Pete- Recover quickly my friend. I'm glad to hear the surgery went well. I guess the golf rounds will be under 2 hours now
The search feature works well on the new site.
Here is what I wrote on January 1st about talking stick south.
I liked Talking Stick South quite a bit. It is a very playable course with sound strategy and interest built into almost every hole. Some holes are down right excellent.
The greensites are a combination of Tillinghast style pushup above the level of the fairway (ala Winged Foot) combined with MacKenzie style fierce bunkering. In this respect while less natural then the adjact North course they played perhaps better. The greensites at the North are extensions of the desert floor.
The strategies are sometimes simple. #1 challenge the fairway bunker on the right and the 2nd into the green can avoid going over the deep left side bunker at teh green.
#2 just the opposite. Bail out right and you have to deal with a righ greenside bunker.
#3 is downrigh excellent. A 228 yard par three with great visual deception. The bunker on the right looks fierce and to be avoided at all costs. It looks to be directly adjacent to the green but it is probably 30 yards short. Bailing out over to that side also leaves an uphill pitch to the green. Going to what appears visually to be the easier left side is avtually the more difficult place to play from if you miss. Wonderful hole!
#4 327 yard par 4 with a central fairway bunker. It is 220 to carry it or if you choose go left or right. The green is bunkerless. Bombs away if you choose.
#5 470 yard monster par 4 into the wind. Challenge the fairway bunkers on the right if you want a direct shot into the green.
I won't go over every hole but I'll mention #14, a par 5 (541 yards) that uses a desert ravine as a diagonal hazard . The green tilts from front right to back left in such a way that the choice of which side of the ravine to lay up on creates different length and different angles for the third shot. You can also bomb it off the tee to get a better possible angle into the green for a shot at it in two or you can lay up off the tee and still be able to cross the ravine on your 2nd for a short third into the green but at a poor angle. Good hole.
#15 also creates an interesting line of charm towards the green in the distance but that requires messing with two sets of bunkers. Better to just play away from the line of charm and the green off the tee.
#16 another excellent par 5 with a diagonal hazard except its a stream this time. Again playing the angles is interesting and fun.
TSS is not a great course but I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. At 6800+ yards its good golf.
Pete any more pictures would be welcomed.