How difficult is Poppy Hills (http://www.poppyhillsgolf.com)? Well, my 19 over gross should give you some idea. Everyone told me that Blackhorse (http://www.bayonetblackhorse.com) was going to be the toughest course in the Monterey area, but boy were they wrong.

The problem was not so much getting the ball on the fairway off the tee, that was OK today, the problem was then getting it on the green and then in the hole.

My short game got me out of trouble a couple of times but most of the time I was getting my club selection wrong on my shot into the green and missing the green most of the time. Then I really struggled to get the ball close to the hole with my short game and struggled with my putting.

If you get the chance to play golf on the Monterey Peninsula then I’d highly recommend Poppy Hills to REALLY test your golf game.

However, at $200 a round as a out-of-state/country visitor, it’s a bit pricey. I was lucky to play there with a friend who is an NCGA (http://www.ncga.org) member so I got on for $100.

Just so you know it was not just me though, Mrs G shot 27 over gross which is about as bad as my score bearing in mind the difference in distance off the ladies tees.