Trilogy Golf Club of La Quinta--Site of the 2003 Skins Game

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Why do you stare
Do you think that I care?
You've been misled
By the thoughts in your head

Your words waste and decay
Nothing you say
Reaches my ears anyway
You never spoke a word of truth

Why do you think
I believe what you said
Few of your words
Ever enter my head

I'm tired of hypocrite freaks
With tongues in their cheeks
Turning their eyes as they speak
They make me sick and tired.....

Emerson Lake & Palmer's "Trilogy"

I felt that most of the words in this song fit this golf course to a (hurrumph!) tee. I'm a fan of ELP's, and while they are not golfers, I can only guess that they and their lyricist--the great Peter Sinfield, wrote this song, tired of the same ol', same ol'. It was there way of saying that they were sick and tired--so am I. I'm sick and tired of the Coachella Valley being such a neat place to visit, with little golf to offer. This is the first Gary Panks course I have ever played--I hope the next one is better.

Meanwhile, Don Olyameyer's Skins Game has fully enveloped itself--Not only can they NOT attract the best in the Game, They are taking it to it's most dumbed-down course yet--The Trilogy Golf Club of La Quinta. Triology bought the Skins Game, just as Landmark GC, Rancho La Quinta, Big Horn, Bear Creek, and Desert Highlands did before it. (I know I'm missing one, but who cares?) The event has become more of a non-watch, then a must-watch. There is no more Arnie; No more Tom Watson or Jack; as well as everyone having to watch Gary Player. John Daly is in trouble; Tiger is taking another week-off; Ray Floyd was last seen chewing-out a tournament volunteer; and the Merry Mex and Herman are still doing the Cha Cha across the way at PGA West.

This event needs to either be put to sleep, or finally, if not too late, the players putting-up there own cash in the skins pot.


So here is Trilogy--Enjoy!


#10 from the tee.

#10 Green with a mad rush to get the housing done and sold before Saturday's Skins Game.

The somewhat likeable 13th.

The 5th

A nice carry from the Skins Tee on the 7th

The Road Hole Green, Panks-style?

A not-so-good blind fairway, when looking from the tee.

[Thomas_Brown]

Thanks again Rob & Tommy for the day.
I had a good time.

I second Tommy's thoughts.
Looking at the photos, I can barely recall the shots or holes despite playing them yesterday.  This rarely happens to me.  The desert tends to put me in a trance.
The blind fairway was not a Scotland, Apache Stronghold, or Augusta National type of teeball.  It was a par five of hit & hope w/o any guidance.

See everyone at RC on Sun.
Tommy - Where's the waterfall at the spa?

Tom

[Joel_Stewart]

Unlike some of the other courses mention, Trilogy is a public golf course.  Furthermore the developer, Shea Homes has used a number of their courses for the Skins Game.  I suspect their is a market for selling homes on a public golf course with 5 sets of tees?

In terms of the names, it is sad to a certain extent but there is some logic to the choices.  Mark O'meara was a bad choice. Fred Couples has played in this event every year for as long as I can remember and is automatic.  Now the big names, Phil Mickelson was choosen before he had a terrible year and Annika is by far the biggest draw in womens golf and one of the biggest names in all of golf.  The site is located  in an area with a large population of women golfers, seniors and novices who will attend just to see her, especially since she finished in another skins game a few weeks ago.

[Matt_Ward]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ !!!

P.S. Thanks Tommy -- I had trouble going to sleep yesterday -- seeing those scintilating pictures helped me immensely.

[ian]

Tommy,

We obviously share a love for the same band, somehow Karnevil 9 offers the appropriate lyrics for the event.

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
There behind a glass is a real blade of grass
be careful as you pass.
Move along! Move along!

Come inside, the show's about to start
guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth.
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo.
You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll ....

[jg7236]

Tommy,

How many acres of turf are on this golf course?  This course is located near Palm Springs right, in the desert?  From the looks of the pictures it looks as if the course has a lot of excess turf, which means a lot of excess water is used for growth.  I know that this course isn't extremely new, right, but I thought that they have some restrictions on how many acres of turf are allowed.  I know that there is an extreme water drought out that way, particulary in southern Nevada.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

John,
I'm not sure, I tink its about the same as most desert courses. But you also have to remember that this is the Coachella Valley. It's no problem at all just to get the water from the Colorado River and all of its aquifers, right? We'll just take our share and let all of you desert rats fight over the rest.  

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Ian, Just recently, I was leant a DVD of the collectors edition of Pictures At An Exhibition. The music was of course great, the sound was of course great, but the actual visual was a great diappointment because they kept having those old style-lava lamp/negative overlays and you couldn't see E, L or P jam away.  But when you did get to see it, that part  was GREAT!

