Los Feliz GC (9 holes)

Los Angeles, CA

(323) 663-7758

Fat Guy Note:  This 9 hole ranch has only one claim to fame:  It's the golf course from Swingers.

1962, Designer Unknown
Men's 1065 N/A N/A 27
Fees: ~$10

Golfcourse.com Review: This very tight course is lined by trees on every hole. The greens are medium-sized and fast. No water hazards come into play, but there are sand bunkers incorporated into the course design.

Avg. Golfcourse.com Player Review: 2.7/5.0 "Surprisingly serene despite being next to a busy freeway. Narrow fairways make it tricky. Way too many leaves... Sleepy and shade-lined, a wonderful experience. Repeated rounds will surface a mystique to your game that is unique to Los Feliz. As you refine your short game, youll find that this golf course offers differences in morning and afternoon play... This course is good for my butler." (Only in L.A.!)

Other L.A. Courses You Can Actually Afford: Armand Hammer Pony Course. Hiding in the shadows of Los Angeles Country Club lies the Armand Hammer Pony Course -- not your typical pitch-and-putt. The course was routed in the 1920s through acres of rare trees and unique tranquility. The course features no hole longer than 70 yards, but the precision required to navigate it cannot be over-stated. While at UCLA, Corey Pavin honed his short game there. Surrounded by German cars, sprawling mansions and celebrities of the Holmby Hills area, the $5 nonresident greens fee is an attractive practice option versus your standard bucket of balls.  

"Affordable" L.A. Golf Getaways:  "Affordable" in L.A. is a relative term, but Golf Magazine's Travelin' Joe says, "High tail it to the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, a rustic charmer 75 miles northeast of downtown L.A. Pronounced "Oh-high," it has been welcoming golfers of all handicaps since 1923 with a 6,292-yard golf course that's short on length but huge on character. It was designed by George Thomas Jr. and Billy Bell—who also co-authored Riviera and Bel-Air Country Club. More recent renovations by Jay Morrish and son Carter included the 1999 recreation of two holes that had been abandoned after World War II. Ojai is a throwback to a time when golf courses were graceful, unified playing fields, and not the carnival-style obstacle courses we see too much of today. But there's enough challenge out here for the course to have hosted the Champions Tour for seven years. There's also a 31,000-square-foot spa village with more than a dozen different massage treatments on the menu. (www.ojairesort.com, 805-646-1111; $79-$170)."

Where To Grub Nearby: Drew Barrymore and Lucy Lui like Fred 62 in Los Feliz. A great, affordable 24-hour diner with awesome breakfasts, burgers, and all sorts of other items.

In L.A., Travel Channel says some of the best hotdogs in the country are served up at celebrity fave Pink's Hotdogs (N. La Brea & Melrose, www.pinkshollywood.com), where they'll custom-make any kind of 'dog you crave, and also where Bruce proposed to Demi. John Daly's favorite burger on the planet is at West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger, and I'd say he's something of an expert. Another celebrity fave is Roscoe's House Of Chicken (1514 N Gower St & 5006 W Pico Blvd). Drew Barrymore's favorite Mexican food stands are Poquito Mas, and the ultimate funky taco stand, Dos Burritos at Hollywood & Vine.

For throwback, Golden-Age-Of-Hollywood experiences, hit: Musso & Frank Grill (6667 Hollywood Blvd, 323-467-7788). One of the oldest restaurants in Tinsel Town, Musso & Frank's is the last bastion of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Unpretentious, and old fashioned. Sit at the counter--one of the best places in town for eating alone. Or copy Raymond Chandler and sit at one of the high-backed red booths--he's rumored to have penned part of The Big Sleep here, or sit at Steve McQueen's regular booth up front next to the door. Order a martini, poured tableside, and served stirred, not shaken. Another old school Hollywood landmark restaurant still good enough to be frequented by stars and studio execs is The Smoke House (4400 Lakeside, Burbank, across the street from Warner Bros. Studios), a fave of James Dean, Andy Garcia, George Clooney, and Robert Redford. Jack Paar also hosted the original Tonight Show from The Smoke House. Order the garlic bread with whatever entrée looks appetizing. Other old Hollywood haunts include the round red booths and Chinese-theme at the reasonably-priced Formosa Café (7156 Santa Monica Blvd, www.formosacafe.com), located across the street from the Warner (formerly Samuel Goldwyn) Stuidios since 1925, and an old haunt of Monroe, the Rat Pack, Bogart, and Gable. It was also used in the filming of L.A. Confidential and Swingers. Or hit Ciro's.

