Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 2: This is Ken Downer from Asheville, North Carolina, and I
played road More Golf Course. This is Golf Smarter number
nine eighty eight.
Speaker 1: So we're surrounded by farmland and just untouched nature, which
as everybody your audience, and you know, that's pretty rare
in golf anymore. Most golf developments are built to sell houses,
it seems like anymore, And to have a golf course
that's just trickly golf. I really think that's what makes
us place special in itself. The golf course, it's a
fantastic design, always in fantastic shape. To come out here
and be just in nature and play golf the way
it was probably originally meant to be played, it's special.
And that's the one thing that really turned me on
to this place when I first came here.
Speaker 2: Yo to d Hea Golf Club and Cash Creek Casino
History and Tea Tour with Will Foust. This is Golf
Smarter Stories, tips and insights from great golf mindes to
help you lower your score and raise your golf IQ.
Here's your host, Fred Green. Welcome to the Golf Smarter podcast.
Will Well, Fred, how are you Manyah?
Speaker 1: Good?
Speaker 2: You I'm doing well, northern California has been getting a
lot of rain lately, what about you, guys.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had four and a half inches over over
the weekend and through through the middle of the week.
So nice little February storm to hopefully get us. Still
need a little bit more, but at least get us
a good start going into the season.
Speaker 2: So, and this course probably has phenomenal drainage though, right,
I mean, it's built for this kind of thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and it's a you know, it opened in
two thousand and eight, so you know, it's a fairly
new course and you know, with that, they did spend
a lot of time making sure the drainage was set
up correctly and it does train really well. So we
are pretty spoiled in that regards are so we're we're
definitely definitely lucky.
Speaker 2: So awesome, awesome. Well, we're going to talk a lot
more about the course and a bit, but what I
wanted to do was start a conversation really talking about
how Indian nations Native American nations have not only built
their casino businesses and taken advantage of what they were
able to do with casinos, but the combination of casino
and golf. At what point did they realize this is
a winning combination.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I wasn't around. I've been here since twenty seventeen.
But you know, I'm not one hundred cent sure on
the on the backstory, but I know that the tribe does.
Several of the tribal members that were involved at the time,
tribal leaders, I should say, you know, did have a
love for the game of golf and and and you
know they they wanted to bring that here and make
that a part of the casino experience and so and
part of the resort experience. So I think that's what
kind of kicked everything off, you know, with the golf
club and uh being a part of Cash Greet casino
and really growing, you know, their their influence in the
golf space, and they and they did it pretty quickly.
And you know that the Golf Club name really took
off pretty quick, being a new facility opening in two
thousand and eight. You know, we've we've had several awards
over the years and it's gained regional I guess accolades
through the years and and also national athleades.
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, the Golf Week and
Golf Advisors. Uh, both ranked in the top fifty for
resort courses.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, So we we've had some some good years
with that, and Golf Week has been fairly recent cracking
in the top fifty, right, twenty one or twenty two
was the first year to crack the top fifty, I
believe on that and and you know, it takes some
time to gain recognition on that particular ranking, but we're
we're we're proud of that ranking. I think that's that's
probably the one I'm most proud of at this property.
Golf Pass Golf Advisor always good, good to be on
because their user driven, but I really like the golf
Week rankings as well. I think they're it's a it's
a nationally known, you know, publication, and that's always always
nice to be to be recognized in that well.
Speaker 2: It's been talked about, I know a lot of people
who talk about it being, you know, a West coast destination,
not just northern California, but it's a West coast destination
resort and course.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, We're we're still pretty regional and in
the majority of our customer base is Bay area, Sacramento
in kind of central Valley in this area, so Bay area,
et cetera. So we are starting to work on, you know,
growing our footprint, you know, not only just on the
West coast, but nationally, and with our additional rooms we
opened in twenty twenty, we've got six hundred and fifty
nine total rooms. I believe that's the I can't misquoting that.
I better double anyhow, six we'll call it six. We'll
just round down to six fifty and call six fifty.
