From Stefano Saccani of New York, NY: I am a Golf Digest subscriber and you guys are my bible. I'm taking a three-day trip to Calif. for Martin Luther King weekend. I will land Friday evening in San Diego and I'll leave on Monday afternoon from Los Angeles. All my friends tell me I have to play Torrey Pines on Saturday, but I don't know where to play on Sunday (I don't want to play golf on Monday). My round on Sunday can be any course in San Diego, LA (or anywhere in between) and must cost me no more than $250. It would be awesome if you can advise me on this matter.

Dear Stefano, thank you for the note and totally rad use of the word, "awesome." We have a lot in common: We both live in New York, we're willing to travel to play golf and the vowel to consonant ratio in our last names is three to four--a couple of good Irish kids, my dad likes to say.

I did some checking around--here are a few courses to choose from (in no particular order):

-Strawberry Farms (above) in Irvine is 18 holes designed by Jim Lipe, developed by Doug DeCinces, former infielder for the California Angels and Baltimore Orioles. In his best year, 1982, DeCinces hit .301 with 30 HRs and drove in 97 RBI (being from New York my guess is you have an insatiable appetite for all things baseball). The golf course gets 3.5 stars in the Golf Digest Places To Play guide and the green fee is $160 on weekends. Here's a link to the website.

-Pelican Hill (above) in Newport Coast has 36 holes on the water, both courses were built by Tom Fazio. The Ocean North Course gets 4.5 stars, a half-star better than the Ocean South Course. The rate of $235 includes a forecaddie. Here's a link to the website.

-Monarch Beach Golf Links (above) in Dana Point is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that received 4.5 stars. On weekends they charge $195 from 9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m.. The price goes down before and after that two-hour clip. Here's a link to the website.

-Some might recommend the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. Not me. I say it represents all that's wrong with golf--big price tag, small sense of satisfaction. The website says it cost Sir Head Of Hair $250 million--"the most expensive course ever built." I say: What a waste. Digest Places To Play gives it 3 stars and the green fee is $275--thankfully it's out of your price range. Why is it so bad? The first hole for starters, there are too many blind shots, narrow slanting fairways and a thoughtless routing. Even the ocean view is generic, if that's possible. I have a buddy who says the only good thing about TNGC is the driving range ($25 for unlimited balls). If you're still interested, here's a link to the website.

Let me know where you play and what you thought of the course. Safe travels.

--Matty G.

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