If you follow the coast six miles south of Morro Bay, you’ll stumble across the beach towns of Los Osos and Baywood Park. The rural communities are home to a modest population of 15,000 and a rustic aesthetic that mirrors the ragged edges and sharp cliffs of nearby Montaña de Oro State Park. For those seeking a more pampered experience, three hotels lie within city limits, but only one boasts a golf course on property. By name, Sea Pines Golf Resort may sound pretentious.

“Tired or not, Dairy Creek Golf Course was a must-play for me. I had a hazy initial memory of it from childhood. That visit ended poorly after a yellow jacket glued itself to my inner thigh and went to town, triggering an allergic reaction and 103-degree fever…”

For all the hype about its coastal surroundings, the first thing Avila Beach does is turn you away from the water with the opening three holes facing into the valley. By the time we reached the first fairway, we had an inkling about how the round would turn out. Troy hit a stinging cut up the left side of the fairway. I missed the fairway left and found the rough. When we arrived to play our second shots, we were surprised to see Troy’s ball sitting down in a bare spot, surrounded by a web of Kikuyu roots. On the other hand, my ball sat on a lofty patch of grass, avoiding any punishment for missing the fairway. It turned out that Troy wouldn’t find a decent lie all day.