Arriving just past midnight last night in Los Angeles on my way down to La Jolla for the final three days of the U.S. Open, I realized that I have overlooked a critical piece of golf equipment during my stint as Equipment Editor for WorldGolf.com:

My car.

Actually, I realized this as soon as I settled into the soft leather seats of the Lexus LS 600h L hybrid sedan I’m in command of this weekend.

What are the critical features of a car for golfers? One is trunk space, and the LS 600h has enough for two large golf bags or three to four smaller walking bags. Another is legroom (you don’t want stiff legs on the first tee), and I was amazed at the room in both front and back seats. The car simply doesn’t look big enough from the outside to have so much room inside and in the trunk. It’s like some sort of impossible Escher figure.

Finally, a feature I had never bothered to consider before, even while getting lost on the way to countless golf courses, is a GPS system. Directions from LAX to the Grand del Mar Resort in La Jolla were delivered to me by the sweetest voice imaginable at 2:00 a.m. on the L.A. freeway system.

Now, was my immediate infatuation with the LS 600h attributable purely to the fact that my own car is so crappy? I brought my father-in-law along to address this very issue. He’s a life-long Cadillac owner. He knows luxury vehicles.

Or rather, he thought he did.

Once we both got over the shock of not having a car key to start the Lexus, he uttered something completely unprintable here, but it was to the effect of, “Sweet Smokin’ Moses, this is one nice flippin’ car!”

I suppose it should be however, since the base price is $104,000. (And this one has extras…)

The second piece of overlooked equipment is one’s bed. You cannot play golf well when you’re tired and your back hurts.

Let me tell you that the beds at the ultra-chic, Mediterranean-styled Grand del Mar Resort (which just opened in La Jolla last October) are the only beds comfy enough to make me even remotely consider staying in bed a bit longer and missing a few hours of Friday’s rounds.

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