But you know, we the four hundred and fifty nine
room edition, So I guess this six fifty nine was
opened in twenty twenty and and with that obviously not
the greatest time to open open, Oh gosh, a new
hotel wing. But but we're twenty twenty five now and
we're taking full advantage of having those those rooms. We're
selling packages. We're trying to really, you know, get people
here from more than just you know, the day trip.
You know, we want people to be able to come
here and stay the night and make it make it
a trip. And so we finally have the rooms available
to do that. And it's been good. So it's been
a fun little growth period over the last couple of years,
you know, now that we're on the other side of
the pandemic and being able to have people play golf
here and have the opportunity to stay at the casino resort.
So it's been been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to coming up there. I've
not played it before. I'm really looking for I've heard
so many people say, have you gone up to Cash
Creek yet? Have you played YOKADIHI? And I'm like, no, one,
I'm really excited to do it. So a buddy and
I are going to be coming up soon and looking
forward to a couple of rounds of golf and the
casino experience and the spa experience. Very gonna, very much
going to take advantage of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, We're we're excited to have you. I know,
it's thank you, it's the old real or you'll really
enjoy it.
Speaker 2: So how familiar are familiar are you with the Indian
nation that controls this property and the resort?
Speaker 1: Fairly familiar. I mean we we do work hand in
hand with with them. So so yo he win Tune
nation owns and operates the property.
Speaker 2: Pronoun he wint yeah nation yeap win tune.
Speaker 1: Yep, yeah. So uh, the so they they operate obviously,
we operate under the Cash Creek Casino Resort umbrella, so
we're we're part of Cash Creek Casino Resort. The golf
club is just named after you know, the tribe actually
stands for home by the spring water and in the
Native I think Patland language, so it's uh, you know,
we're we're we're right down by Cash Creek itself. There
actually is a Cash Creek the golf course borders, so
so it kind of yes, we we we are familiar
and we do work with them hand in hand. They
own the property, they're they're very involved in in the
operation and and success of the business. They have very
high standards for the property, which is fun to be
a part of, and it's part of the reason why
we are able to have, you know, a place that
is so well recognized, because they're their expectation is to
have you know, one of the best or the best
property on the West coast. So so yeah, we're we're
very fortunate to work for an ownership. You know, the
HDU went to nation and have their support to be
able to do what we do and have the resources
to provide that top tier experience because it's tough. I mean,
you can't. Golf is uh, let's face it, golf is not.
Not every owner, not every you know, place has the
resources to to have a staff member on the first
te you know, a starter starting you, somebody at bag
drop greeting you when you get out of your car,
somebody on eighteen. We hand out Mango sendals at the
end of the round on hot days, not every hot days, yeah, exactly,
and not every golf course has two player assistants on
busy days and make sure pace play is good, but
also that our guests are having a good day, and
so we're just double that. In addition, you know, I
should mention our course conditioning, which I feel like we're
pretty well known for. You know, they're it's pretty rare
when we have a bad condition day, and that's usually
if the only time that would happen is weather related.
So you know, either we get a lot of rain
like right now, and I wouldn't even call it bad condition.
It's still in great condition. But our standards are so
high that and again, our ownership standards are so high. Uh,
if they give us the resources to to be able
to make that happen now through through you know, certain
agronomie practices, et cetera, that that perhaps other local golf
course aren't able to do either. We have a cool
season grass here, so blue grass and uh, excuse me,
blue and rye mixed in the rough and fairways and
bent grass greens. Bent grass can can handle hot weather.
We do get a lot of hot weather here, but
Rye and blue it takes a lot of maintenance to
keep to keep lying excuse me, Rye and blue in
good condition through through the summer months here where we
see you know, several months close to one hundred degrees
or or above one hundred degrees. Those grasses do great
in cool climates you know, up north, but here it's tough.
It's a challenge. And that most of properties in our
area have bermuda grass. We do not, and so we're
a cool season property and kind of a transition climate,
and so that also necessitates even more attention to a
strong you know, agronomy practice. So we're really again fortunate
to have that support. You know, not every owner would
would have allowed cool season grass because the amount of
maintenance it does take. And that's why most properties in
northern California, at least in the Sacramento area are bermuda grass.
