Nestled between Interstate 5 and Oceanside Boulevard, the par-3 golf course Goat Hill Park seems an unlikely destination for a professional tour stop.<\/p>\n
But what makes \u201cThe People\u2019s Park\u201d an unusual location for most professional golf events makes Goat Hill ideal for Grass League. Founded in 2023, Grass League bills itself as a \u201chigh-stakes par 3\u2033 featuring amateurs and pros, presented with the enthusiasm of major golf tournaments.<\/p>\n
Grass League hosts its Summer Grind event at the Oceanside municipal course with a practice round and showcase on Friday, with competition set to begin Saturday and Sunday mornings. The final round will be broadcast live on Golf Channel. Golfers grouped into 11 teams \u2014 \u201cfranchises,\u201d as Grass League calls them \u2014 are vying for a $125,000 purse.<\/p>\n
The event will also bring a variety of golf influencers to North County, including former San Diego State golfer turned media sensation Paige Spiranac.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoat Hill is parallel to where the league is and how we position ourselves,\u201d Grass League president Michael Prindiville said. \u201cGoat Hill went from being a threatened, rough-around-the-edges muni course to being heralded as one of the most culturally iconic golf properties in Southern California.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally named Oceanside-Carlsbad Country Club when it opened in 1952, Goat Hill was nearly closed in the name of redevelopment.<\/p>\n
John Ashworth, co-founder of the Ashworth clothing brand, led a campaign to save Goat Hill. Community response to save the publicly owned property led to the \u201cPeople\u2019s Park\u201d nickname.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in the same spirit of appealing to the community at large that brings GrassLeague back to Oceanside for the second time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now able to bring on John Ashworth, who\u2019s lived that story firsthand and turn that course into what it is, tell the story,\u201d said Prindiville. \u201cThen we have so many pros that either grew up in San Diego, went to college in San Diego, or live here now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local connections highlighting Summer Grind include Ryan Ruffels, content creator and co-host of the popular The Lads YouTube channel who made his pro debut in 2016 at Torrey Pines. Murrieta native Ricky Romano, caddie for PGA star Rickie Fowler, represents the San Diego Munis franchise.<\/p>\n
The Munis face competition that includes University of San Diego alum and Goat Hill members Alex Chiarella and Colin Featherstone, who represent the New York Blue Birds.<\/p>\n
Featherstone, who matriculated from San Diego State to the Korn Ferry Tour, calls Oceanside home and is a regular at Goat Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s welcome at Goat Hill. You\u2019ll see (golfers in) t-shirts and flip-flops,\u201d saidFeatherstone. \u201c(The course is) trying to make sure that golf is accessible to anyone that wants to try, whether you\u2019re a beginner or you\u2019ve been playing golf for decades.<\/p>\n
The league\u2019s par-3 format on shorter courses invites a festive atmosphere that Prindiville likened to the famous par-3 No. 16 hole at TPC Scottsdale.<\/p>\n
Grass League co-founders Jake and Jimmy Hoselton, residents of the Phoenix area, have cited the Waste Management Open\u2019s iconic hole as an inspiration.<\/p>\n
Much like Goat Hill is a muse for the Summer Grind.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody just feels the same way as a kid who\u2019s growing up and hitting the range at Goat Hill,\u201d Prindiville said. \u201cIt\u2019s a place that just holds a special place in your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nestled between Interstate 5 and Oceanside Boulevard, the par-3 golf course Goat Hill Park seems an unlikely destination…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1041311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1430,1370,8738,18010,3549,3550,7264,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1041310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-america","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-golf","tag-latest-headlines","tag-north-county","tag-oceanside","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-sandiego","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117208594886052124","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}