I have been remiss this week about blogging. My usual blogging time is 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. but I have been going to the chiropractor and physical therapist in the evenings this week because SO tried to kill me last weekend. SO tried to help me stretch out my hip and when I tapped out she decided that I was being a wimp and pushed harder (I guess she does not watch mixed martial arts!). I heard something "pop" and then my entire back spasmed. As long as I am moving around, it is OK, but when I sit at my desk for a awhile and then try to get up I am bent over like an old man until my back loosens again. But enough about me ... This is my 100th post and my followers want to hear about the Curmudgeon.
The Curmudgeon has been gloating for a month. His 60th birthday is coming up next week and his brother bought him tickets for the 2011 Masters as a birthday present. He has four passes for the Saturday and Sunday rounds and will be staying in a 4-bedroom private house near the golf course. The homeowner also owns a house across the street from Augusta National where you valet park your car, eat your meals and drink. But that is not all ... the birthday present includes 4 passes to this year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach for any two rounds (including Saturday and Sunday), but sadly it does not include housing within a 7-iron of Pebble Beach. The Curmudgeon sent Chad Feldheimer and me a sarcastic e-mail asking if he should accept the birthday gift and he told me that he was thinking about starting a blog about attending the U.S. Open and Masters. Very funny!
The Curmudgeon has been torturing Chad Feldheimer about his Pebble Beach trip. In addition to going to the U.S. Open, the Curmudgeon and his guest are also going to play golf at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California. Pasatiempo was designed by Alister MacKenzie, who also designed Augusta National and Cypress Point. Pasatiempo is ranked #11 in Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Courses You Can Play 2008 and ranked #31 in Golf Digest’s 2005 America’s Greatest Public Courses. Although the Curmudgeon was a pretty good golfer at one time, that time was Old Tom Morris's day! The Curmudgeon now fancies himself as a links player because he keep the ball close to the ground, usually with a big duck hook. On a per shot basis, the Curmudgeon will get his money's worth at Pasatiempo.
I am happy for the Curmudgeon, but he has not yet realized that this birthday present may be more expensive than he ever imagined. The Curmudgeon has a wife, a son and two daughters. I am not sure how King Solomon Curmudgeon is going to split the baby and make all of the members of his household happy. The Curmudgeon is leaning toward taking his son on these golf trips. Mrs. Curmudgeon (which is not an appropriate pseudonym for the Curmudgeon's wife because she is a sweet, wonderful person) wants to go on an African picture-taking safari. One daughter would like an exotic destination wedding and the other daughter, well we will just have to wait and see what she wants, although a new Mercedes would be a nice start. The Curmudgeon may have to employ Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement to fully enjoy this birthday present. If the pressure is too great, I know that Chad Feldheimer and I would be happy to take the tickets off of his hands.
Showing posts with label Pebble Beach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pebble Beach. Show all posts
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Lost Dutchman Marathon
Sunday was Valentine's Day so SO and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and drove out to picturesque Apache Junction, Arizona. The fabled Lost Dutchman Mine is rumored to be located around Apache Junction. We were not heading to Apache Junction to pan for gold, but rather to walk in the 8K (4.98 mile) Lost Dutchman trail run/walk to benefit the Arizona Lost Boys Center. There was also a marathon, half marathon, 10K run and 2K fun run. Our time was 1:19:11, which is about 16 minutes per mile. Not bad for walking on a trail. At the beginning we picked out a group of four 80+ seniors that we wanted to beat and we were pretty confident until one of them began running and never looked back (to be honest she looked like she was in much better shape than me!). We blistered the remaining three super-seniors.
Two of our attorneys are very involved with the Arizona Lost Boys (and Girls) Center and the Fennemore Craig Foundation supports the Lost Boys activities. One of the Lost Boys works for the firm. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a terrible civil war in Sudan (in East Africa). Thousands of children fled into the jungle and began walking to Ethiopia. They stayed in refugee camps in Ethiopia. In 1991, they were forced to leave Ethiopia and they began another long walk—this time to a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya. In 2001, the United States government resettled 4,000 of these, now, young men in America. 550 “Lost Boys” settled in Arizona and have made it their new home. The Arizona Lost Boys (and Girls) Center is a safe haven for Lost Boys to gather socially, learn important life skills, and receive assistance in many areas including education, employment, crisis intervention, and emotional health support. Many Lost Boys receive scholarships to attend technical schools, colleges, and universities in the Phoenix area.
