Course Source: TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course, Sheraton Hacienda del Mar

Course Source: TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course, Sheraton Hacienda del Mar










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange April 1, 2013 2:30 AMThe SportsXchange


IN THE PUBLIC EYE: TPC Scottsdale -- The Stadium Course, in Scottsdale, Ariz.


THE LAYOUT: Watching Phil Mickelson shred The Stadium Course over Super Bowl weekend in 2013 -- tying the tournament record at 28-under and lipping out on 18 to narrowly miss carding a 59 in the opening round -- it's easy for the amateur to daydream about going low at a PGA Tour facility.

Even though the course virtually is on the grounds of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, it was open to the public, as are all TPC layouts.

The Stadium Course indeed offers a nice blend of playability and significant challenge to go along with a great history. Designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, the course was built in 1986 and played host to its first PGA Tour event -- the Phoenix Open -- the following year.

One of the advantages of playing at a PGA Tour facility is no expense is spared in maintaining pristine course conditions. While most course superintendents in the area are working with stricter budgets and balancing seeding and water schedules, The Stadium Course -- and to a slightly lesser degree the accompanying Champions Course -- are in nearly immaculate shape year-round.

The par-71 Stadium Course can be stretched out to 7,216 yards (74.6/138) from the black tees. However, unless you're a bomber off the tee and enjoy long irons to the green, the 6,525 yards (71.1/129) from the blues is more than enough test for most golfers. The whites play 6,049/68.7/125, shortening many of the challenging par-4s.

For the ladies, the 5,455 yards includes several drives that require moderate carries over -- or through -- the desert, but nothing too daunting.

There's no denying The Stadium Course is a treat. If you're planning a visit during the peak-season rates that hover around $300, do yourself a favor and play in the morning or early afternoon, when very knowledgeable forecaddies who travel the Arizona/Wisconsin in-seasons are included with your green fee (minus tip) and really help make the experience.

The Stadium Course is littered with PGA Tour history -- from the boulder fans moved to help Tiger Woods recover from a wayward tee shot in 1999, leading to a change in the rules of golf, to the famous par-3 16th, where 25,000 raucous fans annually congregate in golf's loudest venue. Every hole seems to have a signature moment -- "The Chez Reavie hole," "The J.B. Holmes hole" -- and your forecaddie can add to your outing by narrating the most memorable shots from the Waste Management Open.

GENERAL MANAGER: Bill Grove.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: The direction of the grain on the greens is critical playing anywhere in the Phoenix area. It typically grows away from Pinnacle Peak in north Scottsdale and toward the valley. Get to the course early enough to spend some time on the greens and let your forecaddie drop a little knowledge that will help sink a few extra putts.

While the front nine is solid a features a few memorable holes -- including the par-3 fourth with a big, sloping green, the character of the course really begins to come out as you approach the turn. Keep an eye out on No. 9. Push your drive far enough to the right and you might take out a PGA Tour or Web.com player minding his own business on the facility reserved for professionals.

The 10th hole is where the fun really begins. A 376-yard par-4 from the blue tees, it requires a well-placed drive for a lengthy uphill approach shot. If you struck the drive well enough to have a look at the green, you're likely to also get your first good look at the famous grandstands surrounding the 16th hole as you approach your ball.

It takes four-and-a-half months to erect and a month-and-a-half to bring down the grandstands at a hefty price tag of around $1 million in both directions.

The first glimpse of one of the most famous holes on the PGA Tour puts a real charge into the round, but focus on that approach shot. There is a pot bunker just off the right side of the 10th green and two bunkers protecting the front left. All things being equal, miss to the left -- anything right, especially to a right pin placement -- is in jail trying to get back to the green that slopes back to front.

Survive that test and you're greeted with the No. 1 handicap hole on The Stadium Course. It's a bear of a par-4 at 439 yards from the blues, with water all down the left side. It's easy to bail toward the less intimidating right side, but there are trees and small bushes likely to prevent a clear look. There is a big premium on hitting the fairway on No. 11, and a mid- to long-iron that hits the front half of the massive green will get plenty of roll.

