ukalum

Great pictures. Keep 'em coming!

It's not hard to take a good photo on this course. About 8am on a spring day.

I enjoy documenting the courses I have played. Here are a few good shots. TPC 17th replica at Castle on the Bay, Arkdale, WI. Great course 17th at Timberstone GC in Iron Mtn, MI, One of only a handful of 5 star courses in the country that may be better than many of the top 25 courses in the country. Wynn Golf Club, Las Vegas.

I really think my issue has to do with Firefox 3.6. The site works geat in IE9, but something in FF is causing it to hang and be slow and buggy. All browsers have their issues that need to be optimized for. Something must just not be right on the site for FF.

Problem has dissapeared. I'll post again if it come back.

Yardage book says about 175 from the end of the fairway to the middle of the green. I had about 200 yds, but it plays downhill slightly. Hit 4 iron to the front of the green. One of the best shots on the course and one I'll remember for awhile.

Do a search. Must be 20 threads on this topic already.

Just returned from another trip to Scottsdale and I'm beginning to get a feel for golf in the area. This trip I played: Boulders North - very nicely conditioned course. Greens are tricky and had me confused and frustrated all day. Not as scenic or mountainous as I was hoping for. The South course has the great scenery. Had the best conditioning and landscaping of the three courses. Paid $110 which was the right amount. Probably not worth the $200 rack rates. Las Sendas - Nice track that has some nice holes bordering the foothills. Course was in great shape and a great experience. Had a few poorly marked/blind tee shots that ended up causing some frustration. Paid $75 which was a great value. Give this course a look. Whirlwind - Devils Claw: This course is on the south side of town, on a very flat piece of property. Fairways are very wide and forgiving. Very nice course, but without elevation changes or the fancy landscaping of the resorts, the holes seem to blend together and lacks the WOW factor. That being said, it was challenging and worth a look. Paid $95. Mountain Shadows: Fun executive course in Paradise valley. Perfect to take the wife to, and challenging. $25 is a bargain. Didn't get to Legend Trail or Dove Mountain this week. Perhaps next time.

Sorry, 2nd post in as many days..... Anyone else getting security certificate errors?? This is new, starting yesterday for me.

Thanks guys, this is really helpful. Keep the reco's coming!

I'll agree that it is much faster in IE9 than Firefox 3.6. Site speed tests show it is fairly quick, but may have a few bugs in the coding which slows FF down. That being said, web site speed tests show it takes nearly 1 second for the site to load the first byte of data, and 19 seconds to completely load the golf forum page. Overall grade gets F's for First Byte time and not Caching images. Otherwise A's. Seems that there's a few area the code could be optimized.

That's actually a very good barometer of price. Never thought of it quite this way before. Good advice!

I love the Sand trap site and forums, but I find it difficult to navigate due to the slow page loading speeds. Usually, I find myself scrolling through pages before they are fully loaded which is a cumbersome experience. Then clicking back and forth between pages each page needs to fully load again, which slows down using the site even more. Honestly, this makes me use the site for short intervals, rather than sticking around much longer. Is there anything you can do for the site speed? Thanks!

Each year when I head to Scottsdale it is easy to decide upon the top courses in the area. (Troon, Wekopa, Grayhawk, TPC, Gold Canyon, etc) But, unfortunately we need to play a few moderately priced courses as well during our trip. Help suggest some courses that are should be on this list to play. Here are a few that come to mind, but I'm not sure where they should rank. Eagle Mountain Kierland Wildfire Desert Canyon Lookout Mountain The Raven Talking Stick McCormick Ranch Las Sendas Longbow Also, wondering if Camelback is better than the Biltmore courses, or if they are even worth a look. Thanks for the help Todd

About $725 to play Pebble Beach with a caddie and rental clubs. And, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Here are my Scottsdale rankings in order. If its not on the list, I haven't played it. All are great courses. 1. Dinosauer Mountain 2. Troon North - Pinnacle 3. We-Ko-Pa 4. Grayhawk - Talon slightly better than Raptor 5. Troon North - Monument 6. Sunridge Canyon 7. Phonecian 8. TPC Champions course (not the stadium)

I think this is going to be TM's mid price level club that will be marked down quicker that the R11s. I also think the which color is a real miss on TM's part. Not only will the viewer not be able to tell the difference betwenn the R11s and RBZ on TV, if they don't like the look of the white club there is no other TM choice for them, Plus the lime green is a real ugly color on a golf club. For myself I have been interested in the TM clubs, but the white color scheme through the line just doesn't suit my eye. I may be willing to buy them on deep discount, but I won't pay near the current asking rate for a white club. Plus, the shelves are full with last year's R11 and Superfast. The golf stores must need to blow these our to make room for the new R11s and RBZ stuff. Look for some deep discounts this spring.

