by Rick Surlow, Publisher

So many ways to interpret that question, even in a golf sense.  Hitting the ball great from the tee can take you only so far if you can’t back it up with a solid approach shot and deft putting. My challenge is putting all those shots together on any one hole, let alone 18 of them.

My own golfing travails aside, I’m happy to report that we now list over 500 golf courses in the pages of Golf Guide and GOLFGUIDE.ORG.  Before the end of this year, see if you can notch these and perhaps several other venues onto your belt of “Courses I’ve played.”

Our cover course in Volume 11 Issue 3, at Cache Creek, offers not only a spectacular golf experience, but the prospect of leaving with more net worth than you arrived. (Of course, the opposite is always a possibility, which is why you play the game…) Other newcomers include courses amidst towering Redwoods, high desert, mountain meadows and serene plateaus.

Yes, there is quite a variety of golfing opportunity within driving distance for most of us.  In fact, to help you get there, you can access easy door-to-course driving directions (with the aid of Google), from the golf course directory pages on our companion website, GOLFGUIDE.ORG.

Here’s to making 2009 the most satisfying and varied golf year of your career—one in which you strive to remember that to work is good, but to play is divine.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

I’ve been playing golf for many more years than publishing this guide, but while I’m pretty sure I’ve improved at the latter, the former still tends to push me one step back for every one I take forward. What is wrong with this picture?

Perhaps you find yourself with a similar golfing dilemma—the longer your golfing career goes on, the more your skills stay the same. Maybe it simply means that longevity doesn’t matter, but frequency does. We just have to play more golf, period.

Good thing that Golf Guide, now in its 12th year, is here to make it easier for us to identify golf courses, find ’em and play ’em.

Don’t forget about the companion website, GOLFGUIDE.ORG.  Here you will find all the same information found in the pages of Golf Guide, plus a bit more. That means Google maps with directions to help you find all the courses featured in this issue, plus links to many golf-related websites including the local golf associations and the PGA & LPGA Tours.

While you’re in our cyber-neighborhood, be sure to visit our online store to find great deals on golf rounds, instruction, accommodations, golf equipment and even range balls.

Lots of professional golf events are scheduled in our part of the world this season, including the LPGA, PGA and Champions Tour events.  Of course, the big dog is The Presidents Cup, held in San Francisco (at Harding Park) for the first time. It runs from October 6-11, and it’s not to be missed.  Just be sure you play enough golf to be able to rate your skills with the visiting pros this year.