Two New Courses Next Weekend

[Sam]

Was going to hit other courses and save these two for a future trip, but why put off something fun, right?

Next Friday I will be hitting Lake Casitas in Ojai for a couple of rounds. Seeing the pictures at the Ventura Disc Golf Club website (http://www.venturadiscgolf.com), I am very excited to just be at this place let alone play the course.

The following Monday I will be going to La Mirada - considered by many to be the premiere course in southern California. 27 holes of manicured grass with a 900+ foot par 5? Sam likey.

Anyone have any insights or advice for a first-time players of these courses?

[REDFIVE]

throw the least amount of shots as possible.

[proto something or other]

throw the least amount of shots as possible.

lulz.

[Bullseye]

Was going to hit other courses and save these two for a future trip, but why put off something fun, right?

Next Friday I will be hitting Lake Casitas in Ojai for a couple of rounds. Seeing the pictures at the Ventura Disc Golf Club website (http://www.venturadiscgolf.com), I am very excited to just be at this place let alone play the course.

The following Monday I will be going to La Mirada - considered by many to be the premiere course in southern California. 27 holes of manicured grass with a 900+ foot par 5? Sam likey.

Anyone have any insights or advice for a first-time players of these courses?

I was down in Santa Barbara in December and while it might be a bit of a drive from LA, Waller Pines in Santa Maria was also a fun course. 27 holes in well groomed park.

Jeff

[Tim Price]

I have played both of them and they are both great. If you can hook up with somebody at the Lake that would be best, but I found maps by hole one when I was there. La Mirada has a great pro shop next to the tennis courts and that place is easy to follow. Have fun and take some pics for everyone

[Tim]

I was down in Santa Barbara in December and while it might be a bit of a drive from LA, Waller Pines in Santa Maria was also a fun course. 27 holes in well groomed park.

Jeff

Agreed. I would love to go back and play that again now that I've seen some other great courses. That was the second course I'd ever played (the first being Evergreen in Goleta) and I was awed by its size, level of maintenance, and just all around level of fun.

I've already talked about how much I like Casitas. My only recommendation would be to camp out there so you can play multiple rounds. Might not be feasible with whatever your trip is, but nonetheless, recommended. Oh, and try to keep your discs out of the water...its a reservoir and not supposed to have any human contact with it. On a related note, if you can get out on the lake, I'd recommend visiting one of the floating outhouses. (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nLr361RmZzQ/SCv1H61EVZI/AAAAAAAAAJA/kkTsstgNCYI/s1600-h/DSC00272.JPG) With an empty lake and the door propped open, soaking in the waterfront mountain vista can be truly a moving experience.

[Sam]

I have been dying to go to the Santa Maria course since I first heard about it. It is smack between family members so I will get there eventually. Not this trip, however, as I am staying in the southern part of Ventura county.

[Sam]

Looks like my plans keep shifting and I will not make it to either of these courses next weekend. I might have time to sneak in Sylmar and Dodger Stadium, though...

[snap7times]

Looks like my plans keep shifting and I will not make it to either of these courses next weekend. I might have time to sneak in Sylmar and Dodger Stadium, though...

Please, whatever you do, do not take pictures of dodger stadium and post it anywhere on the entire world wide web. Thanks...

[snap7times]

On a related note, if you can get out on the lake, I'd recommend visiting one of the floating outhouses. (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nLr361RmZzQ/SCv1H61EVZI/AAAAAAAAAJA/kkTsstgNCYI/s1600-h/DSC00272.JPG) With an empty lake and the door propped open, soaking in the waterfront mountain vista can be truly a moving experience.

I was disappointed to see the door closed. If you gonna speak of such beauty, at least show us a picture that closely resembles your vivid image imprinted in my brain.... Next time, take a picture from inside looking out, or with the door open...

[Tim]

I was disappointed to see the door closed. If you gonna speak of such beauty, at least show us a picture that closely resembles your vivid image imprinted in my brain.... Next time, take a picture from inside looking out, or with the door open...

I did take pictures, actually--that one was just stolen off someone else's site. I'll have to see if I can find them, or if they've been sacrificed to the crashed HDD gods (incidentally, another on the lists of gods I do believe in).

