Sunday was a sports day. Hiking in the early morning with SO, golf in the afternoon with the Gardener and floor seats at the Suns basketball game in the evening. It does not get much better than that! The weather was cold in the morning when we went hiking, but it warmed up to about 70 degrees with clear skies by mid-afternoon. Perfect golf weather!
I have got the Gardener into a physical fitness routine. His wife bought him a pull cart for his golf clubs and we have been walking the golf courses. He has become a bit of a pull cart snob. A few weeks ago we played at ASU Karsten Golf Course and the course would not allow him to use his pull carts so the Gardener decided to spite the course and ride in a cart rather than walk and carry his bag. I have absolutely no idea why a golf course would not permit pull carts other than golfers may pull them through the sand bunkers or across the green. I guess you need to make rules for the lowest common denominator. This week we played at Aguila Golf Course in South Phoenix. In the areas within 25 yards or so of the greens there were signs prohibiting golf carts from getting any closer to the greens, which is normal. But there were also signs prohibiting pull carts around the greens. As a pull cart snob, the Gardener was a little miffed about this rule. Of course, he understood not to pull his cart over the green or even the apron around the green, but 25 yards from the green, come on!
Aguila is the newest of the Phoenix municipal courses. It is a really nice track (see photo gallery)that plays to more than 7,000 yards from the black tees. There were three or four holes where the course was adding additional tee boxes to lengthen the course that were not yet open. Thank goodness! The course was designed by Gary Panks, who is one of the most prolific golf course designers in Arizona, with credits for The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines, Firerock Country Club, Whirlwind Golf Club (Cattail Course) and Whirlwind Golf Club (Devils Claw Course), among many others. Aguila is an interesting layout because there are two drivable (not for me) 300 yard par-4 holes and one short par-3 hole, which means that the par-4 holes are monsters. There are 5 par-4 holes that range from 433 yards to 471 yards. The course rating is 72.4 and the slope rating is 129.
The course was closed for a few months recently to redesign the bunkers because the golfers complained about the number and size of the fairway bunkers, the depth of the greenside bunkers and the lack of sand in the greenside bunkers. I never played the course with all of the bunkers but Matt, our playing partner on Sunday, pointed out a number of the bunker locations that are now grass. The only disappointing part of the golf course are the newly-renovated greenside bunkers. Matt said they used to be deep and difficult to escape. Now they are flat and serve no purpose. I actually putted out of three of the greenside bunkers with no difficulty. I would have liked to play the course as originally designed.
I played very consistently. I was generally hitting my driver straight down the middle of the fairway and hitting my hybrids and long irons okay. I only had two double-bogeys, one where I hit the ball into the water and another on a par-3 where I just mishit my tee shot and took a penalty stroke. I made a birdie on a par-5 hole and had 4 pars for an 86. On Saturday, I worked on my flop shot at the practice facility. After hitting about 30 flop shots without mishitting one, I was really comfortable hitting that shot. I hit three flop shots on Sunday from difficult positions out of the desert or over greenside bunkers. One was close enough that I did not need my putter and the other two were in the makeable putt range. The Gardener played really well in long stretches, but had a few erratic holes that killed his round. He shot a 90.
After golf, we washed up and headed to U.S. Airways Arena to see the Suns play the New Orleans Hornets and Chris Paul. Our seats were in the third row on the floor behind one of the baskets. The Suns played really well for 47 minutes and 30 seconds and then almost blew an 8 point lead in the last 30 seconds, but held on to win the game. The floor seats under the basket are really cool because you can see all of the action up close and you can see how big, athletic and physical the players are. If I had a choice of any seat in the house for a full season I would not want to sit in these seats because a small portion of the court is obstructed by the basket stanchion and you are peaking from one side to the other, but for one game it was a lot of fun (and the price was right).