The par-3 12th provides a mental breather before one of the most interesting holes on the course. The par-5 13th presents the option of going left or right around a big swatch of sand and trees. At 552 yards from the blues and 528 from the whites, the shorter route is to the right. If you don't have the distance to get there in two, play it safe to the left side and there is a big landing area for your second shot.

The smallish green is protected by a deep bunker on the front right, but you don't want to over-club with your approach shot, as the hole typically plays downwind.

The 419-yard 14th hole plays back into the wind and finally brought someone in our group to whimsically ask the forecaddie, "Let me guess, it's another long par-4 and 'get all I can get' on the drive!"

With the 16th grandstands back in view and starting to get the heart pumping, a good drive off the tee at the par-5 15th can present the best risk-reward opportunity on the course. At 468 yards from the blue tees, the hole is definitely reachable in two. There's only one problem.

Well, 360 of them, depending on your point of view.

With a long iron or hybrid in hand, you're also looking at an island green. It's another huge putting surface that slopes back to front and there are bunkers on the left and front right, but the reality is anything off-target is likely to splash down.

But you didn't come this far to lay up, so grip it and rip it.

If you play TPC during one of the six months the 16th grandstands are being worked on, you'll come off the 15th green, walk under the stands and pop out on the tee box for a bit of that PGA Tour feeling. From a golf perspective, it's the second-easiest hole on the course and plays only 143 yards downhill from the blues to a decent-sized green. After snapping a few pictures, hit a decent short iron and you'll have a good opportunity to tell your friends you birdied the 16th at The Stadium Course.

The par-4 17th is another risk/reward. Big, accurate hitters will be tempted at only 292 yards downhill from the blues, but the green is protected by water to the left and in back. Another option is a layup to a comfortable distance and a very manageable approach.

The par-4 18th is pretty finishing hole. A fairway plaque commemorates J.B. Holmes' 359-yard drive in 2008 that led to his playoff victory over Phil Mickelson. Most mortals will face around 150-160 yards into a big green with a false front on the left side. No galleries are greeting you, but a well-struck approach might draw a small applause from those overlooking the green from the outside seating area at the restaurant and bar.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: It's hard to go wrong in the Phoenix area, and there are more courses than even the locals have time to get tired of.

Many of the top facilities feature two courses worthy of lining up a 36-hole day for, including Troon (Pinnacle, Monument) and Grayhawk (Raptor, Talon) in Scottsdale, We-Ko-Pa (Cholla and Saguaro) in Fort McDowell and the Boulders (North, South) in Carefree.

Talking Stick, owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, is another Troon establishment with a pair of consistently top-ranked tracks.

WHERE TO STAY: The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess provides an all-in-one experience for the family or business traveler. The course even skirts along the hotel on the front nine, where your family or jealous co-workers can watch you sink a birdie putt on the par-3 fourth and then rip a drive off the tee box on No. 5.

The TPC Scottsdale website offers stay-and-play packages at the Fairmont or nearby locations, including the Hilton Garden Inn and Zona Resort Suites. The Sheraton Desert Oasis is also about a five iron away down the block.

On the web: www.tpc.com/tpc-scottsdale

--TPC Scottsdale report By Derek Harper, The Sports Xchange



THE LAST RESORT: Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & Spa in Cabo Del Sol, Mexico.

THE LAYOUT: The Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol, designed by Jack Nicklaus, wraps around the resort, while the newer Desert Course, designed by Tom Weiskopf and opened in 2001, runs along the hills above the hotel and offers panoramic views of the Sea of Cortez on every hole.

Cabo del Sol has been described as Pebble Beach with desert and mountains.

