I just couldn't wait! A loyal reader asked if I would review their new golf nutrition bar. At first I thought I'd better wait until we get a bit closer to the season. I figured that would be the best way to give it the proper on-course test drive. Upon further reflection, however, I decided that my new friends at Sun Valley Bar would probably like the review sooner rather than later.

So with sample bars in hand I decided to grip, rip and chomp! And in order to get some additional perspective, I opted to include a local confidant and loyal reader of golfnoise to join me in the test. Relatively speaking, she's a newbie golfer but she's all into the nutritional bar scene. She has a seventeen year old son and is in a constant search for quality snack foods. And being a southern California transplant, she's test driven them all! She's compared ingredients, nutrition value and cost for just about every snack bar out there.

For my own purpose and I suspect most of the casual golf snackers out there, I'm interested in evaluating flavor, so I called off the nutritional watch dog and decided we would pick which ones to recommend based on the single most important criteria... TASTE! Not that nutrition should be ignored but we figured you would make your own comparisons on Sun Valley's nutrition page.

With flavors in hand, we set out. Our first choice was Cranberry Almond.  Because these are the uber-trendiest ingredients that seem to inhabit every snack food on the market. We followed with Goji Lemon, all the while wondering what Goji is. I guess we're just simple people here at golfnoise. We moved on to Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. This one made me a little nervous as my son is allergic to peanuts and any snack whose ingredients even hint at peanuts is not allowed near the noisemaker household. And finally, the flavor we assumed would be the hands-down leader ...Chocolate Chocolate Chip. We figured with a name that doubles up on the word "chocolate," you just can't miss!

And the winner is... Well, as it turns out, we weren't so quick to pick the best of the lot. And that's good news. Without one stand out taste leader we decided there were pros and cons to each. I can imagine stowing a variety of bars into my bag so I can follow whatever taste-mood I'm having that day. Suffice to say, they all had a uniquely different taste and with the health benefits associated with their whole food ingredients we concluded you would do well with any or all of them in your bag.

So the golfnoise crew gives the Par Bar a definite thumbs-up! And as it turns out, the Par Bar ranks up there with the best of the best of the all natural, whole food snacks out there. So the next time that cute little cart-missy pulls up to my foursome, I'll pass on the beer and chips choice and reach into my snack pouch for the Chocolate Chocolate Chip... or the Cranberry Almond... or perhaps the Goji Lemon. Hmmm. I still can't quite decide. Maybe you could pick up a selection and get back to me with your favorite. The Sun Valley folks would sure appreciate that!