The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Month: June 2006

Wolf Creek

June 26, 2006 / / 16 Comments

Golf Vacation, Part Two – Mesquite, NV. First course: Wolf Creek.

Before Dennis and John Rider filled it with their architecture, the area where the Wolf Creek Golf Course lives and breathes was probably pretty nice to look at. Now, it’s so beautiful, it’s a distraction to the golfers trying to play there. I could practically hear it mocking me.

The view from the clubhouse.

There’s no question that Wolf Creek is one of the most gorgeous courses I’ve ever played. I expected it to be and it didn’t let me down. I have always had a soft spot for the types of rock formations and terrain found in that region, and to combine that with my green addiction, well, I started drooling in anticipation before we even turned onto “Paradise Parkway.” What did let me down was my game.

Paradise Fairway?

Tee Selection

Okay, it’s a difficult course – I’ll give it that. However, I should still be able to break 100 when “playing a realistic set of tees for my ability,” as it recommends on the score card. I guess the trouble is my “ability” still changes from round to round. There are five sets of tees from which to select, which is nice. For men, they even have recommended handicaps for each set. I highly recommend following those recommendations, especially if you’re just visiting and only get to experience this course one time. You’ll want a fond memory, not a day of struggles.

Speaking of driving responsibly

Yes, Wolf Creek boasts dramatic and picturesque elevation changes. But this truly three-dimensional aspect means more than just challenge and photo ops. In fact, you even have to sign your life away on their liability release for driving (or riding in) the golf cart – no, you will NOT be walking this course. The waiver is not just for damages to the cart, like many courses have. I wonder if anyone has actually been killed or maimed while maneuvering on those cart paths. When you turn in your signed release to the starter, you are rewarded with his gift of the yardage book. And if it’s your first time there, he’ll give you the spiel about the course before sending you on your way.

A Manly Course

I don’t think this course was necessarily designed for men. I mean, there are five sets of tees, like I mentioned. I do think that it is definitely managed for men. When they put the tee selections on the card, they decided to only show two sets on the ladies side and those are the only two with ratings for women. They also don’t show the recommended handicaps for them like they do for the men. And while the yardage book is a very slick piece, it gives nicely worded tips for landing areas and club selections… from the “men’s” tees.

The landing area might appear obvious from here, but when I got down to the “signature” tees, I wanted to cut off some of that corner. Hmm… let me consult my yardage book.

Of course, I was playing with two men, who had each other for discussion on these matters as well as the yardage book and time on the tee. Then we would drive to my tees, and they weren’t always where they said they’d be, so I was left to make a quick calculation and decision on my own. Math is not among my strengths. Also, the rocks with the directional arrows to guide you up stairs and whatnot to find your tees were occasionally mis-marked for the tees I chose. Hike up one set of stairs with one or two clubs only to see my tees on an entirely different cliff across the way. Hike back and recalculate!

Worth the hike!

I hereby offer my services as a consultant to Wolf Creek. I’d be happy to have them bring me out for a week or two to write a female friendly yardage book and make recommendations for changes to the card and the markings to help attract more female players.

Every rose has its thorns

The male-centric management might be a frustration just from my perspective. There were a couple of factual snags as well.
One – Choose your tee spot carefully. Due to the nature of the terrain, the tee areas aren’t always flat. You don’t want to give yourself a sidehill lie for a teeshot.
Two – The greens are hammered. There was damage from unrepaired ball marks everywhere. I asked about this after the round, and apparently they have a lot of foreign tourists come through who are accustomed to caddies following them around and cleaning up after them. Consequently, the marks don’t get repaired and the damage has been done. They said they have hired a new greens-repair service to fix them up and keep them maintained.
Three – The practice range is irons-only. Hmm, I guess this is more of an opinion than a factual flaw. I don’t mind irons-only on a course I play frequently or even one I don’t that isn’t so difficult, but for me, I want a few swings to get my driver in shape before tackling a course like this.

 The practice range, bunker and chipping area.


Cool stuff

A lot has been said about the design and beauty of this course and it’s all true. The scenery is breathtaking, and notwithstanding the stunning views from the higher-up holes and dramatic par-5s, the par-3 8th hole is probably my favorite. There’s a creek on this hole that snakes around in front of and behind the green that epitomizes the use of the natural landscape in the smart architecture of the entire course.

