Winter is in full swing here in northern Utah. Ski resorts are humming and there’s snow on the golf courses. Happy holidays! For those like me who may want to get out of the cold and play some golf in some warmer weather, I’ve got some suggestions for you in the Phoenix/Scottsdale Arizona area. Here’s where to play and where to stay!
Play
Here’s a short list of awesome golf courses in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area I highly recommend. Below is my top five, but there are many more great courses one can experience.
Quintero Golf Club
Quintero is a par-72 Rees Jones design roughly a 45 minute drive from Scottsdale. Rees Jones is the son of one of golf’s all-time greatest golf architects, Robert Trent Jones.
Quintero is a mountainside course featuring challenging and scenic elevation changes. Rees Jones does a great job with desert/mountain golf course terrain. The fairways are generous but strategic bunker placement puts a premium on accuracy.
Boulders Golf Resort
The Boulders Golf Resort offers fantastic golf and resort accommodations, renowned as one of the best in the U.S.A. Boulders features 36 holes of golf, the North Course and South Course.
The North Course was designed by Jay Morish and features dramatic panoramas as it winds through huge boulder formations. The South Course, also Jay Morrish, is slightly more challenging than the North. The South requires more accuracy off the tee and better course management.
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club offers 36 holes of highly popular and challenging Arizona golf in the Cholla and Saguaro courses. We-Ko-Pa is located on Indian land and the natural terrain is the foreground to views of the area’s mountains in the distance. No homes on the courses.
Cholla is designed by Scott Miller and provides a tough test with narrow fairways and thick desert to eat up errant shots. The Saguaro is the newest course, designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. “Crenshaw and Coore” are two of the top modern golf architects whose style tremendously routes their courses through natural, rugged styling. If you haven’t had a chance to play a Crenshaw/Coore course, you really should do it. They’re fantastic.
Grayhawk
Grayhawk boasts 36 holes of fantastic Arizona desert golf in the Talon and Raptor courses. The Raptor course was designed by famed golf architect Tom Fazio and features large fairways and highly undulating greens. The errant approaches at the Raptor are often met by deep bunkering. The Talon Course was designed by David Graham and Gary Pranks. The Talon is ranked as one of the “Top 100 in You Can Play U.S.” Tee shots are very challenging at the Talon, especially in the back nine which features many holes in box canyons.
Grayhawk is also known as professional golfer Phil Mickelson’s home course in Arizona.
Troon North
Troon North features two courses, the Monument course by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, and the Pinnacle Course by Tom Weiskopf.
Below is a shot of the Pinnacle course from one of the last HOG World Tour Arizona trips.
The Monument is rated the #1 public golf course in Arizona. Both courses epitomize Arizona/desert target golf. The Pinnacle course is rated the 3rd best course in Arizona.
Stay
I recommend staying at Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The resort is tremendous, featuring spacious individual accommodations, restaurants, and nearby activities including hiking, swimming, golf, tennis and more.
Above is a photo of my fantastic accommodations from the last HOG World Tour trip to Sanctuary. Winning.
Put It All Together
Scottsdale is a great golf destination, with year-round great weather and very enjoyable and interesting golf courses. Get out of the cold this winter and join your golf buddies for a fantastic golf trip to the desert. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of putting your trip together, I recommend taking advantage of one of the Scottsdale golf packages from Phoenix Scottsdale Golf. Not only will they help you put together a great golf buddy trip to Scottsdale, they’ll save you money.
I often find myself in situations in the golf world and other worlds I live in, where I need a padlock. In the golf world I’m often in golf club locker rooms where a lock would come in handy. I also find myself needing padlocks when I’m traveling. Often at high end golf resorts I need a padlock for the spa or pool area lockers, and gym lockers. My last lock was a rotary combination lock, and it actually fell apart. That’s not going to keep my stuff safe.
Unlock Via Fingerprint, Bluetooth, Morse Code!
I’m thrilled to have put a Tapplock Lite into the bag. The Tapplock Light fulfills all my padlock needs plus I’ll NEVER forget the combination or lose the key. The locking mechanism is activated by either my own fingerprints, or bluetooth from my mobile phone.
Oh, there’s another way to unlock it as well, via morse code! That’s great for people who need to unlock their lock but have had their phone stolen and all of their fingers chopped off.
