My wife and I played Hunter Ranch Saturday 3/11. It was the second time we've played there -- first time, a couple of years ago. We find Paso Robles a great small-town weekend getaway from LA -- a gro... Continue »

My wife and I played Hunter Ranch Saturday 3/11. It was the second time we've played there -- first time, a couple of years ago. We find Paso Robles a great small-town weekend getaway from LA -- a growing but relatively undiscovered wine industry like a small Napa Valley before it got overly touristy. And about three hours less driving one way than Napa.

Part of the attraction for us is Hunter Ranch. It's a beautiful, interesting course that winds around and over the hilly terrain and California Oaks. The only development next to it is vinyards, open fields and trees. The terrain frequently brings you up to points where you have nice views in several directions of the surrounding area.

I think it's a bargain. Weekdays it's around $60, and it goes up to $78 weekend mornings (w/o cart), but after twelve, it goes down to $60 and they have a lower twilight rate. We teed off around twelve fiteen, and by signing onto their email newsletter, I had a first time coupon in hand worth $20 off for each of us. She rode ($17 per) and I walked. Weekend total was just under $100 for two on a beautiful facility. It was dicey weather and there was no one collecting clubs before or cleaning them after so tips were a non-issue that day.

The round was one of the most interesting overall golf experiences I've ever had due to the weather conditions.

When we left our accomodations for the course a few miles away, it was raining. At the course it was sunny. A spot of rain on the second hole and fine until the 5th, where we had to stop halfway down the fairway for a hailstorm that left the faiways and greens white with a layer of hailstones.

We were prepared for the on/off weather and continued after about 15 minutes. Putting on that hole was a joke -- a layer of icy hail pebbles. But by the time we got to the next green, the hail had cleared from the greens.

Considering the moisture, I'd have to say the greens held up well and still had decent speed.

There were more passing bouts of rain in the back nine, but nothing that lasted long enough to stop us. And in between were some remarkable stretches of blue sky and spectacular clouds. You could see localized rain off in the distance at most times.

It was beautiful, but didn't make for the best scoring round. As much as I enjoyed it overall, it seemed like I had played 16 by the time I got to the ninth. Definitely threw off the concentration. I came out with the not totally unreasonable desire (for me) to finish in the eighties and walked away with a 96.

My wife's play is novice. She had a mediocre round at best, but has occasionally shown real ability to strike it well. She didn't keep her score, but even knowing she could play much better, she agreed with me that it's a beautiful course and that even with struggling, she really enjoyed the course and the whole wild weather experience.

One of the saving graces weather-wise was that despite the occasional wet, wind was not generally a factor. Given that it was very cool weather, even though we were reasonably prepared, that would have probably been the deal breaker.

As it was, it was calm when we finished. I have a photo taken from behind the 18th tee-box, looking up the 17th and 18th fairways with blue sky above and big clouds and rain on the horizon. It was almost worth it just for the photo.

All that aside, a beautiful, well maintained, and interesting course. I also get the impression that this is generally not too tough a course to get tee times for, the weather on our particular day notwithstanding.