Quote:
Originally Posted by ClarkNasty
I love Paiute Wolf other than the really out of place island green.
Having gotten back and seeing this post, it does seem to stand out from the rest of the course. All four of us hit the green (three of us three-putted) and then we watched as all four of the guys in the group behind us hit it into the water. Regardless of whether the hole doesn't fit with the others, one particularly brutal element is that it seems to play directly into the prevailing wind. We apparently got a "light" wind by Paiute standards and it was still two extra clubs on that hole.
(Notably, two of the other par 3s on Wolf also generally play towards the prevailing wind, including the medium length 12th hole over water.)
Anyway, the trip is complete and I want to post this here before I forget. This year's courses were a substantial upgrade over the last two years and I would seek them out again if up there outside of our yearly trip.
Badlands (Outlaw / Diablo): this was a practice round and we only had a threesome. Both of my friends who are good golfers thought this course was goofy - too many blind shots, too many holes with fairways that abruptly end, forcing a layup. I thought it was fine, however I was also playing pretty well...would really hate to play that course if I was hitting it sideways. Windy as usual but nothing too crazy. This was the only course we paid out of pocket for since the other three were rolled into the tournament price. We agreed that $50 + tax on a Saturday afternoon in June was probably a little steep.
TPC Las Vegas: this was the only track we'd played previously. Since this was part of our tournament I don't know what the rack rate is but they probably command more than they should because of the TPC label and Tour event being held there in the past. Enjoy the course but it must be an absolute nightmare for someone fighting a slice given that the worst trouble on most holes is to the right. Also, the 7th through the 14th is an eight hole stretch which plays both uphill and more or less directly into the wind which would presumably be brutal on a particularly gusty day. Wouldn't want to walk this course.
Paiute (Wolf): I'm not sure what it is about Wolf which makes it the signature course of the three. What little we saw of the other two looked very nice as well. While I played absolutely terribly this day, I did find the course to be solid and not as far from town as anticipated. Guessing this is the steepest greens fee of the four in season, but the distance relative to the others may mitigate that somewhat. Kudos to the ranger for staying on us to keep up because our group was quite slow (at least partially due to hunting for my wayward drives).
Bear's Best: enjoyed this course - the whole "recreating of holes from his other designs" is an interesting take. Having played some of the holes in their original form made it that much better as well. It was a bit funny to go from a hole with standard desert design to one with black sand, then to one with tons of pine trees or tons of palm trees. Shot eight strokes better on the back - I don't know if Clar.k's comment about the back being easier is accurate or if finally keeping the ball in play was the reason. For some reason the wind was blowing up the canyon - coming from the SE...not sure if that's common but it was different than the other courses which were more SSW. As a result the holes heading back down - 14, 15, 16, 18 - were all brutal, although 16 was somewhat manageable due to its length. One gripe here is that the group in front of us, which was part of our event, was preposterously slow. They were about two holes behind most of the round and we were waiting on every shot. It was like a funeral procession behind us with the groups stacked up. A ranger prodded them on the front nine and it seemed to work for a bit but he was nowhere to be seen on the back and the slowness resumed. This should have been addressed. Our round was close to five hours which isn't really acceptable on a fairly calm, sunny day.
tl;dr - played good courses, would play again.