Champions Gate Golf Club – National Course – Florida, USA

Posted on September 12, 2016 by SUNGRL

We left New York on Wednesday morning and flew to Orlando.  We successfully navigated our way back to JFK on the Subway and AirTrain.  We came across one of those crazy people I mentioned in my previous post – this woman approached me at Jamaica Station just before we went up to catch the AirTrain and asked if she could have our MetroCards – I said that we still needed them.  She then approached a few other people also and obviously they turned her down too because she started ranting and raving and following us up the escalator shouting ‘you bas…d’s should all be deported, you won’t be allowed back into the United States’.  We carried on our merry way and are pretty sure we’ll be allowed back in the country next time we visit : )

We arrived into Orlando mid afternoon, picked up our rental car and navigated our way to where we are staying for the next 12 nights.

We had a sleep in on Thursday and then decided to go exploring.  Steve said to dress for golf as you never know where we might end up and sure enough we ended up at a golf course!  We decided to play a round at Champions Gate which in hindsight was a bit of a mistake.  The course wasn’t in the best condition and we got stuck behind a group that had a few non golfers in it.  We ended up pairing up with Tony & Chris – Tony was originally from Florida but lived in Texas and Chris was originally from Texas but lived in Florida.  Tony was your typical Yank – he loved the sound of his own voice!  He was actually quite a good golfer and had quite a theatrical finish after he teed off so we named him the “Gael Monfils of golf.’
It was one of the longest rounds of golf in my life!

There are actually two courses at Champions Gate – the National Course and the International Course – both were designed by Greg Norman.

Posted in Florida, USA, United States of America | Leave a comment

Bella Collina Golf Club – Florida, USA

Posted on September 12, 2016 by SUNGRL

Today we headed north to Bella Collina Golf Club in Montverde.  You know the place is pretty swanky when there is a guard on the gate and you have to hand over ID just to enter.  The Grand Bella Collina Clubhouse — designed by Mike Marsh, the acclaimed clubhouse designer of renowned clubs such as The Bridges, Cherry Hills Country Club and Pronghorn – is a Tuscan inspired facility encompassing six buildings.  It felt like we were walking into an old Italian village.

The golf course was designed by Nick Faldo and is long off the Championship Tees, not that we were going to be attempting those.  The guy that set us up on the cart told us the course was tough – great!  The first hole did look pretty intimidating with quite a big left to right slope with all these bunkers waiting at the bottom of the slope for your ball.  We both managed to stay left and par the hole.  There were definitely some long holes but we didn’t find it too bad and both scored pretty well.

Bella Collina is nestled amongst orange groves and woodlands, overlooking the vineyards of Central Florida and two lakes, Lake Apopka and Lake Siena. Bella Collina rests on 1,900 acres of rolling hills providing a natural and serene setting for those wishing to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the city.  There are some very large Italian inspired houses dotted around the course.  I just did some research on the development and it seems Bella Collina was badly affected by the GFC in 2007 hence why there are so few houses.  Lakeview lots sold for millions of dollars at the peak but then traded just a few years later for the price of a new Chevy sedan.  The original developer went bust and  some of the people that had bought sections and built homes stopped paying their levies because the amenities they had been promised hadn’t been developed  further exacerbating the problem.  The development was eventually sold and things are on the move again but the land prices are about half what they were.

The vision was a beautiful Tuscan village and I hope one day they achieve that as it was a lovely setting.

Posted in Florida, USA, United States of America | Leave a comment

Kinky Boots and Tennis Shoes – New York, USA

Posted on September 8, 2016 by SUNGRL

We loved attending the US Open Tennis Championships so much in 2014 that we couldn’t resist another visit while in the USA.  To make the most of our time in New York I thought it would be a good idea to take the night flight from Phoenix.  Steve was sceptical.  The flight left Phoenix at 11.59pm and arrived into New York at 7.30am – I didn’t factor the time difference into my calculations : 0. New York is three hours ahead of Phoenix so we were going to be landing at 4.30am Phoenix time.  No problems, four hours sleep will be enough as long as we can sleep on the plane.  We did manage to sleep but it wasn’t the best quality sleep we’ve ever had – we both had very weird dreams.  I dreamt Steve was flying this small plane and we were about to crash – I woke up and realised I was on a big plane and Steve was nowhere near the cockpit!  The other dream involved being on a bus with all these famous tennis players and one of my friend’s husbands (Paul Martens) was causing havoc and I was working out how to tell his wife (Debbie Martens) that he had been misbehaving although she is well used to it 😜.

We decided we were going to navigate the Subway into the city.  First you catch the AirTrain to Jamaica Station and then get on the E Train.  The AirTrain services all the Terminals at JFK and costs USD5.  Once we got to Jamaica Station we purchased a MetroCard – USD2.75 gets you right into downtown New York.  We had wisely used ShipSticks to ship our golf clubs from Phoenix to Orlando so we didn’t need to lug the body bag on the Subway.  It’s so easy with only a suitcase each!

We found our hotel easily – we stayed in Even Hotel Times Square South.  They promote themselves as a wellness hotel with their tagline being Experience Wellness Your Way. Stay Well On The Road.  They have a 24 hour gym and exercise equipment in every room.  They had a selection of naturally flavoured waters at reception and a restaurant promoting healthy food.  Obviously this place resonated well with me – Mr Thomas, not so much from the fitness side of things but he did like the flavoured water!  Given it was only about 9.30am we couldn’t check in so we put our bags into storage and went in search of food.  The hotel said they would email us when the room was ready. 

