My Favorite Course

I read this feature regularly, So I’m excited to contribute not one but two of my favorite courses. I even have a theme: one course I play when I travel and the other course I play when I, well, leisure. On the travel side, it’s the Plantation Preserve Golf Course in Plantation, Florida. It was designed in part by Robert von Hagge, one of the creators of Doral’s Blue Monster. The course is breathtaking, and it’s completely surrounded by preserved wetlands, so it’s not uncommon to see a hawk or a heron watching as you tee off. There’s a mile-and-a-half-long walking trail for nature lovers, and it goes right through the course. Thankfully the fairways are wide and the trails are far enough away that my sometimes-wild drives aren’t likely to nail anything that walks or flies. I also like that both nines start with par fives—that can be a real confidence booster.

We’re about to begin shooting a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which means my golf time is about to become limited. Any free time automatically falls into the leisure category. That’s when I hit my other favorite course: Weddington Golf, a par three in Studio City, California. I really enjoy carrying just a few clubs and working on my approach shots from a hundred yards out. And thanks to my golf teacher, Ed Coleman over at Rancho Park in Los Angeles, that’s the best part of my game. Ed is ninety years old and has hammered home my most important swing tip: Keep everything simple.

Larry David takes the exact opposite approach. He’s technical, and he knows so much about the mechanics of the golf swing. He’s always working on his setup and will just toss out random tips to me: “Put your arm here and then straighten this leg…. ” Larry’s got a lot of game, and without a doubt he’s the better golfer. He’s been playing a long time and gets out plenty. For me, a perfect round of golf is fourteen holes. Larry, on the other hand, will tell me he’s just played thirty-six and wants to go right back out and squeeze in eighteen more. That’s when I look at him like he’s from another planet.