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PHOENIX -- A golf trip is a worthy-vacation any time of year. But after a brutal winter in Milwaukee, the best time to hit the links in Arizona has to be late March.
It's not hard to imagine why: Nothing but golf in the morning, Brewers spring training games in the afternoon and NCAA basketball tournament games in the evening. Paul and I quickly learned this is the ultimate dudes' vacation.
Obviously, there is a vast variety of golf in the area. The Robb Report has described Phoenix as "Americas Best Place to Live for Golf " and picking just a couple courses to play is a bit like deciding which Kopps custard flavor is the best. After doing a little research we chose four courses in the area: Vistal Golf Club, The Raven at South Mountain, The Westin Kierland Golf Club and the TPC Scottsdale.
Vistal Golf Club, vistalgolfclub.com
701 E. Thunderbird Trail, Phoenix
(602) 305-7755
Vistal Golf Club is situated about as far south in Phoenix as you can get. This course bumps up against the South Mountains and is exactly what I thought Arizona golf would be like. Very firm fairways nestled in between lots of sand, cactus and rocks. It looks like the desert courses on Golden Tee.
The par 71 Vistal is a relatively average 6,625 yard course from the Championship tees, but it is heavily bunkered and it will bite you if are unable to control your ball. We were warned more that once about looking for lost balls in the desert areas because of rattlesnakes. Spectacular views of the entire Phoenix metro area abound on the back nine, which climb up steadily into the foothills. Though we both played rusty and poorly, we really liked this interesting and very affordable course.
The Raven at South Mountain, ravengolf.com
3636 E. Baseline Rd., Phoenix
(602) 243-3636
The Raven at South Mountain is located not far from Vistal, but is decidedly more upscale.
I was reminded of a Spanish Mission as we drove up to the terra cotta roofed clubhouse. Huge church style windows look out from the pro shop and bar onto the practice range, which surprisingly pipes in rock music through in ground speakers.
With its rolling green topography, this track would not look out of place in Wisconsin. It is very lush and has an abundance of non-native trees. We discovered later that the Raven planted 6,000 pine trees to distinguish itself from the multitude of desert golf courses available in Phoenix.
There is a definite sense of solitude on the Raven. Development along the course is minimal, which is a refreshing change of pace from most resort golf, so you are able to enjoy your round and your friends. The course was designed by Gary Panks and David Graham, but is similar in style to a Pete Dye layout. There is an abundance of water lined with buttressed railroad ties, as well as a number of fiendishly placed bunkers on most holes.
From the tips it plays a brawny 7028 yards. The greens are invitingly large but most are multi-tiered, so it demands much from your wedge play. The upshot of this is that landing a green at the Raven doesn't necessarily guarantee that you are going to two putt.
The course finishes up at the beautiful par four 18th surrounded by multi-tiered pools of water, which serenely fall into each lower adjacent hazard. The one regret we had was that it wasn't yet hot enough out to get the signature iced mango towels that they pass out to help keep you cool during the blistering summer months.
As a little parting bonus, the clubhouse attendant provided us with very cool Raven bag tags after we finished our round. Though this course is not a budget course by any means, greens fee deals can be found by the shrewd golfer.
6902 E. Greenway Parkway, Scottsdale
(800) 354-5892
The Kierland Westin Golf Club is one of the newer kids on the Scottsdale golf scene. This 27 hole Scott Miller design opened in 1996 to rave reviews and was immediately nominated"Best New Public Course" by Golf Digest. It is comprised of three separate nine hole courses: Ironwood, Acacia and Mesquite which surrounds the massive (700 acre development) Westin resort complex. It is also purported to be the course most favored by Bob Uecker during spring training.
According to one of the friendly staff members in the clubhouse, the course superintendent determines the amount of play each course will get on a daily basis, so it is recommended that you call ahead if you have your heart set on a particular combination of the three.
We played the Ironwood/Mesquite 18 on a gorgeous breezy Saturday afternoon. In this configuration, the course was just over 6,300 yards. The starter was encouraging and gave us some course management tips during a brief and informative chat at the first tee. Undulating rye grass fairways threaded with copious bunkering dominate the layouts of both the Mesquite and the Ironwood. The general feel of this 18 was a sort of an interesting mash-up of the emerald greens we encountered at the Raven with sand and desert grasses of Viastal.
The contrasts of color and the geography which it is set upon has the affect of forcing your eyes on the course rather than the beauty of the surrounding mountains in the distance. Because there are only a few strategically placed trees it also has a vague feel of links golf. There are water hazards on or alongside a few of the holes, but the main threats to a lower score are the aforementioned bunkers.
Since it is a rather wide-open design, it is a welcome relief for the mid to high handicapper from the often punitive nature of Arizona golf. Errant shots are generally findable and more importantly, playable. The ample Bermuda grass greens are very fast, but rolled true, and were a great test of a players pace and ability to read them. As we were leaving the course in the last snatches of twilight, a huge mesquite bonfire glowed outside the clubhouse. All golf aside, the wafting smoke and the earlier scent of the freshly blooming lilacs at the tee box on 5 made the visit to Kierland worth the trip alone.
Tournament Players Club, tpc.com
17020 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale
(480) 585-4334
On the docket for the last round was one of the crown jewels of the Arizona golf experience: The Stadium Course at Tournament Players Club.
The TPC is the host course of the Professional Golf Association's raucous FBR Open which annually break its own PGA attendance record, this year admitting 538,000 plus patrons through its turnstiles. This early February tournament is always one of the most popular stops and watched on the Tour. The massive crowds get the players jazzed and there is a distinct "buzz" surrounding the play during the Open that is palpable even over the airways 2,000 miles away.
