ARIZONA FEATURES:
June Notebook:
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| Arizona FREE Package Quote Call: 866-444-0992 |
Believe it or not, more than 2,500 golfers played these 36 holes in one day last summer and lived to tell about it, according to Russ Norris, the TPC marketing director. Sounds like some of these folks may be capable of running from rim-to-rim at the Grand Canyon next.
"We did it for the first time last summer," Norris says about the double deal, "and this spring we got calls from San Francisco and from all over the United States from people who wanted to know if we'd do it again."
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No coupon is necessary to play the 36 holes. Just call up and book a tee time, up to seven days in advance for any Sunday through Thursday. Norris recommends starting by at least 11 a.m. or you might not finish this ordeal by sundown. But it's ok, too, to fudge a bit and just play the front nine at the Desert Course, he says.
For tee times, call 1-866-444-0992 (602-910-6821)
Thunderbirds Golf Club Summer Deal
A similar deal is available this summer at the brand-new Thunderbirds Golf Club, 701 E. Thunderbird Trail, in South Phoenix. Every Tuesday is Play-All-Day day. For $39, you can play as many holes as you can and get a complimentary hot dog and drink as well. For tee times, call 602-305-7755. Web site: www.thunderbirdsgolfclub.com.
New Resort News
Three huge luxury resorts in the Valley of the Sun are nearing completion and expect to open in December 2002 or soon thereafter, and all, not surprisingly, are next door to top-notch courses in the Phoenix area.
Marriott's $293 million Desert Ridge Resort & Spa will be
Arizona's
largest, with 950 rooms, including 85 suites. Desert Ridge is
located in northeast Phoenix
near the Wildfire
Golf Club, which has two courses, the Palmer
and the brand-new Faldo.
According to the press packets, the lobby of this massive hotel
will spill out onto "sparkling blue waterways and majestic
palm-lined paths accented by vibrant desert wildflowers."
Address: 5350 E. Marriott Drive, Phoenix. Phone: 480-905-0004.
Web site: www.marriott.com.
Not too far away from Desert Ridge is the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, a $180 million, 11-story resort with 750 rooms, located near the 27-hole Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale. Also close to the Westin Kierland is a very popular Scottsdale shopping center, Kierland Commons, home to J.Crew, Crate & Barrel, P.F. Chang's and the Cheesecake Factory. Address for the Westin: 6902 E. Greenway Parkway, Scottsdale. Phone: 1-866-444-0992 (602-910-6821). Web site: www.westin.com.
The south of Phoenix area will have the $125 million Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa, with 500 rooms near the Whirlwind Golf Resort, home of the Devil's Claw and Cat's Tail courses on the Gila River Indian Community. This destination resort is 11.5 miles south of Sky Harbor airport. Local attractions are the Wild Horse Pass Casino and a pool area that includes a waterslide set among waterfalls and bridges overlooking the Gila River. Address: 5594 Wild Horse Pass Blvd., Chandler. Phone: 602-225-0100. Web site: www.sheraton.com.
Is it really possible for visitors to Phoenix to fill up more than 2,000 new hotel rooms? "We've had 2,000 new rooms added at one time in the past and managed to fill them," says Jay Haffner, director of golf at SunRidge Canyon Golf Course in Fountain Hills. "Typically, when something like this happens, there is a lot more advertising and promotion done outside the state and business picks up for everyone."
Eagle Mountain Benefits from TV Time
It pays to be on television. Jay Pennypacker, director of golf at
the Golf Club at Eagle
Mountain in Fountain Hills, says that business picked up dramatically
after Eagle Mountain was the setting for a Canadian Tour event this
past spring. "We've been booked solid," he says. "We
asked people how they heard about us and 27 percent of them said
that they came to play after seeing us on the Golf Channel."
If you're one of those who turned in to see this spectacular course in the McDowell Mountains above Scottsdale and were hoping to get in 18 this summer, Pennypacker warned us that the course will close down from July 15 through Aug. 15 while the maintenance staff replants the greens.
Eagle Mountain will be changing from bentgrass to a tiff dwarf grass on its greens. The problem, according to Pennypacker, is that bentgrass, although it can produce a very smooth, velvety surface for golfers, is harder to maintain in the desert, particularly because the water in Arizona has been increasing in salinity for the past few years. "The edges of the greens have been wearing away," Pennypacker says. The new grass should resolve that problem.
For tee times at Eagle Mountain before the closure, call 1-866-444-0992 (602-910-6821)
Longbow Closes for Redesign
Owners of Longbow
Golf Club in Mesa
have announced that the club has closed to public use earlier this
month and is expected to reopen on Dec. 1, 2002.
During the closure, the 18-hole golf course will be redesigned to fit into a new business park development that will surround the course. Tucson golf course designer Ken Kavanaugh is doing the redesign. He originally designed the course in 1997. Longbow is located at 5400 E. McDowell Road, Mesa 85215, near the intersection of Higley and McDowell roads. Phone: 480-807-5400. Web site: www.longbowgolf.com.
Arizona Hotel Summer Bargains
Besides the cheap rates at golf clubs this summer in the Phoenix
area, there are incredible bargains at the hotels next door to the
courses. Consider these:
- $79 a night at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, a block or two
from the Tournament Players Club courses. Phone, 888-273-0614.
Web site: www.scottsdaleplaza.com.
- $119 per weekday night or $149 per weekend night at the Boulders
Resort, off Tom Darlington Drive in Carefree.
The
Boulders has its own fabulous golf courses. Phone, 1-866-444-0992
(602-910-6821)
- $59 per night at the Gainey Suites Hotel, 7300 E. Gainey Suites
Drive, Scottsdale, very close to McCormick
Ranch Golf Club, which has two courses, and Starfire
at Scottsdale Country Club. Phone, 1-866-444-0992 (602-910-6821)
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club - Saguaro Course