Sedona Golf Resort

I recommend adding Sedona, AZ to your golf bucket list.  After playing 36 holes a couple weeks ago at the Sedona Golf Resort I'm glad I checked this one off my list!  The views alone make this worth it.  Add a well maintained and challenging course to the equation and you have something special.

Designed by architect Gary Panks the 6,646-yard, par - 71 Sedona Golf Resort course on paper may not seem to be a long course.  However, when you mix in the 623 yard, up hill, hole 5 and the 448 yard par 4 hole 8 this Golf Digest four star rated course all the sudden doesn't seem so short.

The elevation changes (ranging from 3,960 feet to as much as 4,260 feet), rolling hills, and forced carries require you to think your way around this course with correct strategy and yardage.  The bent grass greens and winter rye fairways were excellent when I played the course in October.  The greens were especially good, very soft (big divots), quick and lots of release.

Front Nine

Hole #1. View from green on 326 yard par 4 hole 1.  This uphill par four has junipers and pines on the left and tight ob on the right.  Pulling out the three wood is not a bad choice on the first tee.

Hole #2.  View from tee box on downhill 183 yard par three hole 2.  Calculating the right club with the elevation change is key.  I actually played this yardage about 5-10 yards less and it worked for me.

Hole #3. View of from approach on 506 yard par 5 hole 3.  The tee shot is the hardest part on this hole which has a downhill elevation change from the tee with trouble on the right and open fairway to aim at on the left.

Hole #4. View from green on 404 yard par 4 hole 4.  There are bunkers and trees on the left and trees on the right forcing you to take careful aim with the driver on this 404 yard slight uphill hole.

Hole #4. View from tee box on 404 yard hole 4.

Hole #5. View from tee box on 623 yard par 5 hole 5.  As you can see this is a narrow fairway and you need to carry a small pond.  Oh yeah, and if you want to get there in three you need to hit the driver.

Hole #5. Green side view at 623 yard hole 5.  This is also a double green shared by hole 8.

Hole #6. View from green on uphill 397 yard hole 6.  Tough tee shot with bunkers on right and tree trouble on both sides of fair way.  The uphill approach to the green will force you to think twice about club selection.

(Not pictured 176 yard hole 7)

Hole 7 is a downhill par three to a very small green with a bunker protecting the right front, a tree directly left of the front edge and trees on the right.  So basically hit is straight and I mean within 10 yards leeway left or right or your target and that's the window you get to putting this tee shot on the green.

Hole #8. View from tee box on donw hill 448 yard par 4 hole 8.  Right side of fairway is tight keeping tee shot to left side of fairway is recommended.

(Not pictured 522 yard hole 9)

Hole 9 is a great par 5.  The tee shot forces you to aim left to a widened side of the fairway.  Right of the fairway is out of bounds and tight.  Closer to the green is a stand of Cottonwoods that can lead to a lost ball or unplayable.  Need to keep everything left on this hole to reach the green in regulation.

Back Nine

Hole #10. 210 yard par 3 hole 10.  This downhill par three has serious trouble on the right and bunkers on both sides of a slight two-tier green.

Hole #11. View from tee box 380 yard par 4 hole 11.  This downhill shot is fairly tight on both sides of the fairway.  An errant tee shot left or right usually means a lost ball or unplayable shot.

 Hole #12. View of approach shot on 559 yard par 5 hole 12.  This downhill winding dog leg left forces you to keep your drive right off the tee to have any chance of hitting a fairway wood around the corner at the green.

Hole #13. View of pond protecting downhill 394 yard par 4 hole 13.  From the tee best strategy is center or left side fairway.  Right of fairway is tight with trees and out of bounds.

Hole #14. View from tee box of 171 yard par 3 hole 14.  The wide, shallow green is protected by front and back bunkers.

Hole #15. View from tee box on 439 yard par 4 hole 15.  This long slight downhill par 4 is very tough.  A raveen on the left and trees on the right protect the fairway.  

(Not pictured holes 16 and 17)
Hole 16 is a great par 4.  The 417 yard hole 16 has a pond, that also protects the par 3 17th,  on the right side of the fairway that should be avoided at all costs.  There is no right rough from the tee box.

Hole 17 at 155 yard par 3 hole 17 forces golfers to carry over the same pond that guards the fairway on hole 16.  This is a straight carry over the water with a big bunker in front to get your tee shot on the green.