Nicklaus has called the Ocean Course "the greatest piece of golf property on earth," and it can play tough at 7,107 from the black tees -- with a par of 72, slope of 147 and a rating of 74.5. But there are five sets of tees to make the layout resort-friendly.

The Desert Course, another par-72 layout at measure 7,053, is considered almost as difficult with a 144 slope and a rating of 74.3, but again five sets of tees give every golfer a fair challenge.

The Ocean Course annually is ranked No. 1 in Mexico by Golf Digest and the Desert Course has been rated as high as No. 5.

DIRECTOR OF GOLF: Gregory Tallman.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Weiskopf, who captured the 1973 Open Championship at Royal Troon, designed the Desert Course with traditional bunkering, expansive greens, wide fairways, multiple tee areas, natural waste areas and spectacular ocean views.

Signature hole on the Desert Course is the 432-yard finishing hole, which plays downhill to the Sea of Cortez. Avoid the creek that runs along the entire left side of the fairway before crossing the approach and cascading into the lake that guards the front of the green. The downhill second shot requires accuracy to the generous, undulating green that is protected by the lake and bunker on the right.

While Weiskopf's course has gotten good reviews, golfers come to Cabo del Sol to play the Ocean Course, which has been rated by Golf Magazine as one of the top 100 in the world.

There are nearly two miles of ocean frontage on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol, with seven holes running right along the water. The first taste of it comes on Nos. 6 through 8.

Before that, the golfer must negotiate the par-4, 450-yard fifth hole, which Nicklaus' version of the renowned fifth hole at Royal Portrush in Ireland. The fairway is wide, but aim down the right side because shots on the left can leave a blind approach to a generous green that favors a low, running links-style shot.

Of Nos. 16 through 18, Nicklaus has said: "Cabo del Sol has three of the best ocean finishing holes in the world."

No. 16 is a 429-yard par 4 that plays directly downhill to the ocean, but it can be reached with a favorable wind by a tee shot that takes advantage of the knoll on the left side of the fairway to give the ball the last necessary impetus to reach the green.

At the 17th, the tee shot requires a 178-yard carry over a corner of beach and rocks to a smallish green protected by bunkers on one side and the ocean on the other.

The finishing hole, a 430-yard par 4, reminds the golfer a bit of the famed finishing home at Pebble Beach -- only with the ocean on the right. Challenge the ocean side to stay out of the desert and cactus on the left in addition to shortening the hole for the approach to a large oceanside green.

And don't miss the famous fish tacos at the halfway house.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: There was no golf in Los Cabos -- a world-class sport-fishing destination -- until the early 1990s, but now there are seven places to play, and 63 of the 144 holes have Golden Bear tracks on them.

Palmilla Golf Club, located on the property of the Palmilla Resort about 10 miles from Cabo del Sol, was the first Nicklaus golf course in Latin America when it opened in 1992, and offers three dramatic nines -- the Mountain, the Ocean and the Arroyo.

Also located on the 18-mile tourist corridor from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo are the Nicklaus-designed El Dorado Golf Club; Querencia Golf Club, which was Tom Fazio's first venture outside the United States; Cabo Real Golf Club, designed by Robert Trent Jones II; the Raven Golf Club, formerly Cabo San Lucas Country Club, designed by Pete Dye and featuring the longest hole in Baja, 620 yards; and the nine-hole Campo de Golf Los Cabos, a municipal layout (with plans to add a second nine) in San Jose del Cabo that was the first course in the area when it opened in 1991.

Los Cabos was the site of the PGA Senior Slam five times. Raymond Floyd won in 1995 on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol and repeated at Cabo Real in 1996, Hale Irwin won at Palmilla in 1997, and Gil Morgan won on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol in 1998 and at Cabo Real in 1999.

WHERE TO STAY: The Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort and Spa is situated on a private beach amid 28 acres of private gardens, featuring old-world hacienda architecture. It was on Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List in 2004 and 2005, and was rated the "Best Golf Hotel in Los Cabos" by the noted travel publication in 2003.

