Grip It & Rip It

Scottsdale:
Having done a few golf trips to Myrtle Beach, we decided to change things up a bit and head West. We thoroughly enjoyed what Scottsdale had to offer, great golf, good food, awesome dry warm weather and a young vibrant university crowd. Why people choose to retire in humid, muggy and wet Florida over warm and dry Arizona we will never begin to understand. What a great place, (9) inches of annual rainfall, hundreds of golf courses, no mosquitoes, no hurricanes and no lawns to mow what else would one want. We enjoyed the food in Scottsdale, in particular Satori Sushi - we frequented it often and it certainly did not hurt that from Saturday through Monday it was 2:1 sushi and they even provided us with our own tv in the back room to watch the NHL playoffs!
Golf (Scottsdale & Sedona):
We started our golf, well where else - at the PGA superstore. What became very evident from the moment we started our golf was the number of young people working at the courses and golf stores - unlike Myrtle Beach, where most of the people are retired and working for the benefits of playing for reduced rates, Scottsdale was full of young blood. On the wildside, we did not see any live rattlesnakes, although we did see one on a tee box that lost a a battle with a 9 iron!
We managed to play (9) rounds at (8) different courses all of which were highly recommended by a number of different golf sites and magazines. Because we played in the shoulder season we paid reduced rates, however after June 1st the rates drop even further. Now that we have experienced playing in above 100 degree "dry" heat, I would recommend to any golfer that the Arizona heat should not be a deterrent to booking a golf vacation during the summer. The rates in the summer in some cases are half of those in the winter "snowbird period" and the benefits far out way the additional amount of water one needs to drink, and chap stick required to be applied while out on the course. We did use Golfnow.com for our round at Troon North and saved $70 per person - highly recommend using this site to book your rounds during the off season from May to August. In addition, there exists a “Southwest Pass” that can be purchased by anyone (resident & non-resident of Arizona) that gives 50% of a number of courses. Of course we did not find this out until we had been paired up with a number of locals - however not all the top rated courses accept this pass. Below are the courses and how we rate them;

We-Ko-Pa (Cholla) - highly recommended
Troon North (Monument) - highly recommended
Grayhawk (Talon) - highly recommended
Eagle Mountain - recommend
Gold Canyon (Dinosaur Mt) - recommend (great views)
Sedona Golf Resort - recommend (great views)
McCormick Ranch - cheap entry level course (great for practice rounds)
Boulders - nice course overrated



Sedona

After enjoying the 100+ degree warmth of Scottsdale we headed north to Sedona to take in the scenic red rock. Unfortunately we experienced (3) full days of rain, cool temperatures, a hail storm and all the other elements one can experience at 4,000 ft above sea level. There is no denying the beauty of Sedona, we were fortunate to get a few minutes here and there of clear skies to catch a climpse of the famous Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock and the other red rock formations.

Grand Canyon

From Sedona we did a day trip to the Grand Canyon - a (2) hour drive north. Unfortunately the majority of the drive was in torrential rain, and we entered the park in the clouds unable to see any of the canyon. As we made our way through the Canyon the clouds lifted and the rain stopped for a few hours. The Canyon is indeed a sight to see, however our biggest beef, which is well documented by others, is the lack of parking. After several attempts we were fortunate enough to get a spot at the Verkamps Visitor Center. We made the most of our time and the dry weather by walking as much of the South rim as possible. We did take the shuttle for the blue line from the visitor center to the Yavapai observation station - it was definitely an amusing ride as our bus driver, nick named (“the Peon with Power”) took every opportunity to honk her horn and yell at drivers parking vehicles along the road with through her loud speaker - a classic example of an underachiever with a weeeeee bit of power! We left the Canyon after a few hours due to the lighting and endless down pours that lasted not only the entire way back to Sedona, but carried over to the next day as well. We could not handle anymore rain so we got out of dodge and left Sedona in the rear view mirror. We were greeted back in Scottsdale with 90 degree warmth and beautiful blue skies!

What a great vacation - really Scottsdale for what it offered, can't wait for the next golf trip and hopefullya much warmer and drier visit to Sedona.

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