, Hoss, and Little Joe to come hurtling down the hillside on horseback in a cloud of dust to welcome you to the Ponderosa.

The understated clubhouse sets the theme for your day

The range and short game area leave little doubt this is a municipal facility……

…….but what you need to prepare for what’s ahead is all there

A generous practice green shares space with the flag awaiting play coming down to the 18th green

The design trio was determined to do little to disrupt the natural appearance of the ground planning to “place the course onto the site instead of erecting a course there”. Very little dirt was moved and a dry wash that runs down the heart of this valley full of sage, scrub brush, and a kind of nasty desert broom was used as the primary hazard feature in creating this theater for a rustic golf experience.

The high end of the property you can see the source that feeds the wash

A dry sandy fault bisects the playing area the last 140 yards in on the first hole

The wash consistently presents itself as the primary obstacle to negotiate through the day

They achieved their goal as holes meld into the natural flow of the land

In his book “Grounds For Golf” Shackelford says of the design, “the emphasis will be on strategy that uses natural features as a priority, with bunkers added to compliment the unique contours”.
You can see a few bunkers were raised to augment the challenge when necessary
They may not seem that difficult…….
…but some of them will exact a serious toll for wayward approaches
Sprawling, undulating putting surfaces bleed into the surround fringes…they would feel at home on any links course across the pond

Ergo the ground game is often the better approach for getting close

In keeping with the theme the trimmings are right out of a dude ranch

Carts follow paths on which horses would feel comfortable to tread

Natural features were left to adorn the playing area

This one had an attraction for an NXT Tour ball

A stroke, a drop, and play on….,,,,

….to a 50 yard long lap pool of a green that looks straight out of the Golden Age of Design

Coming down valley on #16…. it is all natural, no artificial ingredients

This place is worth the trek it takes to get here.  Set against the foothills, the combination of the flowing fairways, natural wash, and a few punitive extras make Rustic Canyon a simple yet surreal golf challenge.

September, 2014

For more course detail click to see the Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review

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

.
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

……..you might even find this Harrison Ford commemorative hat which captures his forced landing about a drive and a four wood short of the Santa Monica Airport….

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.

.
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)

One of the rites of summer at our place is The Keepers-First Tee Mentoring Outing.  This year it was a celebration of fun and friendship between 25 kids from the Montgomery Country First Tee Program and 14 Keepers and Partners.  The kids learned a few new tricks of the trade around the course and the mentors were reminded how to fearlessly putt a downhill 15-footer with the grain.

Starting with some stretching and a bit of range and short game work Trillium Sellers, Brice Busse, and Brian Hunzeker provided the professional touch (click on photos to enlarge).

How big are we……we are Sooooo Big!

Brice and Kayla discuss proper weight transfer or who has nicer shoes…

Brian has Amani’s attention

Tristan shows us his power move

Angelica’s Paula Creamer imitation……

With the Rickie Fowler finish…

Over to The Sid for some short game magic training

Trill explains it……..

Rapt attention to detail…..

Then the pro shows how it’s done.

Just like she said….

Your turn…….Ready……Aim……Fire!!!

We covered proper maintenance……

And apparently orderliness…….

Then came the chow bell!!!!

Food order…..

So much to choose from….such a long line…

Hmmmmmm…I know there is a chocolate chip cookie in here somewhere..

The line coach shares the afternoon strategy…..

Then it was off to the course from some practical application.

The troops were hovering….

Noah knocks it close on 13

Angelica’s Up and Down from a steep lie on the 12th….

Amir exits the wilderness behind the 15th green….

Andy stares down the final approach

She gonna make it…………do you think she is gonna to make it?

I think she is going to make it…

When the day was done everyone had something to talk about and lots to remember.

(For more fun and frolic click to check out the posting at KeepersGolf.com)

July, 2014

We found this Babe Zaharias commemorative sidewalk star along with Joan Crawford and other favorite sons and daughters of Texas in front of the Old Pecan St. Café in Austin.

Babe is acknowledged as one of the greatest female athletes ever having won two gold medals in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics before taking up golf and becoming one of the games most dominant players, male or female, of the next two decades.

She won 41 times on the LPGA circuit with 10 major championships including the U. S. Open three times. She succumbed to colon cancer at the age of 45 in 1956 winning her last two LPGA events that year after surgery.

Grantland Rice once said of Babe:  “She is beyond all belief until you see her perform…Then you finally understand you are looking at the most flawless section of muscle harmony, of complete and physical coordination the world of sport has ever seen.”

High praise from someone who had intimate knowledge of the accomplishments of Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, and Bobby Jones.

Babe Zaharias’s star still flickers on this obscure corner in south Texas not far from where she was born.

Babe Zaharias

The Old Pecan St. Café

Austin, Texas

Indian Summer, or fall as we call it in the east, offers a unique opportunity for our season ending annual Cross Country event.  Through the quasi-capable efforts of Ben and Bill of Dwinkoff Associates nine new and original holes were plied from the landscape of one of our two courses.  Using alternative tees and approach lines to existing greens they presented a test  that required creative tactics, patience, and a smidge of luck.

In a Step-Back Four-Man Scramble format 32 of our members participated in this gross competition.  Three par 3s, two almost par 5s, and four par 4s made up a 35 par 2844 yard field of play.  On every tee they got a photo of the hole, the hole name, and yardage….with the modern yardage technology in hand there were few mysteries, other than having never played these holes before.

There were tempting short par fours like “Range Rover” which was a 250 yard uphill carry across the environmental abyss and few other architectural features (click on the photo to see full detail)…..at a stroke average of 3.25 to the par 4 this proved to be a pivotal hole in the competition.

“No Peeking” was a unique Par 3 of 170 yards  which required an obscured shot over a stone shelter to a two-level green with the pin tucked into a phone booth.  Like the “Redan” from North Berwick this will be copied by next generation creative designers who can think out of the box.

The “ICC” (inter-county connector) required a blind tee ball across pond, trees, and rough to the landing area….

…….what was left was another 220 yards plus uphill into a stepped green with a hidden flag.

The scores were better than expected with all 8 groups shooting gross par or better.  More often than not it came to driving it in play and making putts.

After a couple of four under 31s had the mingling troops conjuring up a playoff hole
(everyone is an arm chair designer) the team of O’Neill, Zweig, Gordon, and Greenbaum posted a five under 30 to put all the conversation to rest.

They had five birdies and an eagle on the “Range Rover” against one bogie on the 234 yard Par 3 Bird House on their way to the winning tally.

From the left are those to whom the spoils were conveyed….. Mr. Clean, The Deer Whisperer, Zowl, and Book Em Dano……they sure look happy pointing out the obvious.

November, 2013

It is always interesting to see an accomplished individual who you admire talk about life in the context of golf.  We understand that golf has a way of wrapping it’s arms around you like no other sport. It really does not give a hoot about your background, ethnicity, or social status before inviting you into it’s clutches.

In this Charlie Rose interview Condeleezza Rice, an accomplished educator, political advisor, and international diplomat, leaves no doubt hat she has been totally bitten by the golf bug and is thoroughly enjoying it.

Her recent obsession with the game is an obvious joy to her and a source of both physical exercise and mental release as it is for all of us.  Further she sees her association with it as an example of how golf can be a vehicle for young women to network with colleagues and promote advancement in their chosen fields of interest.

Take six minutes and enjoy a collegial golf rap with Condi……she has been a ground breaking force all her life and it does not look like she will abandon that role any time soon.

Click to view the Condi Interview With Charlie Rose

CBS This Morning

October, 2013