Golf: The Game Has Changed Over My Years of Playing

 I was reading an article in Golf Digest that talked about how the science of agronomy as it relates to turf has influenced the design of new golf courses. This got me to thinking.  When I started playing golf, golf construction and architecture was a fairly straight up thing.  Ground was sometime graded and contoured, greens were pushed up from the given landscape and given contours with no layering for drainage, bunkers were formed in the fairways and around the greens trees were planted or removed to line the fairway and bermuda grass seed layed down and bent grass planted on the greens.  That was it-well, it may have been a bit more complicated than that.

Building a golf course has changed since then and the science of agronomy is a critical part of the design of new courses. No longer do you have green construction which is the ground being pushed up and contoured to make a green.  Today's greens are layered  in order for the green to drain in rainy seasons, or when they are siphoned during the hot seasons to keep the grass cool and water does not puddle on the green.  Hybrid grasses such as zoysia and hybrid bermuda are now used, not just the plain old bermuda that was planted on older courses.  Trees are actually being removed from older courses in order for the sun to hit to the grass easier and to make watering more efficient. How architects build golf courses and the science that goes into building is one of the big changes that have come to golf over the years. Much of golf has changed over the years.

I am of the opinion-I may be wrong but hey, I'm over 70-that today's young golfers are not taught the game of golf. This is a pet peeve of mine.  Their vision of the game is to take out a driver, hit it as far as you can and then take a wedge to the green and one putt for a birdie. When I was learning the game, my pro was very adamant about me learning the game. He taught me the importance of playing strategical golf  such as where to hit the ball into position when going for the green wasn't exactly a high percentage shot. More importantly, he taught me how to estimate distance and know what a certain club would do and how to hit shots that would get me out of trouble and what to do if I did get me into a situation where I had to take my medicine-more about this later. To this day, I can estimate a distance to the pin to within three feet.  It's a lot of fun seeing my playing partner with a GPS device's mouth drop when he asks me a distance and my estimate is to within three feet of his GPS's reading. 

 Above all else, the short game is what the game is all about. "Drive for show, putt for dough" is more than just a silly saying. Inside 100 yards is my office. I carry four different wedges and am deadly with  the 100 yard bump and run.  I play a variety of shots from within 100 yards depending on the conditions. you just don't see many younger golfers being taught the skill of the short game.  To this day, I can't look a garbage can in the face.  You can read more about this when my book is published soon, but I used to have to put 30 golf balls into a garbage can from 40-100 yards in my lessons with my pro.

I don't want to get into this too deeply because it is a discussion that can go on for hours. What about the difference between today's clubs and thos clubs that we played forty years ago. I remember playing my persimmon woods, that by the way were really made out of wood and the extra still stainless steel shafts that they were tied on to. I took my driver that I used to play down off the wall and swung it the other day.  It was like swinging a telephone pole, but there was nothing like hearing the sound of the ball coming off that persimmon head when a ball was struck well. I still can't believe how small the heads are. They hit a heck of a lot different than the graphite shafted, big headed PXG driver I play now.

I used to play extra stiff steel shafted irons with very small blade heads.  I loved the performance that I go out of those clubs.  As I got older, I didn't play as much so I went to a midsize clubhead with steel stiff shafts and then transitioned into graphite because my back was deteriorating. The game to me just wasn't the same, but I couldn't swing as good as I used to because of my hurting back. Also, the lofts on the irons changed to what was before a 9 iron was now a 81/2 as far as flight and distance.  

Have I mentioned the ball yet?  I guess I haven't.  How many of you have hit a Titleist Balata 90 compression ball.  It was a ball that had a real odd sense of humor in that it was you friend if you hit it well, but after a few holes when you hit a bad shot, it smiled and laughed back at you. Those of you that have hit one know what I mean.  The cover was natural rubber and was wound with rubber bands.  The ball had an inner core that was a little rubber ball that was either solid or filled with a liquid substance. It cut very easily.  Today's ball is solid with a urethane cover that does not cut easily.

I guess that the winds of change are to be expected after more than 55 years of playing the game.  Technology is a big part of the game now, which I'm not sure that is a good thing but I do know that it changes the way the game is played and taught. It will be interesting to see the changes that will come about over the next 55 years.   

  

Viva Las Vegas: Golf In the Kingdom, Courses I have Played In Las Vegas-Part 5

Have I bored you enough with my posts about Las Vegas and the courses I have played?  Hang tight with me for just a little while longer because this should be my last post on the courses I have played in Las Vegas. Here goes, stay with me now. 

