Tough Course..

I played Rio Hondo CC today and, as normal, it was still a bear..like a grizzly. I call this the "harder" course since it has a higher slope/rating compared to Los Amigos, the "easy" course. I've broken 90 on numerous occasions at the "easy" course but have yet to break 90 at the "hard" course. I brought my dv camcorder out with me as usual but honestly didn't have time to capture any footage because the course was a handful..probably best that I didn't today anyhow.

It may be just an optical illusion but the fairways are smaller and treelined to start with at Rio Hondo. Compared to Los Amigos, if you go off course you aren't going to have an open shot back in. Also the rough is really "rough" and has numerous collection areas on the sides of the fairways..I call them nasty ditches.

I wouldn't call it a long course, 6344 yds., par 71, but very narrow and you need to have an "accurate" game. There's absolutely no room for stray drives or approaches unless you like hitting from nasty ditches. An ideal player would be one who hits it straight and HIGH (see Tiger Woods). The greens are fast, not as fast as the greens when I played at Balboa Park GC, and true. Their greens are hard thus a need for a high shot that lands straight down.

Their #1 handicap hole is the the first hole. It's a par 4, slight dogleg right, and NARROW without any forgiveness. Basically if you're not long, hitting a good cut, down the middle forget about it. The fairway itself has undulations which also add to the difficulty. What kills me is the postage stamp green at the end. It's, honestly, like 20 feet by 60 feet and is the smallest green on the course..thinking about it..it's actually the smallest green I've ever hit into. All this combined would adequately make it the hardest hole. The desciption of this hole goes for about all the holes at Rio Hondo. My putting wasn't bad and I did manage to get 2 pars but ended up carding a 94.

It seems like my game is at the cusp of the high 80's but I manage to have a couple of blow-up holes that put me a few miles north of 90. I had two triple bogeys today which thinking back was so uneeded. This usually happens when I want to make the "big" shot and end up with a more precarious one.