Breezy Point Weekend

This past weekend Matt, Brie Janelle and I stayed at Mike and Ann's condo at the Breezy Point resort. We had a great time hanging out at the beech spending time together. Friday we ate dinner at Ernie's on Gull lake followed by miniature golf at Pirate's Cove. I was the big winner with three holes in one.

Saturday, Matt and I played golf at Deacon's Lodge, an Arnold Palmer design, in Pequot Lakes. We both played okay with our match coming down to the last couple holes (Matt 82, Josh 85).

Above is Matt's tee shot on the par 3 17th hole. Arnold Palmer included this hole on his "dream 18" holes that he has designed.

Above is my tee shot on the par 5 13th hole. It was one of my best shots all day.

Au Gratin Open

Yesterday was the first annual Au Gratin Open at Wedgewood Cove Golf Course in Albert Lea. The course has a special deal where you can play as many holes as you want for $75, so I decided it would be fun to get a bunch of guys together and play 54 holes in one day, the winner receiving a case of Betty Crocker Au Gratin potatoes that I got from work. The tournament format was "best ball" with yourself (after playing all 18 holes 3 times you take your best score on each hole to come up with a "best ball" 18 hole score). We had a great time playing golf all day and the scores where pretty close between us except for one player who ran away from the pack and brought home the case of boxed potatoes.

Matt Forsman -6
Josh Jones -1
Matt Tubbs -1
Drew Anderson -1
Josh Tubbs +1
Geoff Anda +4

I can't wait to for next year's Au Gratin Open!

Harding Park

Today I celebrated President's Day the best way I know how, I played golf. For the second year in a row Kyan and I took advantage of our day by hitting the links. This year we played Harding Park in San Francisco, home of the 2009 President's Cup. The course was amazing, lined with old cypress trees.

I played arguably the best round of golf since moving to California today. I shot 40 on the front nine and followed it up with a 37 on the back nine. At one point I had it to two under par before making two straight bogeys.

3rd Time's a Charm

Last week Matt flew into Sacramento for his third visit. We played golf three of the five days he was here. Saturday we drove south of San Francisco to play the Links at Half Moon Bay. The course was amazing, perched on the bluffs overhanging the Pacific.

Above: Matt's tee shot on the 16th hole with the ocean all the way down the left side with the hotel in the background.

Matt and I standing on the 18th tee at Half Moon Bay. This hole was a long par five that wrapped around the bluff and ended in front of the hotel.

Saturday after golf we drove down highway one and stayed overnight at a hotel just outside of Monterey. Sunday we got up and made our way to the Links at Spanish Bay for our second round of the weekend. The scenery and golf course was just as amazing as the day before. After our round we drove the 17 mile drive stopping at Pebble Beach again for one more look before heading back to Sacramento.

Above: My tee shot on the par four 16th hole at Spanish Bay.

Monday I took the day off and we played some more golf at a municipal course in Sacramento.

Scores for the three days of golf where...
Matt (81,86,77)244
Josh (86,86,86)258

We had a great time playing golf and reminiscing about our California golf adventures. In total we played 8 times at 8 different courses.

Weekend Activities

I had been hearing about the California State Garage Sale (the actual state government) so Friday I decided to check it out. They were selling mostly old wooden furniture from the 70s, repo cars and older computers. While I was snooping through some of the drawers of cabinets I found this little card catalog. There wasn't a sticker so I got it for only $3!

Then, Saturday we spend nearly all day at the United Way Golf Tournament that General Mills was sponsoring. Josh played and I volunteered.

Today we packed up or bikes and headed up to the American River. There are 22 miles of path going from Downtown Sac all the way out to Folsom. No, we didn't ride the whole path.

Mare Island Golf

Saturday I played golf at the oldest course west of the Mississippi, Mare Island Golf Club, in Vallejo, CA.  The course was located on an island in the San Pablo Bay and was home to a World War II Naval base.  I enjoyed great views of the bay and surrounding hills as well as the remains of a once active base.  Sporadically I stumbled upon gigantic fallout shelters carved into the hills.

I didn't play that well but enjoyed the history lesson.

Apple Mountain Golfing

This weekend was hot! Both Saturday and Sunday were in the triple digits, ending our HVAC free streak at 8 months!

I went golfing today with Kyan at Apple Mountain Golf Resort in Placerville, CA. The course was carved out the the foothills and surrounded by towering pines. There were many beautiful vistas, including snow capped mountains. I played well carding an 79 (41-38).

Track My Game

You can now track Josh's golf game from the comforts of your own computer. Follow the link in the "additional links" section. Search either; Joshua Tubbs in California or GHIN 8653852

Surprise!

Wednesday afternoon I went to work and came home as normal...so I thought. After opening the door I got quite a surprise. Matt was sitting on my couch! He just said, "Hi Josh." I was blown away, it was so strange. For a second I forgot where I was, it felt like I was in Minnesota again! Turns out, many people colaberated to make this surprise happen. For that, Thank you!

Matt and I had a great time playing golf and watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We played golf three of the four and a half days he was here. Thursday, we played at Whitney Oaks in Rocklin. Friday, we played at Lockeford Springs in Lodi. Saturday was the big finale, we drove down to Pebble Beach to play Poppy Hills. It was a golfers dream come true. The course was amazing! We had to keep reminding ourselves that this was actually happening. We both played fairly well. Matt shot 81 and I had an 85.

Picture above: Matt's third shot into the par 5 10th hole. He hit a nine iron to 10ft and made the birdie putt.

My tee shot at the par 4 16th. I hit three wood and found the fairway.