We packed up the car and headed out for the fourth PGCC Coaches Clinic and Tournament, once again traversing the vast nothingness of the California High Desert.  This was going to be a bit different conference in that we were to stay at a different hotel and we were not returning to Stallion Mountain.  The courses for this event were in Boulder City and the courses were the new course outside of Boulder City, Boulder Creek which had just opened about a month before we got there and Boulder City Municipal.  I don't know why the change was, but I really enjoyed playing the two courses. 

Boulder Creek had three nines, but one of the nines was not open because it was still under construction. The two nines that we did play were great tracks with some interesting holes.  All in all, the two nines were fair as far as their architecture, but being very new the greens were like concrete and when you hit into them the ball would bounce into the air as if you had hit the ball onto the concrete of a parking lot. That was an interesting part of playing there. The course was well bunkered and there were many sand collection areas.  Yes, there was water, but the lakes were placed in areas that you could navigate them.  They were not punitive but came into play in a very logical way.  I would play Boulder Creek again and it rates high on my courses to play again should I ever be in Las Vegas again.

When I saw the list of courses we were to play in this my fourth PGCC Coaches/Clinic I was taken aback a bit and kind of disappointed.  There was a municipal course on the course rotation that year, Boulder City Municipal Golf Course.  All of The PGCC events played courses that were upscale, and I was kind of wondered why we would be playing a muni and not an upscale course.

I am actually a very boring person, or so I am told. I don't get very many surprises in my life.  Boulder City Golf Course was a true surprise.  I had dismissed it as another muni golf course, probably not worth playing. I was WRONG.  This course is truly a hidden gem.  It was a lot of fun to play and I was totally amazed at how this course in the desert was so lush. The layout was interesting and the greens were fast.  Set in a what seemed to be a housing development, the fairways were pretty tight.  The rough was, what can I say, tallish and lush.  I want to play this course again should I ever return to the Las Vegas area. Probably never again, but never say never.

Let's fast forward several years.  Did you read my post "Detail A Car-Buy A Timeshare"? Please go back and read it as it lays the groundwork for these next few comments.  At any rate, my wife and I found ourselves in Las Vegas.  I have a good friend that lives in Las Vegas that I used to play golf with so we decided to hook up for a round of golf.  We decided that The Paiute Golf Resort Wolf Course would be a great place to play a round of golf with myself and my wife. 

We totally enjoyed this course. Being in the middle of nowhere in the desert, I was totally taken aback as to how lush and green the course was.  It was in perfect condition, with the greens running fast and true. The layout was what I thought fair with no forced carries.  There was one thing I thought was a gimmick as I think this particular feature on a golf course is.  They had an island green.  I am not a fan of island greens for a number of reasons.  Overall, I rate this course very highly and do want to  play it again, just move it away from Las Vegas.

I will never go back to Las Vegas.  Those were famous last words that I have uttered. Yep, I was wrong again.  My third daughter was pregnant and a revealing party was planned. The location of the party was-you guessed it-Las Vegas. My youngest daughter was graduating from masseuse school on the same weekend, so it was planned that the family that was stretched out from Missouri to Spokane, Washington to Bakersfield, California and Merced California would gather in Las Vegas for two celebration events. So I hopped a plane to Las Vegas and booked a one room suite at the time share.  The parties were on two separate days, so what was I to do with my down time?

My youngest daughter lives in Las Vegas so I was looking forward to spending some time with her.  Did I mention she plays golf? I got off the plane at 7:30 AM after the flight from Fresno that left at 6:00.  I had been up since 3:30 in order to catch the 6:00 flight so I was fairly tired when I got to Las Vegas. My daughter and I had breakfast and guess where we went from there. It wasn't bowling, my friend. She has connection in the Las Vegas golf world so we got a great rate at Bear's Best.  Of course-no pun intended-I was going to play golf, especially with my daughter. I should mention here that she is a pretty good stick and drives the ball about 270, enough said.

We got to play Bear's Best just out of town set in the rolling hills just out of Las Vegas. This was an upscale experience.  There was the pyramid of practice balls on the range and the place was impeccable.  This was Vegas, especially seeing the scantily clad escorts that were riding on the carts and hanging on to some of the players. This ain't Kansas, Toto. So, what about the course?

