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Public Golf – Southwest

Black Mesa part 3 – The White Album of Golf Courses?

Part one is here . Part two is here. CHIP SHOTS AND TAP-INS   Luckily for golfers, Spann’s visit to Tobacco Road inspired him to throw away the rule book.  The course is as un-Jones/Fazio as can be.  All the hackneyed tricks slick marketers and conventional designers use are absent and all the strategic elements and sharp natural features and severe greens...

Black Mesa article part 2

Part one of my Black Mesa piece is here, along with my ratings for the course.  Back already from reading that?  Good.  Here’s part two.  Part three to come tomorrow. ON THE COURSE               The course is inspired by Strantz’s work at Tobacco Road, but first hole is eerily reminiscent of number one at a different Strantz masterpiece...

Black Mesa’s sixteenth green is an alien face!

My article on Black Mesa Golf Club in New Mexico will run shortly over at Golf Observer. In the meantime, I found something fascinating right after I turned it in, so I’ll share it with you. Click on this picture of the 16th hole, then click on this picture of the 16th Green. Look particularly closely at the green contours. Back already? Good. Here we go, this...

Red Tail wins USGA award, Black Mesa piece for Golf Observer

Red Tail Golf Club by Brian Silva was awarded the 2009 Women’s Amateur Public Links.  Built on an old army base in Devens, Mass, just minutes west of Boston, the course is named for the Red Hawks which inhabit the site.  My detailed breakdown of the course is here.  My interview with Brian Silva is here.  Part 2 is here.  The article announcing the...

Final Jazzy Award of 2006 – Best Public Course – Black Mesa

With a full article to follow soon, Black Mesa GC in La Mesilla, NM takes home the Jazzy Award for Best Public Round of the Year.  Design:  Seven Stars.  (All Ratings out of Seven)  The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows (did you know that?)  As Nancy Carpenter likes to say “if a person is perfect, then that’s their flaw.”  However you want to look at...

We-Ko-Pa to open Coore & Crenshaw course, Jay becomes Associate Editor of Cybergolf

With apologies to Shakespeare for cribbing, now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by Coore and Crenshaw. We-ko-pa Golf Club, fast becoming the flagship of Scottsdale golf, will open the Saguaro Course by this minimalist tandem on or around December 16. The Scott Miller course is now named the “Cholla” course, after a small sausage...

Pictures of the Rawls Course (Dormant Season)

I’ll post reviews after I return to Manhattan, but both the Rawls Course at Texas Tech U. and Black Mesa outside Santa Fe are easily two of the best golf values in the country. For around $50 any time, you can play a top 100 course (as rated by Golf Magazine, the most important ranking rankings in the game). We played the Rawls in a howling 40 mph wind. It was...

Talking Stick (North Course) – Minimalism is the real deal in Scottsdale

TALKING STICK (NORTH COURSE) 9998 E. Indian Bend Road Scottsdale, AZ 480.850.7302 www.talkingstickgolfclub.com Architect: Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore Par: 70 (35-35) Price: $125-$170 in high season, $75 in low Excitement: 8/12 (11/12 for purists) Difficulty: 6/12 Design: 6-1/2 stars (out of 7) Conditioning: 5-1/2 stars Natural Setting: 5 stars Overall: 6 stars Value:...

Resorts, hotels and places to stay and restaurants for your Arizona Golf trip

Here are some recommendations when you are booking your trip to the Valley of the Sun and points beyond for your golf vacation. They are in no particular order. High End: 1) The Boulders Golf Resort, Carefree, AZ Price: $298 and up for unlimited golf and one nights stay in a casita. Setting: 7 stars Value: 5.5 stars Golf: 5 stars The Boulders is a must play and stay...