In the afternoon I watched the end of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament. How can you not love golf after seeing Pebble Beach Golf Links in high definition! The 14th hole is a bear. It may be the hardest par-5 on the PGA Tour. It is not often that you see three tour professional make 9 on a hole within 45 minutes. Alex Prugh, Bryce Molder and Paul Goydos, the tournament leader at the time, each made quadruple bogeys on the hole. It was great to see David Duval on the leaderboard. When he was at the top of his game in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was not well-liked because of his dour demeanor, but after his golf game fell off the end of the earth for 9 years due to injuries, vertigo, etc. he is the comeback kid and although he still does not show much emotion on the course I was rooting for him. He has a beautiful golf swing and great putting stroke. He shot four rounds in the 60s and lost by one stroke to Dustin Johnson, who has now won this tournament back-to-back. The U.S. Open will be played at Pebble Beach this summer and although the golf course will be set up to U.S. Open difficulty standards, Dustin Johnson should have a lot of confidence.
Two of our attorneys are very involved with the Arizona Lost Boys (and Girls) Center and the Fennemore Craig Foundation supports the Lost Boys activities. One of the Lost Boys works for the firm. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a terrible civil war in Sudan (in East Africa). Thousands of children fled into the jungle and began walking to Ethiopia. They stayed in refugee camps in Ethiopia. In 1991, they were forced to leave Ethiopia and they began another long walk—this time to a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya. In 2001, the United States government resettled 4,000 of these, now, young men in America. 550 “Lost Boys” settled in Arizona and have made it their new home. The Arizona Lost Boys (and Girls) Center is a safe haven for Lost Boys to gather socially, learn important life skills, and receive assistance in many areas including education, employment, crisis intervention, and emotional health support. Many Lost Boys receive scholarships to attend technical schools, colleges, and universities in the Phoenix area.
In the afternoon I watched the end of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament. How can you not love golf after seeing Pebble Beach Golf Links in high definition! The 14th hole is a bear. It may be the hardest par-5 on the PGA Tour. It is not often that you see three tour professional make 9 on a hole within 45 minutes. Alex Prugh, Bryce Molder and Paul Goydos, the tournament leader at the time, each made quadruple bogeys on the hole. It was great to see David Duval on the leaderboard. When he was at the top of his game in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was not well-liked because of his dour demeanor, but after his golf game fell off the end of the earth for 9 years due to injuries, vertigo, etc. he is the comeback kid and although he still does not show much emotion on the course I was rooting for him. He has a beautiful golf swing and great putting stroke. He shot four rounds in the 60s and lost by one stroke to Dustin Johnson, who has now won this tournament back-to-back. The U.S. Open will be played at Pebble Beach this summer and although the golf course will be set up to U.S. Open difficulty standards, Dustin Johnson should have a lot of confidence.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Pebble Beach - Sim Golf
I played Pebble Beach Golf Links yesterday. It was great fun! The course was in great shape and the weather was a perfect 72 degrees with no wind. I hit the ball really well and shot an 84! I hit 10 of 14 fairways. I missed a lot of greens, but I was generally in the short rough and able to chip or pitch onto the greens. The greens were really difficult and I had 39 putts. My playing partner and I "walked" the course and carried our own bags. I have heard horror stories about 6 hour rounds at Pebble Beach with tourist/golfers stopping and taking pictures on each hole. We played in about 2 1/2 hours (and my playing partner, the Joker, got more than his monies worth on a per stroke basis!). The staff was great and catered to our every need. It was just what you would expect at Pebble!
This was my first simulated (sim) golf experience and it was fantastic! The Joker and I played at Bunker Indoor Golf and Training Center located at 2333 North Pebble Creek Parkway in Goodyear, Arizona. The phone number is 623.298.4540. It is less than one mile off of the highway and takes about 20 to 25 minutes from central Phoenix door-to-door with no traffic. The drive is not quite the scenic 17-mile drive to Pebble Beach, but the price is right! A sim golf round at Pebble Beach cost $28, as opposed to over $400 for the real thing. Jesse Cisneros, one of the owners (the other owner is Brad Clark), could not have been nicer. He set up the computer and showed us how it works and was available if we had any questions or needed any help during our round. I can unequivocally tell you that I had a great time at Bunker Golf and I will go back again and play!*
My playing partner, the Joker, is a goofy golfer, meaning that he plays left-handed (among other things!). The Joker has a great sense of humor (he needs it with his golf game) and he is a savant on the computer and with Photoshop. Someone will be talking about a wedding in the hallway and all of a sudden you will hear Billy Idol's "White Wedding" or another inappropriate song coming from the Joker's computer or you will get an e-mail with an exploding head attached to the groom or bride. Some people in the office call him the "Candyman" because he always has a bowl of M&Ms or other sweets on his desk and he constantly brings in donuts or cookies for our corner of the office. The Joker made me promise not to tell you that he shot a 126 (whoops!).
