76. Arizona, California, and Nevada, April 10-15, 2017 (Part 2 of 2)

Arizona, California, and Nevada, April 10-15, 2017 (Part 2 of 2)

Pelican Hill GC—Ocean South, April 13, 2017:  Located in Newport Beach, CA, Pelican Hill has two courses sitting alongside the Pacific Ocean…opposite Catalina Island.  Both courses were designed by Tom Fazio; the Ocean-South opened in 1991 and the Ocean-North in 1993.  When Golf Week published its first Classic and Modern Top 100’s in 1997, it listed (Pelican Hill-Ocean) as #72 Modern (#144 Merged on my list).  So I had a quandary…was Ocean the South or the North?  Several calls to the course did not yield an answer but one call to Tom Fazio’s offices put me in touch with a guy who worked on the renovation of both…and he was sure the original “Ocean” became the “South.” 

I booked the first tee time (7:20am), which I needed to get up to Los Angeles to play Hillcrest in the afternoon and then catch a flight at 8:15pm to Las Vegas.  The course winds through canyons and has many sharply uphill and downhill holes, as well as many with L to R and R to L severe slopes on the fairway.  Plays to 6580 yards from the back.  Four holes are near the coast line:

o   #11, a 367 yard downhill par 4 heading straight toward the Pacific and Catalina Island;

o   #12, 159 yard par 3 running right along the coastal cliff to the player’s left and close to the left side of the green;

o   #13, 131 yard (or 108 yard) par 3 with two alternative greens and again running parallel to the coastal cliff on the left;

o   #14, 544 yard par 5 moving eastward and uphill (especially on 2^nd shot)…stuck a 6-iron to 4’ for a bird.

Pictures of 11-13 follow.

 

Pelican Hill S #11 heads for Pacific

#12 a tough tight par 3 along ocean cliff

#13 with 2 greens---this one was NOT used the day we played...131 yds

#13--this is green we did use--108 yards

Holes 16-18 provide a dramatic finish.  The par 3 219 yard 16^th plays slightly downhill to an infinity green heading west to Catalina Island (although the ocean is a full mile from the green)…birdied by me after hitting a 3 wood to 10’.  #17 is an uphill par 5 of 570 yards and played into the wind…after three well hit shots (playing from 540 yards) I was just short and left and got up and down for a par.  The 18^th presents a downhill “cape hole” drive (cut off as much as you can chew) doglegging left and uphill to a tough two-tiered green.  I had a 5 to finish 41-41 = 82…three birdies but four double bogeys.

In summary, a very good golf course but more sizzle than steak.  Spectacular scenery on a number of holes with good but not great architectural features and a number of fairly ordinary holes on 1-10.

Told the folks thanks and hopped in the car for a 56 mile almost two hour drive hitting heavy LA traffic for the last 10 miles…saved by GPS!

Hillcrest Country Club, April 13, 2017: About one mile southeast of LACC (and across the street from Rancho Park…where Arnold Palmer once carded a 12 in the LA Open) sits Hillcrest CC.  For many years, Jews were not admitted to LACC and Hillcrest opened in 1920.  Its membership rolls have included luminaries such as Groucho Marx, Milton Berle, George Burns, Jack Benny, George Jessel, Danny Kaye and Don Rickles.  Later, the club opened to non-Jews by first admitting Danny Thomas and later the likes of Walter O’Malley (owner of my beloved 1955 World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers), Sidney Poitier, and Jack Lemmon (who others have accused of looking like me).

In 1929 Hillcrest hosted the PGA Championship won by Leo Diegel.  This was the first PGA Championship contested west of the Mississippi.  It also hosted the LA Open in 1932 and 1942 won by Macdonald Smith and Ben Hogan respectively.  Designed by Willie Watson, it today stretches to 6727 yards on a piece of land that would be worth a few shekels, sitting right next to Century City. 

Hillcrest is a good course but is land locked on a confined piece of property.  The club is in discussions with architects regarding a potential renovation.  The land itself is excellent and a major renovation could yield a very interesting course.

After the round I thanked the staff (service here is impeccable) and headed to LAX for my flight to Las Vegas.  I was starting to get a little tired, but still had three courses to play in LV and then a flight hole Saturday afternoon/evening.