It was Sunday of the Labour Day long weekend so the city was pumping.  It also happened to be Brazil Day so some of the streets around Times Square all the way down to Central Park were closed and there were market stalls everywhere and music playing.  There were a lot of people wearing Brazil shirts.  You hear so many different languages being spoken.  We made our way to Central Park where we thought we would have a little lie down under a tree – we were starting to feel the effects of our less than ideal quality, four hours sleep.  As you get closer to Central Park you start being hounded by the guys hiring bicycles, horse drawn carriage rides and cyclo rides.  It is like swatting away flies and being tired probably didn’t help our tolerance levels.  We found a nice shady spot and I checked my emails – the hotel had emailed to say our room was ready – it was only 12pm – how good was that!

We meandered back to the hotel and promptly fell asleep for a good three hours.  Feeling refreshed we then got tidied up for our night at the theatre – we had tickets to Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.  This musical came highly recommended by some friends who had seen it and it didn’t disappoint.  We loved our first theatre experience in New York and would have to say it was the best musical we have ever seen.  The props and singing were amazing.

The story was about a shoe business that had been owned and operated by the same family for years.  The father was priming the son to take over but the son wasn’t really interested and was pursuing the highlife in London.  The father died unexpectedly so the son returned to run the business albeit not very successfully.  A chance meeting with a transvestite inspired him to change the direction of the business and Kinky Boots was born.  There are lots of good messages in the musical and I would go and see it again in a heartbeat.  

From Kinky Boots to Tennis Shoes as we headed out to Flushing Meadows to watch some round of 16 matches.  As I do, I studied the public transport maps and came up with a plan.  We were going to walk down to Penn Station and catch the Long Island Light Rail (LILR) out to Mets Willet – two stops, 29 minutes and we would be there.  As we were going into Penn Station to buy some tickets these two guys who were selling some sort of tour tickets said to us “I bet you’re going to the tennis” and to Steve ” you look like a golfer” (Steve’s wardrobe basically consists of golf clothes).  We said we were and they were like “what are you doing going in here?”.  I said we are going to catch the LILR and they said don’t do that it’s too expensive, you gotta catch the 7 train.  They were so insistent but very friendly – they pointed us in the direction of the Subway and told us to catch the E train to Times Square and then get on the 7 train.   We felt compelled as they were trying so hard to save us money so off we went.  I think we saved about USD3.25 each per trip.  I had looked at this option and although cheaper it takes nearly twice as long.  The other point to note was we had already purchased MetroCards which you can’t use on the LILR.   We got to the tennis no problems so all’s well that ends well.

We had tickets to Arthur Ashe which is the main stadium. -these tickets also get you into the general seating on all the other courts.  First up on Arthur Ashe was Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina versus Dominc Theim from Austria.  We were really excited to see this match as Del Potro is making a comeback after battling a wrist injury and Theim is an up and coming star who has played really well this year.  Unfortunately Theim retired after the first set due to an injury – a bit ironic really. 

Juan Martin Del Potro (known on the tour as Delpo)

He was born in Argentina and is aged 28 years old.  He is 6 foot 6 inches tall, weighs 97kg and plays right handed.  He has played in 7 US Opens and won the title back in 2009 defeating Roger Federer.  He turned pro in 2005 and has earnt USD15 million in prize money to date.

Dominic Theim

He was born in Austria and is aged 23 years old.  He is 6 foot 1 inch tall, weighs 82kgs and plays right handed.  He has played in 2 US Opens and is currently ranked number 7 in the world.  He turned pro in 2011 and has earnt USD4 million in prize money to date.

The next game on Arthur Ashe was between Venus Williams and Karolina Pliskova.  Playing on Louis Armstrong at the same time was Stan Wawrinka and Illya Marchenko.  We always like to support the Swiss players and we have seen Venus play a few times so we decided to go over to Louis Armstrong and see if we could get a seat which we did.  We watched the first two sets which Stan won quite easily and then saw that Venus and Karolina were going to three sets.  

Stan Wawrinka 

He was born in Switzerland and is aged 31 years old.  He is 6 feet tall, weighs 81kgs and plays right handed.  He has played in 11 US Opens and is currently ranked number 3 in the world.  He turned pro in 2002 and has earnt USD23 million in prize money to date.  

Illya Marchenko

He was born in the Ukraine and is aged 29 years old.  He is 6 foot 1 inch tall, weighs 84kgs and plays right handed.  He has played in 3 US Opens.  He turned pro in 2006 and has earnt USD1.5 million in prize money to date.

We got back to Arthur Ashe in time for the third set between Venus and Karolina.  It was a good game and went all the way to a tie break.  The power seesawed between the two and both woman played some great tennis.  Right up to the tie break I thought Venus would win but Karolina over powered her in the tie break to win 7 – 3.  Karolina holds the record on the woman’s tour for the most Aces.

Venus Williams

She was born in the USA and is aged 36 years old.  She is 6 foot 1 inch tall, weighs 73kgs and plays right handed.  She has played in 17 US Opens and won the event in 2000 and 2001.   She turned pro in 1994 and has earnt USD34 million in prize money to date.

Karolina Pliskova

She was born in the Czech Republic and is aged 24 years old.  She is 6 foot 1 inch tall, weighs 72kgs and plays right handed.  She has played in 4 US Opens.  She turned pro in 2009 and has earnt USD4.5 million in prize money to date.

Next up was Serena Williams versus Yaroslava Shvedova.   We had only seen Serena play doubles before so we were looking forward to seeing this game.  As of September 5, 2016, she has been ranked world No.1 for 186 consecutive weeks, setting the joint record for the most consecutive weeks as world No.1 by a female tennis player, and 309 weeks overall. Williams is regarded by commentators, players and sports writers as the greatest female tennis player of all time.  Serena won the match easily 6-2, 6-3 and broke Roger Federer’s record of 307 grand slam games won.

