Aviara

My greatest moment in golf happened on this hole on May 31, 2003. I was a horrible golfer at that time and had just recently started to keep an index which was well north of 30. My final score would be 106 that day. My playing partners, all customers at Ashworth, Inc. would all shoot between 80 and 86 so my main objective was keeping my pace of play up.

As we approached #14, we were playing the back tees (190 yards) and I was playing with a Strata Ball that I had found a couple holes earlier. The green was about 40 feet below the tee, so I grabbed my 4-iron. My shot landed about 10 feet in front of the cup, at which point one of the members in the foursome said “that has a chance” just before the ball rolled into the cup. It is my only hole-in-one (In fact I have never even witnessed another hole-in-one).

There were some people on the balcony of the condos to the left that helped us celebrate the accomplishment by cheering. I really had to work to compose myself for the tee shot on the next hole. The bar at the clubhouse was pretty empty after the round, so I got off cheap in the time honored tradition of buying the house a round. A friend, Kevin Winship, of Winship Studios, snapped the picture above for me when we were in California later that year getting some marketing pictures.

The Aviara Golf Club, designed by Arnold Palmer, was opened in 1991. It is the center piece of the Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad, CA. The course is very beautiful and exceptionally maintained. It is fun to play and has plenty of elevation changes. Like a typical Palmer Course, though not easy, it provides a fair challenge. I have stayed at Aviara with my wife and highly recommend the resort. The rooms are clean, the facilities are great, and the staff is both friendly and helpful.