The elegant Palmilla, located about 10 miles east of Cabo del Sol, is listed in Great Hotels of the World and was a hideaway for the likes of John Wayne and Bing Crosby in days gone by.

Among the many other resorts in Los Cabos are the Fiesta Americana Grand Resort, the Westin Regina Resort, Las Ventanas al Paraiso, the Crowne Plaza Los Cabos, the Fiesta Inn Hotel, the Presidente Inter-Continental Los Cabos Resort, the Grand Baja Resort and Spa, the Playa Grande Resort, the Hotel Twin Dolphin, the Pueblo Bonito Rose Resort, the Casa del Mar Golf and Spa and the Villa del Palmar Beach Resort.

Inside the Ropes: Poulter seeks stroke-play success before Masters

Inside the Ropes: Poulter seeks stroke-play success before Masters










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange April 1, 2013 2:30 AMThe SportsXchange


Had Ian Poulter played in a bygone era, he might be a multiple major champion by now.


The 37-year-old Englishman is one of the best match players in the world, and from its inception in 1916 until 1957, the PGA Championship was contested in match play.

He simply was born too late.

Poulter, who makes his final tune-up for the Masters this week in the Valero Texas Open, captured the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2010, beating Paul Casey in the final, and reached the semifinals before finishing fourth in 2005 and earlier this season.

In 2011, he defeated Luke Donald to win the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain, and tied for ninth the following year in his title defense.

However, his best stuff has come in the Ryder Cup, where he has posted a 12-3-0 record in his four appearances in the matches, including 4-0 in singles, beating Americans Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker and Chris Riley in those head-to-head matches,

Last year, he posted a 4-0 record at Medinah and is credited with almost single-handedly rallying the Europeans to an unlikely 14 1/2-13 1/2 victory after they trailed, 10-6, heading into the Sunday singles that usually are dominated by the Americans.

"I love match play," said Poulter, who also has won 13 stroke-play titles around the world in his career. "I love the buzz of it. I like looking straight at the guys you are playing. It puts you under pressure and it's a great format we don't play enough of.

" ... Stroke play, you're playing against 155 guys and you're slowly progressing into a week, 72 holes. Match play you have 18 holes to try to send your opponent home packing.

"Hopefully you do that as soon as you possibly can and you save some energy for hopefully some rounds later in the week."

Said Justin Rose, his fellow Englishman and Ryder Cup teammate: "He seems to make the clutch putts. He's just one of those competitive guys, eye-to-eye, hates to lose."

Added Hunter Mahan, who knocked off Poulter in the semifinals of the Accenture this year: "I have so much respect for the guy and how he plays. There's not one part of his game that really shines. He has a great short game and he's a great putter, but to me, his determination and his will is his greatest strength. He's never going to think he's out of a hole."

For all his match-play prowess, Poulter often has been unable to have it carry over into his stroke-play events, and he admits it.

Poults was able to do it late last year, when after leading the Euros to that memorable Ryder Cup victory, he rode the momentum to finish fourth in the BMW Masters and win the WGC-HSBC Champions Tournament on consecutive weeks in China.

"I've only been one season (in his career) without a victory (actually two, 2005 and 2008), and I certainly didn't want to go another one," Poulter said after winning in China.

"As well as I've played this year, it would have been a disappointment personally to have gone that year without winning, and for me and for how I played this year, it's obviously a great and fantastic feeling, especially after the Ryder Cup to get my hands back on a great trophy like this.

"Hopefully I can continue with the confidence that I've got from the Ryder Cup, to just bottle as much of that as I possibly can and use that in stroke-play events."

Poulter would like to add to his stroke-play haul this week at TPC San Antonio, where he is playing for the first time.

However, he and many others in the field can't help but look ahead to the Masters next week, where Poulter hopes to become the first Englishman to claim a major title since Nick Faldo won at Augusta National in 1996.