Hole #18. View of approach shot on 336 yard par 4 hole 18.  The tee shot on this hole is straight downhill.  No need to hit driver because of sandtraps and pond guarding the green.  An iron or fairway wood is a good choice off the tee.

Hole #18. View from green on 336 yard par 4 hole 18.

In summary,  if you get a chance to get up to Sedona, AZ (about 1.5 hour drive from Phoenix) it is definitely worth the trip.  The Sedona Golf Resort will not disappoint and you'll have a great outing worth remembering for quite some time.

More Info

http://www.sedonagolfresort.com/-course-overview-and-video

Check Out Skratch TV

Looking for a good laugh?  Skratch TV (Website | YouTube) is one my favorite YouTube channels related to golf and here's why.

Adventures in Golf

Skratch TV has a series called Adventures in golf where they shoot videos that take place anywhere from a state prison to a public course near Compton, CA.  In their own creative way Skratch TV is actually spreading the message about golf to communities and nations where the sport has little popularity or visibility.  My hats off to these guys for thinking outside the box.  Here's a couple links from their Adventures in Golf series.

• Prison Golf
• Golf Outta Compton
• Slum Golf in Mumbai

Funny Videos

Here's some more links to some Skratch TV videos that are hilarious.  For you 40+ year-olds out there you might remember the In Search Of series on television.  The In Search Of:  Golf's Sand People is a funny Star Wars themed video worth a look.

• Pranking PGA Tour Rookies
• Tiger Withdrawal Support Group
• In Search Of: Golf's Sand People

Olympics Golf in Rio Part 1

After an 112-year reprieve Olympic golf is finally back but not without some controversy and quite a few big names from the mens professional ranks declining to participate in Rio de Janeiro for reasons usually pertaining to the Zika virus.  By the way, August is winter in Rio so that means a lot less mosquitos and risk to the virus.  Also, according to the Olympic course golf architect Gil Hanse, all of the water on the course is from pure clean ground water.  That said, I don't want to get into all of the politics of why some golfers are not competing, however, those were some facts that are worth noting.

In this post we'll take a look back to the last Olympic golf tournaments, tournament format for this year's event and an overview of the Olympic course.

This years event format includes 72-hole stroke play tournaments (with a 3-hole playoff in the event of a tie) for both men's and women's events. Eligibility for each golf was determined by International Golf Federation (IGF) rankings.  The men's competition is scheduled for 11–14 August and the women's for 17–20 August.  (See Team USA Page)

The last time golf was in the Olympics was in 1904 in St. Louis at the Glen Echo Golf Club.  This was just only the second time after it was originally introduced in 1900 in Paris at the Compiègne Club.  The 1904 and 1900 formats were quite different.  In 1900 the tournament was 36-hole stroke play for men and 9-hole stroke play for women.  In 1904 the tournament only had a mens division where golfers played two 18-hole rounds in qualifying play and the top 32 golfers advanced to match play.  

The final field of 32 in the 1904 Olympics consisted of 31 U.S. golfers and only one Canadian by the name of George Lyon.  Lyon took on the field of U.S. golfers and won the gold after defeating Chandler Egan 3&2 in the gold medal match.  (See great Golf Magazine article on George Lyon.  See Golf Digest's history of golf in the Olympics YouTube video.)

1904 Gold Medal Winner George Lyon, Canada.

The decision to have a 72-hole stroke play tournament for men and women by the Olympic committee was mainly because it was the "safest" format to go with by the IGF.  Others cited that it is considered the "least controversial" format as well.  I do wish there was more of a team aspect to this year's Olympic golf.  If you have ever watched the Ryder Cup or the College Golf Championships on television you probably noticed more excitement and action on the leaderboard because in those events every hole and every shot has a lot riding on the outcome.  

In 2015, the NCAA decided to change the format for College golf to add excitement to the mens and womens championships.  I watched both the mens and womens live coverage on the Golf Channel the last two years and I think the NCAA got it right.  Here's the format the NCAA implemented.

• Three days (54 holes) of stroke play for all, Friday through Sunday.
• After Monday, the top eight teams advance to the match-play team championship, and the 72-hole individual national champion will be determined.
• The team national champions will be determined by a match-play format consisting of quarterfinals and semifinals played on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday.

I suspect the Olympic Committee will evaluate how the format works this summer and then possibly tweak it more towards a team event or add some match play elements in 2020 in Tokyo. The format used in 1904 with stroke play to advance to match play seems like an exciting format that would allow all countries to participate who may not have the numbers for a team event.  So maybe they had it right back in 1904?

The 2016 Olympic golf field really demonstrates how much the game of golf has grown throughout the world since 1904.  Where as the 1904 Olympics had one Canadian and the rest were golfers from the United States, this year's Olympics will have golfers from every corner of the globe.  Henrik Stenson (SWE) after winning the British Open, looks to be a favorite to win a medal.  On the women's side Lydia Ko (NZ) and Brooke Henderson (CAN) should be favorites to medal.  Another factor, however, is how all of the golfers match up with the Rio Olympic course.

Designed by renowned golf architect Gil Hanse the Rio Olympic course features minimal rough and a lot of native grass areas around the fairways.  The back nine design should make for exciting finishes to each round and possibly the final day.  Par 5 hole 10 is a definite birdie hole then holes 11-14 will force golfers to struggle to keep par then holes 15-18 will provide birdie and eagle opportunities which should add to the excitement.

To get a better feel for the course the Olympians will be playing Golf Digest in partnership with Adobe software has posted some very cool flyovers of the Olympic course on the Golf Digest YouTube channel.  For more Golf Digest YouTube coverage see GolfDigest channel coverage at GolfHubz.com/news and for other YouTube Olympic coverage visit GolfHubz.com.  

360 degree Virtual tour

Front 9 Holes at Rio Olympic Course

Back 9 holes at Rio Olympic Course

The Prairie Club

The Prairie Club awaits golfers looking for a unique experience that will leave a lasting impression for a long time. Located near Valentine, Nebraska in a region of the country called the Sand Hills, The Prairie Club is part of the growing family of links style courses that are starting to dot the northwest part of the state. Other courses such as, Wild Horse, the Sand Hills and The Dismal River golf clubs were built before The Prairie Club and received many accolades from publications like Golf Digest. The Prairie Club, however, is a little different than its predecessors. First off, there is a second 18 hole course that winds along a Ponderosa Pine forested ridge above Snake River canyon. Secondly, unlike the Dismal and Sandhills Golf Club, The Prairie Club is open to the public and offers stay and play packages at its luxurious lodge and cabins. This is a resort destination style course anyone can enjoy.

Founder and Chairman Paul Schock wanted to keep the course public to let people enjoy world class golf.  His solution was to hire architect / professional golfers Tom Lehman and Graham Marsh. Lehman and also Chris Brands designed the Dunes course and Marsh designed the Pines Course. According to their website, Schock, Lehman, Brands and Marsh wanted to take things slow and took more than two years routing out holes through an immense amount of acres used for 36 holes of stunning natural landscape.  To them it was all about the pristine land and the serenity.  No houses, no distractions just golf. Very little earth was moved to make this course.

The Dunes Course 

Rated the 35th greatest public course in America in 2015 by Golf Digest, The Dunes Course was designed for bump and run play with large greens and windy conditions.  Half the holes play into the wind and half the holes against the wind.  With its dramatic elevation changes, endless views of the Sandhills in all directions and immense blowouts golfers get a great feel for links golf.

Fairway blowout bunker on Dunes Course.

Before I go any farther covering the Dunes Course I want to explain a few things about minimalistic design and a thing called "blowouts". Blowouts are sandy areas where rapid wind erosion literally “blows out” a hole in the surface of the landscape.   They are found scattered throughout all of the Sand Hills and vary in size from a few feet in circumference to a few hundred feet.  The Dunes course routes fairways and greens around these natural hazards to create a unique layout with minimal land moved to keep a native feel to the course.



At 7,583 yards and a par 73 the Dunes course will give you all you can handle especially if the wind is blowing.  Built on fescue and collonial bentgrass the average green size is 14,000 square feet with an average stimpmeter of 12.  The fairways are generously wide but that's about the only break you get on this challenging track.  It's the approach shots and short game around these greens that will do most of the damage to your scorecard.  The greens are guarded by large intimidating blowout bunkers and the big undulating greens can leave you crazy long puts over major slopes on the greens.  Finally, there's the wind and the uphill or downhill shots to contend with that will leave you guessing on your club selection plenty of times.


Hole overviews and photos

View of tee box on par 4 hole 2 Dune Course.  The right side of fairway is guarded by out of bounds fence row.