Serena Williams 

She was born in the USA and is aged 34 years old. She is 5 foot 9 inches tall, weighs 70kgs and plays right handed. She has played in 17 US Opens and has won the event 6 times. She turned pro in 1995 and has earnt USD81 million in prize money to date.

Yaroslava Shvedova

She was born in Russia and is aged 28 years old. She is 5 foot 11 inches tall, weighs 70kgs and plays right handed. She has played in 9 US Opens. She turned pro in 2005 and has earnt USD5.6 million in prize money to date.

We then checked out the new 10,000 seat Grandstand.  The stadium was designed by the firm Rossetti, which was also behind the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium. The new tennis space will have increased capacity, with nearly 2,000 more seats throughout its 125,000 square feet of space.  It was a nice looking stadium and the only Kiwi playing in the US Open, Marcus Daniell, happened to be playing in the men’s doubles.  Marcus and his partner, Brian Baker from the USA were playing the top seeds,  Jamie Murray (Andy Murray’s brother) and Bruno Soares.  Murray and Soares went on to win this game as well as the US Open title.

We caught the 7 train back to our hotel and found a great little tapas bar for dinner.  We had walked around the corner from the hotel and nothing was jumping out at us so we decided to head up towards 7th Avenue via 38th Street.  Steve said, we won’t find anything down here – it looked like there was nothing on the street at all and then wallah.  It was called District Tap House and they had these little booths with individual TV’s so we carried on watching the night session at the tennis while we had our dinner.

We also had tickets for Arthur Ashe on the Tuesday but the day session didn’t start until 12pm.  I decided to take a walk downtown in the morning. – everyone was back to work after the long weekend.  I walked towards Pennsylvania Station and there was a constant throng of people coming at me.  It was quite energising to be out among it. – New York is a crazy city and you see all sorts of sights – lots of homeless people, fashionistas, suits, people ranting and raving at each other but it’s fascinating as an outsider looking in.  It is one of those experiences that is hard to describe – you really have to experience it for yourself.

We were feeling pretty proficient at this subway business now so decided to catch the E train to Times Square from just outside our hotel in order to connect to the 7 train.  Confusion over whether we were going Uptown or Downtown saw us hop on the train going the wrong way.  Off at the next station, through the tunnel under the tracks and onto the train going the other way!

Despite our little faux pas we made it to the tennis in good time and checked out the sponsors displays.  Met a Kiwi guy at the Wilson stand, he has been here on a working visa for the past nine months and is loving it.  We took part in a fun video shoot with a massive tennis racket.  Next stop was the Evian Water stand where I had to tweet something to get a free bottle of water.  Someone then told us we could get our photo taken with the trophy at the Mercedes stand so off we went there.

Now for the actual tennis – this was the first day of the Quarterfinals.  First up on Arthur Ashe was Angelique Kerber the current world number two versus Roberta Vinci who had risen to worldwide prominence at the 2015 US Open, when she reached the semi-finals and defeated world number one Serena Williams in three sets, ending Williams’s hopes of winning the Calendar Grand Slam, in what has been described by numerous commentators as one of the biggest shocks in tennis history.   She went on to lose to Flavia Pennetta in the first ever all-Italian Grand Slam final.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be Roberta’s day and Angie Kerber won in two sets 7-5, 6-0.

Angelique Kerber

She was born in Germany and is aged 28 years old. She is 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighs 68kgs and plays left handed. She has played in 8 US Opens.   She won the Australian Open in January this year.  She turned pro in 2003 and has earnt USD14 million in prize money to date.

Roberta Vinci

She was born in Italy and is aged 33 years old. She is 5 foot 4 inches tall, weighs 60kgs and plays right handed. She has played in 14 US Opens.  She turned pro in 1999 and has earnt USD11 million in prize money to date.  

Next up was one of our favourite players, Gael Monfils versus fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille.  Lucas Pouille had upset Rafa Nadal in the round of 16 which was a bit frustrating for us as we still haven’t been able to see him play live!  Gael Monfils is normally a showman and very entertaining to watch, however, he was very focused during this match and won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.  The only other Grand Slam semi final that he had played in was the French Open in 2008.

Gael Monfils

He was born in France and is aged 30 years old. He is 6 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 80kgs and plays right handed. He has played in 9 US Opens and is currently ranked number 10 in the world. He turned pro in 2004 and has earnt USD11 million in prize money to date.  

Lucas Pouille 

He was born in France and is aged 22 years old. He is 6 feet 1 inches tall, weighs 81kgs and plays right handed. He has played in 1 US Opens and is currently ranked number 24 in the world. He turned pro in 2012 and has earnt USD1.8 million in prize money to date.  

They ended up having to close the roof part way through this match so that was quite cool to see – it takes about 7 minutes to close.

The final game was being played on Louis Armstrong before it undergoes a major renovation so we thought we would pop over there and check it out.  The last game was a men’s doubles quarterfinal between the Bryan Brothers, Mike & Bob and Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez who are not brothers, they just happen to share the same last name.  The Bryan Brothers are from the US and are major tennis icons having dominated the men’s doubles for many years – they have played in 21 US Opens and have won 114 doubles titles.  It was quite fitting that they featured in the last match on Louis Armstrong.  Unfortunately they went down to the two Lopez’s.

I am only just completing this blog as the men’s final played out.  We watched both the women’s and men’s finals on TV in Orlando.  The women’s final between Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova went to three sets with Angelique Kerber being victorious.  She also rose to number one in the world as Serena Williams failed to make it to the semi finals.
The men’s final between Novak Djokovich and Stan Wawrinka went to four sets and I was so excited that Stan won given our affinity with Switzerland.  

