Cave Creek Golf Course - Old Memories

This weekend I was a glutton for punishment. The high temperatures for Saturday and Sunday were supposed to be 110 degrees and 112 degrees. I do not think it got quite that hot on Saturday, maybe only 106 degrees. I decided that I was going to play at Cave Creek Golf Course, which is located at 19th Avenue north of Thunderbird Avenue in Phoenix. It is a City of Phoenix municipal golf course that was started in 1983 as a landfill reclamation project. When I first moved to Phoenix 25 years ago I used to play this course a lot. It is a reasonably good layout. It is 6,732 yards from the back blue tees with a course rating of 71.8 and a slope rating of 124. The course was designed by Jack Snyder. The course is relatively flat and there are a few spots where the grass simply will not grow over the landfill, but it is a worthwhile and environmentally friendly use of a landfill.

The walking rate at Cave Creek was supposed to be $10 after 4 p.m. so I signed up figuring that I would only play 9 holes. When I got to the course, the course superintendent told me that rate only applied in May so I paid a whopping $13 and walked. As I began playing the holes started coming back to me. The trees were a bit taller and more mature but the course had not otherwise changed much in the past 25 years. Although I wasn't keeping score I was hitting the ball really well and I enjoy walking even in the heat. The holes on the front 9 are pretty straight-forward and what you see is what you get. I was hitting my mid-irons into the green like lasers. The greens had just been aerated so the grass was a little long and the greens were slow and bumpy. It looked like in another 7 to 10 days the greens would be in nice shape. The last 3 holes on the front 9 are bears. The par-3 7th hole was playing 233 yards. I ripped 2 1-hybrids onto the back fringe of the green and made par with both balls. The 8th hole is 432 yards with the dry wash running along the right hand side of the fairway and through the center of the fairway. I do not think that I ever played the course when the creek was actually flowing and this was no exception. If you drive the ball into the center wash you can play the ball but you cannot see the green or even the flagstick. The green has a false front because the landfill under the front of the green sank. I pushed the ball right and had about 175 yards to the green. I flushed a 5-iron pin high and two-putted for a par. No. 9 is 422 yards generally back into the wind with Cave Creek wash on your right and the driving range on the left. Even if you hit a good drive, the approach shot to the green requires a long iron or hybrid club. I pulled my drive onto the hard pan, chunked my second shot, chipped short of the green and took another 3 strokes to get down from there for a double-bogey.

It was about 5:30 p.m. and the sun was not quite so hot so I decided to finish the last 9 holes. The back 9 has some lakes that arguably come into play and you have to carry Cave Creek wash on the 18th hole. I continued to hit the ball well on the back 9, but by the par-5 518 yard 16th hole I was starting to drag. I hit my third shot to 5 feet from the hole and made a birdie, which put a little giddy-up in my step. On 18, you have to hit the ball over the dry wash. If you push it right you have a long approach shot into the green and if you take a more direct route you may not clear the wash. I pushed it a little right and had about 180 yards to the green with a flyer lie. The green is adjacent to the wash so if you pull the ball left you may be in the wash. If you hit it to the right, there is a big hill and the ball typically comes off of the hill onto the green. I aimed to the right and flushed a 5-iron over the green, chipped down the hill and two-putted for a bogey.

It was really fun going back to this course that I played over 20 years ago. It is a reasonably good test of golf from the back tees and I would not be embarrassed to take someone to this course. I intend to go back and play in the late weekend afternoons again.