You get closer to the Bay Area, cooler temperatures, you're
gonna see cool season grass. But we're kind of in
that transition zone slash even warmer, warmer climate than than
than most. So it allows us to keep the golf
course green year round, which as you know, this time
of year, most places that are bermuda are are blonde
as they would say, so it's it goes dormant and
it doesn't look quite as good. So so yeah, we're
we're we're pretty fortunate, you know, to have that support
from ownership. Not to go on a long tangent there,
but that's in a nutshell, you know, kind of get
paints a picture of how much support we do have
from from our ownership.
Speaker 2: One thing I'm not familiar with with Indian owned Native
American owned properties like this, are there do they have
multiple properties, multiple resorts and courses or does everybody have
their every nation have their own and it's a network.
Are they all independent? How does that work?
Speaker 1: And I don't know how how much knowledge I really
have as it relates to other tribes and how they operate,
But our our particular tribe you know, owns and operates
this one casino resort property. Now, they obviously own other
things and have other ventures such as an on site
all of olive mill and and winery. So it's called
Saka Hills. It's a it's a fantastic they make fantastic
all of oil. If you ever, if you ever get
to when you come, you got to check it out.
And the wine as good as well. But but yeah,
it's really up to you know, each property. I know
they a lot of the you know, tribal leaders do
stay in touch. But to what extent, I'm not privy
to you, I don't. I don't know that information. But
and I know they I'm sure to some extent that
there's that they all do work together and and such.
But this, you know, Cash Creek Casino resort is just
operated known by the hd D. He went to nations.
Speaker 2: So and do you have a network of of hospitality
and golf directors that you can pull from or are
you pretty much on your own for ideas and development?
Speaker 1: Yeah? So we and I'm glad you brought that up.
So we work, we work hand in hand. Truon golf
has been involved here since the beginning.
Speaker 2: Oh that's great.
Speaker 1: Most your viewers and you know about.
Speaker 2: Troon and so I love Troon courses.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Truon was here hired to help build the property
so and operate it. So Truon has been here since
the beginning. So so it relates to that question. You know,
I still have a have a line of communication with
truon' I'm a direct hire with cash Preek. But but
you know, Truon is still there, you know, as part
of the property and and you know, from a sales
marketing perspective to anything I have questions with operations, et cetera.
I can gain, you know, from from their help and
expertise in the golf business. And I actually worked for
Truon prior to coming here. So that's that's why I'm here.
Is I was a true employee and came to cash
Creek because Truon was here operating such a wonderful property
and got the opportunity to to to work here as well.
So so yeah, I mean I've got a lot of
connections within Truon that that are that if I have questions,
and I always bounce ideas off of you know, it's
been helpful. And there's a lot of guys locally to
you know, outside the true network as you know, affiliate
with PGA of America, you know, which I'm a class
APGA member as well. But you know that there's there's
a lot of a lot of expertise in the Sacramentum
market and a lot of a lot of good guys
in the golf business. It's a pretty tight knit community
the Sacramento golf market. So and even in the Bay Area,
everybody knows each other, so it's easy to get you know,
to stay in touch with everybody and and see everybody
else is doing, and and give advice when needed. And uh,
you know, see other other properties are handling situations and
you know, for instance, COVID was a big one. Everybody
was bouncing ideas off each other because none of us exploded, Yeah,
none of us to handle the initial uh you know,
initial stages of pandemic. Uh, you know, like uh Hagan
Oaks and and and in the city courses we're operating,
you know, through the pandemic, you know, safely, of course.
But I got a lot of ideas from them, and
you know, people found that golf was a it was
a place to you know, I feel like they did
a great job through the whole thing. So I got
back to your to your point. You know, we we
definitely all kind of bounced that he is off each
other and care thoughts.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, did you come from the troon on the
golf course side or the corporate.
Speaker 1: Side the golf course side? So I started. I started
with the Western Mission Hills in Palm Springs were there
as started.
Speaker 2: And Ryan was was Ryan Wilson there?
Speaker 1: Then at some point he was before me.