I read this on the Internet and hoped that Stan would show them that he is the Man!

“Weird and bizzarre question by a journalist to Stan Wawrinka after the match won against Juan Martin Del Potro on Wednesday evening.

‘I wonder what motivates you? You won two slams, you are very rich, you’ll never catch Federer, Nadal, Djokovic’s number of trophies, but anyone knows on a good day you can beat them – the reporter said – So frankly, I think that one more slam will not change much. What makes you work?’

Wawrinka’s reply was so funny: ‘So what should I do? (Smiling.) I’m 31 years old. What do you want me to do? Just go to the beach? Not doing anything? I don’t know.’. he said.

‘Did you ask that question to Rafa also or to Novak or to Andy? I think I love my sport. I enjoy to play tennis. It’s my passion. I started when I was really young. I have the chance to play in front of an amazing crowd playing a fantastic match like tonight. If you just look the match tonight you have the answer. It’s an amazing feeling to be out there…'”

We were happy that we got to see these two winners play during the two days we were there.

Louis Armstrong Stadium

It wasn’t even built for tennis. In fact, long before Louis Armstrong Stadium hosted some of the most memorable matches in the annals of the sport, before Connors and Krickstein, before Seles and Capriati sparred upon its cement floor, it was known as the Singer Bowl, an aging remnant of the 1964 World’s Fair.

Jimi Hendrix played there. So did The Doors, The Who. Heavyweight Floyd Patterson fought there. But as fate would have it, incoming USTA President Slew Hester, in search of a new home of the US Open (then played in nearby Forest Hills), spotted the then-shuttered facility from his window seat on a flight out of LaGuardia. It was destiny. When it reopened in 1978 with 18,000 seats, renamed for the famed jazz trumpeter who lived in Queens at the time of his death, it was the largest tennis-only venue in the world.

Over the next two decades – until it was eclipsed by the sparkling 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium in 1997 – Armstrong would serve as the center court for the year-end Slam, an epicenter of the tennis world. Alas, some 43 after it was originally constructed, Armstrong will be leveled after the 2016 US Open, making way for a second roofed facility. USOpen.org looks back at 10 moments from across the years:

August 29, 1978: Bjorn Borg and Bob Hewitt square off in the first match ever played in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Borg topping the South African, 6-0, 6-2. The Swede would go on to reach the final, falling to Jimmy Connors, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. It’s the second runner-up finish for the future Hall of Famer at the US Open, a title that would elude him his entire career.

September 8, 1979: In the 100th anniversary of the US Open, a pigtailed 16-year-old named Tracy Austin becomes the youngest champion in tournament history, shocking four-time titlist Chris Evert, 6-4, 6-3.

September 13, 1981: John McEnroe roars back from a set down to deny Bjorn Borg in the final, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, winning his third straight US Open and effectively ending the Swede’s career. Following the loss, which assured McEnroe the No. 1 year-end ranking, Borg walks off the court and straight to the parking lot, skipping the trophy presentation and post-match press conference.  

September 8, 1984: Beginning at 11:07 a.m., Armstrong plays host to four straight blockbusters on Super Saturday, a drama-filled morning-‘til-night saga that is still considered by many to be the greatest day in tennis history. Stan Smith defeats John Newcombe, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Ivan Lendl saves a match point in edging Pat Cash, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6; Martina Navratilova captures her second straight title, defeating Chris Evert, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; and John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors linger until 11:14 p.m., McEnroe eliminating the two-time defending champion, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

September 10, 1988: Nineteen-year-old Steffi Graff puts the finishing touches on one of the most dominant season in the annals of tennis, capping a Golden Slam (all four majors and the Olympic gold medal) by topping Gabriela Sabatini, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

September 5, 1989: Following her 7-6, 6-2 quarterfinal loss to Zina Garrison in Armstrong, Chris Evert waves goodbye to an adoring crowd for the last time, the final Grand Slam match of her storied career. “I’m real emotional,” says Garrison. “I cried, but Chris is so unemotional. That’s just Chris.”

September 2, 1991: En route to the semifinals, a supposedly beyond-his-prime Jimmy Connors, a wildcard entrant, celebrates his 39th birthday with an epic 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 fourth-round triumph over Aaron Krickstein, a match filled with drama, fist-pumps and momentum swings, and one that would become rain-delay fodder for decades to come.

September 9, 1995: Playing only her second tournament since she was stabbed in April 1993, Monica Seles roars into the women’s singles final, where she and longtime rival Steffi Graf play a match for the ages. Despite a second-set bagel, Graf wins her fourth US Open title and her 18th major overall.

September 5, 1996: A dehydrated Pete Sampras literally guts it out against Alex Corretja in the quarterfinals. Despite losing his proverbial lunch on court and at times being rendered immobile, Sampras prevails, 7-6, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.

September 3, 2013: With rain delays scattering marquee matches across the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center, Roger Federer’s fourth-round tilt is moved to Armstrong, marking the first time the Swiss legend has played outside Ashe Stadium since 2006. Federer, one win shy of a first-ever US Open showdown with Rafael Nadal, falls to No. 19 seed Tommy Robredo in straight sets, his first loss to the Spaniard in 11 head-to-head matchups.

The United States Open Tennis Championships – History (reprinted from my blog completed in September 2014)

The United States Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, for which men’s singles was first contested in 1881. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final tennis major comprising the Grand Slam each year; the other three are the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

The tournament was first held in August 1881 on the grass courts at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island and in that first year only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) were permitted to enter. In 1915 the national championship was relocated from Newport, Rhode Island to the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, New York. A From 1921 through 1923, the tournament was played at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia and it returned to Forest Hills in 1924

Since 1978, the tournament has been played on acrylic hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at New York City, New York, United States.