As I sat outside of the clubhouse, I kind of got the same feeling about this course as I did when I played Royal Links.  This was a Las Vegas imitation.  Bear's Best is a collection of holes inspired by Jack Nicklaus.  It winds through the contours of the foothills it is designed, but the lies are mostly level and the greens are huge.  They putted fairly truly as well and I would play the course again, even though it is totally overpriced.   I'm not a fan of imitation golf courses but hey, let's play some golf. That is, if I don't fall asleep which I almost did three times. As I flew out of Las Vegas and the wheels of the airplane escaped the bonds of earth, I once again vowed never to return to Las Vegas.

My wife's son was going to be in Phoenix for a couple of weeks. I didn't blame her for wanting to visit him when he was there. She asked me if we could drive to Phoenix, stopover at the midway point for a couple of nights and drive from there to meet her son in Phoenix.  I give you three-no one-guesses as to where the halfway point would be. Yep you guessed it, Las Vegas.  At least we have our time share there and it was open the few days we wanted to go. There would be time to squeeze in a round of golf with my friend who lives in Las Vegas and my daughter. I don't think vowing not to go to Las Vegas again is not a vow, but a curse.  Every time I seem to vow that I will never grace the Las Vegas area again, I seem to return. I will never say again that I will never go to Las Vegas again.

Here's the question.  Where in Las Vegas can we play without spending an arm and a leg?  We found a course that was reasonably priced, under $50 with cart and that was The Legacy in Henderson, Nevada just a short drive from the strip.  The Legacy was sold and the new owner wanted to close it and turn the property into a housing development.  The land around the course was already a full built housing development with a homeowner's association.  In the HOA contract it stated specifically that the golf course would stay a golf course and could not be developed, contrary to what the new owner wanted to do with the land. The HOA took the new landowner to court and won, the new owner could not develop the course. In retribution, the new owner said fine you could have your course, but that doesn't mean I have to maintain it. You can see where this is going.

The tees and greens were fine, but the fairways were in many cases just dirt. Despite the condition of the course, I liked it.  From what I understand, the HOA and the new owner have come to a bit of an agreement and he is putting more money into the course as far as maintenance.  The greens were OK, but had a lot of bare spots and some crabgrass.  There is a unique feature of this course and it is that the tenth tee has the four suits of a deck of cards as teeing grounds. I would play this course again.

Well, in the last two of my posts I have shared with you the courses I have played in Las Vegas.  We have a timeshare in Palm Springs. We enjoy Palm Springs and the courses there much more. Hmmmm...is there a post in there somewhere.  Yes there is in the future.  My opinion of Las Vegas is unchanged.  I will never go back to Las Vegas again- uh, maybe.   

Have you checked out my website?  It is a directory of public golf courses you can play.  Take a minute and click on http://the-golf-course-travel-bag.com and check it out.

 

 

  

Viva Las Vegas: Golf In the Kingdom, Courses I have Played In Las Vegas-Part 4

 How interesting is a seven hour trip in the car through twenty miles on the other side of "The Boondocks"? Let me tell you, it's not very entertaining. How many rocks and volcanic cones can you see when they all look the same. This is basically what you get when you drive from Fresno to Las Vegas.  It is miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.  There are some interesting attractions along the way such as the tallest thermometer in the world, which is not always working, and of course The Mad Greek in Baker, California but not much else.  You have to have a good reason to make the exciting transit to Las Vegas. I don't mind flying, but I still hate Vegas.

In my last post, I talked about how I took part in the first of four annual PGCC Coaches Tournament and Clinic. I must say here that the conference turned into mostly a tournament where the majority of the almost 200 coaches played in the tournament but didn't stay for the clinic.  Being one of the 20 or so coaches that stayed for the clinic, I must say that I learned a lot about coaching golf from the instructors. Believe me, it was not a waste of time and I had plenty of beside the pool time back at the hotel.

I looked forward to the second year of participating in the event. This particular year the tournament was played over all three of the Stallion Mountain courses. We didn't get to play one of the courses last year as I said in my last post so I was excited to play the third course, and it was a lot of fun to play-but nothing to write home to mom about. After playing the on the third day, we packed up the car and headed for home.

After a long school year the summer vacation finally arrived And this was going to be my third trip to the PGCC Coach's Clinic.  This year's lineup of courses was two days at Stallion Mountain and the third day at Desert Pines in Las Vegas.  I am not going to say that I was excited to be going back to Las Vegas and The PGCC Tournament but I was ready to go because we were going to play a different golf course than Stallion Mountain for the third course and I was curious what the course was like. 