Unlike any other tourney on the Tour, the TPC has cultivated something that fans of other sports can appreciate, vocal and steady fan support.
In the days preceding our round, no opportunity to chide each other about a poor swing or unforced error was missed.
"Yeah brah, don't think that shot is gonna make it at the TPC."
"The caddies going to break a blood vessel in his face trying to hold in his laughter at the TPC."
"If you're lucky, maybe a rattlesnake will bite you so you won't have to embarrass yourself at the TPC."
All of it tipped our giddy enthusiasm about playing a round on Scottsdale's most hallowed course.
The place has almost as many accolades as attendees to its tournament. Golf Digest has listed it in it's annual "Top 10 Golf Courses in Arizona" and Golf Week has called it "One of America's Best Courses," it is recognized as an Audubon Sanctuary by the Sanctuary Society. Conde Nast has listed it among the top 50 golf destinations in the U.S. and is played regularly by more than 40 touring pros (more on that later).
Oddly enough though, its entrance is unassuming marked by small and tasteful signage, which we missed. The next 10 minutes were spent frantically driving around the edges of the course, catching glimpses here and there of the vivid greens and bumming because we were missing out on range time. This speedy searching was a mixture of anticipation/dread/impatience that every golf adventurer feels when they can't seem to find the clubhouse.
As a forecaddie, Peter's job was to position himself about halfway down the Bermuda/rye grass fairway and signal to us the general position of our drives, whether they were playable, unplayable or out of bounds and needed to hit another. He ran through the hand signals and his general duties in a casual and genial manner and introduced us to our playing partners, a twosome of doctors from New Jersey.
The five of us headed over to the starter, also a very friendly fellow. His nametag read "Corby Fischer, Sheboygan Falls, Wis." You run in to an unbelievable amount of ex pats and tourists from Wisconsin in the Phoenix area, and with each encounter we shared this sly feeling of having "gotten over" on all the poor folks at home, plodding through the slush, toiling in layer upon layer of clothing.
When you are standing on the tee box at 8 a.m. in the shadow of the McDowell Mountains in 72 degree weather, Milwaukee seems a lot like the besieged Stalingrad of grainy WWII films. Corby, Paul and I bonded over Brewer/weather/Wisconsin chit chat instilling that now-familiar feeling of a slightly complicit nature.
Aside from actually playing golf, there is great pleasure to be found here, particularly to a fan of the sport. It is apparent that the TPC takes great pride in its ability to convey the history of the course through its caddies. At various points throughout the round, Peter would divert from his normal helpful shot selection suggestions and yardages and give us some of the local flavor.
At Hole 13 he pointed out the infamous boulder (or in Tiger's world, "a loose impediment") that 12 spectators moved for Tiger Woods at the FBR in 1999 when his drive went awry. It is now signified with a bronze placard. As we were teeing it up on par four 17th, Peter informed us that in 2001 Andrew Magee was the only player in the history of the PGA to make a hole in one on a par four hole, you know, just in case we wanted to give it a shot.
At 18 he pointed out where just a month and a half earlier, JB Holmes' 359 yard drive landed -- which helped him to force a playoff with Phil Mickelson, which Holmes then won. On the first tee box Peter told us that John Elway recently bought a home along the fairway, which elicited hearty boos and raspberries from our cart of lifelong Elway detractors. As we were walking up the 9th fairway, Peter told us to look to our right because former U.S. Open Champion Tom Kite was about 75 yards away, just practicing his putting.
Probably the most famous of all the holes on this beautiful track is the par three 16th hole. It has been described as one of the most exciting par three holes in all of professional golf. Players at the FBR walk through a tunnel and out into a mini stadium, which resembles old Tiger Stadium with its triple-decker seating. This hole is ringed with the rowdiest fans in golf. The temperament and behavior of the patrons there is as close to other American sports fans as golf spectating gets. Hit a great shot and you are cheered and lauded, miss the green and you are jeered and groaned at loudly from the teaming triple-decker seating ringing the entire 162 yards. It's a radical departure from the normally staid behavior of the typical PGA gallery.
It was a shock to see that the hole was essentially naked and the entire structure was missing and, obviously temporary. Closer inspection revealed the green sand/seed filler where pilings and huge scaffolding supports were anchored. After hitting our shots we looked to Peter who responded, "Yep, they would've booed you."
The course, itself, is lovely and well-manicured. It is wide open enough that poor shots will not kill you, but still makes you have to think through your plan of attack. The desert areas that line portions of the are beautiful but are more aesthetic than punishing in their placement. You generally have to mis-hit your shot rather badly to reach these areas. It's ingenious how course designers Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish were able to incorporate the Sonoran desert features into the layout and still maintain a "natural " flowing feel.
The greens are very fair: no trickery or insane pin placements, and the fringe surrounding them is a manageable length, though quite a few have pot bunkers taunting your approach shot. If you learn to trust your caddy, you can score. Water does come into play, prominently on the tricky 555 yard par five 15th which features an island green, the 322 yard par four 17th and the 438 yard par four 18th. The last stretch of golf on the back nine are some of the most challenging and scintillating golf holes you are likely to encounter. Each hole is more daunting than the previous.
The whole staff at the TPC was knowledgeable and engaging; it's apparent that they take great pride in their course. The beauty of the TPC is not only skin deep, it is also in the details. The smell of blooming desert flowers, the odd Saguaro cactus, the purple mountain vistas looming in the distance at each tee box ... If you are a serious golfer or just have a little bit of discretionary income, this course should be on the "must play before I die" short list.