Speaker 2: Okay, I know Ryan, So yeah, right, I interviewed Ryan
when he was when he was at Mission Hills, and
then was late years later I moved, like twelve years ago.
I moved and I lived right next door to Marin
Country Club and I was there some one of the
guests brought us in for dinner one night and introduced
me to Ryan, and I gave him my card and
he looks at me. He goes golf Smarter and went, yeah,
you know by the podcast, he goes, I was on it.
I'm like, we're doing hundreds of episodes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a good guy. So that guy, he was
there a little bit before me. I don't know how
long before me, but probably I was there twosan twenty
twelve or twos eleven, twenty fifteen or so till the
sixteen somewhere in there. I can't remember when he was there, but.
Speaker 2: Go ahead, the true network. So I was going to
ask you about geographically, let's give the audience an understanding
of where Cash Creek is located in northern California.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is about forty five minutes west of Sacramento
and an hour from the Bay, depending where you're coming from.
If you're come from, let's put in San Francisco.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's.
Speaker 1: Well, it depends in the San Francisco traffic. But yeah, right,
there's a lot of traffic. I mean, I have no
idea it could take forever. But it's not you know,
it's it's really pretty close. I mean, it's not a
bad it's a day trip property from basically anywhere in
the Bay, anywhere in the Sacramento area. Uh and and
and again that's most of our clientele when we get
and they're happy to come out for the day and
leave a little bit early and play golf and and
and be home for dinner.
Speaker 2: So and how much of how much of the do
you draw in from those destination points, uh, starting points
for the casino as well. I mean, because people probably
just come forget about golf, they just want the casino, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's one and we let's face it, that's
the that's the primary business at Cash Creek is uh
is the casino.
Speaker 2: And cash is not spelled C A s H.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly a c G. So yeah, little a little
fun play on words. So yeah, it's uh. And I
would say, and again I don't I'm not as involved
in the gaming side of the business, but that that
is the majority of the of the the the clientele
there as well, you know, the Bay area and Sacramento area,
probably more so the Bay Area, I would say, But
but again I'm not the expert on that, on that
side of the business, but there's definitely some crossover. We
do get a lot of people who back to the
packages that we offered, A lot of people do come
in stay of the night, you know, they they spent
a little time on the gaming floor and spend all
the time on the golf course, spend time on a restaurants,
et cetera, so or the spot. So so it's kind
of turned into a fun resort destination. And that's that's
been the that's been the fun part of this whole thing.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, I want to get into this golf
course here, the Yo golf course. Tell me the history.
Who is the designer of this course?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Brad Bell. He's a local Sacramento guy, played several
years in the PGA Tour. He designed some other area
golf courses too. I want to say Coyote Moon possibly,
and I don't want I don't want to throw.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's a Coyote Moon is a tough.
Speaker 1: Course, yeah, from from what I haven't played yet, so
I guess maybe play to Truck. Yeah, I'd have to
check out a few little research into the other course
he's designed. But but several of the of the local
courses he's he's been involved in. But you know, played
some time on the tour and and yeah, they hired
him to to do our design.
Speaker 2: So mm hmmm. Well, and when you think of Sacramento,
it's pretty much fly until you get another outside hour
or so outside to the east and you get up
into the Sierras. And then if you go back into
the San Francisco area and you play the golf courses there,
you don't always have flat golf courses. You've got a
lot of elevation change throughout the course. Right now that
we're in the central part of the state here, you're
right in between what is the topography, what's the terrain?
Speaker 1: Like we are in the Kpe Valley, which in my
opinion is sort of an undiscovered part of northern California.
It's really beautiful. We have I believe they're called the
Blue Mountains on one side of us, and the hills
are kind of on the other side. So we're kind
of right in the middle of a valley and the
golf course, while it's on flat land, is in between
kind of two hill I guess hill within the valley
and uh, right up against Cash Creek itself that the
actual creek, and uh, it's really really picturesque. No homes
on the golf course, which is very rare. A farmer's
house kind of off in the off in the distance.