In 1973 the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women with that year’s singles champions John Newcombe and Margaret Court both receiving $25,000. The winners in 2013 each received $1,900,000. In 1978 the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, Queens to the larger USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, in the process switching the surface from clay, used in the last three years at Forest Hills, to hard courts. Jimmy Connors is the only individual to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces (grass, clay, hardcourt), while Chris Evert is the only woman to win on two surfaces (clay, hardcourt).

The main court is located at the 22,547-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, opened in 1997. It is named after Arthur Ashe, the African American tennis player who won the men’s final of the inaugural US Open in 1968. The next largest court is the Louis Armstrong Stadium, opened in 1978, extensively renovated from the Singer Bowl, which was built for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. It has a capacity of 10,200. 

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Troon North Golf Club – Pinnacle Course – Arizona, USA

Posted on September 3, 2016 by SUNGRL

Another 4.30am start before making the trek across Phoenix to play Troon North’s Pinnacle course.  There are two courses in this complex – Pinnacle and Monument.  Both courses were designed by Jay Moorish and British Open Championship winner Tom Weiskopf.  In 1995, just nine years after its opening, the country club was purchased by members and became a privately owned golf club, however currently runs under public play with the additional member play. The golf club is best known for its environmentally sensitive development, which conserves the Sonoran Desert while offering members and the public, usage of the property.

We were paired with two tyre salesman – Tony & Chuck.  Apparently they were working – Chuck was visiting from Seattle and is Tony’s boss.  They were good fun to play with but they both lost a lot of golf balls in the desert.  Although I didn’t hit the ball particularly well I had a pretty good round.  Steve got on the birdie train on the back nine having three birdies.  The boys were impressed.  It is a nice course with a few intimidating looking holes where you are wondering where you should hit your ball.  There are some pretty nice houses surrounding this course too – some would set you back a cool USD10 million!

Posted in Arizona, USA, United States of America | Leave a comment

Verrado Golf Club – Arizona, USA

Posted on September 2, 2016 by SUNGRL

Well we took over a week to get here but it was worth the wait.  We arrived in Phoenix on Monday the 22nd August and took advantage of a couple of golf specials elsewhere which kept on extending so it wasn’t until Tuesday this week that we finally made it to the Verrado Golf Club.  Being right on our doorstep meant we didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night in order to make our early tee time : ). We had driven and walked past some of the holes so we were excited to get out there and see what it had to offer.

During our first round we played with Eric & Linda, a couple who live in Scottsdale.  They are both physio’s and moved out to Arizona three years ago from Indianapolis. They love the lifestyle here and play a lot of golf.  It was actually their birthdays – yes – they share the same birthday including the same year.  We enjoyed there company and it seems everyone we play with has a snake story!  The last time Eric had played at Verrado he came across the golf course staff dealing with a rattle snake that had been sunning itself on the cart path before the 14th tee block.

We played the course again on Wednesday and were paired up with a couple of older gentleman – Tom & Charlie, who we aptly named Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb.  

We really enjoyed the course and in hindsight we wish we had time for a few more rounds.

The golf course sits in the foothills of the White Tank Mountain Range and was designed by John Fought and PGA Tour professional Tom Lehman.  It has been open since January 2004 and is part of the 8-800 acre Verrado Community.  Between 1965 and 1995, this land was the Caterpillar proving ground and test site.  You can still see one of the steep testing tracks up on the Mountain.

Obviously, the previous owners didn’t put much stock in aesthetics and landscape design where behemoth earth-moving equipment of every sort dug, cut, bladed and scraped endlessly in the granite and scrub. No harm to anyone, but over the years Caterpillar altered the nature considerably, which was a huge consideration in the new design of the golf course.  The developers had four ideas in mind for Verrado. First, they didn’t want the new landscape to appear they had merely worked around the massive pits and gouges. 

Their initial challenge was to restore the site as it was in 1 B.C. — Before Caterpillar. They even reconstructed and re-vegetated an entire mountainside that big D-9s once bulldozed into rubble.

Second, the routing, design and construction of the golf course as the prime water-retention area would direct the mountain runoff away from the community.

Third, DMB wanted a comfortable walking community, which meant leveling and evening out the entire core area to a consistent 1 percent grade from a natural 5 percent grade.

Finally, the corridors between the golf course and homesites were to be open and spacious, with fairways set deep enough into the terrain to afford ample views down onto the golf course.

Ultimately, earthmovers scraped away and redistributed 4.5 million cubic yards to meld the golf course and community site — and have it still look natural. Fought, Lehman and Co. were able to workout a smooth, flowing design without — safe to say — one quirky hole.

We have been really fortunate to be able to stay in our friend’s lovely holiday home in Verrado – we have really enjoyed the house, pool and the community.  We have got to know the layout in the local supermarket, Bashas, very well.  I have also frequented the Blue Daisy Spa which is excellent and of course the Verrado Coffee Company.  We have been for a walk most nights and explored the myriad of streets and had a look in some houses under construction.  What a wonderful little Oasis.

Phoenix

Phoenix is the capital of the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona. Known for its year-round sun and warm temperatures, it anchors a sprawling, multicity metropolitan area known as the Valley of the Sun. It’s known for high-end spa resorts, Jack Nicklaus–designed golf courses and vibrant nightclubs. Other highlights include the Desert Botanical Garden, displaying cacti and numerous native plants.

