Soule Park Golf Course: How many steps?

Experience our Award-Winning Championship Course, ranked the 48th best municipal golf course in the country by Golf Week magazine in 2014.

Sheryl and I moved to Southern California in October… And I haven’t been playing much golf. That all changed when my dear friend Bill Hornstein (Hornstein Creative) invited me to play Soule Park Golf Course with him and his son Logan.

Bill is one of the best golf course photographers in the world and had the chance to shoot Soule Park. Here are some of his photos:

Soule Park is located in Ojai, a small city in Ventura County. We had a late tee time, so Sheryl, Yogi and I headed over to visit a couple of breweries along the way! We started at Ojai Valley Brewery. We got there right after they opened, ordered a flight of all their beers, and sat outside. The place has a cute patio and the beers were solid. You can tell the brewmaster has a passion for this stuff. From there we hit up Topa Topa Brewing Company.

I’ve had a few Topa Topa beers, but when we turned left from Ojai Valley, it was like we landed on a different planet. There were a few people outside at Ojai Valley, but Topa Topa was packed. It took us time to find a parking space, and we only found a place to sit because Sheryl made friends with some locals. We ordered a flight there, too. Some of the beers were good, but it was a bit overpriced. Sheryl got some food, too. Also overpriced; small portions. But it was packed.

After Topa Topa Sheryl dropped me off at Soule Park. I hit some balls and waited on Bill and his son to arrive. We had a 2:30 pm tee time. The views out here are amazing. The golf course was designed by architect William F. Bell in 1962. In 2005, Soule Park underwent a renovation led by Gil Hanse, who is one of the industry’s most highly regarded modern-day golf course architects. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this was my first Gil Hanse design.

The front 9 was fun; a lot of character. But the back was more memorable. There are some amazing views out here and the greens are quite complex. This was not an easy course. Logan, well… He played from the tips and beat me by, what, ten strokes? Kid has a great swing and is consistent around the greens. Hope I get the chance to play with him again.

Since I haven’t been playing much golf, I decided to walk, carry my clubs and track my steps/miles. I haven’t written a “how many steps” blog in a long time. The front 9 ended up being 8,314 steps/3.71 miles. While that may seem like a lot of steps, it didn’t feel like it. The back was flatter, but longer clocking in at 9,201 steps/4.1 miles for a grand total of 17,515 steps/7.81 miles. As a reminder, my daily steps goal is 10,500 steps. I walked 22,171 steps that day.

Bill, thank you for introducing me to Soule Park. I had a blast and can’t wait for our next round. Oh, and our next round (see what I did there?!) of beer! After golf we met Sheryl at The Ojai Beverage Company. While we were playing golf, she took Yogi to the beach. Our round took, well… We finished right at 8:00 pm. So she had been at The Ojai Beverage Company long enough to have a couple of beers and order food. We came in, had a round and just reminisced about the day.

Bill… Logan, thank you for your friendship. Where should we play next? Say Vista Valencia Golf Course?! Coming right up! (I am actually playing there tomorrow!)