The origins of West Coast pizza, featuring non-traditional, fresh, often upscale organic ingredients and toppings, made famous by Wolfgang Puck at Spago as well as California Pizza Kitchens, can be traced back to Caioti (pronounced 'coyote') Pizza in Studio City, where "each pie is a work of art. From whole baby clams to apples and bacon, the limit is your own imagination as far as your pizza is concerned."  Proprietor Ed LaDou started making pies with unique ingredients at Prego restaurant in the Cow Hollow district of San Francisco back in the 1970's. LaDou met Wolfgang Puck when LaDou taught a pizza-making class at Ma Maison, and Puck hired him when he started Spago. Later LaDou designed the original CPK menu (who rode Ed's barbeque pizza recipe to fame and franchisees), and then he started his own Caioti Pizza Cafe in L.A. 

Playboy says L.A.'s best pizza can be found at Pizzeria Mozza (641 N. Highland Ave).  "Iron Chef Mario Batali’s Pizzeria Mozza partner Nancy Silverton steps up for the award for Best Crust Ever. The baker extraordinaire founded La Brea Bakery, but now that she’s teamed up with Batali to open L.A.’s best pizzeria, it’s tough to remember anything before this. Like any L.A. hotspot, scoring a table is tough, but the pros hover near the bar and snag a seat the second someone gathers their things. Somewhere in the magical land between focaccia and crackly sourdough, the crust on this stuff is good enough to eat plain, but why stop there? Choose between two-dozen varieties (from egg, bacon and potato to prosciutto, arugula and fresh mozz) or do like Batali surely does and order one of each."

True New-York-style pizza can be hard to come by this far from the East Coast, but transplants seem to settle on a debate between two top contenders:  Vito's (West Hollywood, www.vitopizza.com) and Joe's (Santa Monica, www.joespizza.com).  Other transplant recommendations for good NY-style pizza joints in L.A. is a fairly short list:  Tony's, D'Amore's (Sherman Oaks), Casa Bianca (1650 Colorada Blvd, Eagle Rock, L.A.), Abbott's, Village Pizza (Larchmont Blvd), The Coop, Mulberry Pizza, Slice Of NY, LA-NY Pizza (W 6th), Damiano's, and a strange, almost-indiscernable combination of places named Johnnie's (Sunset Blvd), Frankie's, or Frankie & Johnnie's (Sunset Blvd, www.frankieandjohnniessunset.com).

MSN.com named L.A.'s 25 Degrees as one of the Top 10 burger joints in the country.  Located in the Roosevelt Hotel, it epitomizes the revitalization of Hollywood.  This hip burger joint is open 24 hours a day serving up 3 gourmet burgers or build your own using upscale toppings, condiments, cheeses, and sauces.  Don't miss the onion rings and the pommes frites with a dozen dipping sauces to choose from. Or, Jimmy Buffet ranks the ORIGINAL FATBURGER (450 S. La Cienega, Los Angeles) as one of the 10 best cheeseburgers on the planet. "I ate my first Fat Burger after the third show at the Troubadour one morning and have been addicted since. There are lots of new Fat Burgers all over LA, but the original is still the best. It must have something to do with that old grill."

Maximum Golf (a short-lived golf mag from the guys at Maxim) recommends the authentic Cafe, 7605 Beverly Blvd, Southwestern/South American fare, not cheap. OR, Cha Cha Cha, 656 N. Virgil Ave, a Carribean Love Shack with Latin dishes. OR, Sushi Roku, 8445 W. 3rd St. OR Crustacean, 9646 S. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, Euro-Asian seafood, expensive. OR Border Grill, 1445 4th St, for innovative Mexican fare.

Best Bar Nearby, L.A.:

After you get the obligatory lost evening at the Viper Room out of the way, Maxim says the best dive bar in L.A. is Tiny's K.O. (6377 Hollywood Blvd), a retro bar-and-burger joint. Sure, it only opened in 2006, and all the kitsch and junk is from E-Bay. Only Hollywood would have a dive bar which is more movie set than true dive. Per Travel Channel, swing by Barney's Beanery, famous for their chili for the last 80 years, so much so that practically everything on the menu comes with chili on the entrée or on the side, and served in a neighborhood joint atmosphere that's rare in L.A.. Drew Barrymore likes Spaceland (323-661-4380) for alt music, Neptune's Net (PCH @ the end of Malibu) for an as-true-as-it-gets beach bar and fish stand, and Chez Jay for a great oceanside, dark, old marina kinda bar where Kennedy and Marilyn used to rendezvous.

The History of the Tiki Bar (from TikiBar.com)

The Excitement Grows

World War II led to an even bigger tiki bar craze in the United States. American G.I.s that had actually spent time in the South Pacific headed to Don's and other tiki bars in masses when they returned home from duty.

It was about this time that Hawaii became a state, and this further fueled the trend. Americans fell in love with the romanticized idea of a warm tropical paradise. Almost every city in America had at least one tiki bar.