South Shore Golf Club, April 14, 2017: Allow me to say at the start that this is not my favorite city.  I had a long day today starting with the first tee time at 7:20am at South Shore, located in Henderson, to the east of the Strip and located on Lake Las Vegas. South Shore plays to 6917 yards, opened in 1996 and was designed by Jack Nicklaus.  It appeared on Golf Week’s Top 100 Modern list for 11 straight years (1998-2008) including four years when it was high enough to make my merged Golf Week list…peaking at #66 in 1998.

Its clubhouse sits high up a hill with Lake Las Vegas well below in the distance (the course extends down to the Lake).  It certainly is dramatic, its amenities are first class, and its terrain is varied…but at this point on the trip, I was getting tired of dramatic courses and was longing for subtle golf architecture.  As you might know, Las Vegas is not the place to go for subtle anything.   The first two holes are both sharply downhill into the valley and toward the lake…and the course stays in that valley for #3-4 and generally moves uphill for #5-9, returning to the clubhouse on the sharply uphill par 4 9^th.  That pattern is generally repeated on the back nine sitting to the west of the front nine.  The drives from green to tee are extremely long.  No one will ever call this an intimate course. 

I will admit that it does finish quite strongly on #16-18.  #16 being a 212-yard par 3 (was playing into the wind this day) from an elevated tee to an elevated green over a rocky gorge (I three putted for a bogey).  #17 is a 382-yard par 4 with a forced carry drive to a fairway turning right sitting between rocky hills on each side and moving uphill to the green (see picture on scorecard)…since you asked, here I hit a great drive and a 7-iron to 12’ but missed the birdie putt.  #18 is a 427-yard par 4, downhill off the tee and then uphill and turning right to the green…hit the green and finished off with a par (and five straight 4’s on 14-18 including three putts on par 3 #14 and #16).  Ended with a 42-37 = 79 and that is an exhilarating finish…but no, not a course to play every day…or perhaps even more than once.  Pictures follow:

South Shore #14 par 3

South Shore #16 212 yd par 3

Southern Highlands Golf Club, April 14, 2017:  After a short drive westward to Southern Highlands, I was met by my host and fellow Golf Digest rater, Andy C.  Andy is a very good player and was a wonderful host, despite receiving his education at a finishing school located about 2 miles up the Charles River from the vocational school where I spent my undergraduate days.  In fact at the finishing school he was captain of its golf team and as a result played Brookline perhaps a hundred times…but not in the last 25 years.  Hopefully we can rectify that this year or next.  In the “golf is a small world” department, during lunch I ran into Ken J. the developer of Diamante in Cabo, Mexico (and fellow GM panelist), who was just joining the club. 

Completed in 2000 as a collaboration between Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and RTJ, Jr., Southern Highlands was on the Golf Week USA Modern Top 100 for 9 years from 2004-2012, but never high enough to make my merged GW list. It plays to a quite robust 7510 yards from the tips and we played from 6696 yards, probably the longest course I have played in years…even adjusting for about 2000’-2500’ in altitude.

On the positive side, the course has very wide corridors and as a result it does not have the feel of a desert course.  On the negative side, the course leaves very little to the imagination, and like Shadow Creek exudes little charm.  The bunkers are simply huge and as a result, extend to areas that clearly would almost never come into play…for example a good 30+ yards past the back edge of the par 3 201 yard 2^nd green.  I guess if one were to overclub by 4 clubs the back part of this bunker could be in play but I wondered how may times in the course’s 17 years history this had occurred.  Any???  However, given that the club’s water for watering its acreage was reputed to be $2.1 million per year, perhaps it is cheaper to maintain the bunkers than grass!  Trust me, the course is pure green.

I actually played fairly well (39-41 = 80) so I guess I wasn’t exhausted yet.  After the round Andy and I had a nice dinner at the club and traded the usual golf architecture/history stories.  After dinner it was back to the hotel…one more round to go at Cascata the next morning.

Cascata Golf Club, April 15, 2017: Cascata was completed in 2001 and was designed by Rees Jones.  From the back tees it plays to 7137 yards.  In 2005 it made the Golf Magazine USA Top 100 at #84 on its only appearance on a Golf Magazine or Golf Digest list Top 100.  It appeared on the Golf Week Top 100 Modern list from 2004-2008 but never high enough to make my merged list. 

