A very nice golf course. However, if you like to grip it n' rip it off the tee, this may not be the place for you. For those of us who can't hit it 300 yards, the course is quite a good challenge.

Visually, tee shots look like they must be absolutely precise but there is a little room if you can keep it relatively straight. Greens were receptive, in very good shape and rolled well. There were only a couple of greens that looked like they were being repaired, and those were in areas that did not affect play. Sand was a bit inconsistent but I was two for three in saves, so it was all good.

As a high handicapper, if I played a course like this more often, my game would improve 'cause you have to hit it straight. Beautiful mountain views, no traffic noise and a fun GK outing. What's not to like.

I enjoyed a vacation in Lake Tahoe last week and played Edgewood Tahoe on July 7. A really outstanding golf course worth the $200 green fee. As others have mentioned, the views of the lake on the back nine are beautiful, but more importantly, the course is well laid out and in perfect condition. I think it might have been in prime shape because of next week’s Celebrity Tour event. It’s going to be fun watching on TV as Charles Barkley and the others play the same holes I played.

Back to the course… Tees, fairway and rough were green and lush. Sand was soft and deep. All but two of the greens were fast. The starter said number eight and number 15 had been recently replaced and were spongier than the other greens. I did one-putt both those greens, probably because they were a bit slower.

Service was outstanding. Everyone was extremely pleasant and helpful. As a single, they tried to pair me with a husband and wife teeing off on number one, but the wife had requested that they play alone. The starter was real good about it and asked me whether I wanted to play by myself or wait for another group. Meanwhile, I’m hitting balls on the grass range and enjoying the scenery. The starter comes back to me a few minutes later and asks me whether I would like to join a threesome coming up to number 10 and play the back nine first. I was ready to go and was pleased to join a group of locals who play the course regularly.

After a fun back nine, I came around to number one and the starter said I had the front nine to myself as no one else was on the course… That was actually a lot of fun. I got around the front nine in an hour-and-a-half, and completed the entire round in three-and-a-half hours.

Throughout the round, along with the beautiful scenery, it was cool seeing the stands and camera towers in place for next week’s event. I even received some applause from the set-up crew as I sank a par putt on my final hole, number nine. If you happen to vacation in Tahoe, I highly recommend playing Edgewood Tahoe.

Terrific GK outing on May 15. Thanks, Johnny! PGA West is a beautiful place to play golf yet quite challenging for us high handicappers. Conditions were immaculate – fairways in perfect condition, tee boxes nice and level, greens a little brown in color but rolled true and accepted shots (the few times I hit them), an abundance of bunkers and plenty of water starting at the 8th hole. I was happy to par #1 and #18, but had a rough patch between #2 and #17. A lot of fun and highly recommended for both good and bad golfers.

I played Rustic Canyon with a friend on September 2 to get away from the smoke coming from the terrible wild fires. We teed off at 11:00 a.m. and each paid the mid-day rate of $43 with a cart.

We played as a twosome and were held up a bit on the tougher back nine, but got around in about 4 1/2 hours. I shot net par to my very high handicap, so I was pretty happy with my score.

The course is in very good shape. The key feature of this course is the number of false fronts to many of the greens. Actually, these areas are not too bad for us high handicappers, because we can usually putt up onto the green to go for our bogeys, double bogeys, others, etc. Low handicappers might be disappointed to hit good approach shots that end up missing the green.

Customer service was friendly in the pro shop, cart shed and on-course. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable golf experience.