Par-3 8th.
Compared to the other photos with the majestic views, this may not look like much from here. I should have taken a shot from closer to the green.

There is a drive-through snack shack for your convenience once you’re out in the middle of the course. It was my first drive-through in a golf cart, which I thought was cool all by itself. In addition to that, there are chipmunks and a family of birds (they’re called chuckers) that come around and get fed by the snack-shack attendant. They even have their own wading pool behind the shack. Sure, the plastic kiddie pool looks out of place, but come on, it gets hot up there!

The pro-shop and the clubhouse are really nice, too. They certainly didn’t forget anything in their branding campaign. Even the dinner plates are emblazoned with the Wolf Creek logo. The food was good, the wine list is comprehensive, and there’s even something on the dessert menu called a “spider shake.” I didn’t go there – anything to do with spiders, count me out.

The professionals were… professional. The service was efficient and, in cases, ultra-friendly. Charlie, one of the starters, was particularly likable and open. I’ll end this with a quote from him, which, rather than being indicatave of the predominance of men there, sums up the beauty and challenge of the course: “Don’t come here to score.”

Go back to Golf Vacation, Part One – Primm Valley.

Go to the Next post.

Skip to the next course: The Ledges.

The Jam Boy is back, the Jam Boy is back!

June 26, 2006 / / 0 Comments

Or is he, really? Sure, he made a post over the weekend, but in it he’s already making excuses for being gone for another stint, teasing us with “another update” in the future. And this wasn’t much of an update. I mean, we all knew he was smoking crack, right? We just thought he was doing it in Florida.

Don’t tease us, Jam Boy! Are you really back?

Next post.

Golf Vacation, Part One – Primm Valley

June 22, 2006 / / 3 Comments

The plan: six days of golf, three days of drag racing and whatever trouble we can get into in between.

Part one begins as we set out for our first destination. After dropping off the Goose at Grandma & Grandpa’s house for her extended stay, we rented a car and headed out on Friday for Primm Valley. Our golf club (The Treehouse) held its annual “away” trip at this California/Nevada Stateline location. The hotel and casino are just on the Nevada side of the border and the golf courses are just on the California side. It’s the same location we went to for our away trip last year, where we won the team event on Saturday and did quite poorly in the Sunday team format.

Primm Valley Golf Club has two courses: The Lakes Course and the Desert Course. The Desert course does have some water, however, not as much as the Lakes course, as you can imagine. Both are well designed and scenic Tom Fazio courses. The Lakes course has much more shade, and the water helps cool the ubiquitous breeze, so playing it in the summer is more comfortable than playing the Desert course. We actually got lucky with the weather and it wasn’t too hot. Even though our scheduled shotgun start was suddenly changed to a series of foursomes and we were near the end of the group, the heat didn’t beat us. According to the course and slope ratings, the Lakes course is easier for women than the Desert course and vice-versa for the men. From my perspective, the ratings are accurate for women, but according to the men, they got it wrong. It seems the Desert course is more challenging all around. The Lakes course is a little more shielded from the wind, and it might also have something to do with the comfort factor of the temperature. The format we played on the Desert course might have been the biggest culprit. I’d like to get my hands on that course for a whole round of my own.

Bunnies relaxing in the shade by the clubhouse.
See last year’s post from this tournament for photos of the jackalopes (link above).

The first tournamentThe formats this year were the same as last year. Saturday was a two-person team event, where each person plays out his or her ball for an individual score, and using handicaps, you take the best net score of each hole for a total team score. This format is played on the Lakes course. I mentioned that Greg and I won this event last year, and this year we won it even more dramatically. Greg shot the round of his life (a +4 75) and I shot a rare sub-90 (89). I had two birdies in the same round (on the same 9!) and 38 putts. In other words, that should have been an even better round for me than it was. Woulda coulda shoulda, yadda yadda. Greg holed out his second shot of the day to eagle the first hole for a net 1 and nearly eagled the second hole, settling for a birdie there. He probably would have been lynched if he eagled two in a row, so I guess he did the right thing. Combined, we netted a 54, which tied another team and we won it in a card-off for the $250 payout. Great start for our trip!

This beautiful yellow-headed bird cheered us on to victory on the Lakes course.

