Writing the last article about buying new clubs reminded me that the first time I used my new Adams Ovation driver and A2OS irons was on a spring break trip to Monterey.
It was one of those days and rounds you don’t forget. To say that I was not used to golfing on a country club type course would be a tremendous understatement. In my past I had only played on public courses, you know the type that don’t ask you to have a collared shirt and don’t ask why your bag is dripping water because how else can you keep your beer cold unless you fill one of the larger pockets of your bag with ice? My golf buddy Jeff and I had never played together before so we were both a bit nervous about this nice course with their dress code, Starter and Marshall. So neither one of us wanted to hold the other one up or do something "embarrassing" out there.
We booked a 7am tee time which in March in Monterey can be a dicey thing to do. One wrong move and you can get rained on, fogged in, or it just might be a combination of the two plus cold. But like all times when the golf gods smile on you it was none of the above. The weather was perfect, we both showed up with collared shirts, we had enough tees and balls so we were in.
Black Horse is part of a two course setup (Black Horse/Bayonet) on the old Army facilities at Seaside.
This was the old officers course and had been there for a long time. Named in honor of the 11th Cavalry Regiment (nicknamed "Black Horse") which was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey from 1919-1940. It was rated by Golf Digest as one of the harder courses in California, so there was some definite intimidation as we stepped up to the first tee. Sure enough our nerves were rewarded on the first shot of the day, neither one of us hit the fairway. I hit the classic block shot and ended up down a hill behind some trees in the right hand rough. Jeff at least got some distance on his and we were off.
The weather that day was ideal not a cloud in the sky, cool and clear it was a perfect day for spring golf. The course was in good shape just coming out of its winter slumber. The greens were damp and soft and the ball held well. The only issue with the course we ran into was that they had just cut the fairways and there was quite a lot of loose clippings in neat rows right down most of the fairways.
All in all we played well in spite of our winter rust and just plain lack of playing and practicing. When we finished our round we sat down for the traditional hot dog lunch (came with the booking) and added up the scores to our mutual surprise we both shot 94.
That was the beginning of many rounds that Jeff and I played in 2006. Oh yah and the Wives and Daughters enjoyed their time shopping and sight seeing in Monterey so it was a win-win for all concerned!
So if you want a challenge on a great Monterey golf course you might just try Black Horse.