Golfing Troon North - Pinnacle

Another time travel posting.  Originally airing April 2013.

The golf landscape in Scottsdale is chock-a-block full of options for those lucky enough to venture to the area.  Widely considered the granddaddy of Scottsdale courses are the pair of courses at Troon North, Pinnacle and Monument.

Tom Weiskopf was the original designer of Pinnacle and also the co-designer of the Monument course (Jay Morrish was the other partner).  The Pinnacle course originally opened in 1995 and Monument in 1996.

In 2007, the two courses were reconstituted.  It was felt the layout and routing of the original 36 holes were confusing with too long of distances between holes.  Also, the strengths of the two courses didn't seem to be quite equivalent.

The result is what you can experience now for some steep green fees.

With these green fees you get world class experience.  Everything is first-class.  This is the Troon management company's flagship location and you can tell they take great pride in the facilities.

The rental clubs are brand-new.  Seriously.  They sell everything (including the bags) after one season.  Callaway has a performance center in the basement of the gorgeous clubhouse and all clubs are top shelf Callaway kit for it.

The range is also first class but can be a bit bright in the morning sun, as it faces east.

The landscape around the course is absolutely stunning.  The picture below really typifies the terrain all around the course(s).  When I think desert golf, this is the kind of experience I expect, or would hope for.

The course has 5 sets of tees, ranging greatly from 7,025 to 4,883 yards.  The Tips have a stern 73/149 rating and slope.

Lets get onto the course proper.  The main difference with true desert golf is the optical squeezing of the holes.  unlike Minnesota golf which usually has grass that extends far off the fairways, with courses like Troon you really have to trust your swing and ignore the menacing boulders, sand, and cacti that frame the holes.

Hole 1 Par 4
Mackenzie
392 378 378 360 284 yards

The first hole introduces you to the flavor of the course in a hurry.  A dogleg left, the hole is split at the dogleg by a desert area.

Hitting down the left side allows for a short iron into the green.  The further right you go the longer your second shot will be.

Your second shot is to an unprotected green.  Slightly domed hitting the correct location is important to give a chance at par.

The green is 38 yards front to back so hitting to the wrong spot can lead to a three jack opportunity.

Hole 2 Par 4
Bobcat Hill
405 388 379 348 272 yards

An uphill tee shot on the second hole offers a generous landing area.  The hole plays straight ahead as it rises. The fairway does end at another desert area that splits the hole prior to the green.  The end of the fairway from the tips is 324 yards, uphill, so choke down a little bit on that driver...

 The second shot into the massive green requires you to carry the desert and also three bunkers that surround the front and right sides of the green.  The left side is protected by more desert.  The circular green is massive at over 900 square yards.

 A view of the rocks and sand just short and right of the green.

Hole 3 Par 4
Sunset Peak
468 430 425 390 329 yards

Another straight ahead par 4. An elevated tee requires a good 100 yard carry to the fairway.  The fairway squeezes down with a jutting portion of desert from the right at around 320 yards from the tips.

The green appears wide open on your approach.  Just don't miss right, where a pair of large bunkers await. The green is rather shallow but very deep at 42 yards.  Undulations from front to back again making hitting your second to the right location paramount.

Hole 4 Par 4
Tomahawk
416 399 340 327 300 yards

The final in a string of opening par 4s, The fourth hole is a dogleg right.  Again your tee shot requires a forced carry over the desert off the tee. An added bonus hazards sits down the right in the form of a bunker.  This hole is not long and an iron off the tee might not be a bad play.

The fairway ends about 70 yards from the green.  From there you must clear two bunkers before reaching the green which is wider than it is deep.

I haven't mentioned the real estate in this area yet.  Troon is surrounded by houses.  In general they are set back from the holes so as not to make you feel claustrophobic.  All of them, are in general, absolutely massive shopping mall-like mansions that make you wonder why you couldn't get lucky with the Powerball or find you have a rich uncle who is a sultan with a portfolio of oil wells in Abu Dahbi that wants to pass along his fortune in his will to you.  Alas, neither has happened to me yet so I am left just to admire these monstrosities from the fairways.

