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.

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

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.

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'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.

I'm a big fan of the Clevelands. Currently have the CG12s which have the most aggressive grooves. The newer CG15s are similar, witht he new sub-par grooves. Pick up the CG12s on sale for $89 now. No need to go to the Vokeys, though they look nice too.

It's easy to answer this question..... If you are looking for a high performance putter at the lowest cost, SC is not the choice for you. However, what SC is marketing the "art" of a putter. The uniqueness, customization, rarity, etc. Good marketing that has created a special loyalty to SC's. If this is important to you, then they may be worth it to invest in one. I like my SC but am not crazy enough to buy $48 SC ball markers or $1,000 Circle T's. But, I'll swing $300 or so for a putter that I will use for 10+ years.

My pet peeve with Pro V1s have always been the dull finish and yellowing. Have they corrected this on the new Pro V1s, or do they still fade and yellow? Because of this I don't play Pro V1s other than the ones I may find. But, they never seem to look quite as nice as other balls of a similar age.

Yes, the Phoenecian is very nice. Very much a resort course. 27 holes with some desert and some plams. I just returned last week from Scottsdale. I recommend in order: Gold Canyon - Dinosauer Grayhawk - Talor or Raptor. Don't miss Weds nights at Phils Grill with live music Troon North TPC Scottsdale Sun Ridge Canyon. Haven't played We ko Pa yet. Skip ASU Karsten. McCormick Ranch was average at best.