Pasatiempo is located close to Santa Cruz in California. I have been to the course before without playing due to poor weather, so I was hoping for better conditions this time around. Fortunately it was a perfect day for golf with sunshine.
When packing my clubs for this trip I found my driver shaft broken and didnt have time to replace before leaving, so my first mission was to borrow a shaft from the pro shop. This was easily handled and I was off to the range for a quick practice before heading out. I was paired up with a couple of members and a another single player. We played the from the back tees.
The 1st hole is a straight forward par 4 where you tee off from an elavated tee box. I hit my drive into the right hand rough.
After not getting on the green from the rough on the first hole I realized that staying out of the rough was extra important as the rough was difficult to get out of and the ball easily nestled down.
The course has some great par 3s as you quickly discover when standing on the 5th tee. Very well bunkered and playing just over 200 yards. I didnt manage to find the green and made bogey,
Very narrow and intimidating tee shot on 6th hole. I still opted for the driver which in this was a good choice as it ended in the first cut on left hand side. Did not manage to capatalize on the drive and made bogey after some poor approach shots.
Playing downhill and the green slopes severly from left to right. Pin position was difficult to get to from the tee. You need to land the ball on the left hand fringe and let it feed down towards to hole. I hit a good 7 iron and had an mid length birdie putt which was missed.
9th hole is a good par 5 with plenty of fairway from the tee. Approach shot is very uphill so you need a good shot to stay on the green. I was hitting a hybrid to try and get on in two, but came up short in the bunker.
10th hole is stunning from the tee. Par 4 where you hit on to a downslope on the other side not visible from the tee. I hit my drive to far left and had to lay up. Managed to get up and down a nice par.
11th hole is a difficult par 4. You need to hit a precision tee shot and a really good approach shot to uphill green guarded by bunkers on both sides. I didnt manage any of the above and made a bogey. Generally the greens are well protected which adds pressure to your approach shots and short game skills.
Read: Pine Tree Golf Club, US
12th is a downhill par 4 and a green secluded between trees.
16th is one of the signature holes and rightly so. A dogleg left with blind tee shot. I hit a perfect drive around the corner into the fairway.
I didnt hit a very good approach shot as I was afraid of being long. This left me long uphill putt. I was happy to walk away with a par on a fantastic hole.
Finished with a double bogey on the last hole which was poor. Missed my shot short and never found it. Still managed a decent score of 80 which I think was reasonable for me on this course.
The course was in good shape and playing tough due to the rough. All my shots out of rough was tough to control and I couldnt really hit any longer clubs out of it which made it that more challenging. I had good playing and weather so it couldnt be a much better day on the golf course.
