With its scenic 3rd hole fronting Salt Creek Beach, and the rest of the Robert Trent Jones Jr. course commanding sweeping views of the Pacific, Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point has always mixed in a surfing vibe to the 70-par course, but players never actually expected to surf there when they slipped on their golf cleats—until now.
Line up a round of golf for dad this month for Father’s Day with the added twist of a GolfBoard instead of a cart, and he’ll be smiling through the bogeys.
Golfboards, which top out at 10 mph and handle like a snowboard or a surfboard, add a thrill-ride element to the grand ole game, capable of changing a frustrating outing into a totally rad surfing session. It takes a few holes to get the hang of it, but once you get your balance, lean back and learn to trust the board, you can start carving fairway mounds like they were grassy waves, or turf in the surf. Add unnecessary S-turns on the way to your ball to make yourself feel better about that lousy slice.
The golf bag mounts in front of a bar for gripping, and your thumb operates a lever to send juice to the four-wheel drive. No brakes needed, as you can go from 10 mph to a dead stop in less than 10 feet with the motion of your thumb. And the beauty of this board, which is powered by a lithium-ion battery, is that it can take you where carts can’t go. In fact, you observe the same rules you would with a pull cart, which means you can go onto the tee boxes and park right next to the greens. The four-wheel drive and fat tires keep you from getting stuck or spinning out. It’s pretty hard to crash unless you try; believe me I would have if it were possible. In fact, the friendly folks who work the links at Monarch say they have never had an accident with a GolfBoard.
This highly efficient mode of golf-links locomotion can really speed up a round. Extensive time trials with GolfBoard to determine pace of play came up with an average round of 2:37! That means you can play 36 holes in about the time it would normally take you to play 18. It makes you wonder why you would ride anything else.
GolfBoards can be found at other OC courses, including, Coto de Caza Golf & Racket, Tustin Ranch Golf Club and Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda. At Monarch, the GolfBoard rental fee for a nonmember is $30. A tee time is $215 on weekends, nonmember. —Randall Tierney
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