[Sam]

Please, whatever you do, do not take pictures of dodger stadium and post it anywhere on the entire world wide web. Thanks...

Not only will I post them on the web, I will make sure to send you a handful via e-mail, as well. :D

[TreeLove]

Be absolutely sure to look up Mike in the Pro Shop. Tell him yo from Magilla and the whole NW! Check out the sweet InnColor collection on the walls. Buy sweet plastic. Watch out for the mandos, and don't go in the water - literally! I LOVED my one round of 27 at La Mirada.... ENJOY!

[snap7times]

Not only will I post them on the web, I will make sure to send you a handful via e-mail, as well. :D

sweet mother of pearl, time to change my email address... or I could just mark it as Junk mail... ohhhhh the temptation...:p

[Tim]

I was disappointed to see the door closed. If you gonna speak of such beauty, at least show us a picture that closely resembles your vivid image imprinted in my brain.... Next time, take a picture from inside looking out, or with the door open...


As requested. On a whim, I searched "casitas" in my email, and found an old email from years ago that had some pics. To give a bit of background to these pictures, my friend and I camped out one weekend and drank way too much the night before. We desperately needed facilities, but were disheartened to find that the toilet in the campsite area was of the "plop & stomp" variety, the water conserving self-pump kind like you'd find on a boat or old RV. Not the most functional either, I might add. Enough details on that note.

We rented a boat to just cruise around and check out the lake, and spotted one of these floating structures and we were like "What is that? Is that...is that an outhouse?" Indeed...sparkling clean and full powered flushing on top. I'm almost positive there was a beam of sunlight shining down on this particular one. The rest, well, I think the pictures speak for themselves...

The head:
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u67/timcoye/casitas/DSCN0035-1.jpg

The view:
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u67/timcoye/casitas/DSCN0038-1.jpg

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u67/timcoye/casitas/DSCN0039-1.jpg

My friend at the helm (he didn't have that smile moments before):
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u67/timcoye/casitas/DSCN0040-1.jpg

[snap7times]

YESSSS... *telling the family, roaddd tripppp*

[Sam]

Plans firmed.
Tomorrow is Casitas for a round or two in the afternoon.
Monday will be Sylmar and/or Oak Grove in Pasadena and/or Chavez Ridge - all depending on time, of course.

Will grab a camera and take pictures. :cheers:

[Scott]

Plans firmed.
Tomorrow is Casitas for a round or two in the afternoon.
Monday will be Sylmar and/or Oak Grove in Pasadena and/or Chavez Ridge - all depending on time, of course.

Will grab a camera and take pictures. :cheers:

I was really close to playing Oak Grove a couple of years ago, but my plans changed and I had to hop a plane home at the last minute. Really wanted to play the course where it all began.

[Sam]

Truthfully, I will probably save that course for a trip with Jamie as it is said to be the first ever course. Sylmar/Dodger Stadium seems more realistic as I have a flight to catch around 5pm.

[Ken Smith]

I played Casitas and De La last August and, surprise surprise, I enjoyed Casitas (Casitas has a very good "top of the world" hole). Have fun.

[Magilla]

Truthfully, I will probably save that course for a trip with Jamie as it is said to be the first ever course. Sylmar/Dodger Stadium seems more realistic as I have a flight to catch around 5pm.

:eek: Monday? Dodger Stadium to LAX for a 5pm flight? :laughing::laughing:

Your gonna have to leave by NOON.....and it only like 20 miles away.
:slapface::slapface:

:cheers:

[Sam]

I figure I will leave Westlake Village by 6:30 and be to Sylmar by 7:30 - maybe earlier. A round there and to Dodger Stadium by noon. A quick round there and to the airport by 4. It could happen...

[Magilla]

I figure I will leave Westlake Village by 6:30 and be to Sylmar by 7:30 - maybe earlier. A round there and to Dodger Stadium by noon. A quick round there and to the airport by 4. It could happen...

Maybe, IF you stay away from the 101/134 fwy and go back to the 26 to 118 thru Simi Valley on the way to Sylmar.....from Sylmar take the 210 to the 2 to Stadium Way.......THEN figure out HOW to beat the traffic to LAX THRU downtown LA.