But so we're surrounded by farmland and and just untouched nature,
which as everybody your audience and you know, that's pretty
rare in golf anymore. Most golf developments are are are
built to to sell houses. It seems like anymore. And
and to have a golf course that's just it's just
strictly golf. I really think that's what what makes us
place special in itself. The golf course is a it's
a fantastic design, I guess that's always in fantastic shape.
But to come out here and be just in nature
and play golf the way it was probably originally meant
to be played is it's special. And that's the one
thing that that really turned me on to this place
when I first came here. You know, even I'm from
Montana originally, and even being from Montana that there's not
that many golf courses even in Montana that don't have
homes all over the place. It just gets old and
I don't think that's the way golf is meant to
be played. So come out to Yo and we we
don't have to deal, you know, worry about hitting somebody's house.
It's just good here here golf that's the way it's
supposed to be played. So that's I think that's our
biggest plus hopefully helps kind of paint a picture in
the Kpe Valley. I mean, it's it's fantastic. We got
vineyards that that run through part of the golf course,
so it kind of has that that Napa Valley type
of feel to it in certain areas, and the valley itself,
as you know, almond orchards and olive trees and it's
just a it's a pretty unique place. So if you
at our website, you can you can kind of get
feel a little bit through some of the photography and
videography we have on there.
Speaker 2: And the website is a golf club dot com. Yo
c H A D A D E h E golf
club dot com. Correct, yep, good, yep, good good good? Uh.
Is it a walkable course?
Speaker 1: It is very walkable. Back to being it's it's that
you know that you mentioned a lot of the courses
in sacrament or flat. The piece of land that the
golf course is built on is is fairly flat, other
than the first t shot, which we can talk a
little bit about, oh we will, yeah, and so, but
you know, it might be a little bit of walk
You have the first t uphill, but that's about the
only hill you're gonna have to walk up or down
the entire day, and so very walkable golf course. You
don't you don't have to walk a mile to get
from whole nine to ten, like we've seen at some
golf course layouts. It's just it's just laid very well.
Speaker 2: Yes, there there are some courses in northern California where
you've got a long walk between the green to the
next tea box on a lot of holes. Are you
your yours is pretty much right on top of one another.
Speaker 1: That's it, Yeah, without without being you know, annoyingly close
to the green. No, it's it's it's it's super easy.
It's very walkable as it relates to getting to the
next te box from the tee from the green complexes,
you know, to your point, it's not a ten minute
walk to the next tea box. So a golf course
so very very walkable.
Speaker 2: And how many tea boxes do you have on each hole?
We have all kinds of players.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, we have five sets of teas. So in
our longest I should know this off the top of
my head, I'm referencing my scorecard over here, but I
hold against you. Yeah, I should know this. But so
our longest tees are seventy three hundred and thirty seven
yards and our shortest teas are fifty four and twenty
six yards, so there's a very wide, you know, range
of playing abilities in between that and set of tea
markers in between that that that again back to the
playability of our golf course. It's it's very playable for
any skill set. We've had, you know, tour players play
out here and and you know, they definitely are able to,
you know, put up a good number. But but at
the same time, they're not you know, putting up a
fifty eight out here or anything like that like they
might you know, you know, Ammuni course somewhere, So it
still challenges them. But again, you know, your beginner golfer
come out here wide fairways. The rough's not deep, you know,
very playable, very easy and and fair for every golfer.
But but again you can tip it out for your
better players. And John Catlin's kind of one of the
the guys that he grew up in Sacramento. He's won
a few times in the European Tour and I think
he was just actually Asian Tour Player of the Year
this this past year. He's a Sacramento guy and he
comes out here quite often when he's in town, and
I know he's put up some good numbers out here.
But but he really enjoys the property, so you got
to get him on your podcast. Sometimes. He's a good,
good guy.
Speaker 2: So all right, yeah, yeah, no, no, you can help
me out with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I can.
Speaker 2: Witch what's your best score on the course? Oh goodness,
got you?
Speaker 1: You know, if I could play more than well, I
shouldn't say if if I did play more than you know,
it seems like I don't play all but once a
month anymore. Maybe I think nice, nice, But yeah, that's
wants and the blue moon, and I can do something
like that most time.
