Spurred on by the recent rapturous reviews of some Phoenix golf by GMBP, I renewed over Easter my long dormant efforts to experience some "desert golf". And how right he was!
I should first say that after the brutal winter in Britain, any escape to sunshine and big blue skies was going to make me well disposed. And a week of 85-90 degrees + blue sky was very agreeable. But so was the golf. I played five rounds - - two at We Ko Pa Saguaro, one at Talking Stick North, one at Desert Forest and one at Troon North/Monument.
The low point was the Monument course. While the scenery was pretty memorable, with all these dramatic boulders, the course was not. Indeed, i can really only remember one hole with a particular sense of pleasure, and that was the short two shooter - maybe around 15 - which felt like a very good hole, not least because of the dramatic views and the fine, slightly hidden green. it was hard, though, to avoid the sense of claustrophobia from the housing. I quite enjoyed my round, but it did little for the soul.
By contrast, the other courses all put a big smile on my face. Desert Forest - thank you Dave - was a delightful course and club. The course is about to undergo a significant restoration, so it will be interesting to see how that pans out. But unlike Troon North, the course felt much less claustrophobic. And for those who label the course "narrow", I can only say that that is a relative term. I would not unprompted though to say it was narrow. And it is certainly not narrow compared to a course - maybe apples and oranges comparison - like Huntercombe. I think the feature i most liked about the course was the movement in the fairways which had a scale and a tempo which was very agreeable. My only criticism would be that the course maybe felt a bit over-grassed - maybe not as resonant of the desert as it should be? But i think that is something that will be dealt with in part via the restoration.
I loved both the Coore and Crenshaw courses. TSN is obviously lower key on its flat terrain - but i never really felt that i was playing an especially flat course like you might feel at times on, say, Hoylake. And i did like the strategy of some of the standout holes with the OB on the left - the 2nd and the other at the NE ? corner of the property (the c 370 yard par 4).
As for Saguaro, well it did not disappoint. Excellent variety of holes, great routing, some wonderful greens - sinuous in the way they blended into the landscape - and fantastic backdrop. I feel sorry for the many golfers who have not had the pleasure of sampling a course of this type of design - generous off the tee, though harder than it looks, with wonderful variety and challenge in the greens.
A few thoughts:
- there must be very few courses with a tougher start/finish combination than this course - especially the 18th which is a brute to close on.
- some great short two-shotters, especially 2, but also 7,10 and 16.
- some great three-shotters, especially four and fourteen.
- great us use of Cape-style tee shots eg 2, 8, 13
- stand-out holes for me were six - love the way the green looks so challenging despite the lack of bunkers - and fifteen, the long redan-style par three. I also thought 17 was an excellent green - but these are just some favourites from a course which felt very good throughout.
Rob Rigg tells me that there are many bad course in Phoenix and i will happily defer to his wisdom, but I am already looking forward to playing most of these course again. In passing - any fears about slow golf were misplaced. Every round i played, over the Easter weekend and days after, was an absolute pleasure.
If i find time I will post a few pictures, but thought i would meanwhile dash off a few impressions.
Philip