As we all know, recently there has been lots of rain and not much golf. Last week, the course was closed on Tuesday, as it normally is, and closed again on Wednesday, Christmas Day. It was nice for the Little River course staff to be able to spend Christmas at home with family rather than at work. The course was open again on Thursday and Friday, then closed again on Saturday, in the rain. After raining most of Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the course was open for business on Sunday, and golfers were itching to tee off.

I played last Friday with a limited group of Stableford hopefuls, and the course was soggy but not too bad. Course Superintendent Terry Stratton has managed the course for years and knows how to protect it with water bars and diversion ditches. There were no lakes on the greens, but they were moist, requiring an adjusted putting technique. First, the ball must be stroked much more firmly to overcome the green’s wetness. Also, the ball doesn’t break the way it does on a dry green. For the non-golfer, a break on a green means the ball is following the contour of the green. When you line up your putt, you play the break. A common phrase heard on the green might be, “Play the putt two balls to the right.” This would indicate the ball is estimated to travel two to three inches left due to the break. When the greens are moist, the ball does not break nearly as much because it is held to the surface by the moisture. It takes quite a few putts to acclimate to the different techniques required. Several sand traps had become hazards, full of water. The ball may be dropped from a flooded trap without penalty. In the non-flooded traps, the sand had become compacted due to the rain, requiring a different exit method. Ahh, golf is always a challenge.

Speaking of sand traps, last week, it was reported that the Golf Notes guy landed in nine bunkers in one round on the Little River Course. The Little River Course has thirteen sand bunkers. Research shows us the course with the most sand traps in eighteen holes is the course at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisconsin. Golf Digest reports that this course has 967 bunkers. Unimaginable. Pebble Beach has 117 bunkers and the smallest greens on the PGA Tour. Experts recommend you take a wide stance, squat down, put your weight forward, handle low, and club face open for a good sand trap exit.

For the record, local fisherperson and owner of the Little River Inn, Cally Coombs Dym, holds the California State Record for catching the largest Canary Rockfish. The fish weighed out to 9.05 pounds and measured 26 inches long. Cally, aboard a Ft. Bragg party boat, caught the record-breaking fish off the Lost Coast, north of Ft. Bragg. Congratulations Cally, was it on the menu at the Little River Restaurant?