 Beyond the 2 bunkers short, the green is unprotected and the right side offers a generous area to miss.

 The green is only 27 yards deep but is at least double that in width.

Hole 5 Par 5
Dos Caminos
525 500 455 425 394 yards

The first par 5 offers two distinct fairway areas.  Off the tee the hole plays angled to the left.  A forced carry over desert off the tee is familiar by now.

 Once you reach the fairway, you have a generous stretch of grass ahead that stretches for probably 200 yards from your tee shot.

 Your second shot you have two options:  hit straight down the fairway ahead or hit across the desert to the next section of fairway.

 The second fairway area starts about 100 yards from the hole so make sure you have enough to clear the desert

 The green has a single large bunker short-left.  protecting the green left is more desert and the hole falls off right towards a ravine of scrub and desert.  This green is pretty narrow side to side but is 44 yards deep.

Hole 6
Carefree
206 190 182 168 130 yards

The first par 3 is a lengthy, knee-quivering feast for the eyes.  Ignore the miles of desert and the additional sand in the bunkers.  Focus on the green.  You can make it.

The green does offer a generous bail-out to the right.  Left is a different matter.  A huge bunker can swallow up a couple of shots if you stray this direction..

Hole 7 Par 4
Deer Crossing
456 416 408 367 317 yards

I didn't see a deer while playing this hole.  A par 4 with another divided fairway.  The tee shot is very generous to about 200 yards out.  It then narrows down before ending about 120 yards from the green.

 Michael play his second a long ways out.  At least he didn't have far to walk from the cart.

 Another mansion clings to the hill right of the hole.

 The green is angled diagonal from the fairway and is protected front right by an enormous  bunker.

Hole 8 Par 3
McDowell Vista
190 176 164 114 99

It is rare that I actually say wow when I get up to a tee.  This hole is one of those exceptions though.  One of the coolest looking par 3s I have seen.  You must carry a large outcropping of boulders and a bunker off the tee.  The green rises from a ravine and is framed on the left by a sloping hill with boulders and on the right and back left by bunkers.

 At 190 yards from the tees, this hole is a no push over.  Besides another million dollar home, you can also enjoy a view of the hole's namesake, the McDowell mountains.

Hole 9 Par 4
Chuparosa
404 383 345 312 233

A finishing dogleg left, this hole once again features a split fairway. The does not lend itself to driver, as the fairway ends around 300 yards off the tee if you hit to the left and a lot less than that if you hit right.

Also in play off the tee is a large bunker down the left, as well as the ever present desert.

 One thing you can tell when playing, is you are not the only one to have hit a bad shot.  This saguaro is just right off the tee and has been peppered with tee balls.  Some are still embedded within.

 The fairway ends at a trench that bisects the hole.  The green is flanked short by a pair of small bunkers and is again angled diagonally from the fairway.  A generous bail-out area is to the right.

Aside from the gorgeous golf course, there is a lot of beauty to be found in the surrounding flora.

 Rabbits, coyotes, road runners, bobcats, and snakes are all present here for you to enjoy.  Well, really how much are you going to enjoy a rattlesnake?  Probably not a lot, but they are here.

Hole 10 Par 4
The Pinnacle
407 385 378 298 257 yards

The back nine starts with a climb up to the tee on course's namesake hole.  So named based on the peak that sits beyond this hole's green.

The fairway runs to the left off the tee and is framed by an abundance of sand.  Another hole where driver is not essential.

 Should you find the fairway off the tee, you are faced with a formidable wall of sand framing the landing area off the tee, as well as a pair of large bunkers guarding the elevated green.

 Visually this hole is stunning.

 A look at the green on the hole which is 20 yards deep but probably 40+yards wide.

 And one look back down the hole towards the tee.

 This was the only birdie I saw all day!

