john trojan

12/03/2008

Desert Mountain Golf Courses

Renegade:
I am often asked which course I prefer to play at Desert Mountain or which course is the "best" and my response is almost always, "if you are looking for a good test of your game and a fair test, I would highly recommend the Renegade course for several reasons. 1) Renegade is an extremely walkable course because it is at the lowest elevation, 2) the course offers players of all levels the opportunity to challenge themselves and the course with two sets of pins on every hole." The round can be either short and sweet or long and troublesome. You pick your own
poison from the first tee-box!

The first hole lulls you into submission and then the "reality" check kicks in as you approach holes three and four and you are faced with a menacing "over-water" par 3 with only a miniscule bailout to the left, trouble short, right and long. A series of tricky par 4's test your accuracy left and right and once you approach the ninth, you are more than ready for a wide open par 5 hole. Nine is a birdie hole but don't get too excited as hole ten will humble the best hitter in the group. Playing nearly 600 yards from the blue tees, this hole requires three perfect shots to land on an enormous,
undulated and severly sloped green. A five on this hole deserves high fives for sure.

The back nine at Renegade requires yet more accuracy in your shot making. Twelve puts more water into play short and left leaving the only bail out short and right. This green is so severly sloped that if your approach is not close you could easily be looking at three or four putts or worse, a downhill bunker shot towards the water.

Thirteen through eighteen besides beautiful mountain views provide even more trouble from errant shots. Two tricky downhill par 3's into huge tiered greens are guaranteed to make your knees a little weak. One more par 5 and then home with a downhill, bunker right par 4 which will test whatever nerves you may have left.

Jack Nicklaus surely had "challenge" on his mind when he designed this golf course. Although not my personal favorite I enjoy entertaining clients here due to Renegade's playability and pristine high Sonoran desert beauty.The luxury homes on and around the Renegade gold course range from the 700's to the 12 millions.

The Renegade is also home of the Callaway Golf Learning Center featuring the most cutting edge teaching, technology and practice facility in north Scottsdale.

Apache Golf Course:

Although not one of the most popular or well played courses at Desert Mountain, the Apache course will surely give you your money's worth from tee to green. The opening hole will captivate you from a purely "how beautiful is that view down into the valley below" standpoint. If you don't pay attention to your shot making and end up hooking your drive you'll be looking but it won't be at the views! Holes two, three, four and five keep your attention focused on the views and the relative "tightness" of the fairways will require you to be a bit more conservative with your shot selections. If you can keep it on the short grass, the greens are receptive and fair however they are quick and sloped almost deceptively. If your playing partners haven't reminded you by now, I will.....be aware of the mountains (uphill slow putts and the reverse,downhill the "valley effect" which will send your ball dangerously off the back side and nestled in the deep dormant bermuda rough.

Holes seven through nine reverse the theme as you again proceed uphill and back into the mountains. An extra club never hurts on the uphill shots. Hole nine is a tricky blind shot into a dog-leg right green protected by front bunkers and deep backside rough which quickly turns into desert if you have been a little aggressive on the approach. Be thankful for low front nine scores and get ready for an exciting back nine ride.

Hole ten besides providing you with some of the most spectacular views of Apache Peak and the multi-million dollar custom homes thereunder, will test every club in your bag. This short par 4 hole which pretty much takes driver out of play will force the player to make two quality golf shots from initial lay-up to precise landing on a right to left sloped green that appears to defy gravity.

A score of four is a VERY good number on this hole. Did I forget to mention the widest wash on the golf course borders the entire length of the fairway completely eliminating a right side approach to the green? I didn't? My bad!

The back nine is characterized by three challenging par 3's, a couple of long par 4's and two long and winding par 5's which test the right side of your brain....don't be right!

Now for some real adventure! The par 5 eighteenth appears to be just "another golf hole" until you realize just how far it is to the green if you are going to try to make it in two. Unless you can carry a 280 yard shot over wash, desert and boulder outcroppings, my suggestion here is lay up short of the junk and then plan the approach to a knarly green guarded by wash, boulders, bunkers and desert. Incidentally, this hole provides the player with two pin options. Right is way too easy however left is, well, left is an adventure. Your approach needs to be nearly perfect or you could very well have just blown what might have been your best score all year!

