Report #2 (though I am now realizing this will likely change as I am pushing a half hour on writing time on this since work is intervening as I type...)
As Huck noted, and as little surprise to anyone this side of Moscow, a great time was had by all - first and foremost, I'll float the biggest THANK YOU I can muster in Tommy's direction (which is currently in the direction of Barona Creek) - Top to bottom, an excellent event at facilities to which I could never dream we'd get a group like this all at once.
The final tally favored the mighty South by the aforementioned tally of 23.5 to 14.5 (though having only played with a handful of my southern cohorts before, I wasn't as convinced of the outcome beforehand as it seems Huck was
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Regarding the courses-
The Palms-
A great "feel" to the place - low key, easy-going, and absolutely effuses "players club" from the moment you walk in the door. I liked the course and I too thought the green complexes were exceptional - smartly conceived contours and surrounds. My only reservation in giving it a full endorsement is that in one or two places I thought it a bit unnecessarily claustrophobic (the 4th comes to mind against the fence).
The other curiosity of the layout was the disparity between the nines for no apparant reason. The front runs about 3200 yards and a par of 34, while the back hits close to 3900 and a par of 36. Not necessarily a bad thing, but curious to be sure. Why, on land where the holes are made and not found (unlike say, Pacific Dunes where the 3-3-5 start to the back is what the land presented) would Curley and Schmidt have chosen to keep the front nine compacted in one corner of the property whereas the back nine stretches it's legs over a much larger portion of the property (hitting three corners of the club land as it traverses the desert). The back wallops you over the head with 3 big par 4s to start, and doesn't much let up until the reachable finishing hole (on which I must thank John Cullum for dropping a birdie on top of Tom Renli's two-putt birdie to save the super-skin (and five bucks a man) for our group...no way I make my birdie putt if he missed his.)
As Huck mentioned, one group went out for an emergency nine with hickories, and another went with the titanium and graphite - Myself, Sean Leary, Tony Peterson, Jeff Fortson, and Tom Brown played a five-way skins game in about an hour and twenty minutes or so with the Pro making good on his non-amateur status and cleaning up the only six skins conferred.
Plantation-
I really liked this course. I preferred it to the Palms. I'll be interested to hear the split between the group, and I know I heard ahead of time that many preferred the Palms to the Plantation, but while I preferred the green complexes a bit more at the Palms, the Plantation routing and corridors was superior. The course felt significantly more cohesive and it flowed naturally from here to there without the jolts and jars that the Palms hiccuped. I don't know what the land numbers are, but it felt like a bigger golf course (though they do love the Palm Springs signature - the medium length par 3 over water)
Stone Eagle-
Wow. Just wow. Driving up to this golf course is a special feeling - the reveal once you get past the driving range (which, mind you, is complete with Doak bunkering throughout) is stunning - you can't see the golf course until you turn that final corner, and much like the drive from LA to Vegas, the ultimate reveal is the stuff that gets your heart beating like a kid on Christmas morning before Mom and Dad are up.
Some will call the course too severe, some will call the greens over the top, and some will find other reasons to say boo (in a relative context of course) but I think in my 5 short minutes sitting with Tommy and Golf's Most Beloved Figure, Ran said it best - the golf course is an accomplishment.
Perhaps my perspective is skewed by my familiarity with the likes of Lost Canyons, Eagle Glen, and other mountaingoat LA layouts, but to see what they did with this place hasn't stopped amazing me even as I sit two days removed from my round (I didn't get the treat of the second round as I had to be at work Monday promptly at 9).
I'm going to have a difficult time placing holes with proper numbers so bear with me, but to see a hole like the short par 4 6th - a remarkably playable hole that jumps from mountain to mountain and somehow has a fairway running a ridge to a green site with a punishing false front (though not a true false front as the ball will collect at the very bottom edge of the green if it rolls back as I found out) is one that stands out to me.
18 is an exceptional long par 4. A challenge (I disagree with it's classification by some as a par 4.5) fit to end a round at a course like this, and an interesting side-by-side comparison with the 17th that climbs straight up the hill that the 18th tumbles down.
Loved the opening hole as well...
As for how it ranks in the scheme of things - while I'd probably get into some bad habits if this was my everyday course, I loved it. Instantly, I think it should be regarded as one of the best overall (and certainly the most unique) in the Coachella Valley.
Too severe? Not in my world. I've seen what can happen in land like this far too many times.
I wasn't a huge fan of the uphill par 4 on the back with the crossing hazard (13 was it?) - though the sour taste probably comes in part from the fact that I took the smart play and played 3 wood off the tee, which still ran through the fairway and into the junk.
Regarding the bunkers, I was surprised at how well they fit in to the landscape. While I wouldn't call them "natural" a la Pacific Dunes, but such an accomplishment is really not possible. The discussion in advance of our outing was how white they looked and how they wouldn't fit in...the only time I said "yep, Doak bunkers" to myself was on the drop shot par 3 on the back (14 I guess?) The hazard/bunker on the inside of the 8th dogleg is awesome. I pushed my tee shot into the desert, but Jason Topp hit a so-so drive right into it and I wonder from the tips how the carry is over it.
Our forecaddie told me no when I asked if I could challenge it...but it seems that its really not that far.
Jeff Fortson - if you've read this far - you made a good number on 8 - I assume you challenged the bunker (or at least know if it can and/or should be done) but with the way the hole shapes, an aggressive ball over the corner would be a viable play. And, if so, that makes this hazard that much better because it is VERY intimidating from the tee (and even moreso up close).
I'd love another shot at Stone Eagle just to see how more of the angles work - it's easy to dismiss a hole as too easy on a course like this if you catch a clean drive downhill and blast it 350 yards. That's the easy part. The value elsewhere lies in what happens when you DON'T catch the speed slots and instead find yourself somewhere other than position A.
I'm a wild hitter off the tee most of the time, and I felt mostly comfortable at Stone Eagle. For a course in the mountains AND in the desert to boot, this might be my greatest compliment of all. It was my favorite of the three, and easily the most memorable (and that's no slight to the other two courses, Stone Eagle was just that impressive to me).
I'd play other courses on a daily basis, probably by the dozens, over Stone Eagle...but give me an isolated round once a year at any golf course in Southern California and I'm not sure I would choose anything else.
I'm truly lucky to be playing in an era where courses like this are being built. I hope that more will take their cues from Tom's example of what can be done if you don't settle for just another crappy mountaingoat course.
Again, thanks to all involved - I had a blast and I'm already looking forward to helping the South defend yet again at KPVI, wherever she may be.
(I've also got a priceless video clip of Mr. Evan Fleisher, which I will post with the accompanying story ONLY with his permission - so Evan, if you're reading and agreeable to a bit of ribbing in the name of smiles, I leave the ball in your court, fully respecting of your wishes should you decline
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