70 of 70 Las Vegas National Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nevada

Mission accomplished. For my 70th birthday I had promised myself 70 rounds of golf on 70 different golf courses and yesterday I reached my goal playing Las Vegas National along with Brenda, Karen and Ernie. And we had a great time doing it. The National is a monument in Vegas history. Open in 1961, it hosted the very same year the LPGA Championship. From 1967 on it hosted the PGA Championship and many golfers of importance have won there : Jack Niclaus, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Al Gieberger, Davis Love III and Jim Furik. It is also at the National that Tiger Woods won his first professional tournament. Arnold Palmer set the course record of 63 in 1967 and held it until 1991 when Tom Kite shot a 62. The rat pack also played there for a long time. A good place to reach that goal of mine.

Las Vegas National est un joli parcours avec de belles vues sur la ville et est entourée d'intéressantes maisons remontant aux années soixante. Il s'agit d'un parcours classique entouré d'arbres et défendu par de nombreux lacs et fontaines. En somme un terrain particulièrement difficile mais néanmoins agréable à jouer. Vu durant notre ronde, un beau héron bleu.

Playing the slot machines in Vegas casinos one can at times win bonus rounds. Well I also got myself two bonus rounds of golf. Tomorrow I will be playing The Lakes Course at Primm Valley and Thursday Bali Hai in Vegas. These rounds I will blog when I get back home. Ce n'est qu'un aurevoir!

69 of 70 Desert Pines Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nevada

Yesterday we played Desert Pines Golf Club owned by Walters Golf just like the Royal Links played previously and the Bali Hai scheduled for next week. Desert Pines is an exquisite Pete Dye design built on a fairly small piece of property which accounts for the narrow tight fairways making the course a tad more difficult than most. It offers stunning views of Las Vegas and the surrounding mountains. Water comes into play on 9 of the 18 holes but with no forced carries. The bunkers are challenging to say the least but visually very attractive. Dye has used wooden slabs set in a fan shape to delineate the contours, allowing the grass to grow between slabs for a more dramatic effect. I love it!

Mais quand on se rapproche un peu trop de ces jolis montres on en paye généralement le prix comme je l'ai découvert à plus d'une reprise. Nous avons eu le plaisir de faire la rencontre de deux Montréalais, Daniel et Sylvain, qui jouaient la deuxième ronde de la journée sur ce même parcours. Comme il fait bon d'être encore jeunes. Nous avons apprécier leur compagnie et l'occasion de parler français sur un parcours de golf, chose assez rare. 

The personnel at Desert Pines was absolutely friendly and they will go a long way to ensure you have a memorable experience on their course. Brad, one of Walters ambassadors, not only delivered us some fresh baked chocolate chips cookies, something we had never experienced on any golf course before, but having learned of my birthday year project, he gave us a certificate for a vastly discounted round  at Bali Hai. Many thanks my friend.

Voilà que le but des soixante-dix parties est pratiquement atteint. Comme le disait TA dans son dernier commentaire, j'aurai atteint le sommet lundi qui vient. Préparez vos tambours et trompettes pour cette grande finale!!!

68 of 70 Rhodes Ranch Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nevada

Rhodes Ranch is one of the most photogenic golf courses we have encountered in Nevada. It offers magnificent views of the City of Las Vegas and the surrounding mountains as well as a rich tropical feel thanks to the presence of superb palm trees and water features such as waterfalls, cascading creeks and large lakes protecting many of the greens, particularly those of the par 3's, with no exception. The architect, Ted Robinson Sr. said that those par 3's are the best he ever designed and we are prepared to take his word for it as they are certainly as breathtaking as they are difficult to play. The pictures above are from two of them, the second one seen from the green showing a waterfall running into a creek fronting the green.

Il devient difficile de faire un choix de photos pour ce parcours tellement les vues sont magnifiques et le nombre de photos considérable. Rhodes Ranch est un superbe parcours accessible aux golfeurs de tous niveaux. Si on choisit bien son tertre de départ il est possible de surmonter la plupart des difficultés. Les trous à normale trois demeurent les plus difficiles, mais ils sont toutefois parmi les plus beaux de tout le parcours. Nous avons vécu une très belle journée et mon score a été l'un des meilleurs des dernières semaines.

This is obviously a desert course and consequently there was a lot of sand and waste bunkers to contend with but by choosing the appropriate tees that difficulty was easily avoided. It is however a clever use of the land as water is at a premium in Nevada.

La faune était assez abondante à Rhodes Ranch; on y trouvait bien les outardes canadiennes, les canards habituels, les ''Coots américains'' et une foule de lapins sauvages et partout préssents sur le terrain.