After our great day at Poppy Hills, we drove down to Pebble Beach Golf Links to walk around. We parked and were able to walk all the way down next to the 18th green. It was surreal! We stood there for a few minutes just soaking up the view.

Check out our photo gallery for more pictures.

A Day in Monterey

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to play one of the best public golf courses in the United States, Spyglass Hill, in Monterey California. Spyglass Hills gets it's name from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island. Each hole is named for a character. Local legend maintains that Stevenson once wandered the Spyglass area gathering ideas for his novels. The first five holes line the ocean and are surrounded by grassy sand dunes. The other 13 are inland carved out of tall cypress trees.

I had a great time! The course was ridiculously hard with beautiful scenery and trouble everywhere you looked. Janelle came along as the photographer for the day. I was paired up with three other guys that where all on vacation. They where all very nice and fun guys to play with. We had a good time working our way through the course and talking golf and hockey. Two of the guys where from Toronto and where avid Leafs fans and the other was a former hockey player from Los Angeles.

I played fairly well, shooting 92. I had a few lose shots that cost me a couple strokes each, but I hit more good shots than bad. The day was capped by two birdies, each in spectacular form. The first, a 60 foot double breaking putt on the par five 11th hole. The second birdie was on the 18th hole. I hit the fairway with my three wood, then missed the green left with a six iron. I then hit one of the best bunker shots of my life! I splashed the ball out of the bunker, and landed it softly. It hit the flagstick and dropped. What a way to finish a memerable day!

Second shot on the par four 17th hole. Shot landed 20 feet away from the pin.

After I finished playing golf, we continued on the 17 Mile Drive around the Monterey Penninsula through the Del Monte Forest. Above is a picture of "the lone cypress" along the way to Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Janelle and I had a great day exploring the Monterey Bay area and playing one of America's most famous golf courses.

Check out the rest of our pictures on Flickr (link under "Additional Links"). There are over 200!

Well...it's been awhile.

Lately, Josh and I haven't been doing a lot of exploring so we don't have a ton to share. It was raining a lot (which is good because we don't want drought conditions this summer), but it has been pretty clear since last weekend.

Josh got some new clubs and has been breaking them in on the weekends. Here he decided to play with Lucy inside. (That's a mini tennis ball).

I was in Anthropologie  (one of my favs) a couple weekends ago and couldn't resist these super cute measuring spoons. Online, I also ordered these great french canning jars to hold popcorn, rice, orzo, oatmeal etc. We've started shopping more in the bulk section at the grocery store, and these jars are cuter than the plastic bags from the store.

With the daylight savings time change, we have more time to walk with Lucy in the daylight. It's starting to get warmer (60s) and we're enjoying being outside without jackets. Also enjoying the greenness since it will stop raining for the summer soon.

Sorry for the mediocre post. We're getting excited for my parents and Logan to visit, so more exciting things to come soon!

Oceanside Golf

Because I had today off for President's day, I went golfing. I got a couple of guys together from work and made a tee time at the Links at Bodega Harbour, an ocean side course in Bodega Bay. I was really excited to play, but the weather forecast looked terrible. There was a 60-90% chance of rain the whole day.  We decided to make the two and a half hour drive anyway and take our chances. When we arrived it was raining, and it continued raining through the first three holes. On the forth tee it stopped raining and started to clear up.  It turned out to be a great day!

This is only one the the great views we where treated to today.  There where ocean views on every hole. It was a bit distracting! 

My tee shot on the par three eighth hole. I found the green 20ft left of the pin.  

View from the top of the fairway on the 18th hole.  

"Winter" Events

Thursday night was the annual holiday light parade in Lodi. Janelle and I helped put together General Mills' float. The parade was made up of over 80 floats made by businesses and local organizations. There was an estimated 50,000 people along the parade route.


Tonight I did something that I never thought possible.... played golf, at night, in December. I went to the local driving range at 6:00 and hit a bucket of balls, chipped and putted. It was 46* which may explain why I was the only person on the range. I plan on going to the driving range at least once a week over the winter. Matt, Andy, Jones, Fors, watch out next year!

Minnesota twins take swings in California

What trip wouldn't be complete without towing your golf bag stuffed with a week's worth of clothes through airport security?  Matt and I where able to play two rounds in the eight days he was here.  Round one was played at the Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, CA.  Matt over came a slow start to beat me by 8 (77 - 85).  The match was a lot closer before I hit two of the most cliche golf shots (the bladed bunker shot into the water hazard) on the last holes.

The second round was staged at Dark Horse Golf Club in Auburn, CA (course tour).  This course was amazing! Rated the 7th best public course in CA.  It played incredibly tough with long grass, bunkers and wildlife everywhere.  We saw (almost close enough to pet); deer, coyotes, turkeys, lizards and turkey vultures.

Matt tees off on the 17th hole. Nice balanced finish!

Hard to say what was more impressive; the picture or the swing

Matt's 5 iron second shot into the par 5 18th hole, rolls ten feet from the hole.

I was unable to close the 8 stroke gap and Matt wins the two round outing. 

Matt 77,82 159

Josh 85, 88 173

I think it's safe to say that we had a great time.  Who would have thought we would be playing golf in CA?  I look forward to a few more rounds before Janelle and I leave...Pebble Beach?

 

81 shots & an 8 mile walk

Yesterday my coworker/friend Ben and I played Lockeford Springs golf course just outside of Lodi. The course was really nice and was surrounded by vineyards and in the distance the foothills. I shot 81 (41, 40), Ben didn't fare as well but had fun anyway. On the third hole (par 3, 145yrd) my tee shot hit the pin, thus denying me of my first hole-in-one.