Whirlwind at Wild Horse Pass, Day 7 - Summer of Golf

The rains have finally subsided, and it’s time to play golf again!  Whirlwind Golf Club has two courses, Cattail was closed, so we played Devils Claw.  It wasn’t a hard course, but it wasn’t an easy course either.  It was somewhat spread out, and in great shape!  I think the monsoons have been great for all of the golf courses.  We used our Troon 2 for 1, and it was $50 total, tax included, which was a great deal, but we both think that $50 per person is a lot for this course during the summer.  When we started playing at 11:00, it was overcast and super comfortable, but by the time we finished, the clouds were gone, and it was getting toasty.  Most of the holes had tee boxes that you had to hit over the desert to get to the fairway, but once you were on the fairway, they were pretty forgiving with only a few bunkers per hole.  The mosquitos were ferocious today, thanks to the monsoons, so I think we need to carry mosquito spray from now on.

Steve played the best golf of his life, playing better than bogie golf!  I’m so proud of him!  Golf isn’t an easy game, but it sure is fun, and if I keep practicing hopefully I can do as well as he did some day!

The Gila River Indian Reservation is in the process of building, or adding onto a hotel for the casino. It is coming along nicely!

We enjoyed playing this course today, but aren’t sure it was worth the full $50 per person rate that they are asking. 

Wildlife Day at Boyce Thompson Arboretum

We have had such unusual summer weather this year that it is really starting to affect our Summer of Golf.  Ever since the monsoons came through a few weeks ago, we have had a lot of rain, and when it’s not raining, it’s so humid that there’s no way we could make it through 18 holes of golf in the 100 degree heat.  So we’ve been trying to find other ways to keep ourselves entertained.  It’s raining all over the Phoenix valley today, so we called the Boyce Thompson Arboretum to see how the weather was up there.  They said it’s beautiful, so we headed up there for some outdoor time.  Every time we go up there, it is like seeing it for the first time.  No two trips are ever alike. Today, because it was so quiet, all of the wildlife was out.

We also saw a bat, which is so unusual during the day.  And of course, just seeing the beauty of the park was so refreshing!

It was such a fun morning seeing all of the plants and wildlife in 72 degree temps, but now we must return to the rain in the city!

Monsoons Back to Back

They keep saying that climate change is intensifying our climate, and if our monsoons are any indicator, I believe it!  We had our first monsoon two nights ago, and last night we had another, just as strong. Both had winds of over 75 mph, and they were both quite destructive. The second one uprooted more trees, knocked part of our wall down, brought lots more rain and wreaked havoc on our backyard again. We didn’t clean up too well after the first one, because they said there was another one coming and they were right.

Arizona National, Tucson, Day 6 - Summer of Golf

Arizona National is tucked away in the foothills of Mount Lemon, so as we approached it, we were already intimidated, thinking this could be a really tough course.  Hole number one didn’t disappoint our fears, and hole number two started making me wonder what I had gotten myself into, but as we continued on, we fell into a rhythm, and the course seemed to get easier and more beautiful as we went.  We were both surprised by the amount of wildlife we saw as we played…coyote, deer, road runners, and lizards to name a few.  And the course was very spread out, sometimes driving 1/4 to 1/2 mile between holes.  There were Mountain View’s on one side, and Tucson city views on the other side on almost every hole. There was also a lot of elevation change on this course. The 18th hole has a 200 foot drop from the blue tees to the fairway, so of course Steve and I both had to try teeing off from there. We both hit the fairway and had a great hole!  The staff were all very friendly, and we again used our Troon 2 for 1, so we paid $18.50 a piece, for a total of $39. We had a nice icy cooler on our cart to keep our water cold, so we were calm and cool for our 18 holes.  Steve ended up with  seven pars (he blew-up on a couple holes, also…darn!)  and I got two, so we definitely got more comfortable as we went. We both really loved this course, and would definitely play it again! 

The deer is hard to see, but we caught him grazing on the green. 

Quarry Pines, Tucson, Day 5 - Summer of Golf

We headed to Tucson for a couple of days of golf using our summer Troon Card.  Quarry Pines is a golf course built on an active quarry.  Okay, the course itself is on the old quarry, but the active quarry is just beyond the fence for many holes of this course.  The first nine holes are a pretty traditional, easy to play course, winding through neighborhoods, but the back nine are much more difficult with a lot of elevation changes, and a lot of desert.  The back nine was fun, but definitely a bit over my head. The staff was friendly, and we used our Troon 2 for 1, so we paid $12 a piece, for a total of $24. Our only complaint was that there were no coolers on the carts, and we played 18 holes without ever seeing a beverage cart. By the end of 18 holes in 100 degree weather, our drinking water was very hot, and we had a hard time keeping ourselves cool.   It was a pretty course, but wouldn’t be my first choice to play again.

Sunsets and Monsoons

When we got home after our great day of golf at Arizona National, we were greeting by the cool, refreshing pool and a pretty sunset, but as the night went on, it got stormier and stormier.  This was our first monsoon since moving in over a year ago.  

We ended up fairing well, with just a few things thrown around in the yard, and dirt in the pool, but many of our neighbors weren’t so lucky. This camp trailer blew over, and was ripped off its frame about a mile from our home. 

This brand new wall was blown down.

And trees are down all over the neighborhood.  We are feeling very grateful, but also so sorry for the people that had so much damage.