This is what I look like on vacation!
Its the happy golfer dance!
Day 2 of our Arizona trip was sort of a bummer for the rest of the family. The kids came down with food poisoning from a bad dessert they had at a local restaurant near the Wigwam. They were up most of the night. They were still under the weather in the morning and would end up sleeping all day. So I ended up playing alone the Wigwam Patriot (Blue) course. This was the shortest of the three Wigwam courses but made up for it with very challenging green complexes. Most were raised and surrounded by traps on all sides. The tips only played 6,001 and the white tees were 5,572. My intention were to play from the tips but I was paired with another golfer that was playing from the whites, so I joined him there for the round. I played very well, shooting a 76, but I don't consider that a "true" breaking 80 round due to the short length. Unfortunately I forgot to bring a real camera with me, but I did get this one image from my phone camera.
Wide fairways again, but plenty of bunkers around the green. 3 in front and two behind that you can't see on this one.
In the evening of Day 2 we leave Wigwam and move over to Scottsdale and the Westin Kierland Resort. This would be our home for the rest of the trip.
On Day 3 the kids are feeling a bit better and my son feels good enough for golf. My daughter is still not quite up to golf so she and my wife ride along with us while we play. The course is the Kierland Golf Club at the Westin. This is a Troon managed course and they always do a top notch job in upkeep. They have 27 holes and our 18 holes were the Mesquite/Acacia nines. Aeration had been done 2 weeks prior so the putting surfaces don't look as pristine as normal, but they putted fairly true.
The clubhouse & putting green above.
The first hole. Wide generous "resort" style fairways. Plenty of traps on the course though so there is trouble to be found. See an example on the 3rd hole below.
A few action shots below. Even a view of my lone birdie putt of the day about to drop!
We found a local!
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| Father & Son on the tee box! |
A few more shots below, showing off the extensive bunkering around the greens.
The signature 7th hole on Acacia. 20 bunkers on one hole! I missed them all!
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| Our 18th hole (Acacia #9), headed back to the hotel. |
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| Later that evening at dusk, a piper plays at the 18th green. Very cool! |
The piper and the signature Acacia 7th in the background.
I shot a very nice round of 81! I highly recommend the Keirland Golf Club and the Westin Kierland Resort. A wonderful place to stay with great restaurants, a fantastic pool area with a large lazy river, and the 27 hole course.
Next blog posts to cover the two We-Ko-Pa courses: Saguaro & Cholla!