Speaker 2: It's that to me was the bigger surprises of talking
to golf professionals is how little golf they get to play,
because yeah, they got they got business.
Speaker 1: To run, that's it. Yeah, yeah, we're here to operate
the business and make sure our our guests are having
a good day first and foremost, and the fun comes after.
Now self. You know, I should criticize myself a little
bit here because I think most golf pros could probably
play a little more than they do, and I'm one
of them. But I don't know. I you know, I
keep telling myself I need to play more, so maybe
I'll do that this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just curious. Cash Creek. Is it run through
the whole course?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 2: Do you meet up with it in many of the holes?
Is it time to play? And do you have more
than creeks and lakes as well?
Speaker 1: We do have lakes as well. So the creek itself,
Cash Creek itself runs parallel to holes two and three,
and on part of fourteen you can see the creek,
but it's mostly two and three. It really only comes
into play, I would say, on hole three on the
right side. If you had an arrant shot off to
the right, which I happen to have done a few times,
your ball end up in the creek. So the ponds
are on fifteen sixteen, there's kind of a well, there
is a kind of a long pond there that runs
along both those holes, and then again on seventeen and eighteen,
that same pond also borders whole ten on the right side.
So there is some water and play on the golf course.
There's not tons of it, I wouldn't say, but there is.
You know, there is water out there.
Speaker 2: So maybe you need to come to the course with
just more than one sleep of balls.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, maybe, And and I would say again, it's
that the water itself does it comes into play, but
it's not it's not overly unfair, if that makes sense.
So yeah, yeah, you know there's no island greens or
any force.
Speaker 2: Care psychological effect.
Speaker 1: Correct. Yeah, it's just it'll it'll, you know that. And
again that's what Brad Bell did such a good job with.
He had it, you know, maybe parallel holes and and
you know, obviously if he had an air shot to
the to the right, a lot of times your ball
is probably in the water. But but he didn't have
any forced carries or you know, anything that's unfair or
overly challenging, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, So and you have a practice facility,
you have schools, you have instructors, you have academies all
that as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So we have a two putting greens, chipping green
and driving range, and uh, you know to the instruction
are our head golf professional, Chris Sheffield. He's our he's
our other PGA golf professional here on site. He does
a majority of instruction. I'm kind of more in operations
at this point, but but he's a fantastic instructor and
he actually has a guest instructor back to Troon come
up from Palm Springs every summer and they put on
a fantastic multi day golf academy that includes room nights
and and food and beverage and and three days of instruction,
and that information is on our website as well for
anybody interested. But we also Chris also offers individual instruction
on a daily basis and hourly basis, you know, all
kinds of good stuff there. So again being a resort destination,
and it's not like we have a membership that really
drives you know, ten lessons a day, but you know,
we want instruction to be available to our guests when
they do come. Here is a full service resort, so
Chris does an excellent job with that, and there's a
lot of different opportunities for people to be able to
come visit, learn the game of golf, get better, and
spend time on the property. So that's kind of a
fun deal that he's he's really grown a lot over
the last few years.
Speaker 2: So awesome. The driving range are we hitting off of
mats or hitting off of grass?
Speaker 1: So we are hitting off of matts back to the
cool season grass story.
Speaker 2: I prefer hitting off of mats on the driving range.
But oh that's me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we get we get mixed thoughts on that,
and kindle explanation that maybe some of our golfers don't
know cool season grass in the summer, which what we
have is insanely hard to maintain. And we start using
our grass tea boxes in the summer, it will be
dirt by middle of July into July most likely, because
that grass just does not grow back at a sustainable
pace in the summer and in the winter. It's so
you know, we get enough rain in northern California where
it's muddy, so mats are kind of the way to
go and and people are honestly fine with it. We
have a high quality matt and so our driving range
you'll see when you get here, it's it's you actually
hit over a gully all self admittedly admit it's not
my favorite driving range. But for our golfers, they actually
love it. You know, if you're not, it's it's unique.
We'll put it that way, so you're target. It's the
only force carry on our golf courses on the driving range.