The gambling

We headed back to the Nevada side of the line for the evening, feeling like luck was on our side. Greg sat down at the sports book and on his very first bet won a $2 trifecta for $200. My horses didn’t come in. We moved around to different games and although I was down almost $200, my luck turned around when we changed casinos and took the monorail to Whiskey Pete’s. By the time we went to bed, we were both up, but just a bit. Still, it beats being down. Plenty more golf and plenty more gambling to do on this trip.

The second tournament

Sunday’s event was played on the Desert course, using the same “modified Pinehurst” that we played and hated last year. It’s another two-person team format, but rather than play out your whole round, you each tee off, then you each hit the other person’s tee shot, then you pick the one you want to play from there and alternate hitting that ball until you hole it out. It might sound like fun, but it’s not. You can’t get into any kind of rhythm, you don’t get to play an actual round, plus, your teammate is forced to play your bad shots. All I can say is you better really like your teammate. There were a lot of grumpy golfers out there that day. One of them was in my twosome and it wasn’t me. :) I didn’t enjoy the format either, but I just tried to go with the flow and enjoy the day anyway. It wasn’t easy. I think we shot an 88 for a net 73 (+1), which was nowhere near good enough to place. Mr. Grumpy cheered up by the time it was over, which was a good thing because we checked out of Primm and now it was time to drive to Mesquite for the next segment of our golf and gambling marathon. Stay tuned for part two!

Next post.

Skip the next post, go straight to Golf Vacation, Part Two – Wolf Creek.

Golf Chick Turns One

June 20, 2006 / / 9 Comments

Today is my one year anniversary of starting this blog!

So far, I have put up 118 posts (this one makes 119). That’s an average of about one post every three days. August 20 will mark my two-year anniversary of taking up the game of golf. As you can see on my Courses I’ve Played section, I have already played 55 courses in 14 states! I have written about my experiences at some of those courses on this blog and will continue to do that. Thank you to all the readers that continue to come to my site to share in my experiences and especially to those who post comments – you help keep me motivated. I really enjoy keeping this diary of my golf life and I love to write!Pardon the interruption

I have been away from online life for the past 10 days. In fact, I just got back last night (actually, early this morning) from a golf vacation! I can now add 4 new courses and 3 new states to my list, which I will be updating soon. I will be writing about those courses and my trip in general in the coming days. The course write-ups will also be seen on worldgolf.com. I got a lot of good photos to go with the stories as well.

Ducks in Nashville (Tennessee, one of the states I can add to my list)

Now I need a vacation from my vacation. I know, vacation from what? I’m unemployed! I told my dog it was because she was too damn cute and I just had to get away from her for awhile because I couldn’t stand it anymore. She’s so cute it makes me sick. Actually, I did come home with a wicked cold I’m still fighting, which might mean it literally makes me sick to be away from her for so long. It’s good to be home, and just as soon as I can get my ducks in a row, I’ll be writing those stories. I have also purchased the domain www.thegolfchick.com and in the near future should be transferring this site over to it. I’ll keep you posted, so to speak. Stay tuned!

Lining up those ducks!

Next post.

Curing My Slice (Now what did I break?)

June 5, 2006 / / 8 Comments

Rather than struggle for weeks, months or years trying to figure out the problem on my own, I went to see a professional about the slice I developed with my driver. It came on quite suddenly and became more pronounced as the days and weeks passed. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t figure out what I was doing differently.

I had to run an errand on the east side of town, so I called up Simi Hills this morning to see if there was an instructor available who could cure my slice in one magic session. Matt answered the phone and he said “I can do that, what time?” I love it when a plan comes together.

After I warmed up a little, he watched me take a few swings with my driver. Sure enough, I produced the dramatic slice I wanted him to cure. Ten minutes later I was hitting it straight or drawing almost every hit. We continued for about thirty more minutes to make sure I had the idea down. I did.

