We-Ko-Pa Cholla (Arizona) course w/pics

[Jim Johnson]

To quote Bill Shamleffer on the "What is RIGHT with GCA.com" thread...

"In fact the very best part of this site is the pictures.  (I admit it; I prefer looking at the pictures over reading the articles.)"

                                                     ~

My wife and I had the pleasure of staying and playing at the We-Ko-Pa resort in Fountain Hills, Arizona about a month ago. Weather was perfect, mid-80's - 90's, and the golf was, well, ahem, not perfect...but enjoyable nonetheless.

For those like Bill who enjoy looking at pictures of golf courses, I thought I would post a few of the We-Ko-Pa Cholla course on this thread, some pics of the We-Ko-Pa Saguaro course on another thread, and some of the Sedona Golf Resort on yet another thread. I will attempt to inject some related information where possible.

We-Ko-Pa Cholla course...
A Scott Miller design, he of the floating island green fame at the Coeur d'Alene course in Idaho, the Cholla course opened in late 2001. Golfweek has ranked the course #2 for public courses in Arizona. 7,225 yards from the tips, the course plays 6,436 yards from the "composite" tees, which I (14 hdcp.) chose to play.

Being from western Canada, in this my 2nd game of the season, rust was fairly evident after some initial good fortune on the first hole, as I lost a ball on hole #2 and managed to lose 3 more along the way. I will not reveal my score, in case some of you are a bit squeamish at the sight of large numbers. From the composite tees, the course rating is 69.6 and the slope is 128. From the tournament tees (7,225 yds) the course rating is 73.0 and the slope is 136. Overall, the course was in excellent condition, but cart-path only golf was in effect for all 18 holes. Located on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, water restrictions are not in effect to the degree that other courses in the Phoenix area contend with. Thus, neither the Cholla or the Saguaro courses are what you would call "target-style" golf.

Some photos of the Cholla course...

Limping off the 2nd green after a triple bogey, a look back at the scene of the carnage (actually, I think my wife is yelling at me to bring her putter from the golf cart...looks like her ball about 3 feet from the hole). I loved the contours of the green complex here...


A view of the 3rd hole, a par 3 of some 150 yards (composite tees); I managed to three-jack for a smooth 5, after contemplating which U.S. Open qualifier I should enter...


Below...the lone bright spot of the round, coming within a foot of an ace on the 187 yard 11th hole. Actually, two bright spots...I managed to nail the putt.


A view of the 16th hole, a dogleg left par 4 of 374 yards...


The obligatory photo of a rattlesnake in the desert. Yes, I got rattled...


Looking back down the 18th hole (407 yds. from the composite tees), over the only water hazard on the course...


I will attempt to post pics of Cholla's sister course "Saguaro" ( a Coore-Crenshaw design) and also some of the Sedona Golf Resort in the next day or two.

JJ

[John Mayhugh]

Thanks for the post.  I think Scott Miller did a nice job there.  The first time I played the Cholla course it was cart path only not long after the course opened and there were hardly any yardage markers near the paths.  That makes for a rough day.  Thankfully they've fixed that.

Hope you used a lot of zoom on the rattlesnake photo.  I've played in the desert several times and never seen one.  Hope the streak continues.

[Jim Johnson]

John,

Just wanted to make sure you guys were paying attention. 

That rattlesnake was actually photographed during a hike into the canyon of a tributary of the Colorado River, about 10 miles from the Grand Canyon, later that week. He posed for us....coiled, rattling, flicking of the tongue...a very handsome individual...and then thought that he'd better get back to work, so went on his way, looking for his next meal.

There wasn't a whole lot of zoom on the shot; he was about 10 feet away, but at that point, he'd had enough of us and was more intent on finding lunch than battling with 6 sweaty humans.

JJ

[George Pazin]

I was told by a Texan that rattlers are only dangerous when coiled.

Thanks for the pics.

[Kalen Braley]

I was told by a Texan that rattlers are only dangerous when coiled.

Thanks for the pics.

George,

You go pick up one of those suckers when it ain't coiled and let me know how that works out for you.

As for Texans,

I was also told by one that thier were without a doubt WMDs in a certain someones country, but look how that one turned out!!