Do not use this category Archives

November 16, 2020 Off By BBF

Poppy Hills Golf Course

Poppy Hills Golf Course is a parkland golf course in the Del Monte Forest near Pebble Beach that was built in 1986. It was purpose built to be the headquarters and home course of the Northern California Golf Association. To our knowledge, the first time this happened in the United States. The Robert Trent Jones Jr. course design was embraced by the tour very quickly and over the subsequent 20 years it became a perennial favorite of the PGA tour hosting events from the Spalding Invitational, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (formerly known as the Crosby Clam Bake) and even the NCAA finals.

August 24, 2020 Off By BBF

The Punchbowl at Bandon Dunes

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We debated if “The Punchbowl” should get a standalone post on Big Ball First, as it’s technically not a golf course. It’s golf adjacent, and in many ways would be more comparable to a miniature golf course than a world class bucket list golf course.

July 13, 2020 Off By BBF

Bandon Dunes: Old Macdonald Golf Course

Do not use this category Four Buckets

The best analogy to explain the courses in the Bandon Dunes complex is that they are essentially an extended family. Pacific Dunes is the older brother star quarterback handsome who always gets the hot girls. Bandon Dunes is likely the stalwart dad who started the whole movement in the first place, stiff upper lip kind of guy. Sheep Ranch is the upstart kid who’s currently too big for its britches. Bandon Trails would be the middle kid who genuinely would be a super star if he could just pick up and go somewhere else and not be in the shadow of his dad and older brother (but for the record, it’s a golf course and they can’t really do that). And in that context, Old Macdonald is the crazy uncle who’s half off the ranch and generally drunk all the time. Old Macdonald is the Rudy Giuliani of golf.

July 6, 2020 Off By BBF

Half Moon Bay Golf Links Buddies Golf Trip

Buddies Golf Trips California Do not use this category Three Buckets United States: California

Half Moon Bay Golf Links is the golf complex at the Ritz Carlton in the sleepy seaside village of Half Moon Bay about 45 minutes south of San Francisco. It would be hard to call Half Moon Bay Golf Links “must do” destination golf. Although it has broken the top 20 Golf Resorts in the United States and the Ocean Course is ranked 70th on the list of top 100 golf courses as ranked by top100golfcourses.com (whoever they are).