History and Arnold Palmer makes Rancho Park Golf Course the place to play golf in Los Angeles

[Rancho Park Online]

Ian Cruickshank, a travel reporter for the Toronto Star, gives top billing to the Rancho Park Golf Course on his short list of where to play golf in Los Angeles.

 

Cruickshank said he was already a fan of Arnold Palmer when he came upon the 18th tee at Rancho Park Golf Course.

 

"A couple of years ago, I had the chance to meet Arnold Palmer. He flexed those Popeye-sized forearms, squeezed my hand with steely conviction and then fixed me with the kind of gaze that made me feel like I was his favourite grandkid. It’s easy to see why 'The King' still makes golfers go weak in the knees but I became an even bigger fan when I found out about the plaque at the 18th tee at..., a very good municipal course in the west side of Los Angeles," Cruickshank writes.

 

"Rancho Park hosted the L.A. Open in 1961 when Arnie was in his go-for-broke prime and during the opening round, he striped his drive down the throat of the 18th fairway, a par five. The smart play would have been to hit a safe 4-iron down the narrowing fairway but there was no lay-up in the King and instead he yanked out the 3-wood and then promptly hit the next four balls out of bounds, two into the driving range and two onto Patricia Avenue. His final score tallied up to a 12 and the plaque commemorates Arnie’s double digit performance, which oddly made me like him even more and reinforced the fact that L.A. is the city of dreams—and occasional nightmare."

 

I'm not sure that Arnie's performance, or the plaque, reinforces L.A as the city of dreams or nightmares, but I do appreciated that it further cemented Rancho Park's place in history, and as a destination.