Familiar prescription

So what was the answer? First, he changed a few things in my setup. He had me position the club head right up next to the ball (I was placing it a couple inches back). My shoulders were pointing slightly left of my target line, and he fixed that (directing them to point AT the target – doh!), and he brought my hands back in line with the ball (I had them in front like an iron). Then he got to the heart of the problem in my swing. Mainly, I wasn’t able to square up the club face because I was transferring my weight forward with a swaying motion, moving my head and shoulders forward as my weight shifted. I’d have to swing the club awfully fast and get really wristy to get the club face square at impact. Rather than do that, why not just keep my head and shoulders back and just let the weight shift in my legs like I’m supposed to do? And just for fun, how about if I actually turn my hands over and produce a draw? DUH! Sure, now I say duh. Sounds familiar… hmmm…. I seem to recall having that same reaction after that group clinic I attended when I completely lost my swing. The answer there was also to transfer my weight correctly. Trouble was, even though it was enough to give me my confidence back, I kept that swing thought and was over-correcting! Sure enough, that’s right when I started slicing with my driver. I guess I could get away with it with the rest of my clubs at least most of the time. The longer the club, the bigger the slice. Funny how that works.

So, for the first clinic I shelled out 20 clams, and this lesson cost me 40. Actually, the lesson was $40, but when I went out to my car I discovered they were slurrying the parking lot right next to where I parked and my car was covered in black dust, so I guess I should add the cost of a car wash to that total. Anyway, I wonder what problem I’ll develop now that will send me running out for the next magic fix.

Putting update

My new putter is feeling great, by the way. We played Malibu Country Club yesterday and even though I only hit 4 fairways and 1 G.I.R., I only had 32 putts! 32! I think that might be my personal best for putting! No thanks to their recent course modification, either. I was really disappointed they had removed the brass cups from the holes. No more *clangety-clang* when you sink a putt! That was my favorite thing about playing that course, dangit.

Now what?

Now I need to take my improved putting and my straightened-out drive and attack some course to see if I can make it all come together. Wouldn’t that be special? Then I can go to work on the most important stat of all: G.I.R.s. Don’t you just love this game?

Next post.

The busy times of an unemployed golf addict

June 2, 2006 / / 3 Comments

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It’s been two weeks since my last post. (Come on, that’s hardly pulling a Jam-Boy.) I have let several topics pile up, so this post could get long-winded. Where to start?

Well, unemployment is really keeping me busy. Over the last couple weeks I spent some time down in Dana Point visiting my family and hosted my best friend as a houseguest over the long Memorial Day weekend. I’ve been dreaming up and researching business ventures for my future, planning a vacation with Greg, and of course, I’ve been playing some golf.

Golfing with the folks

While visiting my parents, I managed to get them both to agree to play golf with me! Dad plays occasionally (probably once or twice a year) but he’s a natural athlete. He used to play a lot, so he’s definitely got me beat on experience. Mom was inspired by me to take up golf and has had a whopping two lessons. Her second lesson really turned her off but I was thankful she still wanted to get out and play with us. We went out one afternoon, and since they’re not addicts like me, we set out to just play nine holes at San Juan Hills. Dad gave away his golf clubs a couple years back, so they both had to rent sets. I played from the white tees with dad and mom played the reds. They rode in a cart together and I really enjoyed the way they communicated and watching my dad coach my mom through the process. It was so cute! I hope they start playing golf together.

Dad and I were pretty evenly matched, at least that day. I didn’t exactly have my “A” game with me and it was kind of hard to get in a rhythm, but the day wasn’t about playing my best, I guess. Mom commented on how similar our swings are – big and smooth. I out-drove him once or twice (of course, he refused to use his driver, opting instead for the 3-wood for better control) which pissed him off in his jovial way. Heehee. I only beat him by one stroke, which pissed me off in my hidden way.

Mom was a real trooper, literally, clocking around 7000 steps on her pedometer. She didn’t hit it far, but she hit it straight and she really has focus. There is so much to learn at that stage. Trying to actually hit the golf ball while learning rules and etiquette can be overwhelming on your first outing. I hope she keeps at it, not just so I can play with her more but because I think she’d really enjoy it and could be quite good. Overall, it was a great afternoon. They want to come up here and play with me and Greg, and I hope they do that soon.

