Golf With Holly & Bill

June 2012 At Aliso Creek Golf Course In Laguba Beach

About The Course

The moment you step onto the first tee at Aliso Creek Golf Course, you know you are in a world apart. Carved amongst the dramatic and lush walls of Aliso Canyon, the Aliso Creek Golf Course has been the exclusive golfing destination in the seaside village of Laguna Beach since 1950 and the most serene, natural setting for golf in Orange County.

The towering canyon walls frame this challenging, yet approachable golf course and provide a peaceful shade to the bustling world around. Guests are frequently met by the variety of frolicking wildlife, including a family of deer that call the canyon their home.

The creek that aptly bears the course’s name divides the fairways and presents players with a significant natural challenge throughout their round. As you get lost in the beauty that surrounds you, players will be tested by this par 32 layout featuring five Par 4’s and four Par 3’s. Each hole delivers its own unique characteristics and will try every part of your game as the course guides you along an inspiring journey in the canyon.

In A Canyon

Time for golf with the Hencke'sTake a look at the satellite view (click the image)! Indeed in a canyon!

The Show Starts With A Cartoon

Time for golf with the Hencke's

Time for golf with the Hencke's

Time for golf with the Hencke's

Let The Fun Begin

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Monday the 25th w as perfect! Great partners... Great weather... Life is good!

Did You Know? - Aliso Creek (Spanish for "Alder Creek"; also called Alisos Creek) is a 19-mile (31 km)-long urban stream that runs through Orange County in the U.S. state of California from the Santa Ana Mountains to the Påas of 2004, the 30.4-square-mile (78.7 km2) watershed had a population of 149,087 divided among seven incorporated cities.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
So we are having lunch and the deer and the antelope played....

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The grass looks to be yummy

Did You Know? - The word "deer" was originally broad in meaning, but became more specific over time. In Middle English der (Old English dēor) meant a wild animal of any kind. This was as opposed to cattle, which then meant any sort of domestic livestock that was easy to collect and remove from the land, from the idea of personal-property ownership (rather than real estate property) and related to modern chattel (property) and capital.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
They just ignored the humans....

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Bill checks out his new tee....

Time for golf with the Hencke's
We giggled all afternoon

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Thank goodness they had a salad....

Did You Know? - An ovo-lacto vegetarian (or lacto-ovo vegetarian) is a vegetarian who does not eat animal flesh of any kind, but consumes dairy and egg products. In contrast, a vegetarian who consumes no animal products at all is called a vegan.

 

Time for golf with the Hencke's
What is he up to now????

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A new fashion statement....

Let The Event Begin

Time for golf with the Hencke's
A quick stop at the shop is a necessity

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Hot rod Bill

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Bill requested this one but alas, got the granny=cart instead!

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Paul tries to charge the battery in the GPS simply by pointing at it..... Bad idea

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Alas... It didn't work....

The First Tee

Time for golf with the Hencke's
798 yards.... Well, maybe a tad shorter than that

Time for golf with the Hencke's
The first hole tee-box is way up in the sky

Time for golf with the Hencke's
We enjoyed the flowers while we waited

Did You Know? - The name was given to the creek by Spanish explorers in the 18th century, although there are now many places in California that use the name. Historically, the creek served as the boundary between the Juaneño (Acjachemem) and Gabrieleno (Tongva) Indians. The creek's watershed then became a major portion of the 1842 Rancho Niguel Mexican Land Grant to Juan Avila, later purchased by two American ranchers.

Although attempts to use the creek and its watershed as a municipal water source date to the early 20th century, the water it provided was of poor quality and erratic occurrence. As a result, the creek became neglected throughout the late part of the century, eventually becoming little more than an open wastewater drain. Despite this general decline, the Aliso Creek watershed still supports some biodiversity, and it remains a popular recreational area.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Amazing to see the walls of the canyon at such angles

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Paul thought this was the first hole.....

Time for golf with the Hencke's
The canyon is narrow....

Did You Know? - A canyon (occasionally spelled cañon) or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon.

Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on the valley walls. Canyons are much more common in arid areas than in wet areas because physical weathering has a greater effect in arid zones.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Holly and Sue are ready to go

Time for golf with the Hencke's

Time for golf with the Hencke's
A magnificent day

Time for golf with the Hencke's
The mouth of the Aliso/Wood Canyons Regional Park with the Pacific Ocean beyond.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Mighty Sue steps up to the plate.....

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The deer reappear

Did You Know? - Deer weights generally range from 30 to 300 kilograms (70 to 700 lb), though the smallest species, the Northern Pudú, averages 10 kilograms (20 lb) and the largest, the moose, averages 431 kilograms (1,000 lb). They generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain.

