[Steve_ Shaffer]

This course may be used as the second course in the Phoenix Open to enlarge the field:


TPC renamed Champions Course after makeover

Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 1, 2007 04:43 PM
SCOTTSDALE - Scottsdale golfers are getting what essentially is a new golf course.

The 20-year-old Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale's Desert Course is undergoing a complete makeover for $10 million that includes a new name: the Champions Course.

The name and course changes were unveiled during a media tour Friday of the work in progress on the links at Hayden and Bell roads.

The longer course, with more landscaping, elevated greens and a new clubhouse, is scheduled to open Nov. 15.

Long overshadowed by the TPC of Scottsdale's adjacent Stadium Course, where the FBR Open golf tournament is played, the new Champions Course might give the more famous course some competition, said course designer Randy Heckenkemper.

"Is this still the little sister course?" Heckenkemper asked. "I hope some of you will think this is a better golf course" than the Stadium Course.

Heckenkemper worked with Tom Weiskopf and Jay Moorish on the original designs for both courses.




Here's the rest of the article detailing the work:

www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/0601sr-tpcgolf0602-ON.html

[Forrest Richardson]

Back Story: The PGA Tour had a design in the can even before the City went out to solicit proposals for design and construction. Randy created that design and was on board with the Tour.

A lot of local talent was wasted preparing proposals, only to be told there would be no interviews — just a decision. Viola! Guess who was hired? The PGA Tour, of course.

David Druzisky was one who put a great team and proposal together. He said he spent two solid weeks working on it. Fortunately, our office had good information that the decision was predetermined...so we managed to escape. I am truly sorry for the others who wasted time.

A shaper we have used frequently worked on this project; Tim Taynor. Tim reported to me it was a good design and Randy has spent quite a bit of time on site. According to what I have heard, Randy is the "contractor" for the PGA Tour/TPC. I am not sure how that works, but that is how it was described to me.

Also...Jay Morrish was asked to join some teams on this work and he flat out refused. With regard to the original construction work, he told me once, "It was one of the worst experience of our careers — the City of Scottsdale [back then] and our on-site people were disasters. It was amazing the work turned out as good as it did."

[Ryan Farrow]

I had a chance to see the course a little over a month ago. Seemed like there were some pretty interesting holes and I could see it being a better course than the stadium.

[Forrest Richardson]

Ryan — What made it better in your opinion?

[Ryan Farrow]

I would say it has a lot more to do with how disappointing the stadium course was when I played it a few years ago. Albeit I knew  almost nothing about golf architecture back then but there are some pretty neat holes at the new course and a whole lot more variety from hole to hole. I was surprised with how some of the holes are going to play given the site is basically terrible. But I think there is a lot going on and some interesting waste bunkers that will spice things up a bit.

Some of the strategy seemed backwards on a few holes and it will suffer from the concept of being part of a PGA event. It seems like a little too much emphasis was put on how the tour player might play the course as opposed to the local Scottsdale hack or tourist who will be playing there for the other 360 days of the year. I did hear the rates will still be relatively low, definitely a big plus there.

[Ryan Farrow]

And I never said it was better, just think there is a legitimate chance of it being better, the course is not even finished yet, and I was just looking at dirt.

[Forrest Richardson]

The reason I asked is that I always enjoyed the Desert Course...maybe it was because it was not full of those huge spectator mounds. However, in recent years, I have come to enjoy the Stadium Course — probably because it is simply "cool" to place yourself in the same situations as we now come to see at the Open.

Tim (shaper) said there were some neat features...but he was hard pressed to explain them well enough for me to understand whether they would be good, bad or indifferent.

[Bill_McBride]

I played the Desert course with Tom Renli a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Walking permitted, reasonable green fee, how about that in Scottsdale??!!  

The course was very low key and low profile, no spectator mounding as Forrest mentions, and good variety of holes with very good, large greens.

Now it will be another $100 green fee - or more.  

I think a lot of locals played there and will hopefully continue to get a fair shake from the city.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Bill

The Desert Course will still be low fee for residents. For tourists, much much more. Details to follow.

[David Druzisky]

I have not visited the site for quite a while so it is funny to see something on this upon checking in!