The Bunker facility has 6 state-of-the-art high definition golf simulators manufactured by Interactive Sports Technology, a golf shop and a television area with the NFL TV Package for Thursday night NFL football and some snacks available. The owners are expanding the facility to include a sports bar that will serve beer and wine (the liquor license application was just posted on the building). If you want to have a party at Bunker (which would be very cool!) or you just want some pizza while you are playing, Bunker will cater from Picazzo's Gourmet Pizza.
But you really come here for the golf! At Bunker Golf you have choice of a number of world-class golf courses, including Pebble Beach, Bayhill, Pinehurst, Torrey Pines, Kiawah Island, Troon and Spyglass. The golf simulator has actual high definition pictures of the golf course with life-like surround sound, including birds chirping, people clapping and even the sound of your ball hitting a tree limb (which the Joker heard more than once!) and dropping into the cup. But there are no sounds of paparazzi clicking cameras during your backswing! The screen is 10' x 14' and about 10 feet from the hitting area. You also have the equivalent of a course book showing distances to bunkers and other hazards and to the green for each hole. You aim where you actually intend to hit the ball (which is a novel concept for me!). The computer captures all kinds of information on each shot, including shot distance, ball speed, clubhead speed, ball flight, smash factor, swing path, launch angle, club path, club face angle, type of shot (draw, fade or straight ... the computer is nice and does not use terms like "duck hook" or "banana slice"), location of ball on clubhead (center, heel or toe) and more, with pictures for those of us that are more visual!
In addition to great fun, the simulator is a great training and learning tool because you get immediate feedback not just where the ball traveled but why! Another nice feature that Jesse showed us was on the driving range. Rather than just hitting balls on a driving range, you can choose certain distances and the simulator will show a real golf hole. We looked at a 147 yard shot to the par-3, No. 8 hole at Kiawah Island, but there are a number of holes and distances from which to choose. Also, if you want to compare different brands of clubs or balls, the simulator will keep statistics for each club or ball as you hit and you can compare and decide which equipment best suits your game. An hour of practice time with the simulator is $25 and although it is more expensive than a bucket of balls at the local driving range, there is no comparison as to the enjoyment and the valuable information and potential improvement in your golf game! Bunker Golf also has annual and monthly membership packages.
Putting is better than I expected, but still leaves something to be desired. If you are on the green or in the fringe and able to putt, the simulator gives you a grid showing you whether the putt is straight, uphill or downhill and the direction and amount of break on the putt (based on how quickly the dashes are moving), as well as the distance to the pin. When you hole out, the simulator actually makes the sound of a golf ball dropping into the hole. Jesse set up the simulator so that anything within 9 feet was a gimme (he must be reading my blog!), which may explain my low score. I think that you can adjust the gimme distance. The Joker and I never quite got the distance control on the putting, but we will try again soon!
Now back to the golf! We played from the white tees which are only 6,116 yards with a course rating of 71.2, a bogey rating of 96.1 and a slope rating of 134. I shot a 42 on the front 9 with 3 pars and 6 bogeys and a 42 on the back 9 with 4 pars, 5 bogeys and one double bogey. The double bogey was on No. 17, a 178 yard par 3. I hit my 4 hybrid on the green and four putted!
*In the interest of full disclosure, Brad and Jesse saw my previous post on sim golf and were nice enough to comp me 2 rounds.