The good news is that your finish brings you back to the Apache Steakhouse which is not only some of the best dining at Desert Mountain it also provides one of the finest wine lists in North Scottsdale. Bring your "A" game and don't forget your appetite!

Golfing at Cochise:

Higher in elevation and in my opinion, more challenging, the Cochise course at Desert Mountain shares similarities with the Geronimo course as well as sharing the clubhouse. These are the two courses which previously hosted the Tradition Tournament featuring such golf legends as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player to name only a few. Cochise will captivate you with every tee box view and shot making decision.

The opening hole is a generous par 4 over an expansive wash and natural desert however it is a very fair test. Interestingly, the second hole is a short but extremely sloped par 3 into a semi circular formation of boulders guarding the heavily waste-bunkered green. A well placed short iron shot should set you up for a birdie try. My very first and only hole-in-one was achieved on this number two hole on February 7, 2007.

Needless to say, I have a very warm place in my heart for the course and especially hole two.

Almost every turn on Cochise affords the player spectacular mountain and valley views. It is hard to focus on the shot when your playing partners are all oohing and aahing. It is not uncommon to observe wildlife on this track. Frequent bob-cat, coyote and javelina are spotted regularly. The water holes on this course often bring out the groups of mule deer which make Desert Mountain their home.

Speaking of water holes, the shared green fifth and fifteenth aslo share three other commonalities.

1) They are surrounded by boulder formations,

2) there is water on three sides of each hole and

3) Gary Player scored ace and eagle respectively on these holes while competing in the Tradition.

The final holes on Cochise provide some of the most challenging shots on the golf course. Sixteen is a long par 3 to a steep, fast green with hard desert left and gaping bunkers right. An errant shot off the tee can leave you in trouble or on the green and three putt distance away from the hole.

Cochise is an amazing golf course. It provides players of all skill levels a very enjoyable albiet testy round of golf. You could be searching the desert for errant shots or you could be on the green and struggling to make par but the views will quickly make you forget the difficulty and appreciate the amazing high sonoran desert and particularly the beautiful architecture blended into the natural beauty. Homes on Cochise range from the low one millions to the high ten millions and all points in between. Hole seventeen requires two very precise shots into the green and keeps you focused on the pristine mountain views leading up mountain to Saguaro Forest and the Chricahaua golf course....breathtaking for sure!

Finally, the finishing hole will require a well placed tee shot preferably to the right of the fairway to avoid the trees left and set yourself up for a clear shot at the green if you have enough to get there in two. For the weak of heart, a carefully executed long iron shot will place you free from the wash guarding the deck and in perfect position for what absolutely must be a perfect approach into the severly sloped and faster than lightning green.

Be advised, the mountains are immediately behind the flag....trust your shot but be sure to take enough club. It is pure uphill into the side of a cliff!

A bad approach or poorly landed short your shot will trickle off the green and into a bunker or heavy rough. If the pin is located far right, trust your shot way right as there is plenty of room. If the pin is left, place your shot center right and let the slope take the ball back down to the hole. Long is a poor option as the rough will hang the ball up making a soft, chip or high flop onto the green nearly impossible to hold and stop before running off the bottom of the green.

Cochise is an amazing golf course and one which absolutely requires a second and third visit. She is like a temptress. Sensual, mysterious yet so rewardingwhen you treat her right! Can you tell she is my favorite? Enjoy!

Geronimo Golf Course:

The most played golf course at Desert Mountain, Geronimo shares a magnificent club house, practice facility, forever views and challenging test of golf with the Coschise course. From the first tee box where you find yourself feeling very alone and very small as you face the extremely daunting long carry over desert terrain and the widest wash at Desert Mountain. A well placed tee shot middle right will give you a long but makeable second shot right of the transition left center which, if you pull your shot, will leave you in a very difficult position to make par. The uphill, heavily sloped and very fast green will force you to make an accurate approach and two putts for par. I have had the good fortune of making birdie and the equally unfortunate double bogie on this hole.

FYI...double is NOT how you want to start this golf course. There are no gimme holes and each shot needs to be well thought out prior to committing. Hole two though relatively tame will test your approach shot accuracy and your ability to putt on a green that will allow your ball to roll off if not perfectly placed. Hole three is in my opinion one of the most difficult greens to hit due to the transition, the bunkering and the shere angles you are forced to attack the green with due to errant approach shots. Far too often you are struggling to save par by virtue of a short approach which gets gobbled up by the deep greenside bunkers middle and left.