"I base my schedule around the majors, and obviously people and players get looked upon with how they have played golf over the years by how many majors they have won," said Poulter, whose best finish in a major was second in the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, four strokes behind Padraig Harrington.

"I have not done that yet ... (but) I know I've got the golf game to be able to go out there and win majors. People keep asking all the time: 'When, when, when.' I don't know when, and I'm trying really hard and obviously I'd like to put one in the trophy cabinet, simple."

If only it were match play.



COMING UP

PGA TOUR: Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 1-3 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel and 3-6 p.m. EDT on NBC.

LAST YEAR: Ben Curtis holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole to seal a two-stroke victory over Matt Every and rookie John Huh. It was the fourth PGA Tour victory for Curtis, including the 2003 Open Championship at Royal St. George's, but his first since the 2006 84 Lumber Classic. The 35-year-old Curtis opened with rounds of 67-67, playing those first 36 holes flawlessly before carding a double-bogey 6 on the first hole of round three. He held on despite shooting 73-72 on the weekend. His status on the PGA Tour had taken such a hit during his six-year slump that Curtis had to rely on sponsors' exemptions and was playing for only the fourth time in 2012, but by winning he earned a two-year exemption.



CHAMPIONS TOUR: Greater Gwinnett Championship at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga., April 19-21.

TV: Friday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. EDT; Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Inaugural event.



LPGA TOUR: Kraft Nabisco Championship on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Rancho Mirage Country Club in Mission Hills, Calif., Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, noon-3 p.m. EDT and 6-9 p.m. EDT; Saturday and Sunday, 5-9 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Sun Young Yoo of South Korea sank an 18-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat I.K. Kim, also of South Korea, minutes a after Kim inexplicably gave the title away. The 23-year-old Kim, who had taken the lead by holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th and a 20-footer for birdie on the 17th, had a one-foot putt to win the tournament on No. 18. Incredibly, she missed, her ball circling the cup before lipping out. Yoo, who claimed her second LPGA Tour victory and first major title, and Kim both finished with 3-under-par 69s. Yani Tseng of Taiwan shot 73 and squandered a 54-hole lead in the first LPGA Tour major of the season for the second consecutive season, winding up third.

Golf notebook: PGA still investigating Singh

Golf notebook: PGA still investigating Singh










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange April 1, 2013 2:30 AMThe SportsXchange


--Vijay Singh withdrew from the Shell Houston Open last week because of a knee injury, according to the PGA Tour, but it brought up more questions about the ongoing investigation of Singh.


The Big Fijian, who turned 50 on Feb. 22 but continues to play on the PGA Tour rather than moving to the Champions Tour, admitted in a Sports Illustrated article that he has used deer-antler spray, which contains the banned ingredient IGF-1.

Singh, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, withdrew from the Waste Management Phoenix Open the week the story came out, citing a back injury, but has continued to play while the investigation continues.

"The process is still ongoing," PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw told Golfweek last week.

Commissioner Tim Finchem said there is no timetable for a ruling to be made.

In five starts since Sports Illustrated broke the story, Singh has played in four tournaments, with his best result a tie for 38th in the Tampa Bay Championship.

His best finish in six starts on the PGA Tour this season was a tie for 20th in the Sony Open in Hawaii and he broke 70 in his first five rounds of the year, but has done so only four times in 19 rounds since.

Singh, who is in the field for the Masters next week, has won 34 times on the PGA Tour, including three majors, but has not found the winner's circle since the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship.

--Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore., has been selected as the site of the 2018 United States Senior Open Championship by the United States Golf Association.

The tournament will be played Aug. 25-30 at the club, which has hosted four USGA championships previously.

"The USGA is excited to return to the Pacific Northwest and Eugene Country Club," said Thomas J. O'Toole Jr., USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. "The club has hosted national championships at many amateur levels, including juniors and mid-amateurs.

"Now the best senior amateur players will have an opportunity to evaluate their skills on a course that has stood the test for nearly a century."

