The Day of Games – Leagues, Gear, Awesome times.

PART VI of the series… “Should I Apply to Become an About.com Guide? No.”

The great thing about living in Southern California again is the wonderful weather that can be enjoyed all year round. This makes for a perfect excuse to head to the beach for a little round of Beach Golf. This morning I woke up to some sunshine, clear skies, 72 degrees, all thrown in with a little Carmaggedon scare. The shutdown of the 405 Freeway has thankfully kept many people away from the beach this weekend. With nobody on the sand, a few friends decided it was an excellent morning for 9 “holes” of Beach Golf.

Beach Golf is really a simple game. Grab a 6-iron and a tennis ball then decide which item on the beach will act as the “hole.” Proceed to play golf just as if you were hitting out a sandtrap on every swing. Sometimes the hole can be a trashcan, other times it will be the post of a volleyball net, or the lifeguard tower, or a sandal, or just about anything!

This morning I was able to play with two friends who live down in Marina del Rey, CA. We were all off to a very strong start and remained competitive throughout the first 6 holes of play. There were shots in between the volleyball nets, around trashcans and electrical poles, and even a shot that needed to hit the thinnest of targets in between a drainage area. One player had his score drop off tremendously after we elected to use the elevated side of a lifeguard tower as a hole.  Two of us notched 7’s, while the third player in our game was less fortunate; he got stuck with a score of 20.

The round of Beach Golf finished off with a rather lengthy par 5 around a target off in the distance, then back toward a signpost. I was down two strokes to start of the hole and had some catching up to do.  My ball landed in a leftover footprint (the largest detriment to a solid round of play), and scored a seven. The closest competitor would really need to fall apart in order for me to finish on top; and that is exactly what happened. He started off spectacular but ended up burying his ball in a few footprints, then laying next to a fence, then finally finished one stroke behind me.  Victorious at Beach Golf again, what an amazing morning.