I would say you can put the Tapplock Lite on your golf travel bag as well, but not when it is checked in at the airport. They’ll just cut it off. But lock the back up when it’s stored at the hotel or golf course for sure. Nice to have some extra protection. Always have protection.
Users
One nice thing about the Tapplock is it can work with multiple users. So if you want to give access to a family member or golf buddy you can. Access levels and times can be set on a per-user basis. For instance, you can grant someone temporary access between say 6-8 in the morning, when someone needs to get your gear for you.
Colors
Tapplock Lite comes in three color options: black, red, yellow (pictured).
Final Thoughts
Having a padlock that I can use without having to remember a combination or keeping a key on hand is fantastic. The $50 Tapplock Liet works great and provides terrific options for unlocking. What a cool idea. Hats off!
When I’m not golfing, I’m either skiing or hiking. I live in an awesome place (Utah) for sure. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone though. It’s getting too crowded. Since I had the shoulder surgery, I’ve been only hiking and skiing but I’m looking forward to playing golf soon.
In the hiking/skiing world I’m going to be opening a new website, similar to this one. It will be dedicated to going up and down mountains, and all that comes with it. One of the products I’ve had my eyes on in that world is Arcade Belts.
Arcade Belts are made for outdoor activities. The belts are made to stretch and move with the movements of the person wearing them. I think they’re a great crossover for golf, as we golfers end to make quite a bit of movement during the golf swing, and walking the course. I’ve been sporting these three belts which were sent in for review by Arcade. I loved the belts so much I bought two other ones.
These belts are coming in very handy at the moment. During the course of this year I’ve bumped up my physical training for the upcoming ski season, and for my general health. I was carrying some extra weight. This year I’ve dropped about 35 pounds. Wooo! The problem is that now none of my pants or shorts fit me. They all fall off. Thanks to the flexible nature of Arcade Belts, I can milk some more wear out of these pants/shorts, without sacrificing comfort.
I’ll be posting a review soon, so stay tuned. And watch out for my new site coming soon. It’s called Hike.Ski, and that’s the URL: http://www.hike.ski
Finally fall has arrived and I’ve been able to put my new Rhoback Fog Horn Pullover to work. I’m wearing it now! Rhoback is a new apparel brand which is making some great golf threads. Let’s take a look at the Fog Horn Pullover.
Features
Fog Horn is a 1/4 zip pullover with super-soft and flexible fabric which is extremely comfortable. Said fabric is 54% polyester, 32% nylon and 14% spandex. I like the fact that it is 0% cotton. That means the pullover is low maintenance and doesn’t wrinkle or shrink.
In addition to the great comfort and fit, the Fog Horn’s fabric provides moisture-wicking properties. Moisture wicking is where the fabric pulls moisture from the wearer and helps it evaporate.
The Fog Horn provides 40-50+ UPF sun protection.
The unique “bacon collar” is stylish and helps keep the wearer warm and comfortable. Unfortunately the bacon collar is not edible.
Sizes/Colors
Sizes for the Fog Horn range from small to triple-extra-large. I’m sporting the large and the fit is just right.
Fog Horn comes in one color (pictured) which is a heathered gray with navy blue lining.
In Action
I’ll be wearing my Fog Horn all day today at the day job, writing code. My workspace isn’t terribly warm so having this 1/4 zip in play will help me stay comfortable and look great during my work day.
On the course the Fog Horn provides a great protection layer in chilly conditions. It helps take the edge off those fall temperatures. The flexibility and cut of the fabric means the garment will not restrict the golfer or get in the way during the golf swing.
Final Thoughts
The Fog Horn 1/4 zip is super sharp looking, comfortable, and provides great performance benefits. Add one to your golf apparel scripting. You can thank me later.
Related
Check out my review of the Rhoback Game Day polos!
Fall has arrived in grand fashion here in northern Utah. In a heartbeat we went from unbelievably hot to needing fall gear. I’m happy to have some styling new fall gear from Callaway Apparel to fight off the cold, wind and rain (soon to be snow). Let’s take a quick first look at the 2019 Men’s Weather Series from Callaway Apparel.
Men’s Swing Tech 1/4 Zip Waffle Fleece
Mens Swing Tech Outlast Midlayer 1/4 Zip Pullover
1/4 Zip Jacket
I’ll be posting my full review of the Men’s Weather Series very soon, pre-Black Friday so stay tuned!
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