Tiki becomes a Culture

Not all the proprietors of these new tiki bars could acquire, or afford, authentic artifacts from exotic islands to decorate their establishments. Companies began to open that specialized in carved tikis and other reproduction island artifacts.

Many popular tropical drinks, such as the famous tiki bar Trader Vic's Mai Tai, were originally created in bars as business owners looked for ways to expand on the popular theme. Don Beach was credited with inventing 84 drinks. The many island cultures all were blended and overlapped until they became one fantasy culture that didn'teven exist in reality

Just like that, tiki bars had been formed. Since then, bamboo tiki bars have found a permanent place in American nightlife as a fun escape to paradise, even if only for a night."

Here's a nice 1 minute video history of the tiki bar from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/dining/20071128_TIKI_FEATURE/#

The only surviving location of the originator of the tiki bar concept in the contiguous 48 states is Don The Beachcomber's (www.donthebeachcomber.com) in Huntingdon Beach.  Or hit the Tiki-Ti Room on Sunset for a groovy little shack serving froufrou frozen concoctions. Playboy digs this real deal old school tiki bar, still going strong after opening back in 1961. After wading through the 80-drink cocktail menu, shout "Toro! Toro! Toro!" with the crowd, and the booze will flow into the house specialty drink, Ray's Mistake aka Blood & Sand. Tiki-Ti is extremely small (just 12 barstools and a small handful of tables), and is incredibly popular -- if you don't like crowds, be sure to get there right as it opens, preferably on a Wednesday. Be sure to bring plenty cash -- they don't accept credit cards. Rated among the Top 5 tiki bars in the country by Critiki.com.

Not only does famed L.A. gentlemen's club The Body Shop get the ultimate recommendation with a mention in Motley Crue's Girls Girls Girls, but both the uber-hot Megan Fox and the uber-sultry Eva Mendez have admitted crushing on Body Shop dancers who were so hot that both Eva and Megan temporarily switched teams and had relationships with them. Those stories alone are enough to automatically name The Body Shop as having the Hottest Dancers On The Planet, but be prepared to drop a mortgage payment or two for a full blown evening there. See Fat Guy's Strip Club Golf Trail for more L.A. Gentlemen's club recommendations.

For more Hollywood glam surroundings, hit the hotspot bar at Chateau Marmont. Maximum Golf recommends Largo, 432 N. Fairfax Ave, dark, homey, candlelit, intimate, fills up early. OR Deep (1707 Vine St), dancing, lines, bouncers, hot chicks. OR Max's, 442 N. Fairfax Ave, dim lighting, no drafts, no pretension, fabulous lounge, always packed. OR Bigfoot Lodge, 3172 Los Felix Blvd, Bohemian crowd, log cabin decor. Britney's & K-Fed's psuedo-wedding-reception was at trendy sportsbar/club Club Dublin's. In Santa Monica, Duffy Waldorf says Rusty's is the quintessential SoCal beach bar, right on the Santa Monica pier.

As to be expected in a town that made it's bones on boozing and schmoozing, Esquire's list of the Best Bars in America features no less than 8 of L.A.'s divier joints:  J Lounge For a city with such predictably good weather, L.A. has surprisingly few patio bars. J Lounge has ten thousand square feet of cabanas and sweeping views of the downtown skyline. (1119 South Olive Street; 213-746-7746); Golden Gopher The stylishly dim Golden Gopher has a liquor license so old, it permits takeout sales -- meaning you can stop in for a martini at the bar and pick up a six-pack at the liquor stand on your way out. (417 West Eighth Street; 213-614-8001); The Edison A lounge with seventy-foot ceilings, the Edison is dug into the bowels of an old power plant. A boiler dominates the main room. (108 West Second Street; 213-613-0000); The Broadway Bar The Broadway Bar has a Liberace-esque circular bar and a staircase that leads to a balcony overlooking dozens of shuttered theaters. (830 South Broadway; 213-614-9909); La Cita The glowing red decor inside the hundred-year-old building housing La Cita feels lifted from a Robert Rodriguez movie (or the other way around). Saturdays and Sundays feature the ranchero music that's been played for decades here on a small stage surrounded by vinyl booths. On Thursdays, the hipsters take over. (336 South Hill Street; 213-687-7111); Bordello A former cop-and-troublemaker bar has recently been redone as Bordello in honor of the upstairs brothel that burned away more than eighty years ago. Weekend burlesque shows. (901 East First Street; 213-687-3766); Redwood  The divey Redwood still maintains a direct phone line to the Los Angeles Times city desk across the street, but a nautical-themed makeover and new sound system for the backroom dance floor makes for an eclectic crowd. (316 West Second Street; 213-680-2600); Bar 107  The Latino trannies at Bar 107 have been replaced by a postcollege crowd, but the deer heads, Schlitz memorabilia, and five-dollar PBR-tallboy special remain. (107 West Fourth Street; 213-625-7382).

