Golf

One of the best things about golf, especially the way I actually play the game, is getting to spend time at some aesthetically pleasing places. The manicured greens and fairways come with the territory, as do the contrasting sand, water and trees. The bonus is the views that many golf courses offer.
I've seen the yacht harbor on Calibogue Sound from Harbor Town Golf Course on Hilton Head, the Pacific coast line from Pelican Bay in Newport Beach, the white sand dunes of the Gulf Coast from Kiva Dunes in Gulf Shores and the ocean view of Molokai from Wialea on Maui.
Some of my favorite views have been of the Allegheny Mountains from golf courses in West Virginia, Maryland and my home ground in Western Pennsylvania.
One of the best golf views ever came earlier this week, and I didn't even have to bring my clubs.
I had our dog out for her early morning constitutional. The walking trail passes the 11th green of the Golf Course at Hidden Valley and I noticed that the flag stick had been pulled and the golf hole had been filled. The course was closed for the season. I wouldn't normally take the dog on the course - she's way too friendly and she might leave her "mark" in inappropriate places - but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
We followed the cart path to the tee for the 12th hole, which faces due east and opens to a wide tree lined fairway, leading downhill, to the green some 400 yards away. The view from the tee was spectacular. The leaves were starting to change into their fall colors. The sun was about four fingers above the horizon and the sky was crystal clear with only a few high stratus clouds. The visibility was limited only by the the curvature of the terrain and my aging eyes. I could pick out four Laurel Highland ridges with their blue/purple elevations rising out of valleys blanketed with the early morning fog. I stayed long enough to make sure the image was burned into my mental hard drive, then moved on.