My friend Forest spells it out very well.  When I found out there was an RFQ out for the project I thought it odd that the group they had been planning on using had little to no no local presence.  Odd in that the Phoenix/Scottsdale area probably has the most focused gathering of golf course architects, clubhouse architects, gc contractors and management companies that exists.  I rarely go after public RFQ opportunities but since it was in my back yard my thought was I would put together a local team that would allow the city to take advantage of those local resources to get a little more bang for their (the publics) buck.  I guess that was not the priority because I put together a team of local talent that should have been very hard to turn down let alone not even interview. Jay Morrish told me the same things about his original experience.

I was so distraught about it   that I moved me and my office to Idaho.

[Tom Yost]

Count me as one who has enjoyed playing the Desert Course over the years. I found it to be a pleasing layout despite the lack of length, always in good condition and a tremendous value.  I'm curious to see what changes will be made - from reading the article, it sounds like it will become a totally different course.  I don't know how the use of the canal berm can add any real estate to the course other than allowing tee boxes to be placed up high, that will certainly change the character of the course.

Along with several other upscale tracks that opened in the mid to late 80's, the Scottsdale TPC courses tried a newer strain of bent grass greens that was supposed be be more heat tolerant.  It was a real treat to play these greens, and I shot one of my better rounds there (76) which I credit mostly to the smooth, true putting of the bent greens. Alas, it seems the experiment failed, because most of those courses have replaced the bent with bermuda over the years.


Tom

[Tom Renli]

Despite Bill taking a lot of my hard earned money at The Desert Course, I still have a number of fond memories of the course.  Nothing special but a nice walk and a reasonable green fee, both very atypical of Scottsdale.

They are growing grass on the SW corner of the property so they are making good progress.  I am cautiously optimistic, Randy's other course in the Valley, The Santuary is not one that I care for.

My understanding is that there is some activity at Papago, David and/or Forrest anything you can share on that topic?
Cheers, Tom  

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here are two articles with more hole descriptions:

www.azcentral.com/sports/golf/articles/0607tpccourse0607.html

From Bill Huffman's article in the East Valley Tribune:


We’ll have to wait until the dust clears to figure out which are the best holes, but there’s a good chance the Champions, just like the Stadium, will crescendo from the 15th hole to the finish. There’s a drivable par 4 at No. 15 followed by a 215-yard par 3. The 17th might be a brute at 605 yards (uphill), and the par-4 18th is the big test, as it snakes 460 yards down a tight fairway with water looming left and all the way to the green.

“It was built with the idea that it might eventually host the first two rounds of the FBR Open, so it needed to be challenging for everyone from the public golfer to the Tour player,’’ Heckenkemper explained.

www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/91116

[David Druzisky]

Tom - Forest would have the latest on Papago.  It being a city course and that of a large city with many priorities it will take some considerable efforts to get all on board with a true restoration effort.  Many are trying of which Forest can explain best.  Forest has been helping the various groups make the push over the last couple years so I will just wait for him to get it lined up and then swoop in and take it way from him!  Actually if the process ever actually happens I am sure the architect selection process will be a darling!  Maybe not if they have the cirrect people at the helm.

Talk about a city course worthy of a great restoration and upgrade!  I have never been much of a fan of Torrey and it would be interesting to get some opinions from all comparing the potential of Papago against Torrey.

I enjoyed playing TPC Desert as it was.  It could have used a little more diversity but there was some depth and subtleties to it that you dont always get in that market of resort stlye golf.  It was getting run down with lack of upkeep type issues and it was older than many of us realized.  When I reviewed it with an eye towrds renovation I was a little suprised by how much was needed just with infrastructure.  Good for the city putting up the 10 million.

[Ryan Farrow]

David, I have not been to Torrey Pines but Papago is a top ten Arizona course with a little bit of work. There are a few repetitive holes and a bad par 3 over water but the movement of the fairways and the greens are something special. They just need to completely re-do those awful bunkers and cut down a thousand or so trees and Papago will be ready to go. Last time I played there those greens had to be the smoothest I have ever played on in AZ. Not bad for a muni.

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