Showing posts with label ASU Karsten Golf Course. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ASU Karsten Golf Course. Show all posts
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Golf Masochism
Last weekend I unintentionally agreed to a masochistic golf endeavor. Chad Feldheimer was feeling very good about his golf game and he wanted to conquer The Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University, the home of the storied ASU golf program. Instead of working, he studied the course layout and mapped out his strategy for shooting par. We also talked the Gardener into playing. Karsten, from the professional tees, is a bear! On the scorecard, the course is 7,002 yards long but plays to a par-70 with only two par-5 holes! The number 1 handicap hole is a 493-yard par 4 and the number 2 handicap hole is a 498-yard par 4. There are three other par-4s over 450 yards. The course rating from the professional tees is 73.8 and the slope rating is 131.
The front 9 is a par-34 with no par-5 holes and is only 3,251 yards. Pete Dye moved a lot of dirt to design this course on a flat, ugly piece of land. If you miss the fairway on your drive, you can generally find your ball but it may have rolled over a small hillock and you oftentimes cannot see the flagstick so you are hitting into a blind green. Theoretically, it should not make any difference if you know the distance to the flagstick and the location of the flagstick, but psychologically not being able to see the flagstick throws you off-stride and affects your perception and your swing. Also, the lack of any par-5 holes takes some of the fun out of the game. The mid-handicapper can usually hit the green in 3 strokes on a par-5 and may even have a reasonable opportunity for birdie and at least have a good chance for a par. Seven par-4 holes become boring. I know this sounds like sour grapes and it is! I shot bogey golf on the front 9 for a 43.
The last time Chad Feldheimer and I played Karsten we had the good sense to play the back 9 from the champion tees, which are 3,395 yards. Not this time. The back 9 at Karsten is like a death march. It is a par-36, 3,751 yards, but at least there are two par-5 holes. There are 3 par-4 holes over 450 yards and a 248 yard par-3. It is brutal. I shot a 48 on the back 9 for a 91 total. Chad Feldheimer shot a 79 and the Gardener shot a 90. I played the seven par-4 and par-5 holes in 6 over par, which was not bad, but I tripled-bogeyed both par-3 holes to ruin my round.
I think it will be quite some time before I go back to Karsten again!
The front 9 is a par-34 with no par-5 holes and is only 3,251 yards. Pete Dye moved a lot of dirt to design this course on a flat, ugly piece of land. If you miss the fairway on your drive, you can generally find your ball but it may have rolled over a small hillock and you oftentimes cannot see the flagstick so you are hitting into a blind green. Theoretically, it should not make any difference if you know the distance to the flagstick and the location of the flagstick, but psychologically not being able to see the flagstick throws you off-stride and affects your perception and your swing. Also, the lack of any par-5 holes takes some of the fun out of the game. The mid-handicapper can usually hit the green in 3 strokes on a par-5 and may even have a reasonable opportunity for birdie and at least have a good chance for a par. Seven par-4 holes become boring. I know this sounds like sour grapes and it is! I shot bogey golf on the front 9 for a 43.
The last time Chad Feldheimer and I played Karsten we had the good sense to play the back 9 from the champion tees, which are 3,395 yards. Not this time. The back 9 at Karsten is like a death march. It is a par-36, 3,751 yards, but at least there are two par-5 holes. There are 3 par-4 holes over 450 yards and a 248 yard par-3. It is brutal. I shot a 48 on the back 9 for a 91 total. Chad Feldheimer shot a 79 and the Gardener shot a 90. I played the seven par-4 and par-5 holes in 6 over par, which was not bad, but I tripled-bogeyed both par-3 holes to ruin my round.
I think it will be quite some time before I go back to Karsten again!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
ASU Karsten Golf Course
On Sunday, Chad Feldheimer and I played at ASU Karsten Golf Course in Tempe near the Arizona State University campus. This is the home course for the ASU golf team. Players like Billy Mayfair and Phil Mickelson played Karsten when they were student athletes at ASU. It is a 7,002 yard, par-70 Pete Dye-designed, Scottish links course with rolling hills and railroad ties. The course is built on only 156 acres in the barren wasteland of the river bed of the Salt River adjacent to an electric substation with huge overhead power lines running across the golf course and within the flight path for Sky Harbor Airport. The course was completed in 1989 and the clubhouse was completed in 1994. The golf course is a brilliant use of virtually worthless real estate.