Hole 11 Par 5
The Saddle
539 528 491 470 419

Eleven is a looping dogleg right  par 5.  Hitting straight off the tees, the fairway runs out within range of a good drive so in order to crush one you should aim down the right side.

The fairway around the corner of the dogleg funnels towards the center.  A good drive that cuts the corner will have 220 or in.  The fairway is bisected by the cart path and a strip of desert than runs diagonally across the hole.

Right at the far side of the dogleg is a fairway bunker that is obviously in play.  The boulders lining this hole are really a sight to see, especially from this guy from the glacier swept Midwest.

The green is unprotected by bunkers, however it is fairly narrow side to side but is nearly 50 yards deep.

Missing the green to the sides can cause your ball to funnel off into the desert sands.

A view back down the hole past the expansive green.

Hole 12 Par 4
Cinder Cone
416 409 350 342 289 yards

A slight dogleg left offers a wide open landing area off the tee.  Again, the fairway ends in a desert trench at about 280 yards from the tees, so a driver is probably not the best choice,

On your second shot you will need to clear the trench and avoid another massive greenside bunker protecting the right side.  The bunker is nearly half the size of another sizable green.

A view back down the hole.

Hole 13 Par 3
Saguaro
177 170 161 158 113 yards

With the hole's namesake standing watch over you on the tee you must hit a good tee shot on this mid-length par 3.  A pair of bunkers short center and left and another deep right protect this green, which is slightly elevated off the tee.

It is hard to have a bad shot with a view like this off the tee.

The green is another enormous circular surface of over 900 square yards.  Subtle undulations on all of these greens make long putts an adventure across greens that almost all stretch over 30 yards.

Hole 14 Par 5
Cross Country
609 565 545 530 454 yards

The final par 5 is also the longest.  Like 11, this is a dogleg right with most of the hole's distance coming after the dogleg.  A bunker sits on the inside corner of the dogleg.  From the tips it is 300 yards to clear this trap on the fly.

Once you do clear the bunker, you have 300 yards into the green. 

The fairway is very generous for your second and third shots before you encounter a large bunker sitting on the left side about 80 yards from the green.  Another bunker sits in the crook of the green's kidney shaped indentation on the right.

Hole 15 Par 4
Mira Vista
371 363 352 342 263 yards

In honor of the Wheeler's 15 is called Mira Vista. 

A generous driving hole on this par 4.

Hit the wide fairway off the tee and your only danger awaits on your second shot.

On approach, you must clear two bunkers protecting most of the triangular shaped green on the left.

Hole 16 Par 3
Post Card
140 132 117 100 95 yards

This hole, named for its picturesque nature is another standout par 3 like the 8th and the 13th.  These three holes may be the pretties par 3s I have played collectively on a single course.  The 16th is actually a short hole, only 140 yards from the tips.

Your tee shot must avoid water short, along with a centered pot bunker and two giant flanking traps.  The green is elevated from the tees and has a false front that requires plenty of distance to hold.  If the pins are placed toward the far corners, a tricky shot waits.

Hole 17 Par 4
Soap Tree
441 409 400 343 293 yards

A tee shot here must carry the desert first, then find a safe landing between two hungry fairway bunkers. 

The preferred distance from the back tees is about 290 yards which will put your second shot just short of the second bunker and around 150 yards from the pin.

The green has no sand, but is guarded from mis-shots by it slight elevation and the grass trench surrounding it.

Hole 18 Par 4
Club House
447 414 378 370 290 yards

The final hole offers the most common design theme on the course, a fairway bisected on approach by a desert trench.  Two giant bunkers sit in reach off the tee down the right.  The second bunker is only 250 yards to reach.

The approach on your second shot is straight at the clubhouse and into a green flanked by two large bunkers.

The fairway ends around 80 yards from thew hole, as the trench bisects the hole.  The green is triangular and is about 40 yards across.

The clubhouse is some 30,000 square feet.  Spend some time checking out the first rate amenities.  Also I would highly recommend the food at the course.  It is really good.  Plus a view from the balcony or bar cannot be beat!