Scottsdale Day 2

Troon North Bites Your Hack

Troon North - the Pinnacle Course - is unreal. Checkout a flyover here (there are ads unfortunately.: Pinncacle Course Flyover

First Tee - So Full of Expectations

Surprisingly, your Hack felt pretty good waking up Friday morning after 5 hours of sleep. It was a semi-rough night on the blackjack table, but there were no lingering effects from the atomic scale, volcano hot, gumbo from the previous night. We were heading to Troon North. I was happy about my ball striking the previous day at Talking Stick, but also worried about my putting.

There was a Wolf game on tap for our foursome (the Voice, Pip, Sir-Yes-Sir, Hack) on this 6635 yard track. We all played from the Gold tees - one up from the tips. I hit a good drive on #1 and put a 9 iron on the green about 20 feet above the hole. The Voice was in a similar spot off the tee and pushed his approach a little right and long, but still on the green. Unfortunately, his putt powered past the pin and rolled off the green leaving his with a 15 yard chip to get back to the putting surface. I wrote double bogey on the card before he hit his comeback shot. After watching his putt, I left mine short, very weary of the downhill, down grain putt. And, sure enough, I missed the par putt. 3-putt bogeys on the first hole of the day for the first two days of the trip - nice! It didn’t get any better with a double on #2 and another 3-putt bogey on #3.

The shot of the day in our group had to be on #2. The Voice was in the middle of the fairway, about 160-165 from the pin. He grooved an iron directly at and into the 150 yard marker and the ricochet landed about 10 yards behind him. I only wished I’d had the iPhone camera rolling as he proceeded to make a smooth double bogey.

No one in our group had made a par through the first three holes. This changed on #4 as I made a birdie, sinking a 15 footer and Sir-Yes-Sir made par. Unfortunately this was quickly followed by another double and then two 3-putts on #7 and #8 and a double on #9. Ugh - Your Hack shot 44 on the front with 20 putts and two double bogeys. Luckily, my playing partners did not do much better and the Wolf game was close.

The scenery was awesome on this course.

In the group behind us, Bru and Weavo were playing well. Weavo turned in 2 over with 1 birdie, while Bru paired 3 birdies with 3 bogeys for an even par 35.

Weavo Hitting His Target

Hoping to turn things around, I managed to hit the first 4 greens on the back nine. Sadly, your Hack 4-putted #11 for a double and 3-putted #12 and the pain continued. After a couple of lose shots off the tee that found the desert, come missed short putts and another 3-putt on #17, I limped home with a 43 on the back, 87 total with 41 putts once again. the low score in our foursome was putt together by Sir-Yes-Sir at 81. Pip struggled with an 88 and the Voice was everywhere on the property - shooting 98.

The wolf game didn’t really get interesting until the 17th hole. We were playing $15 Wolf, the Voice had blown his drive out of bounds. Pip and I were partners and had doubled the bet. We had par putts waiting, when Sir-Yes-Sir made his par and the Voice tripled the bet - $60. I missed first - would you expect anything different - but Pip also missed his shorter putt and the Voice was in his glory.

Bru and Weavo continued to play solid golf on the back nine. Weave made 2 more birdies to finish at 73, 2 over. Bru shot 71 making a bad double bogey on the 18th. The Senator shot 92 with nice birdie on the #1 handicap hole, while the Mechanic continued to struggle with a 97.

Bru Pasting Another Drive

Stableford Update After Round 2:

Bru -6; Weavo -9; Sir-Yes-Sir -13; Hack -14; Senator -25; Pip -26; Voice/Mechanic -30

As we headed back to the resort fro drinks and dinner, your Hack reflected on desert golf. It’s fun, but can be punishing. Troon North was definitely a target golf course and I was off target too many times. Add in 41 putts and you come up with the type of score I shot.

Dinner was at Tash a Mediterranean-inspired Tapas, Seafood, and Meat Restaurant located just above the casino. Tee food was awesome, but the DJ was too loud for your old Hack. I had Steak Á La Parrilla with a moroccan harissa tomato sauce which was very well done.

After dinner, I headed off to the blackjack tables once again to try and pay for this trip. Short story - after a slow start, I paid for the trip 4 hours later. It was a fun night. One thing about gambling though. You may be up, but the trip isn’t over yet.

We head out to McDowell Mountain on Friday for our 3rd round. Keep it in the short grass.

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PS - The Mechanic had one of the best lines I’ve ever heard. The Senator plays with multiple hybrids and game improvement irons. Walking back to the carts, the Mechanic and the Voice were discussing the bag setup when he quipped -

“Yeah, they’re like irons with training wheels.”