Hole four though relatively short will test your nerves left as there is nothing pretty over there between the o.b. desert and the greenside water hazard. A playing partner fearing the water once pushed his approach so badly, his shot found a neighboring swimming pool instead! OOPs!

The holes do not get any easier as you are now faced with a very narrow fairway, huge waste bunkers down and left and a long second shot into a huge, protected green requiring accuracy and distance to hit and hold.

The seventh is a tricky par 3 with limited bailout to the right. Short is disaster and long will surely leave you with a downhill chip from hell.

Hole eight is a makeable birdie hole provided your tee shot is long and preferably right for optimal access to a severely sloped and slick green.

On the tee of hole nine you have to make two very distinct decisions.

1) do you play safe and lay-up short and right or
2) do you ignore the desert looming short left and power a tee shot over the bunker middle left, carry it and watch your ball run another 40 to 50 yards towards the hole very definitely giving you a shot at the green in two and a birdie attempt. HMM!

The back nine provides the willing combatant some very interesting carry shots over boulder fomations, trees and desert outcroppings. The brave of heart will be inclined to let it rip and hope however the prudent player will take into account the lost strokes from poorly managed shots and lost balls in the heavy desert underbrush. Better to be short and safe rather than long and in the junk I always say! Can you tell I am speaking from experience?

Twelve and thirteen require well disciplined tee shots and especially distance and carry control. Short on either of these holes will put you deeply in the desert with little or no chance of recovery.

Coming home, hole seventeen repeats a very similar desision as did nine. Left is the home run and can get you on the green in two. The finishing hole on Geronimo presents the player with optical challenges which will either make of break the round. Whose idea was it to design a finishing hole par 3 over a canyon into boulders, bunkers and desert?

Okay, Jack Nicklaus on a very devious day! All the seasoned players will tell you two things on this hole.
1) Take more club than what the yardage book tells you, and
2) ignore the fact that everyone in the clubhouse is watching you make your shot! Oh yeah, no pressure! The good news is the hole is very much a birdie hole and this writer has achieved that goal more than once. The amazing Cochise/Geronimo clubhouse awaits where you can imbibe and forget the bad shots and glorify the good ones! If only the walls could talk??

Geronimo will leave you wanting to play it again and again.

Without a doubt if you were to ask 10 different people their perspective on the real estate market in Scottsdale, Arizona you would certainly get that...10 different perspectives. Truth be known, our market appears to have "dodged the big bullet" and we are experiencing 12-18% downturn versus the 28-36% turn some parts of the valley have been "shot at" of late. The good news is that there is positive activity and it appears the pricepoints most active are between $500,000.0 and $800,000.00. Clearly the second homes have been selling at a rapid pace thanks to our Canadian neighbours (not a typo, I am originally from Canada) who are capitalizing on the strength of the "looney" (Canadian dollar) and who recognize the investment opportunities in North Scottsdale and I am certain in most golf and recreational areas of Phoenix Metropolitan. With temperatures across Canada, the northeast states, the midwest and the notheast being on the extreme side of frigid, it is just a matter of time before we see an even greater increase in real estate sales.

My personal perspective (the consumate optimist) is that we will see recovery sooner rather than later with the help of our winter visitors as well as from the tremendous "push" the Fed is attempting to stimulate the current economic climate. There has surely never been a more opportune time to get into the market and buy something under-valued with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in "built-in, long-term" equity already in the purchase. Enough with the "doom and gloom" and onward with some positive, intelligent decision making on the part of the investors and motivated buyers out there! A famous author by the name of Napoleon Hill wrote a book entitled "Think and Grow Rich" in the 1960's. Perhaps he was envisioning a time in history as we are experiencing. Perhaps not however there is a time for action and a time to sit back and wait. Those who react to opportunity are the fortunate ones who make fortunes while those who cannot make a decision sit idly by waiting for something to happen and only realize way too late that they missed the opportunity and are heard years later stating, "if only I had (fill in the blank) I would be rich today.

The time is now to have that heart to heart with all the prospective buyers out there sitting on the fence waiting until someone tells them it is okay before all the deals are gone!

What say we all make some sales happen NOW!! All the best in 2009.

John