Settled in 1867 as an agricultural community near the confluence of the Salt and Gila Rivers, Phoenix incorporated as a city in 1881. Located in the northeastern reaches of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix has a subtropical desert climate. Despite this, its canal system led to a thriving farming community, many of the original crops remaining important parts of the Phoenix economy for decades, such as alfalfa, cotton, citrus, and hay (which was important for the cattle industry).  In fact, the “Five C’s” (Cotton, Cattle, Citrus, Climate, and Copper), remained the driving forces of Phoenix’s economy until after World War II, when high-tech industries began to move into the valley and air conditioning made residences much more comfortable in the very hot summers.

A town that had just over sixty-five thousand residents in 1940 became America’s sixth largest city by 2010, with a population of nearly 1.5 million, and millions more in nearby suburbs. When the war ended, many of the men who had undergone their training in Arizona returned bringing their new families. Learning of this large untapped labor pool enticed many large industries to move their operations to the area.  In 1948 high-tech industry, which would become a staple of the state’s economy, arrived in Phoenix when Motorola chose Phoenix for the site of its new research and development center for military electronics. Seeing the same advantages as Motorola, other high-tech companies such as Intel and McDonnell Douglas would also move into the valley and open manufacturing operations.

By 1950, over 105,000 people resided in the city and thousands more in surrounding communities.  The 1950s growth was spurred on by advances in air conditioning, which allowed both homes and businesses to offset the extreme heat experienced in Phoenix and the surrounding areas during its long summers. There was more new construction in Phoenix in 1959 alone than during the period of more than thirty years from 1914 to 1946.

Like many emerging American cities at the time, Phoenix’s spectacular growth did not occur evenly. It largely took place on the city’s north side, a region that was nearly all Caucasian. In 1962, one local activist testified at a US Commission on Civil Rights hearing that of 31,000 homes that had recently sprung up in this neighborhood, not a single one had been sold to an African-American.  Phoenix’s African-American and Mexican-American communities remained largely sequestered on the town’s south side. The color lines were so rigid that no one north of Van Buren Street would rent to the African-American baseball star Willie Mays, in town for spring training in the 1960s.  In 1964, a reporter from the New Republic wrote of segregation in these terms: “Apartheid is complete. The two cities look at each other across a golf course.”

Phoenix has maintained a growth streak in recent years, growing by 24.2% before 2007.  However, 2008 saw Phoenix as one of the cities hardest hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, and by early 2009 the median home price was $150,000, down from its $262,000 peak in 2007.  Recently, downtown Phoenix and the central core have experienced renewed interest and growth, resulting in numerous restaurants, stores, and businesses opening or relocating to central Phoenix.

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The Boulders – Arizona, USA

Posted on August 30, 2016 by SUNGRL

After having a day off golf on Sunday we were raring to go at 5am on Monday morning.  Today’s destination was The Boulders which is in Carefree, about an hour from where we are staying.  We were meeting Ken & Mary again – this is one of their favourite courses in Arizona.  We have played here before but it was a few years back.  We left home at 5.30am only to be re routed due to a truck having jack knifed just before the freeway entrance.  We managed to get to The Boulders about 6.45am and make it to the tee just before 7am.

The Boulders, located in the Sonora Desert foothills, features two championship-level, Jay Morrish-designed courses, these links are known for breathtaking surroundings and sweeping panoramic views. Both courses stretch across an enchanting Sonoran Desert landscape and are listed among the finest in the United States.  Some of the boulder formations are thought to be about twelve million years old.  There are a number of houses around the course but they are quite unobtrusive as they have melded the architecture nicely with nature.  There is also a resort out there and tennis courts.

I didn’t have my best day in the office but I certainly enjoyed the company and beautiful vistas.  We also got to see some coyotes cruising across one of the fairways.  I learnt a bit more about cacti – there are so many weird and wonderful varieties.  The starter warned us about the ‘jumping cactus’ or ‘jumping cholla’ which we were to avoid like the plague.  Ken had experienced this cacti first hand and it did not sound like a pleasant experience!  These type of cactus are native to the Sonora Desert and the Southwestern United States.

The “jumping cholla” name comes from the ease with which the stems detach when brushed. These cacti do not actually jump. It is thought, however, that the softness of the soil in which the cholla typically grows is easily compressed. When this easily compressible soil is stepped upon (near the base of the cholla), the cactus leans toward the compressing entity, and the cholla segments (easily detachable from the main plant) affix to the compressor (giving the appearance of “jumping”). Often the merest touch will leave a person with bits of cactus hanging on their clothes to be discovered later when either sitting or leaning on them. 

There are 36 holes at The Boulders – Boulders North and Boulders South.  We played the back nine of the North Course and the front nine of the South Course.  The South Course is definitely has the more dramatic vistas.  The original 18 holes opened in 1984 with another 9 holes in 1986 and the last 9 holes in 1991.The Jumping Catcus

A Saguaro Cactus – when they lean towards the sun they can sometimes topple over earning them the nickname of the Suicide Cactus 

The holes in the cacti are made by birds – if you look closely you will also see a golf ball lodged in it towards the top – someone had a really bad day!

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Golf Club at Estrella – Arizona, USA

Posted on August 27, 2016 by SUNGRL

We played a couple of rounds at the Golf Club at Estrella.  The course was designed by Jack Nicklaus II and is nestled amongst the community of Estrella.  The course opened in 1999.  The deer and the antelope don’t roam here among giant saguaros (cacti), but certainly bobcats, coyotes, rattlesnakes and other Sonoran Desert wildlife do.  Fortunately we didn’t get to see any of them : ). We played on our own the first time we played the course.  The second time we played it we were joined by a couple of locals – Joe and Tim.  They were fun to play with and Tim showed us a couple of pictures of rattlesnakes that he had personally come across on he course.