Stallion Mountain was..Stallion Mountain. I must admit though it was good to play the courses because I had played all three courses and they were not new to me.  Desert Pines was a different story. It was different and unlike any of the courses we had played in past tournaments.

What a total change of pace.  Yes, this was a course that was suggestive of courses you would find in the Carolinas such as Pinehurst and did not have a "Las Vegas" feel at all. There were tall Carolina Pines outlying the fairways and collection bunkers as well as lakes came into play. Desert Pines falls in a high place on my courses I have played.  I haven't gone back to Desert Pines, and I hear that the course has been neglected.  I don't know if that is true, but I have seen some of the reviews on GolfPass and they seem to reflect this.

I would be remiss-what does that mean, by the way-if I didn't share this story about my playing Desert Pines.  We of course were in Las Vegas and this was the last day of the Tournament.  In a rare form of misjudgement, I decided to slip out of the hotel room and do some enjoyment of the Las Vegas nightlife. I gambled too much and imbibed in what native Americans call "firewater". You could say that I was a bit "in the bag" when I returned to the hotel room at 2:00 AM or 02:00 for those of you serving in the military. Tee off time was 8:00 or in 6 hours. 

Yes, I did make it to Desert Pines in enough time to go to the driving range and hit some balls. Let's just say that the fog had not cleared over the Golden Gate Bridge as far as my body was concerned.  I walked onto the hitting area and picked out a stall.  The hitting stations were not grass but turf and I noticed there were no ball filled triangle of balls to hit.  There was a ball sitting on a rubber tee on the right side of the turf square? I said to myself what the heck and I hit the ball that was on the tee.  Whoosh and off it went out onto the range.

I turned away from where the ball was and asked someone a question.  When I turned back towards where the first ball was, there was another ball on the tee. At this point I began to doubt my sanity.  I knew that I had hit that ball off that tee and there were no more balls. But yet, a ball was sitting on the tee as big as you please. I knew I was in pretty bad shape and was slightly hungover, but I didn't think I had lost it that bad. Like Columbo in a good mystery, I was going to solve this. I was a little beat up mentally and physically I know, but I wasn't ready for the looney ward just yet. hey, I'm from Fresno and now Merced.  These things don't happen in my neck of the woods.

Here's what I did. There was a ball sitting on the tee. Thwack, I hit it off the tee and off it went majestically into the air.  I froze my eyes on the tee to see what was going to happen. The tee went down into the ground and then up comes another ball on the tee. There was a ball feeding system where the balls came up from a machine under the hitting area.  Wow, what high technology. I was still sane and the mystery was solved.  I was not losing my mind, but that didn't cure the intense hangover. 

I want to stop here because this blog is getting a bit too long and I don't want to lose you.  In my next post I will share with you my fourth trip to the  PGCC coaches Clinic/Tournament which was my last year participating in it. I will also talk about the three other courses I played in Las Vegas-Paiute, Bear's Best and Legacy- but on separate occasions. Stay tuned for Viva Las Vegas: Golf In The Kingdom Part 5 coming to a computer near you on The Golf Course Travel Bag.

 

     

Viva Las Vegas: Golf In The Kingdom-Courses I have Played Part 3

 The car was all packed and we were ready to leave the wonderful urban sprawl of the Las Vegas area.  What was I going to do for the next seven and a half hours of riding through nothingness of the California High Desert and then the pleasing to the eye experience of riding up Highway 99 up through California's San Joaquin Valley from Bakersfield to Merced. There was a stop in Bakersfield at the Famous Hodel's Buffet Restaurant for lunch and then it was off to finish our trip back to Merced. 

Seven and a half hours is a lot of time to kill.  My wife hates my driving so she does ALL of the driving when we go on any trips-anywhere.  To a lot of guys this is truly not what guys do, but I kind of like riding shotgun wherever we go. That's another story. I don't care to get into it because my wife reads my blog and I don't want to kick the bear, if you know what I mean. So, what do I do for those seven and a half long and boring hours other than converse with my wife about how much we hate Las Vegas?

What do you think I did?  I will wait for your answer.........OK, time's up.  I'll tell you what I did. We got to play golf this trip so my mind was on golf and I started to think about the many courses I have played in Las Vegas on my many trips there. I try to get in a round of golf when I am there, sucking up my pride and shelling out the non-resident green fee.  As I have said in my last post, I have issues with how out of town golfers have to pay a premium green fee to play the courses in Las Vegas, but I've talked about that in my last post and I won't go there. 

