Relay Shared Album: A Summer of Golf on the Road

Somewhere between Pebble Beach and a Los Angeles Muni

In one of the earliest weekly essays, Seasonal seesaw, I wrote with excitement about the turn of spring and the return of one of my favorite pastimes: golf. Inversely, the leaves are now changing and the season is winding down.

Living in New York City makes many hobbies difficult, but golf in particular. Without a fancy country club membership, it’s hard to play consistently and enjoy the game I’ve grown to love (hit me up if you’ve got connections at a T100 northeastern club). This led to a summer of golfing everywhere but New York. I’m already a bit of a road warrior as a byproduct of my role and lifestyle, so I started bringing my clubs along. From Canada to California, they traveled with me, and in aggregate, they’ve spent more time on west coast grass than east coast.

At this stage of my life, “to play golf” is nearly synonymous with “take a flight.” This certainly won’t always be the case, but for now, I enjoy the chaos. Below is a look back at my favorite rounds, the people I’ve met, and long walks on the coast and in the woods this summer.

All the photos here were shot on my Minolta CLE in various 35mm film stock, they’re presented without edits fresh from the lab.

Monterey Bay, California

The Monterey Bay area in California could be the pinnacle of American golf. From Pebble Beach to Cypress Point, the region is considered a bucket list trip for most golfers, which makes tee times at Pebble Beach very hard to come by. After some research, I discovered a loophole: if you’re not staying at the resort, you can call at precisely 6:00 a.m. the day before and request to play. It took me two days, but a last-minute flight from LA to Monterey Regional Airport was booked and tee times were secured.

Itinerary:

• Day 1: Spyglass Hill

• Day 2: Pebble Beach

• Day 3: Pasatiempo

I played Spyglass Hill on the foggiest morning I’ve ever experienced. The course is unbelievably punishing and my swing was rusty, but our forecaddy was a shaman and the three middle-aged guys I played with were fantastic. The Spanish moss in combination with the fog created a surreal, alien-planet ambiance.

Pebble Beach is Pebble Beach—a name that doesn’t need explanation. Due to my 24-hour notice, I had secured the 6:05 a.m. “maintenance tee time,” which was actually the second tee time of the day. The Monterey Bay’s “June Gloom” meant I was met with another cloudy morning. In complete contrast to the old-boys-club I played with at Spyglass, I was paired with a Korean teaching pro from LA, his wife, and his mother. They spoke only Korean for the rest of the round, but they were absolute sticks.

Pasatiempo was my favorite round of the swing. It is Alister MacKenzie’s (architect behind Augusta National & Cypress Point) architectural gem nestled in a residential neighborhood in Santa Cruz, CA.

Los Angeles, California

Golf on the road doesn’t always mean playing the famous, best courses in the area—it often means playing whatever course is nearby and accessible. Similar to New York, good municipal golf in LA is hard to find. In fact, the municipal scene is pretty terrible and wrought with access problems. With nearly 10 trips to LA this year, I’ve become very familiar with courses like Rancho Park and the iconic fivesomes at Penmar.

Nova Scotia, Canada

I concluded the summer with a pilgrimage to the northern reaches of Canada. A flight into Halifax and a three-hour drive led me to Cabot Cape Breton, a golf resort built on a former mine site, now featuring 36 holes of seaside golf. They have a “links” course and a “cliffs” course, and I was lucky enough to play both each day.

If everything goes to plan, I might only have a few years left in the States. With how much great golf there is here, that likely means I have a lot more spontaneous trips and adventures with a checked golf bag ahead of me.

Hopefully this wasn’t too much golf content for the Relay audience. As mentioned in the Every Friday, we’re getting the gang back together for Halloween next weekend. Expect some great NYC Halloween film content and spooky hangovers in tow!

Thanks for reading—or for mega scrolling all the way down here.

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We also have Quick Reflections you can check out:

• Beyond what do you do

• Five Ways Not To Drink An Iced Coffee

• Requiem for Travel

• Media way stations from the summer that refuses to end.

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