Pelican Hill: North & South
OK I’m cheating here by doing both course write-ups in one but a lot of the photos I have are unlabeled so am not sure which is which and have played both and a lot of the holes kind of get mixed up in my memory. I will tell you this, though, if you’re looking for a couple of great (and wildly expensive) golf courses with ocean views, ravines to carry and great layouts, these two are worth the trip. While I said that an LA road trip requires connections for the private courses, down in Orange county, there are a few really nice public/resort options, but bring your wallet. You can find the Pelican courses in the scrapbook here.
On the South, the back-to-back, ocean-front par three’s stick out. Links 2003 also featured the South, so I remember that one a little better. Fifteen is one of my favorite holes at the resort. A cape-like par four where you need to bite off as much of the ravine as you can to set up your approach. Both 18’s stand out and the 17th on the North Course is my favorite on that side. When I first played here I was super surprised that these courses didn’t get more love in the rankings and am still amazed by it. They may crack Golf Digest’s Best in State but neither has appeared on any Top 100’s and in my way of ranking, both belong. You can’t get much more of a wow factor than you get here on either course.
If you’re coming out for a golf trip, don’t try to squeeze LA and Orange County into the same trip. Connect and fly into John Wayne and don’t venture anywhere near LA. If you’re bringing the family you can set them up in Disneyland though that is my own little version of hell on earth and I’m talking Disney World not Disneyland. Huge difference, DL is half the space and double the misery.
Golf-wise, the two Pelicans are a must. Monarch Beach has a few ocean-front holes but is otherwise pretty pricey for the experience. Trump National Los Angeles is top 100 in my book and is not too far away from Pelican (if you’re staying here). Strawberry Farms is inland a bit, not as impressive but a nice change of pace. The back nine around the reservoir is pretty nice. Sea Cliffs was a nice private offering that your pro could most likely get you on. It’s not on the beach or anything dramatic but again it’s a nice change of pace. Friends say that Shady Canyon is awesome but I have yet to be able to get on.
Not sure when restaurants will open again in California, and when they do, how many will make it, but my favorite in the OC is Javier’s. Used to be right in the heart of Laguna Beach but has moved up the PCH into a shopping center in Newport Beach. Still, it’s the best Mexican in CA. Cuccina Alissa is up in Huntington Beach and is as great Italian as you can get in California. Finally, if you’re staying at Pelican Hill, don’t sell Andrea short, it was really good with a knock-out view.
First time here (on North) in 2004, it was just me and a buddy. They pair us up with a really nice guy who said he was recently retired and by the time we got a few holes in, we finally asked him retired from where. Said he was either a writer or producer and after we asked anything we would know, he really nonchalantly said, “Yeah I worked on the early Happy Days.” Holy Ralph Malph! So of course you know what we asked him, right? Did you do the jump the shark episode? He didn’t but gave us some back story.
So I guess Garry Marshall was the show’s main creator/writer and originally Fonzie was a minor character but he tested well in the first season, so they wrote out Ritchie’s brother and made the Fonz a main character. Well, as Fonzie became more and more popular, Winkler got more and more unbearable. So I guess he got Marshall’s ear and cajoled him to make him the primary character in Season 5. The season starts out with the entire group going to Hollywood because some director was going to make Fonzie the next James Dean. The three-part season opener then ends with the Fonz accepting a challenge to perform a water ski jump over a shark. The reason he ridiculously wore the leather jacket was that he was so incredibly out of shape he didn’t want to show off his physique. This is all from what I heard. The rest is urban dictionary history, which you can read here on imdb.
Golf Scrapbook 