Scottsdale, AZ Trip report

[dcbogeyman]

Over two recent trips to Scottsdale, AZ (early and mid May) I had the chance to play four courses: Wildfire – Faldo, We Ko Pa Cholla and Saguaro and ASU Karsten.

 

Wildfire – Faldo: Nick Faldo must love bunkers because there are 106 of them on this course. With so many bunkers you will inevitably wind up in one or two. The front side winds through housing on both sides of the course and is the easier of the two nines, while on the backside there is housing on only one side of the course and is the more difficult of the two nines. It is a very visually appealing course. The fairways are more than ample (with adjacent holes almost sharing the same fairway), but if you take the wrong aim line you can hit into desert easily off the tee. There is lots of slope to the greens and they are relatively quick.

 

My personal highlights came on successive holes on the back nine, the par 3, 14th and par 5, 15th. The par 3, 14th was playing to about 150 yard middle pin position with a 1 club wind in our face. I hit a well struck 7 iron and thought I was somewhat close to the pin. Boy was I wrong , about 35 feet close with the hole on a knob that if you go a wee bit too far right you’re farther away than where the tee shot landed. So my plan was to lag it up left of the hole, two put and take my par. Well it didn’t go according to plan, because of the left to right slope the ball goes in for birdie, and we all know what that sounds like!

 

On the next hole, par 5 15th, I hit my tee shot of the day into the wind which still leaves me and outside chance at going for the green in two, but there are those dang bunkers all over the place, so I lay up on the left side which opens up the green and then decide for my third shot to land my approach short of the green and let it run up to the front pin position. This time it went according to plan and my ball winds up 6 feet past the hole which I drain, again I hear the sound of birdie!

 

Wildfire is at the north end of Scottsdale and very well worth the drive. My playing partner played the Palmer course the day before and said it was very nice too, but more difficult. The practice facilities are top notch. I could have spent my entire practice time at the short game area. If you are going to play the Faldo course I would recommend some time there especially in the practice bunkers.

 

We Ko Pa - Cholla: For those of you that don’t know, We Ko Pa is built on an Indian reservation, which means they do not have the same water and land use restrictions, plus there is no housing on either course. Cholla is my favorite of the two courses and in my estimation the more difficult of the two. It is true desert golf with a number of blind shots and some fairways that while wide are difficult to see from the tee box which can lead to a misplaced tee shot, having said that, it’s a blast to play. If I could play it again I’m sure I would score better because I would know where to pace my tee shots. I would place Cholla in my top ten list of courses played easily as well as at the top of my list for courses I’ve played in Phoenix.

 

Never heard the sound of birdie on Cholla, but I did manage to par 4 holes all on the front side, with the highlight par coming on the par 3, 3rd. It’s a short hole uphill that is well guarded by bunkers on the right and a hill on the left. Well I pulled my tee shot left into the hill and think to myself, “I’ll be looking for that one in the desert.” As we approach the green I see a golf ball sitting about 12 feet left of the pin. Knowing that my partners were in the right front bunker it could only mean one thing, my ball rolled down the hill pin high. I two putted for par which was fine with me since the slope of the green was back to front and my put had a severe left to right break, I was very happy with par.

 

We Ko Pa – Saguaro: This course has a completely different look & feel to it compared to Cholla. It has some very wide fairways plus it was designed to be a walking course so tee boxes are located in most cases very near the preceding greens. I found this course to be easier (9 pars no birdies) as the fairways are defined by tree and cactus lines so you know the direction of the hole from the tee box for those fairways you can’t see from the tee box.

 

To give an idea about how wide the fairways are, one hole, the par 4, 14th is wider than J-Lo’s biggest asset. The funny thing was out of the four of us I was the only one that hit the fairway and was in the middle of it too. How the other three missed it I can’t figure out to this day.

 

One cool thing happened on Saguaro was a bunch of dogs (about 4) that patrol the area to keep “wildlife” (the four legged kind) at bay. If you play and see them, no need for alarm as they are quite friendly. We offered some water to one dog and he even sat in the shade of our golf cart for a few minutes before going back on duty.

 

The practice facilities here are top notch too, but what really sets We Ko Pa apart from the other courses in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area are the unobstructed views of the surrounding desert and mountains. I would rate Saguaro in both my top 10 all time and top 10 Phoenix area courses played, but behind Cholla. We Ko Pa is out in Ft. McDowell, AZ which is a bit of a hike from Scottsdale, but one drive well worth making.

 

ASU Karsten: Is on the campus of Arizona State University and was built on flat land. Pete Dye in order to overcome the flat land and limited space designed the course to resemble a “links style” course with lots of mounds. Much is made of the power plant, power lines and airplane noise, but I did not pay any attention to them at all and focused on the course itself.

 

ASU Karsten is a shot maker’s course. If you think you can pull driver out of the bag and power your way through to a good score, not! It worked for me as I am not a long drive champion by any stretch. This course makes you think about where to place every shot. After playing here I can see why the ASU golf teams go to so many NCAA golf championships, they have to learn how to place shots to score well.

 

My highlight came on the short par 3, 12th hole,. With the pin in the front and a breeze into and hurting I put mine 9 iron short and right of the green bust almost hole high. I was about 35 feet away from the pin with a slight left to right break. Pulled out the sand wedge a chipped in for birdie. ‘Gotta’ love that sound.

 

I would have to say that ASU Karsten is an excellent course with very good practice facilities. While it may not have the desert and mountain views of We Ko Pa, for a course that is in the middle of Tempe, AZ, easily accessible and “wallet friendly” it is a course well worth playing. It was also fitting that is was the last course I played in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area as my oldest son graduated from ASU a few days earlier and I most likely will not be returning any time soon.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Congrats on your sons graduation and good reviews everythings pretty spot on, except I detest Karsten, I forgot how much until I played it again last weekend. Never have been a big fan of a course that can punish you for hitting a decent shot. I played about as good as I could and managed to post an 80 :russian_roulette: :russian_roulette: :russian_roulette: . The airplanes didnt bug me this time around, but Pete Dye sure as heck was messing with me :D .