Wow, Those Greens are Fast!

My friends and clients, Ace and Freddy invited me to Arizona Country Club to play golf. Arizona Country Club is nestled in a residential neighborhood at 56th Street and Thomas Road in central Phoenix. The club was established in 1946 and was probably on the outskirts of town at the time. Arizona Country Club hosted the Phoenix Open (alternating with Phoenix Country Club) from 1955 through 1973. Arnold Palmer was a three-time winner at Arizona Country Club and other notable champions include Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

The golf course is a typical midwestern course with a lot of grass and some trees bordering the fairways. The fairways were overseeded and cut very close, but the rough was not overseeded and is dormant bermuda grass. The distinction between the green fairways and wheat-colored dormant bermuda grass is very striking and pretty and also helps you to visualize the fairways. By not overseeding the rough, the club saves water during the winter months. However, what truly distinguishes the Arizona Country Club golf course is the greens. The putting surfaces are very large and undulating and the greens are lightning fast! If you hit the ball above the hole, three putts would not be unusual (this is known as foreshadowing). We teed off at 9 a.m. and it was overcast and a little windy. By the time we made the turn, the sun was out, the wind had died down and the temperature was in the high 60s or low 70s (in December!). This is why we live in Phoenix!

Ace has only been playing golf for a few years and last year she had a hole-in-one on the 130 yard, par-3 9th hole at Arizona Country Club. Ace has a beautiful swing, is methodical (or as she put it, OCD) and hits the ball right down the middle. She was the long driver all day long. Her husband, Freddy, also has a nice swing, but he does not play as much as Ace and likes to peek up on his swing.

Country Boy, Ace and Freddy's business partner, also joined our foursome. Country Boy has promised to take me to Paradise Valley Country Club forever, but I think he is embarrassed to be seen with me at his club! Country Boy plays a consistent big left-to-right fade (since he is a client I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and not call it a slice) and is very good around the greens. He made some nice putts to save par or bogey during the round and he also made some great sand shots, but it was usually after he left the first sand shot in the bunker!

We played a rotating high-low game. We changed playing partners every six holes. In a high-low game, on each hole, each team's low score is compared against the opponent's low score and each team's high score is compared against the opponent's high score. So, if one team has scores of 4 and 5 on a hole and the other team has scores of 5 and 5, the first team gets a point for the low score (4 to 5) and the teams tie for the high score (5 to 5) and no point is awarded. This game can be played with or without handicaps.

We played the white tees at Arizona Country Club which are only 6,319 yards. The course rating is 69.9 and the slope rating is 124. I drove the ball great all day, long and straight (although it was disheartening to be continually out-driven by Ace!). I had one horrible tee shot on a par-3 that I hit out-of-bounds and made a six! On the same hole that Ace made the hole-in-one I hit the ball to about four feet from the hole and made a birdie 2. I shot a 45 on the front and a 45 on the back for a 90. I played much better than my score indicates. The greens killed me! Although I did not keep track, I bet that I three-putted at least five holes (and that was with generous gimmes!).

Two holes typified my round. On the par-5 480 yard 8th hole I hit a nice straight drive and then I hit my 1-hybrid pin-high about ten feet off the green in a swale below the hole. I am now cocky and thinking about a birdie. Rather than chipping the ball and risk chili-dipping or skulling the chip shot, I elected to use the Texas wedge and putt the ball to cozy it up to the hole for the tap-in birdie. Well, the ball rockets past the hole and off the other side of the green and I then three-putt for a bogey 6. Then, on the 401-yard par-4 14th hole, I hit a mediocre drive and was about 180 yards from the flagstick. I hit a beautiful high 4-hybrid shot that I thought was going to land softly on the green in birdie range. Instead it caught the lip of the bunker guarding the green. I blasted out of the bunker and three-putted again for a double-bogey 6!

However, as the old adage goes, the worst day on the golf course is better than almost any day in the office! I really enjoyed this course and I hope that I have another chance to go low!