And so but you know, it's fun. I mean, it's
it's just unique. So the golfers that that are that
listen to your podcast, that they know, they know what
I'm talking about. You'll know when you come out here.
It's it's different. It's a forced carry over ravine, and
it's it's interesting.
Speaker 2: So awesome. So when I'm at the driving range and
I'm preparing for my round at your course, what shots
should I concentrate working on that I may need to
help mail me out on the course. Am I needing
to punch shots from under trees?
Speaker 1: Is it.
Speaker 2: My bunkers?
Speaker 1: What?
Speaker 2: What are the things that I should be practicing and
warming up with on the before my round?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say with our golf course, back to
the putting green and kind of the whole practice facility itself.
You know, I would focus on the short game, get
a feel for a bunker on our chip, and green
roll some some pots, because our greens do roll a
little bit different than than than a lot of the
golf courses in our area. So they're they're just a
they're maybe a little bit more undulated and and I
wouldn't say that they're they're overly difficult, but they just
they just roll a little bit different. I can't really
explain it. But they're not fast, they're not slow, they're
they're yeah, and they're not straight, so you know, we're
it's just worth rolling a few balls when you get here,
just to get a feel for that. As far as
the shots go mid irons, if you can, if you
hit your mid irons good on this golf course, you'll
you'll have a good day, depending on you know, your
skill level obviously, but driver is important. But again, we
have wide fairways, so it's not uh, you know, we
don't have a lot of trees out here, so no,
no punt really any punt shots that I mean, there
are trees you could get under them, but not not
to the extent that a lot of your traditional old
school golf courses have, you know, they're the tree line stuff.
We don't. This is not that type of course.
Speaker 2: So well, let's take a little bit of what I
like to call a tea tour. We're going to pick
a couple holes to go over and I want you
to give us the best pro advice on how to
play that hole. So, but in earlier you mentioned the
first hole h being being unique compared to the rest
of the course. Tell us why what I'm starting with
our T shot.
Speaker 1: The first T shot, and I was again, I I
think it's a hundred and I've heard the word one
hundred or the number one hundred and seventy feet above
the first fairway. But it's an elevated first T shot.
You can actually see the whole valley from the first
te so one, you're starting your pictures there, Yeah, exactly, Yeah,
I mean it's it's kind of the the the welcome
to our property. And and so the first T shot
again very elevated. You know, it's it's way above the
first fairway, but yeah, you get to it kind of
makes you feel good about about your your golf game
because the ball you hit it and it just flies forever.
Sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad. That's bad. If
you get a slice, it's gonna slice forever too. But
but we we make it fair and for for the
we kind of have a local rule and that if
you if you slice it off into the farmer's you
know field on hold one, you just take a free
drop down down by the car path or you know
we're across. So we we don't yeah, by any means,
penalize anybody, make them stand up there all day and
and hit ten shots. But it's a really cool first
t shot, very unique.
Speaker 2: So awesome, awesome. All right, Now we're in the fairway
of number one and pretty much straightforward shot to the green.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a pretty straightforward shot, and it's not an
overly long hole. The hole is four hundred and fifty
four yards from the from the back tea box. But
again we get that that nice elevated first tea shot
a lot of times leaves people with the shore iron
at most amid iron into that green and and for
the better players, a wedge into that green pretty straightforward.
So nothing, nothing, There's a couple of bunkers around that green,
but it's kind of a you at the fairway. It's
a good, good birdy opportunity for the better players and
a good opportunity for your average player to get get
a par right off the off the start. So and
it's part four correct, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Par four? Okay, okay? What is your favorite hole on
the course?
Speaker 1: I like hole ten the best. It's a par five
that that borders that pond we talked about earlier. The
pond is on the right side and hill is on
the left side, so there's there's actually, you know, one
of one of the hills I was talking about earlier,
the borders of the golf course, whole ten actually butts
up against that, and you know, your drive is is
a fairly challenging drive. There's some fairway bunkers that Brad
placed out there just just close enough to or if
you had a good shot and you hit it just
to the right a little bit, you're going to the bunkers. See,
there's a bit of a strategic game plan from the teat.
