Fortuitous shots, juicy dogs and good company top personal list

There’s God and family and the blessing of living in the land of

the free, and, after that, there are a few more things I’m thankful

for today, such as:

The fact that virtually every day of the year in Newport-Mesa is a

golfing day. Even on days with unique weather, like Wednesday, it is

usually a great experience teeing it up.

We live in a place where golf is for everyone -- from the high-end

private country clubs to the bargain-basement municipal courses, and

everything in between.

There are Directors of Golf and head golf professionals who

generously open their doors and golf courses for the Tea Cup Classic

and Jones Cup. Where else in the America, or even the world, does

something so intimate endure every summer for club champions?

And, as a parting shot, I’m thankful for life’s simple things,

like -- tee shots down the middle, sinking a python putt to start a

round, plenty of laughs along the way, juicy hot dogs at the turn, an

opportunity to bond or meet someone new. Golf came to me late in

life, but I’ve loved the bug ever since.

Happy Thanksgiving.

*

While Dec. 7 will always be a day that lives in infamy, it’s a

date next week to circle on your calendar. The best bargain in Orange

County -- playing golf at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club on one of

its two Jim Fetterly-supervised courses -- just got better in the pro

shop. And just in time for the holiday season.

But before I go on, let me emphasize that Costa Mesa County Club

does not employee me in any way, shape or form. Nor do I accept

bribes.

That said, anyone who has played, or plays regularly on the Los

Lagos and Mesa Linda courses, can tell you what a great experience it

is. Fetterly has country club greens playing on municipal courses.

And, yes, the cool ocean breezes are as prominent as any coastal golf

course in Southern California, especially on the bluffs on holes 6

and 7.

Costa Mesa’s Pre-Holiday Tent Sale, which will be from 10 a.m. to

4 p.m., features savings of 20% to 60% on all brands and

manufacturers of irons, drivers, fairway woods, wedges, putters,

bags, men’s and women’s golf apparel and shoes.

Pro shop manager Joe Sperrazza announced that $100 will be taken

off all drivers and fairway woods in stock. The clubs include the new

Taylor Made 500 series, Cleveland, Titleist, Callaway, Nike and Ping.

Details: (714) 540-7500, ext. 3.

*

Costa Mesa Country Club was once a public barn with pockmarked

greens, threadbare fairways and water hazards without water. Play was

excruciatingly slow and customers often complained to head pro Brad

Booth.

“We had some interesting afternoons out here, put it that way,”

Booth once said.

These days, of course, there are no apologies. Thanks to Fetterly

and his staff, Costa Mesa now ranks as one of the top public courses

in Orange County, rivaling places like Tijeras Creek in Rancho Santa

Margarita, Fetterly’s former stomping grounds.

“Jim knows how to grow grass,” Booth said about a year after

Fetterly arrived in 1998. “He has grass in places it never was

before.”

In addition, there’s the pro shop, clubhouse and lighted driving

range and putting green, which I used to love to use on weeknights

when I lived behind the golf course for so many years in the 1990s.

*

In the 2003 Zagat Survey on America’s Top Golf Courses, one of the

more interesting responses came from the question: What irritates you

most about golf courses? Slow play on the course came in at 59%; poor

course conditioning at 27%; poor service from staff at 6%; poor

course layout/design at 4%; and other at 4%. I would be in the

majority in this survey.

The new Zagat golf survey, also presented by ESPN, listed Pelican

Hill Golf Club’s Ocean South and Ocean North courses as two of the

best in California. Nine golf courses in Orange County made the cut.