Johnny Miller captured the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Eugene Country Club, and Amanda Blumenhurst, who plays on the LPGA Tour, won the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship on the course.

The other USGA events held on the course were the 1993 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and the 2002 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship.

--Mike Weir, who became only Canadian to claim a major title when he won the 2003 Masters, hopes to be in the field this week at Augusta National despite a rib injury.

The 42-year-old Weir, the first left-hander to win at Augusta, withdrew after two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago and could not play as planned last week in the Shell Houston Open because of the injury.

However, he plans to be at Augusta.

"I'm going to be going," said Weir, who has been hampered by injuries in recent years. "No matter what, I'm going to be there. I've got to be really smart here the next week and a half about when I decide to try hitting a few balls and see how it is. And then, if I feel anything (bad), to back off.

"(When I) go there to Augusta, if I have to not hit any balls until Thursday, I won't. Just maybe putt a little bit, because I really want to play. I don't know if I could put a percentage (on being able to play) at all, I just know I'm going to be there."

Weir, who has won eight times on the PGA Tour, shot 76-70 -- 146 to make the cut two weeks ago at Bay Hill, but walked off the course at 4-over-par through 11 holes on Saturday because of the rib injury.

"I was able to play through it on Friday and tried to keep playing on Saturday but the pain was just too much," said Weir, who first felt discomfort in his ribs while hitting on the range after the opening round on Thursday.

Doctors believe that cartilage between the ribs is either torn or inflamed.

Weir, who underwent surgery on his right elbow in 2011, missed the cut in all 14 PGA Tour events he played last season, and has made it to the weekend only three times in nine tournaments this year, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

--Jack Nicklaus won the Australian Open six times, so who better to rework a course that will again host the tournament in 2014?

The Golden Bear was in Sydney recently to unveil for club members and the media his redesign of the Australian Golf Club, where Nicklaus claimed three of those titles in 1975, 1976 and 1978.

As he often does when he designs new course, Nicklaus played several holes to show how they should be navigated, before mingling with the crowd and signing autographs afterward.

"I've always loved coming here," Nicklaus told Australian Golf Digest. "This is the first place I played in Australia back in 1962. To see the changes in the club, the clubhouse and the changes in the membership have been special.

"The commitment I've seen from Kerry Packer (a wealthy Australian businessman who funded the earlier redesign) right through to today's board, it's just been a wonderful association for me."

Nicklaus also helped redesign the course between 1977 and 1980, adding length and water hazards.

The Australian Open will be played in December for the third consecutive year at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, where 53-year-old Peter Senior, who plays on the Champions Tour, won last year.

Craig Parry captured the title in 2007, the last time it was played at the Australian Golf Club.

--After missing the cut 34 times and failing to finish in the top three even once in his first three seasons on the PGA Tour, Cameron Tringale is turning things around this season.

The 25-year-old Tringale, who lives in Laguna Nigel, Calif., and graduated from Georgia Tech, gives much of the credit to caddie David Clark, whom he hired before this season.

"I feel like caddies are a really important piece of the puzzle," said Tringale, who has five finishes in the top 30, including solo third in the Tampa Bay Championship, the best result of his career on the PGA Tour. "He's been great for me."

Tringale equaled his best score of the season last Thursday, when he shot 7-under-par 65, hitting 17 of 18 greens on the Tournament Course at Redstone, to finish the day tied for second, one stroke behind leader D.A. Points in the Shell Houston Open.

He went on to finish with 73-72-71 to tie for 16th.

"Game is good," Tringale said. "I feel like it's been going in a positive direction all year and it's kind of coming together a little bit more on the greens and with my short game and wedges.

"I'm seeing the ball end over end (off the putter). It's really nice to just stand up there and know, if you read it right, I feel like I'm going to put a good stroke on it and that it's got a good chance to go in."

Tringale's finish in Houston lifted him to 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings.