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