Approach shot view of par 4 hole 2 Dunes Course.

View of tee shot on par 5 hole 3 Dunes Course.  A slice or push will land you in a monster blowout bunker on the right.  A hook or pull left will run your shot over the fairway and down a steep hill into the tall fescue.

View from tee box of par 3 hole 4 Dunes Course.  Its easy for a lot of golfers to end up with an 80 to 100 foot put on this green.

Par 4 Hole 5 Dunes Course.  Bunkers down the middle of the fairway force the golfer to pick a side of the fairway.  Large blowout guards right side of the green.

View from tee on par 5 hole 10 Dunes Course.  Blowouts are in play on every shot.

For hole by hole tours of the Dunes Course see the Prairie Club's course tour on their web site at the following link http://theprairieclub.com/golf/dunes-course/.

The Pines Course

Rated the 75th greatest public course in America in 2015 by Golf Digest, designed by Graham Marsh, The Pines Course features five sets of tees ranging from 5345 to 7403 yards.  On this course the prevailing prairie winds are blocked by the western rim and Ponderosa pines of the Snake River canyon.  Built on fescue and collonial bentgrass the average green size is 8,000 sq ft and the average stimpmeter is 11 in peak season.  The course starts off with holes 1-3 still in the same prairie landscape as the Dunes course.  On hole 4 you start to enter the pines as the course gets closer to Snake River canyon.  The Pines Course designs also features a lot of carries from the tee over large blowouts as seen below in photo of hole 5.

Hole overviews and photos

View from tee box on par 4 hole 5 Pine Course.  This hole is a dogleg right that forces the golfer to carry the tee shot over an immense blowout in front of the fairway.

View from tee box on par 3 hole 6 Pines Course.  Green is guarded by two blowouts bunkers and canyon on the right.

View of green and backdrop of Snake River Canyon on par 3 hole 6 Pines Course.

View from tee box on par 5 hole 11 Pines Course. 

View from approach shot into hole 11 green Pines Course.

View of large blowout and tall fescue that guard the right side of par 5 hole 15 fairway Pines Course.   The left side of the fairway has pines and fescue.  Golfers are forced to either layup with an iron on the top of the hill left of this bunker or hit a fade with the driver close to the cart in this photo.

View from tee box on par 4 hole 16 Pines Course.  Golfers must carry the bunkers with their tee shots and keep it straight between the pines.

Approach shot view of par 4 hole 16 Pines Course.

View of par 3 hole 17 Pines Course.

View from tee box of par 5 hole 18 Pines Course.  This is easily one of the best holes in all of the Prairie Club.  Tee shot must draw around the right side of the fairway to have a chance to go for the green in two.  The 18th green is elevated behind a small canyon with large blowout bunkers guarding the green.  Golfers have the option of laying up to the fairway right of the green on their second shot.

For hole by hole tours of the Pines Course see the Prairie Club's course tour on their web site at the following link http://theprairieclub.com/golf/pines-course/.

To sum it up, if you're looking for a great place for a golf travel vacation The Prairie Club will deliver.  TripAdvisor also has very high marks for The Prairie Club.

Accommodations

The Prairie Club offers several stay and play packages.  Golfers can choose to stay in the main lodge, the Bunkhouse in one of its 12 single occupancy rooms or one of the cabins each with a four bedroom suite.

How to get there

The best option for traveling to the Prairie Club by commercial airline is to fly to Sioux Falls, SD. Then you will need to rent a car and head west on I-90 and south on highway 183 to Valentine, NE. The Prairie Club is located west of Valentine on highway 90.  Google Maps link.

More Information

For more information on The Prairie Club I highly recommend checking out their website at http://theprairieclub.com/.

Top PGA tour pro Instagram accounts worth following

Looking for some good PGA Tour Pro Instagram accounts to follow?  There are a lot of tour pros these days that are posting some really good Instagram content.  But there are also a few who have come up with some really creative ideas and have a good eye for photography as well.  By the way, the ranking of these tour pros is completely for fun and I fully admit there may be others I left out that belong on this list.  Either way, the pros on this list are great embassadors for the game of golf and help make the game better all the time!

1. Ian Poulter

Helpful Links: Instagram Link

Summary
Ian Poulter must have great photography skills. Whether it is cool close ups of his car collection, interesting aerial photography and outdoor shots or beautiful golf courses or other parts of the world Poulter's account is definitely worth checking out for golf fans around the world.

2. Ben Crane

Helpful Links: Instagram Link

Summary
The cool thing about Ben Crane's account is the variety. The subjects of his photos can be anyone from the Golf Channel's Tim Rosaforte with other fellow shaved head men to this hilarious post of a sea captain trying to golf on a raft.

3. Rickie Fowler

Helfull Links: Instagram Link

Summary One of the best things about Rickie Fowler is he takes time to help promote the game of golf. His Why Golf series (photos and videos) is very cool. We applaud his effort to grow the game we all love. Rickie's Instagram account features some cool selfies and nice outdoor photography of beautiful places.

4. Lee Westwood

Helpful Links: Instagram Link

Summary
Lee Westwood's Instagram account has some great candid shots of friends and fellow golfers. Also, like Poulter, I really like the scenic shots of golf on his account.

5. Rory McIlroy

Helpful Links: Instagram Link

Summary
Rory's Instagram account has a great variety of photos. What I really like about McIlroy's account is he takes advantage of Instagram to let golf fans get a taste for a "day in the life" of Rory which is really cool.

Quintero Golf Club

Located in the northwest valley of Phoenix, Arizona the Quintero Golf Club offers an excellent experience for golfers who want to play a course with remote surroundings, elevation changes and incredible views of the upper portion of the Sonoran desert.  Rated as one of the top courses in the Phoenix area I definitely think this a top 5 public course that you need to put on your golf bucket list. Quintero, like many courses in Phoenix, was not immune to the economic crash of 2006. However, since Troon golf has taken over management of the course the future seems much brighter.

At 7208 yards, with a USGA rating of 74.9 and slope rating of 147 from the tips, Quintero is a very challenging course.  Scratch golfers to about 8-10 handicap can probably handle the tips.  For handicaps in the 10-20 range I recommend playing from the Gold tees at 6845 yards.  Another option a lot of golfers like to try is rotating between the Gold and Silver (6435 yards).  The scorecard actually lists which holes are recommended for a Gold and Silver tee box rotation.

This course is usually in excellent condition all times of the year with perfectly groomed greens and fairways.  The greens can play very fast at certain times of the year, especially in the winter with the rye grass.  For local Phoenix area golfers, who like to play upscale courses in the summer at reduced rates, Quintero is one of the best options in the valley.  While other courses usually struggle to keep their greens and fairways in tact during the extreme heat, Quintero and its higher elevations boasts some of the best greens and fairways you will see during June through August.

Hole overviews and photos.

The par 3 hole 6 is the first hole at Quintero where the view and panorama really open up to the golfer.  This challenging par 3 plays 219 from the tips and is a difficult club selection test because of wind and elevation changes.  (I've had to fire my caddie (myself) several times on this hole because of poor club selection).

Quintero's par 3 hole 6 has a big elevation change from tee to green and stunning views.

The par 5 hole 8 is one of Quintero's signature holes and one of my favorite par 5s in the valley.  There is a risk/reward option from all tees boxes.  Big hitters who want to go for the green in two have the option of cutting the corner and trying to land their tee shot on the uphill slope of the fairway above the creek that separates the lower and upper fairways.  Most golfers select the safer option of hitting a fairway wood and laying up before the creek and then hitting their second shot straight up (and I mean straight up) a very steep inclined fairway.

Quintero's par 5 hole 8 is one of the course's signature holes.  View from typical spot for second shot landing area short of creek that separates the upper and lower fairways. 

The par 3 9th hole has another elevation challenge to golfers.  Similar to hole 6 the green is straight down the hill.  The big difference on hole 9 is a water hazard guards the entire front side of the green. Club selection again is a big factor on this hole.

Quintero's par 3 hole 9.

The par 5 hole 10 offers more great views from the tee box and is an excellent way to start off the back nine.  At 521 yards this is one of the easier holes on the course and is a relief to many golfers after playing holes 8-9.

Quintero par 5 hole 10

Quintero course flyovers.

Quintero front nine

Quintero back nine

To sum it up, if you are up for a great challenge on one of Phoenix's top public golf courses Quintero is definitely worth playing a couple times.  It definitely helps to play this course several times to learn proper strategy and club selection.  Quintero's stay and play packages are also worth consideration.

More information about Quintero

For more information about Quintero Golf Club visit their web site at http://www.quinterogolf.com