Tim also taught us about the Honey Do list – we asked him what he was planning on doing after golf and he said he had a very long Honey Do List which sounded like ‘honeydew list’ to us.  Of course we were confused but once he said ‘you know, honey do this, honey do that” we understood completely : ). The white board is going to be renamed the Honey Do List when we get home – Stevie can’t wait!

We found the course reasonably straight foward after some of the other courses we have played but it was nice to be able to work on a few things.  We both had good scores on this course – Steve shooting in the late 70’s and me in the early 80’s : )

There were so many rabbits on the course living the life of Riley 

The Pissed Off Golfer’s Monument – apparently these clubs were left in a pile on the 18th tee block and the next time Tim played he said they had been buried like this : )

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TPC Scottsdale – Stadium Course – Arizona, USA

Posted on August 25, 2016 by SUNGRL

We left Moab in Utah on Sunday and headed south west to Arizona.  Our final destination in Arizona was to be Phoenix but that was about an eight hour trip so we decided to have a stopover in Flagstaff in the north of Arizona on Sunday night.  The landscapes we saw during this drive were amazing – vast open spaces with these incredible land formations dotted here and there.


Everyone we told that we were headed to Arizona for a couple of weeks warned us about the heat – they said it was going to be unbearable. We arrived into Flagstaff about 12.30pm after gaining an hour in time and it was the coldest we have been since leaving Vancouver some six weeks earlier – it was only 22 degrees!  We had a lazy Sunday afternoon and evening before heading further south to Phoenix the next morning.  

We are lucky enough to be staying at our Canadian friend’s place in Verrado, Phoenix for the next couple of weeks complete with a car and a pool : ). We dropped our trusty little rental car off at Phoenix airport before heading back to Verrado to stock up on supplies at the supermarket.  We were both very excited by the prospect of being able to cook again.

 

On Tuesday morning we got up at 5.30am so we could make our 7.40am tee time at TPC Scottsdale which is about an hour away. Although we have been here before we had forgotten how big Phoenix is and how busy the motorways are. As we got closer to Scottsdale the motorway signs had weather warnings on them. We were looking around thinking it looked pretty good to us so what are were going on about. We got to the golf course and were told there was an hour’s delay due to the bad weather that had passed through. Some of the cart paths were unpasseable apparently?

We went off to use the practice facilities and then met up with the guy we were playing with.  His name was Justin and he was from Las Vegas.  He was in town for the Coldplay concert.  He had only taken up golf about four months earlier but wasn’t too bad.  He told us he had joined TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas – the cost to join this course is USD7,500 and then you pay a monthly fee of USD550.  Wow – makes our USD1,000 equivalent annual fee seem very good value : )

The weather remained fairly overcast and we got the odd spit of rain but nothing major.  Justin said that the lightening storm that they had the night before was effectively sparking in the backyard of the hotel where he was staying.  We hadn’t seen any of that so that is why we were quite surprised by the weather warning signs.

TPC Scottsdale – Stadium Course  is home to the PGA TOUR’s fan-favorite Waste Management Phoenix Open, The Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale has hosted some of contemporary golf’s greatest moments since opening in 1986. The course was designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf specifically to serve as the stage for the tournament – what’s now become the largest spectator golf event in the world.

The course is most famous for it’s par-3, 16th hole that transforms into “The Coliseum” during the Waste Management Phoenix Open and provides fans with one of the most exciting settings in professional sports. 

We had played this course about 6 years ago but it has undergone some extensive renovations since then.  The City of Scottsdale began an extensive renovation of TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium golf course and clubhouse on April 1, 2014. The golf course project, led by architect Tom Weiskopf, included the relocation of four greens, resurfacing of all greens, reshaping and regrassing of all tee complexes, relocation and reshaping of all bunker complexes, replacement of cart paths, and re-landscaping of desert areas. The result is a golf course that’s more aesthetically pleasing to resort guests and strategically more challenging to PGA TOUR players during the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

The starter told us that pre the renovation the Pro’s used to shoot about 25 under in the tournament and now they shoot about 12 under.  

After our round we decided that although it is a nice course it is far from the best course we have played.  The greens had been birdie cut and they were quite slow – I’ve got used to putting on fast greens so it was quite frustrating!  Listen to me, anyone would be think I was a pro : )

My banana got attacked by the Ravens!  They just hopped into the cart and helped themselves – cheeky buggers!

The famous Par 3 16th

The famous Par 3 16th which I parred : )

After golf we stopped in at a wine shop – this is how Steve wants to travel going forward:

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Quintero Golf – Arizona, USA

Posted on August 25, 2016 by SUNGRL

To avoid the heat of the day Steve booked our tee time at Quintero for 6.38am.  I am a morning person so the earlier the better, however, when I googled where Quintero was I discovered that it was an hour from where we are staying.  That meant setting the alarm for 4.30am – the things you do to go and chase a little white ball around the desert : )

Due to a lot of new road construction and not having updated our GPS we did take a couple of wrong turns enroute to Quintero which meant we were cutting it fine re getting to the course on time.  When we got to the course we checked in and got our clubs loaded onto the cart – the guy in the Pro Shop then said we had a 6 minute drive to get to the first tee!  It all worked out and the Starter introduced us to our playing partners for the day – Ken & Mary from Austin, Texas.