Deer are also excellent jumpers and swimmers. Deer are ruminants, or cud-chewers, and have a four-chambered stomach. The teeth of deer are adapted to feeding on vegetation, and like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors, instead having a tough pad at the front of their upper jaw. Some deer, such as those on the island of Rùm, do consume meat when it is available

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Brave

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"OK... Where is my ball?????"

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Holly uses her world famous deer call....

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"I'm leaving.... That racket is hurting my ears"

Did You Know? - Deer have long had economic significance to humans. Deer meat, for which they are hunted and farmed, is called venison. Deer organ meat is called humble.

The expression derives from umble pie, which was a pie filled with the chopped or minced parts of a beast's 'pluck' - the heart, liver, lungs or 'lights' and kidneys, especially of deer but often other meats. Umble evolved from numble, (after the French nomble) meaning 'deer's innards'.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Holly is just putting around

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Bridges everywhere

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The creek was full

Did You Know? - The largest flow recorded at the Laguna Beach streamflow gauge was 5,400 cubic feet per second (150 m3/s) with a water depth of 11.3 feet (3.4 m) on March 1, 1983. The 1983 flood was caused by an El Niño event causing heavy runoff from the overdeveloped watershed. Damage was worst at the mouth of Aliso Canyon, which contains the Aliso Creek Inn and several other structures.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
Marching to the next hole...

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It was a puzzling experience

Time for golf with the Hencke's
The 9th hole took us to the Club House so we cold do it again

Time for golf with the Hencke's
One more swing and we are home!

Let's Do It Again!

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The Convention Center was empty

Did You Know? - The story of the Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course is legendary in Laguna Beach. In 1871, George and Sarah Thurston laid claim to a 152-acre homestead and a one-room wood shack at the south end of the Aliso Canyon. The Thurston's were one of five families who originally settled the coastal area later to be called Laguna Beach. Historians note at that time, the canyon was barren and the countryside wild and desolate. The Thurston's planted fruit trees and vegetables to sell to local marketplaces and lived on the site for the next 50 years.

In the late 1940's, William "Bill" Bryant purchased an approximate 83-acre site within Aliso Canyon and began construction of the golf course. The 9-hole golf course was opened to the public in September 1950. Ownership changed again in 1956 when Ben Brown purchased what was named the "Laguna Beach Country Club" and began plans for a new destination resort. A plan was submitted and unanimously approved by the County of Orange for a 10-story hotel unit, 80 guest lodges, a special event pavilion, a larger clubhouse and restaurant, swimming pools, tennis courts, and other recreational space.

After a sweeping economic decline in the 1960's, Mr. Brown changed his ambitious vision and constructed the more understated "Laguna Beach Country Club & Village" which consisted of a 64-unit apartment complex, later converted into the present-day 62-Suite hotel units, hotel front desk, and a penthouse suite, which became the private residence of Mr. & Mrs. Brown, all around the existing 9-hole golf course. In 1967, construction began on Ben Brown's Restaurant, a new Golf Shop and adjacent locker room facility. Ben Brown passed away in 1970 resulting in control and management of the property being retained by Ben's wife Mrs. Violet T. Brown. Following his passing, the Laguna Beach County Club & Village was renamed to "Ben Brown's Motel & Golf Course" in the early 1970's, and then changed again to the Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course in 1978.

The Brown family operated the resort for the next 30 years gaining notoriety in local community before selling the property to Aliso Creek Properties in 2003. Today, the property retains its stunning setting and historic place in Laguna Beach welcoming over 100,000 visitors a year.

Time for golf with the Hencke's
The critters were everywhere

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"Whoa.... Is that a peanut you tossed me???"

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The deer were back on #2

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Bill's mighty swing

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Time for golf with the Hencke's
It's called the happy dance

Quotation To Remember: Golf, like the measles, should be caught young, for, if postponed to riper years, the results may be serious.  ~P.G. Wodehouse, A Mixed Threesome, 1922

Time for golf with the Hencke's
The famous "Hencke Stereo Shot "

Quotation To Remember: The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing.  ~Phyllis Diller

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Excellent shots.....

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The creek is loaded with little white things

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Neat bridges

Quotation To Remember: Man blames fate for other accidents but feels personally responsible for a hole in one.  ~Martha Beckman

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Coming in on a wing and a prayer

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Time for golf with the Hencke's

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Hang on ... I'm going to do a wheelie!

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The shadows begin to fall... Along with the temperature

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The Mighty Bill smashes the ball on #7

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The 18th hole within reach

We had a delightful afternoon full of friendship, teasing, and occasional outstanding shot.... Something we want to do again.