Lucky you! I'm here in Waupaca and would really like to get out for a round. Sherwood is a great 9 hole track. Nice blog.

Golf Channel was a bit unlucky with the show since Burk had the Hernia injury in the midst of it. I think it could have turned out better if that did not happen. I'd like to see more shows on developing golfers from GC. The homeless ones are likely not the best prospects though.

I did too. Considering it is Winter, I couldn't even use them. Unfortunate, but I understand how this can happen when running a loyalty program. I wasn't banking on the point anyway.

I was faced with this dilemma in early April last year. I was in the SFO area for work and decided to take the plunge to head down to to Pebble Beach. During the trip there I was trying to rationalize the steep cost and second guessing my decision. I am an avid golfer and enjoy playing the top courses, but always seem to find a deep discount which allows me to do so. No such luck with Pebble. I Pricelined a Mercedes from SFO which I too rationalized was part of the experience, deeply discounted, and only a fraction of my upcoming greens fee. Plus, driving between SFO and Monterrey was an experience in itself. I Picelined a room at the Del Monte Resort for about $120 which served as a reasonable lodging. The excitement of driving down 17 mile drive and into Pebble Beach the next morning was magical. Pebble Beach was virtually a ghost town at 7:30 in the morning, and only had a handful of groups on the tee sheet for the day. My greatest fear of making this commitment was the unpredictable weather at Pebble, but is was a bright Sunny day, with little wind. Perfect. I walked around the grounds before my tee time and took photos, had breakfast at the cafe and enjoyed the scenery. Just being on the grounds gave me butterflies in my stomach and a constant smile on my face. I had roughly 24 hours to spend in Pebble, and needed to soak in the sights. Playing Pebble was quite an experience too. Playing the course that I have seen on TV countless times brought it into reality. The walk along the ocean is majestic and is a memory that any serious golfer will treasure. My caddie was a character as well. He seemed to know all the history, happenings, and gossip that happens at pebble beach. That was part of the experience. My game was rusty from the winter, but I hit enough memorable shots that I won't forget for a long time. I almost has a hole in one on the #5 Par 3, just missed a birdie put on the famous 90 yard #7 on the point, and hit a 210 yard 4 iron over the cliffs and ocean to 20 feet on #8. Those are some shots I'll remember for a long time. Overall I didn't think Pebble was a difficult course. But, with small greens, this course could play very difficult from the tips with heavy rough and a stiff breeze from the ocean. Luckily, that was no the case this day. I finished with an 88, which was a disappointment, but it wasn't about the score this day. The round at Pebble cost me $720 with rental clubs and a caddie. The entire experience was probably $1,200 with lodging, car, trinkets, etc. So, when you ask was it worth I'd say yes, every penny. I'll remember that day long after wondering where the money went. You need to put it in perspective. You are not buying an 18 hole round of golf, you are buying an experience and memory that will last with you for your entire life. If these are the experiences you value, it is definitely worth the cost of admission. Run, don't walk, to Pebble Beach and take it in. If you simply looks at is as a round of golf, its probably not for you. I've played may top golf courses. The only other that has created such a memory and leaves butterflies in my stomach is Whistling Straits. Fortunately, it is half the cost of Pebble, but just as memorable.

I've had a lot of interest, so I created an ebay auction. More info at: http://cgi.ebay.com/Two-Rnds-Troon-North-Golf-Course-Scottsdale-AZ-/130501990553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash;=item1e62865899

Played this course four times last fall. Overall this is a really nice layout with elevation drops, challenging bunkering, and good conditions. I really liked most hole layouts that are very interesting. The greens are what takes this course from a 4.5 star to a 3.5 star course. Overall they are in great shape, but they have designed such large swales into them that they should have put a windmill and clowns mouth on them too. The designer went overboard and they they are just too tricked out to be a championship layout. They will frustrate you to no end. And, putting is one of my strengths. My $.02.

I have a pass for a twosome,18 holes of golf at Troon North GC in Scottsdale, AZ. This pass is only valid from April - Sept 2011. April's Greens fees are $195-$210 per person. Not sure about the rest of the summer. Bid at ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Two-Rnds-Troon-North-Golf-Course-Scottsdale-AZ-/130501990553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash;=item1e62865899 Thanks

Usually $3/club labor, and $4-$8 a grip. Can get a bit pricey for a full set.