Hint....KFWB Radio AM 980..Traffic every 10 mins...helps to avoid the bIG crashes and closures.
:biggrin2:

[Sam]

I'm totally going through Simi Valley. I get to wave at the Reagan library on my way by. :seeya:

[Sam]

I played Coyote Springs at Lake Casitas on Friday. All I can say is, if you have not been there, you are missing out. Incredible scenery, amazing terrain, a beautifully maintained and clean course, a lot of elevation changes, three pin placements for each hole and great folks out there. I ran into the course designer and a couple of his buddies and they graciously showed me around the course and provided a lot of background information on the course, the club and a lot more. Great folks and I will be back there as often as I can. I took a lot of pictures and will post those on Friday.

I was itching for some golf so I went to the YMCA in Thousand Oaks and this is one that can be skipped. Baskets constructed of rebar and plastic chains that break more often than catch. One basket had no chains (good thing I parked this doozy of a hole at 185 feet for the drop-in). I did get some safari in that made it more fun and I had the entire place to myself but this didn't make it much better.

Tomorrow it is Sylmar and Chavez Ridge before the flight home.

["Over the Hill" Bob]

I played Coyote Springs at Lake Casitas on Friday. All I can say is, if you have not been there, you are missing out. Incredible scenery, amazing terrain, a beautifully maintained and clean course, a lot of elevation changes, three pin placements for each hole and great folks out there. I ran into the course designer and a couple of his buddies and they graciously showed me around the course and provided a lot of background information on the course, the club and a lot more. Great folks and I will be back there as often as I can. I took a lot of pictures and will post those on Friday.



I'll be there next Saturday. We have to be in Santa Barbara for a funeral on Friday and not returning home until Sunday so that gives us day for some golf. Woohoooo! Can't wait!

Bob

[Sam]

$10 car fee to get in the park, Bob. I found this out on my way to the course (Thanks, Jordan!). I was hesitant and almost changed my plans but I am VERY glad that I didn't. I would have paid $20 for the two rounds I got in.

Consequently, this might explain the low population of riff-raff and the cleanliness of the course. I didn't see any bottles or cans tied together hanging from trees and when I told the guys I was playing with about this phenomenon, they were a little stunned.

["Over the Hill" Bob]

$10 car fee to get in the park, Bob. I found this out on my way to the course (Thanks, Jordan!). I was hesitant and almost changed my plans but I am VERY glad that I didn't. I would have paid $20 for the two rounds I got in.

Consequently, this might explain the low population of riff-raff and the cleanliness of the course. I didn't see any bottles or cans tied together hanging from trees and when I told the guys I was playing with about this phenomenon, they were a little stunned.

Yeah, I already did my research and know about the fee. That's ok, from everything I've heard it will be well worth it. How long till Oregon State Parks are that high? Probably not all that long is my guess.

Bob

[Sam]

The beautiful thing about this - the course designer was telling me - is that the lake is starting to make money off of the course and many Ventrua Disc Golf club members buy the yearly pass at $120. There are literally thousands of acres of land there and it should not be long before the lake approves another 18 hole course. And then maybe another.

And there is camping there.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed this course? :D

[gwillim]

The beautiful thing about this - the course designer was telling me - is that the lake is starting to make money off of the course and many Ventrua Disc Golf club members buy the yearly pass at $120. There are literally thousands of acres of land there and it should not be long before the lake approves another 18 hole course. And then maybe another.

And there is camping there.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed this course? :D

Go there in October and there will be more tarantulas than there are people. Chris saw 5 walking around the fairways in one round back in the '06 Coyote Classic!

[Tim]

Heh, sorry, forgot to mention the pay-to-play aspect. I think it was only $6 back when I played it, but yeah, well worth the $10 in my opinion. Also, I played it when it was just a few months old, the fairways were next to non-existant, the rough was waist high grass with chest-high thistles, and every so often, you'd hear a distinctive rattle at you as you were stomping around looking for a disc. And I still loved it! :D

Glad you got a chance to play it and found it to be worth the trip!

[Adam Schneider]

I'm headed south -- but not THAT far south -- this week.

I'm hoping to hit Whistler's Bend and Tom Pearce on Thursday before stopping in Medford or Yreka, then maybe Anderson River Park on Friday.

[Sam]

Sylmar is awesome, too! Not AS awesome as Casitas but that is a fun little course. Good mix of forehand/backhand shots. Good use of elevation. 3 pin placements for every hole. A well-stocked pro shop that Steve Rico his brother and Gary Sandoval run. Friendly locals. I ended up staying there until about 1:30 and am saving Dodger Stadium for a future trip.

So... Casitas = great.
Veteran's Memorial = pretty great.
Conejoy YMCA = big fat turd.

Pics coming tomorrow.

[Sam]

OK... so it took a few days, but here are the pics:

http://www.nwdiscgolfnews.com/forum/album.php?albumid=10

I need a better camera. :)

["Over the Hill" Bob]

Wife and I hit Casitas this morning. Sam is right, this is an awesome course. Its mostly in the short position right now, I'd love to play it in the long. The first guy we ran into asked if we were there for the "monthly", and I said no that we were visiting from Portland, Oregon. He was amazed, and said wow there was a guy here last week from Portland. I said yes, that would have been Sam. YOU KNOW SAM? I had to admit that I did and that was a friend. The group let us jump into the middle of them and there wasn't a problem waiting on tee's. We did get heckled for being Blazer fans so had to ask.........Kobe who? :laughing: Anyway a great course with elevation changes at almost every hole. We had a lot of fun and I was actually excited about my first bald head sunburn of the year. :D

Bob

[snap7times]

OK... so it took a few days, but here are the pics:

http://www.nwdiscgolfnews.com/forum/album.php?albumid=10

I need a better camera. :)

In all my videos I have used the Canon Powershoot 1100 IS *image stablizer*. Easyyyyy to use and easy to transfer to computer. Worth every cent in it's video and picture quality for a camera.

[Sam]

The first guy we ran into asked if we were there for the "monthly", and I said no that we were visiting from Portland, Oregon. He was amazed, and said wow there was a guy here last week from Portland. I said yes, that would have been Sam. YOU KNOW SAM? I had to admit that I did and that was a friend. The group let us jump into the middle of them and there wasn't a problem...

Wow! You admitted that I was a friend and they STILL let you play with them?! :laughing:

Glad you got to run into the same awesome locals that I ran into. Those were some good folks right there. Also glad you got a chance to play this beautiful course. Talk about DG road trips... October at Casitas, baby!! :cheers:

["Over the Hill" Bob]

Talk about DG road trips... October at Casitas, baby!! :cheers:

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Coyote Classic! :yay: After playing a casual round all I could think about was how much I'd love to play a Tournament Round there. :cheerleader: There are definetely some sic, sic shots out there and yet some good birdie shots available too. When the guys mentioned the Coyote the first thing my wife said was, "we need to talk to Sam and Jamie". I should be able to get a few pics up later today.

Bob

["Over the Hill" Bob]

Hole 1 Casitas:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj116/bcabal/Hole1.jpg

Mando through arch of tree:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj116/bcabal/Mando.jpg

Sic shot off the tee under LOW branches:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj116/bcabal/sic.jpg

Bob

[Sam]

You have a MUCH better camera than I do. :)

[Tim]

Ahhh, gotta love SoCal in the wintertime--the one time of year when you actually see GREEN. Is it just the angle of the shot, or is the water hazard on #1 dried up now?

[Adam Schneider]

Looks like a fun course. Too bad my one SoCal friend moved to Cape Cod...

["Over the Hill" Bob]

Ahhh, gotta love SoCal in the wintertime--the one time of year when you actually see GREEN. Is it just the angle of the shot, or is the water hazard on #1 dried up now?

The lake is dropped right now, drying up the water hazard.

Bob

[Sam]

Right. You can walk across it right now, though they did get two docks from the lake that they modified to make a bridge so you can walk across it at any time.

[Tim]

Ahh, that kinda sucks. Still a great course I'm sure, but the water definitely adds to the experience. When I played, the pin was in a different spot, so it should have been a natural easy hyzer. Instead, my first shot of the day (with no warming up and a sorry ass backhand game), I aired it out, nose up, stalled, and dove downwards There was a kid sitting on the bridge fishing, my disc sailed right over his head and SPLOOSH! I think it scared him almost as much as it scared me.:laughing: