Entries Tagged as ''

Golf in Arizona

I have a close friend with a family vacation home in Arizona and he is always telling me that the courses in Arizona are amazing. So this afternoon I started looking around on the internet to see if all his hype was just hot air or if I needed to see if I could stow away with his family for a few days. I started with the area near where the family stays, Scottsdale.

The Scottsdale golf scene does offer many course options including the Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale. Any golfer knows that any course with TPC in the name is a rare opportunity to play one of the nicest courses available to a golfer. This TPC course has a player friendly slope rating of 112 that will allow anyone traveling with you, no matter how new to the game, the chance to experience golf at it’s finest.

I have always wanted to play a course designed by the great Arnold Palmer. While searching Tucson golf courses I came across Palmer Course at the Wildfire Golf Club. This course is quote the opposite of TPC Scottsdale. Posting a slope of 135 from the tips with a distance over 7000 yards this looks like a true test for any golfer. From the pictures the scenery doesn’t look like a let down either.

Hopefully I can remember the lesson I learned in Vegas and I schedule early morning rounds to stay out of the heat. The sun here is supposed to be at least as bad if not worse with temperatures reach over 100 in the shade during the Summer. If anyone out there is planning on playing in this region you have been warned, it is really, really, really HOT!!

I’m going to go call my buddy and see if his parents are using the place. If not, next stop Arizona!

Golfing Hawaii Style

Sometimes I think I live a charmed life. It just so happens that an upcoming conference for my day job is going to take me to Hawaii. Since my new wife and I decided not to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon this will give me a chance to golf there without any guilt. This site that I recently came across, Hawaii golf made creating my golfing itinerary really easy.

One of the interesting things that I have found is the diverse types of courses that are available in Hawaii. Many are in the vain of Scottish links while others are carved into the forest giving it a totally different feel. It appears that even the “lower” end course have scenery that will not disappoint.

I used the Hawaii golf course search to find the Arnold Palmer gem at the Turtle Bay Resort near where my conference is. From the pictures and the description on the site it is a seamless cross of Saint Andrews and Bethpage Black placed right in the middle of the beautiful blue Pacific. This resort is also home to a Fazio course that has hosted the LPGA Tour’s Hawaii Open. This course will give even seasoned pros a challenge if you play it from the tips.

The site even allows you to search for packages, hotels and restaurants so you don’t have to go from site to site trying to find all the parts of your vacation. I have found that package search particularly handy to see if there are any deals to be had by booking everything together. It also allows me to compare the resorts where the courses are located so I can see the details side by side.

With a chance to play both of these courses I’ll be looking into my stay here and booking Hawaii tee times. If I can work out the time off after the conference this might just be a homerun. Besides, time away from the new wife will be made easier if I can occupy my time.