It is built into the mountains close to LV and is without question unwalkable (even the carts get tired).  By my count, at least 9 holes are severely uphill or downhill.  I hit at least two drives well over 300 yards.  For example, on then 17^th, which I played from the 470 yard tee, I hit a 7 iron second shot over the green…which was the same club I hit on my second shot on the 1^st hole, which I played from 287 yards.  It should be noted that the wind this day was against on all the uphill holes and helping on the downhill ones…I played the 5543 yard tees on the 6 uphill holes, the 6638 yard tees on the 7 downhill holes, and the 6168 yards tees on the 5 relatively flat holes, which worked out fairly well.  There are some outstanding views on the course but it has zero “flow”. 

Cascata #3...sharply downhill par 5...see solar farm distant right

Cascata #7 157 yd par 3--very exposed to wind...one of few holes I liked

Had another “small world” event here…my caddy on about the 5^th hole, after I had mentioned some of my golfing ventures, asked if I knew Mel H. (of Denver).   I met Mel two years earlier at The Golf Club and Oakmont and later had him at Brookline…and it turned out that my caddy had also caddies for Mel (and he figured all us nuts probably knew one another…and he was correct).

My flight back to Charlotte got in early (and I got upgraded).  The drive home went well and I was home by 11:30pm.  So wonderful to be back home with Pat.  Trust me, I did not play golf on Sunday!

Anyhow, by playing Cascata I am now down to one course left to play on the Golf Magazine World/USA Top 100 list…Merit Club in Chicago.  On my USA Top 100 EVER list, I am down to 19 courses (out of 353).  Life to date course count now 920 (actually 921 since I played another course in NC this week).  Getting there.

75. Arizona, California, and Nevada, April 10-15, 2017 (Part 1 of 2)

Arizona, California, and Nevada, April 10-15, 2017 (Part 1 of 2)

I trust all of the readers of this blog were busy on Sunday April 9 watching the final round of The Masters…which is as close as I come to a religious experience each year.  About 45 years ago I decided that it felt “sloppy” to be viewing The Masters on Sunday dressed in a golf shirt, sneakers, shorts, etc., and decided that I should wear a blazer (no, not green, which seemed too pretentious, but blue) to observe the final round on the television.  It struck me that a tie would be going too far, but a blue blazer with a clean crisp button down shirt seemed just right. 

On April 9 Pat and I were joined by our close friends John Hill and his wife Cathy Carter and their house guests (who have become good friends over the past few years) Gordon & Wendy Speirs…all of Toronto.  John and Gordon were respectful enough to follow the jacket protocol.  It was a brilliant event, as usual.  We had dinner at our house at the conclusion of play and made it as early a night as possible…I had to leave early on Monday.

At 3:30am or so I was in my car for the 2 hour drive to the airport in Charlotte, NC.  My flight to Phoenix departed at 7:30am and arrived PHX at around 9:10am (at this time of year Phoenix is on Pacific Daylight Time…3 hours behind NC).  I had a 107 mile (1 hour 45 minute) drive to The Stone Canyon Club, located about 20 miles north of Tuscon.

The Stone Canyon Club, April 10, 2017: Stone Canyon opened in 2000 and was designed by Jay Moorish.  Moorish passed away in 2015 after an illustrious career working for Robert Trent Jones for 4 years, then George Fazio for 2, then Jack Nicklaus for 10, and then in partnership with Tom Weiskopf for 12 (1983-95).  Stone Canyon was one of his solo efforts.  Other excellent courses I have played by Morrish (or Weiskopf/Morrish) include, Troon (AZ), Boulders (AZ), TPC Scottsdale (AZ), Troon North (AZ), Forest Highlands-Canyon (AZ), TPC Four Seasons (TX), Double Eagle (OH), and Loch Lomond (Scotland)…and the four in bold have appeared on a recognized World Top 100 listing.  Stone Canyon made one appearance in 2009 on Golf Digest’s USA Top 100 at #68.  It stretches to 7317 yards (but plays shorter due to the altitude).

I played the first 8 holes by myself and then joined up for 9-18 with a member, Ed Fisher…a very interesting guy and good golfer.  Ed had been a high school and college football coach and then headed up the National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association (NAERA), which reconditions helmets and certifies those deemed safe to use in football. 