If you're down in Ocean County (say, coming to or from playing Pelican Hill), then take the time to treat yourself by swinging by The Green Girl Saloon in Westminster CA (http://web.me.com/thegreengirlsaloon1/The_Green_Girl_Saloon/The_Green_Girl_Saloon.html).  Sure, it's part Irish pub, part sports bar, part cocktail lounge, part night club, part neighorhood bar, has Guiness on tap, a New York loft feel, and has been repeatedly named Ocean County's best bar.  But just one glance at the glamour shots of their hottie bartenders and waitresses on their website, and you'll put it on your Must Drink list.

Where To Stay:  Let's assume you're in the only-gonna-get-to-L.A.-once-or-twice-in-my-lifetime-and-want-to-do-it-up-right category. 

My buddy Scott spent a lost evening on the Sunset Strip on a biz trip with a local 20-something sales guy as a tour guide.  Scott lost most of a night at The Standard Hotel (8300 Sunset Blvd, www.standardhotels.com/hollywood). Your first impression is of a body-painted nude live model "mermaid" behind the check-in desk.  One bar is near the pool with the expected Hollywood beautiful people and hip DJs.  The Purple Lounge is hidden away inside the hotel's 24/7 Restaurant with a speakeasy feel.  The NY Times described The Standard as "a hybrid of modernist architecture and Rock-n-Roll".  Elle Magazine quipped, "The in spot as much for its playful irony as its location", while Playboy simply called it "Hollywood's hippest hotel".  A great spot to stay, play, party or all of the above.

PGA Tour pro Duffy Waldorf (an L.A. native, believe it or not) says L.A. is a big sprawling town, so stay near where you want to go. For cool digs, Duffy says just having a cocktail in the lobby is an experience at Shutters On The Beach in Santa Monica. The rooms and suites are like luxury beach cottages, but with all the modern amenitites. You can spend some real money there, but it's worth every penny. Or stay at the Hotel Bel-Air and you might see Julia Roberts. Or you might not see another soul. The place is very secluded and has acres of gardens and fountains. The Pacific Palms Conference Resort in City Of Industry has it all, including two fine courses. Delta's Sky magazine likes the 4 Seasons Santa Barbara (www.fourseasons.com/santabarbara ) for it's classical elegance and Spanish Colonial architecture. I'm sure Los Feliz' greens fees will be all you can afford after staying there. American Airlines American Way magazine also loves Hotel Bel Air (310-472-1211) for high-end oppulence, or Mondrain (323-650-8999), a Philippe Strark hipster hotel with a pure L.A. scene at the rooftop Skybar. Fans of '70's icons The Eagles will want to head for The Hotel California (which Fat Guy never realized was a real hotel until I stumbled across it on Expedia, 9641 W Sunset). Known locally as The Pink Palace, The Hotel California has accomodated visiting celebs from Presidents to pop stars since 1912. Stargazers will want to crash at a famed Hollywood hotspot, so hit the Hollywood Roosevelt, host to the first Academy Awards, and famous for serving underage Hollywood at the bar. For glamorous old-school Hollywood, crash at the Chateau Marmont, (www.seeing-stars.com/Hotels/ChateauMarmont.shtml), where John Belushi died.

Further Diversions: Touristy studio tours, star map drives, sick shopping, and theme parks aside, your inner voyeur/exhibitionist will love Trashy Lingerie (Melrose Ave; www.trashy.com). This is no cookie-cutter Vickie's Secret ripoff. Trashy is likely the hottest lingerie shop in the country, a veritable perv mecca with clients like Pamela Anderson, Brittney Spears, and Hugh Hefner. To get a more intimate look at old Hollywood, take the Behind-The-Scenes walking tour ($21-$27, Hollywood Tours or Redline Tours, www.hollywoodtours.us/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=1781 or www.redlinetours.com/page.php?page_id=35)  for walk-throughs of landmarks like Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign. You will also see many great but lesser known landmarks such as the El Capitan Theatre (Disney's premiere theatre), Grauman's Egyptian Theatre (where the movie premiere was born), the Blossom Room in the Roosevelt Hotel (site of the first Academy Awards ceremony) and the only fully intact "speakeasy" in Los Angeles.

What To Read Before You Go: L.A. Bizarro: The Insiders Guide to the Obscure, the Absurd, and the Perverse in Los Angeles by Anthony R. Lovett; Horny? Los Angeles by Jessica Hundley & Jon Alain Guzik; or anything by Bret Easton Ellis, preferably the now-old-school Less Than Zero.