As each mile that looked a lot like the last ticked away, I started to make mental notes about the courses I played in Las Vegas and how I would share them here on this blog. I guess I will do what I normally do and write about them. Keep in mind, I enjoyed playing them. I have also listed them on my website, although I do have to update my website to include The Legacy.  By the way, if you haven't done so visit my website at http://the-golf-course-travel-bag.com. 

So that you can gain a sort of perspective on this, I think I need to share with you a paragraph of introduction here.  The first group of courses I played when I was a participant for four years in The Professional Golfers Career College Coaches Tournament and Clinic. I enjoyed playing these courses and each one was unique in its design.  What courses did we play? I will give some feedback on those courses later in the blog but first I want to give you some context as far as playing the courses.

The first year we played at Stallion mountain which at the time had three courses.  One of the courses was out of play so we played two of the three. We did play all three Stallion Mountain courses the following year.  The third course we played that year was Royal Links which is closed presently. Stallion Mountain's courses were fairly straight up, by that I mean that the course was flat but the rough and fairways were pristine.  I remember the greens being large and fast with some undulation to them. The three courses were nothing special really, but they were fun to play.  Stallion Mountain's three courses have been rerouted into one course, which I haven't played.

I remember arriving at Royal Links and looking over the course from the clubhouse. I  thought  to myself that this course is truly Las Vegas.  It had a sort of unique twist to it that truly made it a "Las Vegas Concept" course.  All of the holes on it were representations of the courses in the British Open rotation such as "The Road Hole" at St. Andrews and "The Postage Stamp".  To me, it was kind of a gimmicky golf course. I enjoyed playing the Royal Links and especially enjoyed "The Postage Stamp".  The course was pretty damp given the fact that the turf was a hybrid rye and in order to keep rye grass alive in a hot climate, you have to put a lot of water on it.  There were a lot of damp spots and puddles. I do have a good memory of the place in that I shot one of the best rounds of my life there.

Memories, tucked between the pages of my mind. You didn't think I could get away with not coming up with some throwback to an Elvis Presley song when this blog is entitled Viva Los vegas which is a Pressly song, did you?  Well, there it is. This post is running a bit too long so I will split it up into two posts. In the next post I will share more of the Las Vegas courses I have played. In the meantime, Viva Las Vegas.  That is, if you like Las Vegas.

   

 

  

Viva Las Vegas-Part 2 Golf In The Kingdom

 My little tirade on Las Vegas didn't go over too well, judging the number of hits it got.  That's OK, it was a bit of a downer to Las Vegas and the bottom line is I still do not like Las Vegas. Have you seen the parking rates downtown? You better win big in the casinos in order to just pay your parking bill. Enough said about that.

 Today's post is going to focus on one of the biggest reasons I dislike Las Vegas and that is how they do golf.  I have played several golf courses in the Las Vegas area and I did love the courses.  What I hate is how they soak non-residents by charging non-resident rates.  On Golf Now all the course green fees are based on non-resident rates. If you don't live in Las Vegas you pay a premium. There is not even a seasonal rate, just the rate non-residents pay, and non-residents are soaked. As far as pricing is concerned, courses are entitled to charge what they want but I'm not going to buy into that. That's not very welcoming and I just will not spend my money in a place that makes visitors feel unwelcome, but tries to take advantage of them.

Let's talk briefly about this resident rate.  I understand the resident rate if you play a course that is funded and owned by a particular city or county.  The taxpayers of that city or county pay their taxes for services the city or county offers, which may include the operation of  golf courses in that city or county.  I can see a two tiered system for residents versus non-residents. San Diego County which owns and operates Torrey Pines and Balboa Park has that kind of set up. I won't play either of the Torrey Pines courses the main reason being that the non-resident green fee is too steep, and except for the views the course plays a lot like a course I play in Fresno. When we do go to San Diego we try to play Balboa Park where the non-resident rate is reasonable. I'm OK with that.

Las Vegas is a different story.  Green fees are structured for residents are different than for non-resident, and in some cases there is a significant difference. It doesn't matter whether the course is a muni course or a semi-private course.  There is also not a difference between a summer and winter rate.  You have to know, if you are a tourist staying in Las Vegas and want to play golf you are going to pay through the nose. I truly understand that Las Vegas is a tourist town, but does it have to act like a very tight slot machine taking your money where the jackpot never comes up?

Nope, Las Vegas is not going to see me very often.  I may go there to visit my daughter and play golf with her but she lives there and when I go, I get resident rates.

In my next blog, I will share with you the golf courses I have played in Las Vegas.