Mojave Dunes- Golfing The Arizona Indian ReservationWritten by Mel Barosay
Mojave Dunes- Golfing The Arizona Indian ReservationRead Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link: www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/golf02/Mojave/mojavegolf.html Wind Sculptured Resort Golf Adjacent to Avi Indian Resort & Casino, Mojave Resort Golf Club is a championship resort course with wide, congenial fairways and four sets of tees, allowing golfers their own challenge. The terrain combines native vegetation and wind-sculptured sand dunes. The natural water features ebb and flow with topography. Many of fairways are bordered with indigenous desert sand, shrubbery and wild life. The greens are a bit courser and truer than most others in Southern Nevada area. This reporter assumes combination of lower elevation and watering patterns make this phenomena come about, thus providing a suitable level of difficulty for an enjoyable and challenging round of golf. The course itself is eclectically well-designed with bunker sand traps and water hazards on a relatively flat, but undulating plot of real estate. A small new housing tract of modest homes is perking-up (as they were advertised) on lengthy road (Aha Macav Parkway) coming in to resort from Highway Route 163. These new dwellings are located on holes #12 and #13. Duff Dunes at Mojave Resort Golf Club Between silhouette view in background and rolling fairways, a golfer can easily be distorted and baffled by lack of carry and roll in their golf shots. In reality, Mojave Golf Course lies at zero feet elevation next to Colorado River and is usually watered thoroughly each day to maintain its lush emerald condition. Hence, golfer visiting Mojave for first time after playing any of Las Vegas courses, some 90 miles (two hour drive) to north, and 1,000 to 1,500 feet higher in elevation, may be unsure for first few holes whether or not they lost their vigor. Another thing that strikes devoted golfer as their round of golf begins is pin placement illustration system employed on each cart. The commonly used 1-2-3 checked flag system pictorially maps-out full dimensions of forthcoming green. A very evident factor of Mojave Golf Resort is serene setting provided by Mother Nature. Temperatures are a bit more comfortable in winter months (approximately 10 degrees warmer than Las Vegas). Winds can be a prevalent factor too, but on particular days, this locale seems to be able to escape winter's wrath by being peacefully nestled in its own little carved-in piece of land to provide golfers with a pleasant and relaxed experience. Jetsetters Magazine Golf MallHole #2, appropriately named "the Crater", right away tests golfers patience. It is a short par 4, 299-yard hole from Championship (yellow) tee boxes, which is best played with a long iron or fairway wood from tee to clear first bunker some 178 yards straight out. This tactic will leave a petite wedge shot over a sand dune to an elevated green, but at same time this creates a difficult, blind approach due to height of putting surface. The green is very diminutive in depth, but long in width, making it imperative to stop ball on line to pin once it reaches putting surface.
| | Golfing Lake Powell Is No BluffWritten by Jetsetters Magazine
Golfing Lake Powell Is No BluffRead Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/golf02/PageAZ/page.html If touring American Southwest bring your sticks, open your golfer's guide to Page, not just any page, but Page, Arizona. Snuggled amongst colorful sandstone cliffs of beautiful Lake Powell is a must-play public course, aptly named, Lake Powell National. Designed by William Phillips, built and managed by First Golf Corporation and opened for business in 1995, this gem is positioned on a mountainside overlooking massive Glen Canyon Dam. The course, with it's optional four tee boxes, is designed to challenge most skilled golfer, but it can also be adjusted to accomodate any level of play. The tips are laid out at over 7000 yards while blues are set at around 6400 and whites at 5800 yards. Now laddies, don't think for a minute that you are in for an easy time of it because even at 5100 yards reds are more than enough of a challenge for any game. Combine changing weather patterns with vistas only found in canyonlands of Great Southwest and it's almost too much visual beauty, making concentration on your game difficult. I found myself gazing on Lake Powell horizon. On most golf courses are your typical hazards, such as grass and sand bunkers, water, trees, rolling fairways and course boundaries. In my numerous years of playing golf, I was never reminded that it was my turn to hit. I would have even given up honors to sneak a peak at burnt orange cliffs and towering monuments. Of course this didn't help when it came time to markmy partner's drive off tee - he should have been in fairway anyway, right? Now somewhere down road of golf there must be an unwritten rule that states, "If you play a course that's new to you, take along a local, or let your playing partners hit first." Fortunately, for my group, we had a local guide to assist with shot strategies. For those without aid of a local hustler, Lake Powell National does provide an excellently designed pocket guide to entire course. It lays out each hole, recommends shot location, and provides beautiful color diagrams from most landing locations, their hazards, and all of distances. A picture in a little pocket book is not going to make this round a snap - but wait until you meet real National.
|