Playing from the professional tees, the course rating is 73.8 and the slope rating is 131. The front 9 is a par-34 with no par-5 holes. Chad Feldheimer and I both started out par-par-par. I also parred the par-3 7th hole and bogeyed the 494-yard par-4 5th hole (of which I was pretty proud), but double-bogeyed 4 holes for a 43 on the front 9. Chad did not play well and shot a 42 on the front 9. By the time we got to the 9th hole, the wind was blowing more than 20 miles per hour and we were struggling.
The back 9 is a 3,751 yard par-36 and we decided that playing from the professional tees was too masochistic even for us so we moved up to the champion tees, which are 3,395 yards. It seemed like we were hitting into the wind on almost every hole, although sometimes there seemed to be a cross-wind. The 10th hole is a 478-yard par-4 (498 yards from the professional tees). I had 2 pars, 5 bogeys and 2 double-bogeys for a 45 on the back 9 and an 88 for the round. Chad started bogey-bogey on the back 9 and was even par on the last 7 holes for a 38 and an 80 for the round. The wind on the back 9 was howling and it was a struggle just to finish. On the signature hole, the 217 yard, par-3 16th hole, Chad made a birdie and I made a par I hit the ball pretty well off of the tees, but I was missing the fairways so I had a lot of blind shots over the hills or shots with the ball sitting on the side of a hill either 2 feet above or 2 feet below my feet. I still hit a lot of good hybrid shots and I chipped and putted reasonably well. A number of greens are elevated and a shot that misses the green rolls down into the collection area below the green and I do not have enough confidence to consistently hit a high pitch or lob onto the green.
Because of the difficulty of the golf course, my 88 equated to a 12.2 handicap differential. With back-to-back 12.2 differentials my handicap index should go down when the new handicaps are posted on June 1.
Playing from the professional tees, the course rating is 73.8 and the slope rating is 131. The front 9 is a par-34 with no par-5 holes. Chad Feldheimer and I both started out par-par-par. I also parred the par-3 7th hole and bogeyed the 494-yard par-4 5th hole (of which I was pretty proud), but double-bogeyed 4 holes for a 43 on the front 9. Chad did not play well and shot a 42 on the front 9. By the time we got to the 9th hole, the wind was blowing more than 20 miles per hour and we were struggling.
The back 9 is a 3,751 yard par-36 and we decided that playing from the professional tees was too masochistic even for us so we moved up to the champion tees, which are 3,395 yards. It seemed like we were hitting into the wind on almost every hole, although sometimes there seemed to be a cross-wind. The 10th hole is a 478-yard par-4 (498 yards from the professional tees). I had 2 pars, 5 bogeys and 2 double-bogeys for a 45 on the back 9 and an 88 for the round. Chad started bogey-bogey on the back 9 and was even par on the last 7 holes for a 38 and an 80 for the round. The wind on the back 9 was howling and it was a struggle just to finish. On the signature hole, the 217 yard, par-3 16th hole, Chad made a birdie and I made a par I hit the ball pretty well off of the tees, but I was missing the fairways so I had a lot of blind shots over the hills or shots with the ball sitting on the side of a hill either 2 feet above or 2 feet below my feet. I still hit a lot of good hybrid shots and I chipped and putted reasonably well. A number of greens are elevated and a shot that misses the green rolls down into the collection area below the green and I do not have enough confidence to consistently hit a high pitch or lob onto the green.
Because of the difficulty of the golf course, my 88 equated to a 12.2 handicap differential. With back-to-back 12.2 differentials my handicap index should go down when the new handicaps are posted on June 1.
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