CALIFORNIA DREAMING

In the beginning of this year I went on an incredible trip to California. And it was my first time on the west coast!!

Even though I went to college in the US (South Carolina) I never went more west than Memphis, TN, during my four years there so that’s not west at all haha.

So finally getting to visit Cali was absolutely a dream come true. A thing to check off my bucket list.

Let me share some of our days and experiences during the 10 day trip from Copenhagen - Monterey.

A CELEBRATION OF GOLF

The reason Coco and I flew to California in the first place was the Adidas x Malbon launch event for the Crosby Collection. And this was not your average little launch evening.

They hosted a day called ‘A Celebration Of Golf’ out at the Preserve Golf Club in Carmel.

We were all met by our own lockers filled with the new collection in the locker room. I was really debating between wearing the culottes or the dress for the day and finally settled for the dress. I’m normally not a dress girly - I always feel like they’re really unflattering on me because I’m quite short - but this dress fit perfectly.

The Preserve Golf Club really was unlike anything else I’ve ever played. You have to drive for 30 min or so straight into the woods to even get to the course, so that alone tells you how secluded and hidden it is. The best I can describe it is honestly like a golf sanctuary.

When you’re out there, all you have is golf and nature. Not even social media can get in your way from enjoying your round because it’s impossible to get reception anywhere but at the clubhouse.

The course layout had that perfect combination of both challenging and more gettable holes. It always had you thinking about where to play it and what club to play - it never got boring or repetitive. And my favorite part was probably the green areas with all the false fronts and runout areas.

There were plenty of times where I just had to completely trust our caddie and hit a wedge or chip shot way sideways away from the pin to have any chance of getting it close. And a few times he told me ‘‘good luck getting this one to stop on the green’’. So that was a fun challenge. But he was also (unfortunately) right because I did in fact not get the ball to stop on the green after he said that hehe.

The day honestly flew by so fast. I had the chance to play with the amazing Cailyn, Ray and Brocky, and we had an incredible day of golf, laughs, content and food.

PLAYING A DR ALISTER MACKENZIE COURSE

Our second golf day on the trip took us to Pasatiempo: the Dr Alister MacKenzie gem located an hour or so north of Monterey, in Santa Cruz. I had heard so much about this course before we got there and it’s ranked as one of the best courses in all of California, so let’s just say I had high expectations.

Driving up to the clubhouse you’re passing by a few of the holes (I think it’s 8/9) and already there I knew that we were in for a treat.

I don’t know if it’s just me but whenever I come to a new course and the first thing I see is white, and I mean WHITE bunkers, I know it’s going to be a good day.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Pasatiempo might be the most pure course I’ve ever played. And I still played it during a rainy period. The course manager even told me they had been unable to cut the fairways as much as the way they wanted to for weeks. And still, the quality was impeccable.

Quality aside, the course was also a lot of fun to play. I love a good varying layout and that’s exactly what you get here. Short par 4s, long par 3s, lots of bunkers and tough greens. The best combination of fun and challenging.

The only downside (if any) to our day was the absolutely horrendous rain that decided to make an appearance just as we teed off on the back nine. But knowing we might not get another chance to get back here - at least for a while - there was no way we’d let some rain make us miss out on the famous MacKenzie masterpiece back nine.

We played the entire back nine in pouring rain, got wet through all our layers of clothing and putted through flooded greens on the last few holes. But you know what? It was totally worth it. This day and this course is definitely up there with my favorites, ever.

Thank you to the course that has both Dr Alister MacKenzie’s house by the 6th fairway AND the cutest golf course logo in the world - I’ll be back.

GOLF AND NEW FRIENDS

One of my favorite things about social media is all the people it introduces you to. All the people that, if it weren’t for a little app called Instagram, you might have never crossed paths with.

Our third round was played in Monterey, at a course called Bayonet & Black Horse. Well, it’s actually two courses (one called Bayonet and one called Black Horse) and they were both recommended to me by so many people on IG.

One of them was Tilda, who’s Swedish and plays college golf at CSU Monterey Bay. She reached out when I mentioned I was going to be in the area and we met up to play together at Black Horse.

It was one of those days that reminded me how great golf is for meeting new people and making new friends. We had so much fun out there, through good shots and bad, and filmed some scramble content together from the tips (which is a must-watch if you haven’t seen it already) that you can watch here.

Tilda crushes it. And she’s such a kind person, too.

The course was unfortunately undergoing some reparations while we were there so it wasn’t the most aesthetic surroundings, content wise.

But the day was fun, the weather was great and the company was even better.

VINEYARD GOLF

When we researched what courses to play during our trip there were so many options. Apparently there are over 900 different courses in the state, which is.. a lot. Just a solid 250 more courses than in all of Sweden, but no biggie haha.

With that said, choosing where to play wasn’t easy. But one course that kept popping up was Wente Vineyards. And just like the name implies, it’s a course where you play in the middle of the vineyards.

Just by looking at some of the pictures from there both Coco and I felt like we couldn’t possibly miss out on a round there. Compared to the other courses that were relatively close to Monterey, Wente Vineyards was a bit more of a drive (2.5h ish) up north past San Jose.

The experience of playing here can best be described as charming and unique. Playing in between the vineyards was so cool and it wasn’t even harvesting time when we were there so all the vines were brown and empty. So I can’t even image how magical it must be to play here during the season, when the vines are covered in green leaves and grapes.

The course was a lot of fun to play and we had such an enjoyable day out there except for the extremely confusing weather (again). It kept switching between blue skies and sun to pouring rain coming in through the cart sideways. Either way, it was worth sticking it out and getting the full Wente Vineyards experience and take in the beautiful views it offers.

BUCKET LIST DAY @PEBBLE

You might want to call it destiny but as luck would have it, our Cali trip took place at the same time as the AT&T PGA Tour event out at Pebble Beach. I mean, I guess the unlucky part about this is that it was absolutely impossible to play at Pebble that week due to the event.

But at the same time, that meant we were able to go watch the action on the PGA Tour AND enjoy a day spent at Pebble Beach. So that’s exactly what we did.

We spent the full Saturday out there, walking the course, watching all my favorite golfers and just taking in the surreal place that is Pebble Beach. I still have to pinch myself thinking about it because I can’t believe I was actually there.

It’s a place I’ve been wanting to visit since I was a kid and the whole day was really just a dream come true. The perfect ending to our first ever west coast trip.

Now that I’ve gotten a taste of what California living and golfing is all about, I certainly want more. So until next time, Cali. I promise it won’t be too long.