This was my first simulated (sim) golf experience and it was fantastic! The Joker and I played at Bunker Indoor Golf and Training Center located at 2333 North Pebble Creek Parkway in Goodyear, Arizona. The phone number is 623.298.4540. It is less than one mile off of the highway and takes about 20 to 25 minutes from central Phoenix door-to-door with no traffic. The drive is not quite the scenic 17-mile drive to Pebble Beach, but the price is right! A sim golf round at Pebble Beach cost $28, as opposed to over $400 for the real thing. Jesse Cisneros, one of the owners (the other owner is Brad Clark), could not have been nicer. He set up the computer and showed us how it works and was available if we had any questions or needed any help during our round. I can unequivocally tell you that I had a great time at Bunker Golf and I will go back again and play!*
My playing partner, the Joker, is a goofy golfer, meaning that he plays left-handed (among other things!). The Joker has a great sense of humor (he needs it with his golf game) and he is a savant on the computer and with Photoshop. Someone will be talking about a wedding in the hallway and all of a sudden you will hear Billy Idol's "White Wedding" or another inappropriate song coming from the Joker's computer or you will get an e-mail with an exploding head attached to the groom or bride. Some people in the office call him the "Candyman" because he always has a bowl of M&Ms or other sweets on his desk and he constantly brings in donuts or cookies for our corner of the office. The Joker made me promise not to tell you that he shot a 126 (whoops!).
The Bunker facility has 6 state-of-the-art high definition golf simulators manufactured by Interactive Sports Technology, a golf shop and a television area with the NFL TV Package for Thursday night NFL football and some snacks available. The owners are expanding the facility to include a sports bar that will serve beer and wine (the liquor license application was just posted on the building). If you want to have a party at Bunker (which would be very cool!) or you just want some pizza while you are playing, Bunker will cater from Picazzo's Gourmet Pizza.
But you really come here for the golf! At Bunker Golf you have choice of a number of world-class golf courses, including Pebble Beach, Bayhill, Pinehurst, Torrey Pines, Kiawah Island, Troon and Spyglass. The golf simulator has actual high definition pictures of the golf course with life-like surround sound, including birds chirping, people clapping and even the sound of your ball hitting a tree limb (which the Joker heard more than once!) and dropping into the cup. But there are no sounds of paparazzi clicking cameras during your backswing! The screen is 10' x 14' and about 10 feet from the hitting area. You also have the equivalent of a course book showing distances to bunkers and other hazards and to the green for each hole. You aim where you actually intend to hit the ball (which is a novel concept for me!). The computer captures all kinds of information on each shot, including shot distance, ball speed, clubhead speed, ball flight, smash factor, swing path, launch angle, club path, club face angle, type of shot (draw, fade or straight ... the computer is nice and does not use terms like "duck hook" or "banana slice"), location of ball on clubhead (center, heel or toe) and more, with pictures for those of us that are more visual!
In addition to great fun, the simulator is a great training and learning tool because you get immediate feedback not just where the ball traveled but why! Another nice feature that Jesse showed us was on the driving range. Rather than just hitting balls on a driving range, you can choose certain distances and the simulator will show a real golf hole. We looked at a 147 yard shot to the par-3, No. 8 hole at Kiawah Island, but there are a number of holes and distances from which to choose. Also, if you want to compare different brands of clubs or balls, the simulator will keep statistics for each club or ball as you hit and you can compare and decide which equipment best suits your game. An hour of practice time with the simulator is $25 and although it is more expensive than a bucket of balls at the local driving range, there is no comparison as to the enjoyment and the valuable information and potential improvement in your golf game! Bunker Golf also has annual and monthly membership packages.
Putting is better than I expected, but still leaves something to be desired. If you are on the green or in the fringe and able to putt, the simulator gives you a grid showing you whether the putt is straight, uphill or downhill and the direction and amount of break on the putt (based on how quickly the dashes are moving), as well as the distance to the pin. When you hole out, the simulator actually makes the sound of a golf ball dropping into the hole. Jesse set up the simulator so that anything within 9 feet was a gimme (he must be reading my blog!), which may explain my low score. I think that you can adjust the gimme distance. The Joker and I never quite got the distance control on the putting, but we will try again soon!
Now back to the golf! We played from the white tees which are only 6,116 yards with a course rating of 71.2, a bogey rating of 96.1 and a slope rating of 134. I shot a 42 on the front 9 with 3 pars and 6 bogeys and a 42 on the back 9 with 4 pars, 5 bogeys and one double bogey. The double bogey was on No. 17, a 178 yard par 3. I hit my 4 hybrid on the green and four putted!
*In the interest of full disclosure, Brad and Jesse saw my previous post on sim golf and were nice enough to comp me 2 rounds.
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