October 19, 2010 - Hunter Ranch Golf Course, Paso Robles, California

After a restful night in Redwood City, we filled up on a Starbucks latte (non-fat, half-caf, no foam, two raw sugars - a bit high maintenance?) and very-bad-for-us breakfast foods which shall remain a secret.  Two and a half hours later, we were on Highway 46 heading east towards Hunter Ranch Golf Course, where we had a wonderful lunch, sitting at an outdoor table, overlooking the golf course we were about to play.  Hunter Ranch Golf Course

I ordered a Southwestern Salad with Chicken ($11.00 with the chicken, $9.00 without) and Stan ordered a 1/2 lb. Kobe burger ($12.00) with a salad.  The Southwestern Salad was absolutely delicious, the chicken was some of the tastiest salad-toppin' chicken I've ever had, with a secret marinade (I asked, believe me).  It sat atop greens, black beans, cheddar cheese, tomato, red onion, avocado - the usual suspects.  Stan's Kobe burger was huge.  He said he should have paid closer attention to the size.  Really now . . . as if Stan normally pays attention to the small details on a menu.  :-)  An iced tea in a to-go cup, and we were ready to tackle this course.  We had no idea what adventures awaited us.  

When you approach the first tee on a golf course, any golf course, and get ready to swing your club, there is a feeling that you will do really well this time.  All the problems, glitches and bad habits you have will disappear and your club really will find the ball and just knock it where it's supposed to go.  Ha!  Here at Hunter Ranch there seemed to be more gullies, barrancas, elevation changes, brush traps, reeds and willows, un-go-overable water hazards than I've ever seen on any golf course . . . ever.  Even PGA West seemed easier.  Maybe it was because we played best ball on that course, but I would think that a 20 foot bunker would be easier than hitting a ball over 100 yards of trees, scrub and brush to get to a tiny green, guarded on three sides by sand.  Come on now!  The greens were very fast on the front nine and, in some cases, very difficult to read.  

I admit this course was out of our league, but we had a good time playing anyway.  We both drove pretty well when the fairway was reachable by normal means (even though we lost a few balls in the trees - one of mine inexplicably disappeared, maybe down a gopher hole), and we had some good fairway shots.  We mostly two- and three-putted, but  I'm sure we had a four in there a few times.  The fairways kept giving us the most trouble.  On the 7th hole, a par 5, Stan was on the green in 10.  He just kept chugging that ball along, 50 to 100 yards at a time.  I think his actual score for that hole was a 13.  I did not par one hole but I got a bogey on the 16th, a par 3.  I felt like I won the lottery! 

  

This very pretty golf course sits among vineyards and oak trees and has a small town/farm/cowboy feel, and they are located smack in the middle of the Paso Robles wine country.  The clubhouse has rough-hewn wood siding and is very inviting -I can see why some locals come here just for lunch.  The course is very well maintained, with some paved and some dirt cart paths, although the carts are noisy putt-putters, which was rather distracting, and they had no GPS. 


Our score was so ugly, I'm embarrassed to post it here (I thought yesterday's was bad), but candor will prevail.  Here it is in its truly appalling accuracy:  Annette 127, Stan 134. 

With 5-1/2 hours of golf behind us, it was getting dark and we were tired and hungry.  A three hour drive lay ahead of us, so we thought we should get something to eat before we hit the road.  I know there are lots of lovely restaurants in Paso Robles, but we didn't have the time or energy to check them out and we wanted a quick meal so we hit the fast food strip just west of the 101 freeway on Highway 46.  We ate at Red Brick Pizza (this blog is called Driving and Dining, not Driving and Gourmet Food), and I took advantage of the opportunity to order something a little different in a personal size.  Stan and I usually share a large pizza, half cheese and half pepperoni.  This time I got a thin crust Pizza Rustica with mozzarella, parmesan, fresh basil, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, olive oil and garlic.  It was pretty dang good, I must say, and really hit the spot with a garden salad.  Their ranch dressing was so bland, though (how hard can it be to make a good Ranch dressing?), I had to add salt and Parmesan to make it tastier.  Washed down with a Dr. Pepper, it was a perfect meal to cap off the day.  And Stan?  He had his pepperoni pizza.

We don't expect to be playing any golf until we get to Hawaii later this week.  We hope to play a couple of times on Maui, if it doesn't break the bank.  Some friends who golf are already there and I'm sure they'll give us the lay of the land.  Maybe that'll help.