Golfing with Ariana

My best and longest-time friend, Ariana, came down from the Bay Area to visit me over the long weekend. Last time she came down, I got her out to my local par-3 nine-hole course and she really enjoyed her experience there. She’s not a natural athlete or even sportily coordinated at all, but she has a great sense of adventure and understands the lure of the sport. Plus, she has her own growing business now and recognizes how playing golf can be an asset in that regard. She has a very competitive nature (as do I – you should see us at dice or cards!), so it will be interesting to see if she applies that to golf as she learns and gets better. She has signed up for a six-week muni lesson plan and even though that hadn’t begun before her visit, she was eager to get back out there and play, so we went back to that same course. Her goal was double par, and even though it was only her second attempt at the game, she nearly reached that goal, missing it by only a couple strokes! Another fun afternoon and another golf recruit successfully signed up.

On Memorial Day, we went to a fun little gathering at a friend’s house. Good barbecue, great company, and the fiercest, most aggressive game of croquet I’ve ever seen!

Defending my title

Our golf club plays tournaments once a month, and after a couple months of stroke play qualifiers, May was our first round in the bracket match-play eliminations toward club championship. As reigning club champ, I automatically qualified first and this year, my handicap index just barely has me playing in A-flight. Since I’m at the higher end of it, my first opponent still had to give me eight strokes.

**Explanation of match and stroke play for beginners – skip it if you know**
In tournament play, your handicap index is translated to a course handicap depending on the difficulty of the course and each set of tees has its own rating. It’s all formula based and very mathematical. In stroke play, everyone just “gets” that number of strokes and it is subtracted from your total gross score for a net score, and best net score wins. In match play, you’re only playing against one opponent, so whichever person has the higher course handicap gets the difference of the two numbers. You play to win each hole rather than a better overall score. Each hole is assigned a handicap rating (1-18) based on difficulty of the hole. So, if I get 8 strokes, I get them on the eight hardest holes. This means on any of those holes, I can bogey and he can par and we still tie that hole. In match play, putts and holes can be conceded. For example, if your opponent reaches the green in two with an easy two-putt and you hacked around and got on in five with a long putt in front of you, you can concede the hole rather than play it out. In our club, we play a simultaneous stroke play tournament, so we play out every hole.

I won my match handily, beating my opponent 7 and 6 (beginners: that means I was up by 7 holes with only six to play so the match was over at that point) and played out the rest of the round well enough to take second place in the stroke play event.

My next match is against one of the best golfers in the club. He’s consistently on top of the birdie club, usually wins at least one closest to the pin in every tournament, wins an occasional long drive and places in the top three in most stroke play events. His attitude appears to me to indicate that he is among the dissenters in the club when it comes to women joining, but I don’t know that for sure. He’s going to be a tough customer and I better bring that “A” game I mentioned earlier. I’m pretty nervous about it, but it would be quite satisfying if I can take him down. Greg also won his first match, and if we both win two more, we will be facing each other for the A-flight championship. Wouldn’t that be interesting? This month is our away tournament, a fun weekend event at Primm (Nevada-California Stateline) so our next match play tournament isn’t until July. Time to practice!

New putter, same golfer, new drive

I’m still not happy with my game overall. I don’t feel as confident and solid as I think I should and know I can be. I believe I mentioned something about a “not unplayable slice” I have developed with my driver in my last post. That slice has grown and in a round I played yesterday, it was decidedly unplayable. So frustrating! My drive used to be the most reliable shot of the hole for me. This is the area I will really be working on in the coming weeks.

Out of desperation over my lack of putting skills, I got a new putter. It’s a Titleist Scotty Cameron Studio Newport 2.5. I like the red grip and the festive colored dots, but I can’t stand the silly Cameron lettering on the grip. I’ll admit I was looking for a panacea out of this new putter, even though I know it’s still me doing the putting. I’ve only used it a few times, so I’m still getting used to it, but I will say I really like the feel of it. Results have been similar to how I putted with my TaylorMade Monza – some rounds better than others – what a shock! Psychologically, I think the new twist has helped and over time I’ll get better with it than I was with my old one. Truthfully, I’ve been so wrapped up in my terrible drives that my focus has shifted. New toys are fun, though! Since I started golfing, this is the first club I have replaced. I can see how people get a renewed excitement when they get a new driver or some other club. Sure, it’s still ultimately the same golfer with the same swing, but any change you make in golf brings that spark of opportunity to better your game. I’ve never enjoyed the process of shopping, but I do enjoy getting new things! Combining that with my golf addiction could be dangerous – like that first taste of crack.Next post.

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