BTW, In 1992, I got to meet P, E and L in that order at the Four Seasons in Newport Beach after their show at the Bren Center at UC Irvine; In 1994, I got to meet them again at Guitar Center in Hollywood, when they were inducted to the Rock Walk Hall of Fame. Earlier in the day, if you bought the four CD box set Return of the Manticore from Virgin Records on Sunset, you were given a pass to get in later that night when ELP performed for about 45 minutes inside the store--It was pretty cool!

Have you walked on the stones of years?

[Don_Mahaffey]

Presently, there are no restrictions on water use or turfed acres in the Coachella Valley. The pictures of Trilogy look like about 50 other golf courses in greater Palm Springs. I especially like the flats of petunias waiting to be planted behind the tee in the last picture. That's golf in PS. It always a drought in the Coachella Valley as most years less then 5 inches of rain fall.

[astavrides]

jg7236,

You're quite right about the water shortage (and its impact on trilogy and other courses.)  here is an article to that effect.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/030610/ap/d7rj1heg0.html

Here are some passages I pulled from it:

That is what some are wondering since the federal government in April cut the amount of water California can draw from the Colorado River — a rollback that has thrown into question the long-term future of the Coachella Valley, a resort and retirement mecca 110 miles east of Los Angeles.

The bulk of that cut landed on the Coachella Valley. The valley's water agency halted deliveries of Colorado River water to about a dozen golf courses, at least one construction company and the lake built for water skiing amid a housing development.

Dave Twedt, the land development manager for the new Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta, is looking for water to ensure his greens are not brown when Tiger Woods and other top golfers arrive this fall for the popular Skins Game. The club is one of several spending more than $200,000 each to drill into the aquifer far beneath the course.

The many homes, farms, golf courses and other resorts that already use well water are sucking so much from the ground that the valley floor sinks more than an inch a year in spots — a process that could accelerate if the water agency cannot get more Colorado River water, which is usually poured onto the ground and allowed to soak into the earth to replenish the aquifer.

"Because the club has not been properly forewarned and has not been given a reasonable amount of time to transition to a private water supply, there is a real possibility of incurring catastrophic damages," John Heckenlively, president of The Plantation golf club wrote in an April 30 letter to the water district.

But whether the valley finds more water or not, there will probably be no more projects like Palm Desert's Desert Springs Marriott, where guests ride gondolas to feast on ahi steaks by the edge of a sprawling lake, said Crites, the city councilman.



using less turf on courses, among other things, would no doubt help the situation.

[Don_Mahaffey]

Stavride,
I believe the decison that forced many courses to drill wells has since been reversed. Is there a water problem, no doubt. But, unlike Arizona and Las Vegas, there are no laws that limit water use or turfed acres. I would guess it's only a matter of time, but with over 100 courses in the valley already, many averaging 200 acres of irrigated turf, the water wars are sure to get more interesting.

[A_Clay_Man]

It really sounds like an addiction. Continued action in the face of adverse circumstance. Since the bottomline is in focus, when the wars do hit, maybe brown will become an acceptable color? Start campaigning now.

What's the latest on Doak's project in da desert?

[jg7236]

Don,

There are indeed water restrictions on the golf courses in Las Vegas.  I don't know what the exact number is but I know that by law they are only allowed a certain amount of water per square acre of turf.  I think the turf restrction is no more than 90 acres of turf per eighteen hole golf course.  Most courses in Las Vegas are using afluent water (recycled water), which is very high in salts, which doesn't help maters when the earth in Las Vegas is also high in salts.  If you are a new home owner and you are building a new home in Las Vegas you can't have any turf at all, all xerioscape (drought tolerant native plantings).  All current home owners are only allowed to water their turf by law in the winter twice a week.  If you aren't a very high dollar billion dollar Hotel in Las Vegas you can't have any type of water feature running ever at this point of time in drought, that of course doesn't include Bellagio's water feature.  If you all are familiar with the mist sytems that are present at most outdoor eating establishment in Las Vegas to cool th guests off, they are only allowed to run by law from June-August.  They are really cutting back on water in Las Vegas, ticketing people, companies, golf courses, etc.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Like I said, It doesn't matter as long as the California courses get the water. What we don't use, the other two states can fight over. If the two states are low in drinking water, then they can buy California-made designer waters such as Aquafina, etc.

I'm sure Govonah Ahnold will back my stance.

[A_Clay_Man]

Tommy- Perhaps a flip is in order. If you encourage the govanator to reduce the water to housing tracks posing as golf courses, they will undoubtedly return to their dunes like origins.

It wouldn't be much different than the G forcing liquidation.