We could see parts of the course as we drove to the first tee and we could tell we were going to like it.  The sun was just coming up and the green amongst the desert stood out clearly.  Ken & Mary had played the course before so were able to give us some useful pointers.  The course has some great elevated tees and the backdrop is spectacular.  It is a fairly challenging course and some of the holes are visually intimidating.  If you hit your ball into the desert you can kiss it goodbye unless you want to come face to face with a rattle snake.  There are signs on the first and tenth tee warning of the dangerous snakes that live in the desert.

Ken told us that he had come across a rattle snake recently when he went into the desert to look for Mary’s ball.  Jeez I was really freaked out now – even walking to our tee boxes I was on high alert.  As we whizzed along in the cart I was constantly looking into the desert to see if I could see anything untoward but it be honest it would be pretty hard as they blend in with the environment which is why you don’t venture off the green stuff.

Synopsis: Quintero can be described in two words: Stunning and elevation. The funny thing is you can keep those descriptions separate, or combine them into the phrase, “stunning elevation.” Either way, it works.  Three of the four par 3s, feature severe elevation changes. Steve decided to play off the tips on the par 3 ninth – 190 metres long, a 55 metre drop with a lake blanketing the front of the green.  He hit a great tee shot and made the 40 metre putt for birdie!

Despite the snake threat it is a stunning course and we really enjoyed it.  It is one of the best courses we have played so far on our tour and Ken & Mary were great company.  We went in for a drink afterwards and got chatting to the girl in the bar.  There was a road runner bird outside who we saw her talking too – it turns out “Ricky” the road runner is a local and hangs out at the clubhouse daily.  Apparently he keeps the snakes at bay around the clubhouse – he eats them – WOW!  We also learnt that they have a resident skunk that lives under the clubhouse who stinks the pro shop out from time to time.  

Crazy as we are we went back for a second round today getting up at 4.30am again!  Ken & Mary had booked a tee time and asked us to join them which was great.  It was quite overcast today so a bit cooler than when we played on Wednesday.  When we were driving back to the clubhouse Steve spotted a snake slithering across the road – it was just a common brown snake apparently – we watched it slither into the desert and it confirmed how well camouflaged they are – you wouldn’t have noticed it if you hadn’t followed it in there.

Ricky was waiting at the clubhouse for us too : )

Quintero was designed by Rees Jones who is one of the most acclaimed designers in golf.  Rees Jones portfolio of golf courses has hosted seven U.S. Opens, seven PGA Championships, four Ryder Cups, two Walker Cups and one Presidents Cup. With his traditional philosophy of golf course architecture, Jones creates courses that stand the test of time. His design for Quintero is strategic and challenging, yet respectful of the surrounding landscape.

It initially was a private club, meant for serious golfers with a lot of cash in their pockets. But when the economy went south, Quintero, like many private courses, opened its doors to the public to improve its bottom line.  The course opened in 2001 but in 2010 was placed into receivership.  By opening the course up to the public they managed to trade there was back into the black which is great because it really is worth the trip.The Marshall bought freshly baked chocolate chip cookies around to us and they were delicious : )

Steve hitting into the Par 3 ninth where he made a birdie from the tips : 0

Ricky the Roadrunner

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Moab Golf Course – Utah, USA

Posted on August 21, 2016 by SUNGRL

We left Denver on Friday morning – our destination being Moab in Utah.  Drive time was about 6 hours but our friends Nancy and Bill had recommended a few spots to stop off along the way.  It took quite some time just to get out of Denver, it really is a sprawling metropolis.  We stopped off at Beaver Creek which is a ski resort.  It was lovely with some nice shops and a golf course which had Steve salivating.  The drive through Colorado was very scenic with lots of mountain vistas and various crossings of the Colorado River.

As we crossed the state line into Utah the scenery changed quite dramatically – it was quite flat to start with before becoming very Grand Canyon like the closer we got to Moab.  

This morning we played Moab Golf Club and everywhere you looked you could see the red rock cliffs – the contrast with the green golf course made it even more spectacular.  Moab Golf Course has been operating since 1960.  The front nine is definitely the more scenic and variable nine whereas the back nine is fairly non descript.  All the same we really enjoyed the course and I loved looking at the changing vistas as the sun got higher into the sky.  The temperature was quite pleasant when we teed off at 7.45am but it was pretty hot by the time we finished.  

Today was the final round of the Rio Olympics Women’s Golf Individual Strokeplay and our vey own Lydia Ko was tied for second in the final group.  We had seen on the internet last night that they were teeing off earlier than planned due to high winds being forecast.  This foiled our plan – we were going to play and then settle into the bar at the golf club to watch the final few holes.  It was going to be all over by the time we finished so we had to follow the live scoring on the Internet.  I was feeling very nervous and kept checking the Internet going on an emotional roller coaster ride as Lydia made bogeys and then birdies.  We saw she was tied for second going into the last hole and we kept our fingers crossed that she could birdie the last to get the silver.  We just finished the 17th and I checked the internet again – I saw the -11 and we knew she had done it.  High fives all round – what a legend that girl is!

We finished our round and got into the clubhouse in time to see the medal ceremony and watch Lydai being interviewed – we were so proud to be Kiwis : )


After golf we checked out the local coffee Roastery – Moab Coffee Roasters and downtown Moab.  This is a real adventure town with bike hire places everywhere, hiking trails and four wheel drive adventures.  I would have loved to have done some bike riding but to be honest at 37 degrees and very little shade I felt even being the SUNGRL this would even be a bit much sun for me.

We took a drive instead into the Arches National Park.

This is part of the bike trail – better than the road surface!

Moab is a city in Grand County, in eastern Utah.  The population was 5,046 at the 2010 census.  Moab attracts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. The town is a popular base for mountain bikers who ride the extensive network of trails including Slickrock Trail, and off-roaders who come for the annual Moab Jeep Safari.

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