Stone Canyon was purchased (out of bankruptcy) in 2014 by Phil Mickelson and his agent Steve Loy.  Since then a new clubhouse was constructed, and this summer the greens will be redone.  It sits with spectacular views of surrounding mountains, and is a very good course.  To my mind, the desert encroaches too close to the golf course, which is one reason I am not a big fan of desert golf.  It does boast a superb practice facility.  The best hole IMO is #6, a 145 yard par 3 to a slightly elevated and very small infinity green (see pic).  I was not real crazy about #10, a double dogleg par 5 (622 yards) starting off a highly elevated tee and then bending left then right around a large pond fronting the green. 

Stone Canyon #5...425 yd par 4

Stone Canyon #6...145 yd par 3 to small infinity green

I shot a 38-42 = 80, which was pretty good after about 5 hours of sleep, 3 hours of time change, 5 hours on a plane, and almost 4 hours driving!   Now I had a 2-hour drive back to Scottsdale…and hoped to get some sleep.

We-Ko-Pa Saguaro Course, April 11, 2017:  Was up early for what was to be a long day.  Had a 6:50 tee off time at We-Ko-Pa (located about 10 miles east of Scottsdale and 20-25 miles northeast of Phoenix) followed by a 60 mile drive to Quintero located northwest of Phoenix, then play at Quintero followed by a 45 mile drive back to my hotel in Scottsdale. 

WKP Saguaro was designed by Coore-Crenshaw and opened in 2006.  Like almost all C-C courses it features wide fairways but requires the player to think his/her way around the course to have the best angle into the day’s pin placements.  It’s wide corridors mean that in general, one does not continually face the risk of hitting into the desert…although that danger is present if you try to bite off more than you can chew, or if you stop observing and thinking (as I did on the 10^th tee…more later).  The land used for the course has just the right amount of movement to create real interest without the overly dramatic raised tees found at many desert courses

I played with another single, Peter Y., who I quickly learned had been born in Flushing Queens, NY about 4-5 miles from where I grew up.  Peter was a good player and lived in Denver where he heads a small band that performs at weddings and similar events. 

Course plays to 6966 yards and sits in a valley in the midst of the Sonoran Desert with mountains to the west and the south.  While it has never been included on one of the USA Top 100 course lists I track, I personally think it is the best course I have played in AZ (I have played 23 courses in AZ including all those that have been any of the Top 100 lists I track).  It has great subtlety, best exhibited by #10, a short (337 yard) par 4 which doglegs right.  The corner of the dogleg is protected by a deep bunker and the left side appears relatively open…making me think that I could get away with a draw.  However, once you leave the fairway, the left side slopes further left toward the desert, which is where my drive ended up.  In other words, I fell for this visual trick…hook, line and sinker.  The front of the green is protected by a deep narrow bunker that seems to “intrude” into the green (see pic) and must be avoided, and I eventually found that also…the folks are still calculating my score on 10.  

Devilish bunker thrust into front of #10 green WKP---to be avoided!

Other best holes on the course are:

o   #4, a 442 yard dogleg left par 4 with deep bunkers (found by me) protecting the corner of the dogleg, a dip about 60 yards short of the green and then sharply uphill to a green with no greenside bunkers (the green’s slope affording more than enough protection);

o   #15, a 255 yard downhill par 3 with bunkers down the left side and desert impinging near the left of the green; and

o   #16, 328 yard dogleg right par 4, uphill to a well protected, small infinity green.

Terrible pic of #16 at WKP---328 yd par 4...green just over right edge or fairway...blowe up and you might spot flag...two bunkers fronting green

Played well on the front but fell apart on the back…41-47 = 87.  After thanking the pro, it was off to Quintero.

Quintero Golf Club, April 11, 2017: Another casualty of the 2008 recession, Quintero was intended to be a high-end real estate development and golf club.  The Founders course was completed in 2001 and designed by Rees Jones.  After foreclosure proceedings about 6 years ago it slashed its initiation fees and monthly dues, but still could not make it as a private facility, and now is fully open to the public.  In 2002 it debuted as #39 on Golf Week’s Top 100 Modern list (#78 on my merged GW list)…and for the next 8 years fell steadily downhill on that list, finally disappearing from the merged list in 2005 and from the Modern list in 2011.  I just don’t understand how it made the list in the first place.  It was filled the dramatically uphill and downhill holes that are no substitute for thoughtful subtle architectural features.