From the tee and then you have the opportunity to
go for it two or lay up that the green
is actually elevated from the fairweight it starts to climb
the hill we were talking about, So it gives you
an opportunity to if you had a good drive, to
go for the green. But it's not overly easy second
shot because of the hill and it slants a little
bit to the right, so you kind of have to
lead it, you know, a little bit left and then
and then hopefully your ball kind of takes the natural
slope and rolls towards the green. You know, once it
once it lands or or you know, again back to
the point, it's not the easiest shot in the world.
So so if you mishead it, you're probably gonna be
penalized a little bit. So either in the rough or
or hitting chipping up to an elevated green, which is
usually not fun for anybody and then uh, or pitching
up to and uh and or you can lay up
and you know, leave yourself one hundred yards at the
bottom of the hill to hit up to an elevated green,
which I'd rather be one hundred yards away than than
than forty yards on that particular shot, because there's a
bunker right in front of the green, and there's a
bunker deep too, so on the on the back left
part of the green. So you know, it's a it's
a fun hole. It's just uh, it's just unique enough.
And and you know, and again it kind of has
the picturesque you know, qualities to it that that make
it just you know a lot of people say hold one,
but whole ten is my favorite. So okay, hold ten.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned earlier about undulated greens. Are the greens
particularly large as big green.
Speaker 1: They're huge, they're big greens, and that the you know
that that's back to the playability of our golf course.
I shouldn't say they're overly undulated greens, so they're.
Speaker 2: Not an opportunity for three putts.
Speaker 1: Too, there are and but but at the same time,
it just that it leaves enough creativity and you're you know,
to where you have to have. It makes you think,
you know, it's not these flat greens that sometimes you
see at places where it's like, well, obviously this is
breaking right to laugh. You have to think a little bit.
It's not like insane you know, slopes by any means,
but you know, you have to spend all the time
looking over your pot to to really get a good
idea what it's going to do, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: So yeah, now tell me about your favorite part three,
because we've already done a part four and apart five,
what's your favorite part three on the course?
Speaker 1: Uh, it's not thirteen, because that's I don't think that's
anybody's favorite. Part three. Why it's it's two hundred Let's see,
what is it? From the back two hundred and fifty
four yards from the back tees three R three and
just from the middle set of tees it's two hundred
and five yards. Front teeth it's one hundred and seventy
seven yards, so by no means anybody's favorite hole, very
very difficult, almost the point where maybe it doesn't it
doesn't really fit with there. You know. It's almost like
something you'd see on the PGA Tour or something, but
it's there's no trouble. There's a big bunker in front,
so if you pop it or something, you might end
up in that. But but it's, yeah, that's definitely not
my favorite, nor anybody else's. So to point that out,
I think, I think, hmm, sixteen, Probably it's got the
water on the left that we talked about earlier, and
it's kind of that fun yardage. Sixteen is one hundred
and sixty yards from the middle tees and two hundred
and six yards from the back teeth, so you know,
for your better players they've got a mid iron into that.
For you know, for most players have mid iron or
a long turn into that hole. And just kind of
a fun shot that the green slopes from right to
left towards the water and it's kind of like a
kidney shaped hole, so it depends on the back left.
You actually kind of have to work the ball but
right to left to get it over there without worrying
about the water and and uh there's a there's a
fairly large ridge that runs through the middle of the green.
So just from the tee, it makes it. It makes
it just a little bit more challenging but fun at
the same time.
Speaker 2: So awesome.
Speaker 1: It's a good hole.
Speaker 2: Well, well again, I really appreciate I appreciate your hospitality.
I'm looking forward to to coming out and playing and
gambling and resting and relaxing and eating and getting a
massage and hanging out at the pool. It's not going
to be there that long, but I'm intending to get
a lot in while we're there. So thank you so much,
and thanks for your insights on today on the golf course. Again,
it's the Yocha d He Golf Course in the middle
of Northern California golf club all right, and it's Yocha
Dhe Golf Club dot com.
Speaker 1: That's correct, all right.
Speaker 2: Thank you man, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You appreciate ha me on