There were no best holes here…but #8 certainly qualifies as one of the worst.  Stretching 586 yards with a totally blind tee shot, it makes a right hand turn and goes sharply uphill about 275 yards from the back tee (fairway runs out 326 yards from the back tee).  To reach the second part of the fairway going uphill to the right, player must negotiate an 80-90 yard desert wash out.  After a perfect drive to the preferred right side of the fairway, I was left with about 300 yards over the wash out and sharply up hill to the green from a downhill lie!!  Could not wait for the round to end (play was slow to add insult to injury) and I am please to end this write up.  After a 46 on the front who knows what I had on the back and who cares…  No need to visit this one, folks.

Whisper Rock-Upper, April 12, 2017:  About every 5 or 10 years in the AZ desert a new “king of the mountain” club appears…and Whisper Rock quickly climbed that mountain starting in 2001 with the opening of its Lower course designed by member Phil Mickelson.  Some four years later Tom Fazio’s Upper course opened for play.  WR is reputed to have some 30+ professional tour players…all of whom pony up their annual dues and other fees.  The handicap listing was filled with “+” signs and the “lowest” (not sure if the English or the math is the problem here) handicap I saw was +9.  Interestingly, many of the Tour players compete in the WR’s club championship…which was won by an amateur last year…who can and does hit drives through WR’s 375 yard deep driving range.

From the tips the Upper course plays to 7550 yards.  While both the Upper and Lower course have been on Golf Week’s Top 100 Modern list, neither was high enough to make any Merged GW list or any Golf Digest or Golf Magazine Top 100.  That fact has zero impact on the club or its members, as they ignore ratings.  My host, Chip W., an old friend an neighbor from Purchase, NY, pointedly advised me that if I submitted rating and the club learned of it, he could lose his membership…I of course advised that I would not submit rating and have abided by that promise.

The club is simply fabulous.  An incredible facility with true first class service and without being over the top.  It very much reminded me of Burning Tree in Bethesda, Maryland… a bunch of guys (including lots of kingpins and retired kingpins) who have a “unity of purpose” and just want to relax and enjoy their time together…whether they are shooting for birdies or bogies.  The course was challenging but very fair, and I played well, especially on the front nine (39 with a double bogey on 7).   Finished the round with a 42 on the back for an 81…disappointing after being one over through 6.  It was obvious on every green that there were a number of pin positions that would be close to impossible.  This course reminded me in many ways of McArthur GC in Hobe Sound, FL…very fair and playable, unless it is set up tough and you try to go after it. 

WP Upper #13---322 yd par 4...yes, spectacular, but very good hole with  "hollow" in front of green

As mentioned above, played with Chip W., as well as Rich L. an old friend from Citibank days who is also a member.  Was great catching up…last time I saw them was in Scottsdale election night 2012.  We reminisced about “the good old days” (which that election night was not one of) and traded remembrances.   After a quick lunch, it was off to my last stop in Phoenix…Desert Mountain’s Cochise course.  If you get the chance to go to Whisper Rock…do not pass it up…very special.

Desert Mountain-Cochise, April 12, 2017:  Desert Mountain is a huge golf club and residential development at the northern end of Scottsdale (about 6 miles north of WR) and was started by Lyle Anderson over 30 years ago.  Anderson was sitting on top of the world until crushing problems at his Hawaii development brought down his empire.

DM contains six courses all designed by Jack Nicklaus that opened between 1987 and 2003.  The Cochise course opened in 1988.  For many years, Cochise hosted the Senior Tour’s Tradition Championship which was designated a major, and from 2012-2016 it hosted the season ending Schwab Cup Championship.  Jack Nicklaus won the Tradition four times on Cochise.  From the tips it plays to 7042 yards and features a very good collection of par 5’s.  In 1993 Cochise made its only appearance on a USA Top 100 at #87 in Golf Digest.

I realized when I arrived that I would have real issues finishing my round in time to get to the airport for my flight to LAX at 8:05pm…but once again got lucky.  I was playing with a threesome and they suggested that I jump ahead on #8 when space opened in front of us.  Many groups had decided to only play 9 holes that afternoon and I was able to play the back nine in about 1:10.  On #17 I hit a drive into this par three which was playing 209 to a back pin and watched it curl around and stop about 10” behind the hole.  Clubhouse was busy with members dining and this one could have been fairly expensive.  Shot a solid 43-36 = 79…very solid back nine with two birdies.

Course is very good but does not compare to WR or WKP. 

Packed up and drove south to the PHX airport in plenty of time for my flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA.  Then to Las Vegas and back home on Saturday April 15.  Five more courses to play on this trip…to be covered on next post.