67 of 70 Royal Links Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas being Las Vegas, you have to reproduce the world and what holds true for the Eiffel Tower, New York New York, Venice, also hold true for the Royal Links. Bill Walters decided to build a course  reproducing 18 famous holes borrowed from the 11 clubs of the British Open rotation. The result is both stunning and challenging. The fun started right on the first hole inspired by #10 at Royal Lytham Golf  Course where my approach shot found a pot bunker in which I could have been buried standing up. It took me two shots to get out and after two putting I salvaged a double bogey. Brenda on the other hand was on the green in two and sunk a fifty foot putt for birdie to the applause of  the maintenance staff waiting to cut a new hole. She was ready to move on to the 19th hole for a cold beer but I did manage to keep her in tow for the rest of the round.

Comme il y a 110 trappes de sable sur ce parcours, il est normal que Brenda en fasse aussi l'expérience.  Elle a eu une très bonne journée surtout sur les trous à normale 3 où elle a réussi la normale 3 fois sur 4. Je l'appelle maintenant la reine des par 3.

It was terribly windy on the course that day and the wind played havoc with our game particularly on the front nine. We were chased by some tumbleweed the size of our golf cart but did manage to avoid them. It did however provide good picture moments.

A la fin du 8ième trou je suis entré dans cette cabine téléphonique très British pour y commander notre lunch servi  dès la fin du premier neuf. En somme, une excellente journée.

66 of 70: The Championship Course at Incline Village, Lake Tahoe, Nevada

Samedi, nous sommes partis, Sally, Brenda et moi, en montagne au lac Tahoe, un lieu de villégiature où on joue au golf l'été et on fait du ski l'hiver, tout comme au Mont Tremblant ou à Ste-Agathe des Monts au Québec. Le matin nous avons joué neuf trous sur le parcours Championship à Incline Village, un superbe terrain de l'architecte Robert Trent Jones sénior. Nous voulions réserver l'après-midi pour une visite de la région du lac Tahoe, surtout Emerald Bay, un endroit de toute beauté.

There are two courses at Incline Village, the Mountain Course which is already closed for the season, and the Championship Course, another Robert Trent Jones design. As we only played 9 holes, I am unable to compare it to Lake Ridge, however I would think that overall it would be a superior course. It does provide magnificent views on Lake Tahoe and doesn't lack in difficulty with the numerous sand traps as evidenced above, the running mountain fairways and a meandering creek.

Believe it or not, all three of us ended in the same bunker and Sally was the first to show us the way out. We really had a lot of fun as, one should playing golf. Brenda proved to be the queen of  par 3's. After landing the island green at Lake Ridge the day before, she again did  on another difficult par 3. The 6th hole crosses a creek and a ravine to an elevated green. Brenda calmly swung through the ball, watched it soar and sothly land unto the green, lettin out a cheerful "you-hou". She then two putted for her par.

Lors de notre randonnée de l'après-midi nous avons passé un peu de temps à la plage, question de se tremper les pieds dans l'eau du lac Tahoe. Un peu froid pour une baignade. Au golf nous avons bien vu un coyote traverser le neuvième trou mais nous étions trop loin pour une photo. En revanche,  à la plage  nous avons capté un beau geai.

65 of 70: Lake Ridge Golf Course, Reno, Nevada

Sally Turk at the 15th hole island green par 3

Friday October 18th was friendship day as for the first time in Reno we had a foursome when Brenda and I were joined by Sally and Steve for a round at Lake Ridge, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design. On that day, play started on the back nine and it wasn't long before we got to the signature hole, the famous island green 15th. Arriving at the top of the ridge on Lake Stanley the view took our breath away. Over the last year I have seen many superb golf courses but this was the first time when a hole stood out in such a way. It will be etched in my mind for a long long time. How did we fare on that hole? Well Brenda and Steve made the green on their drive and pared the hole, Sally and I missed the green and played 3 from the drop zone and managed a double bogey, but the memory of the island green will long outlast the score.

Outre le souvenir de ce fameux trou nous nous souviendrons aussi de la journée passée en compagnie de Steve ici à gauche, et de Sally à la droite. Nous avons bien aimé le parcours de Robert Trent Jones et en avons longuement discuté les mérites car il faut bien le dire, les deux neufs ne se ressemblent absolument pas, comme s'il s'agissait de l'oeuvre de deux architectes différents. Le débat reste ouvert car je n'ai rien trouvé en ligne concernant l'histoire du parcours.

Other than Lake Stanley, I do not recall any water features on the back nine but the front was rather difficult at time but one had to enjoy the magnificent reflections on those ponds.

64 of 70 Arrow Creek Country Club: The Legends Course

At Arrow Creek, there are two golf courses, The Challenge Course which is a private course designed by Fuzzy Zoeller and John Harbottle III, and the Legend Course, designed by Arnold Palmer, a public course which we were welcomed to play. Both are desert courses overlooking Mount Rosa on one side, and the city of Reno on the other.

The fairways of the Legend Course are quite generous but that doesn't make it an easy course per se. There are still many a challenge awaiting you, would it be the numerous sand traps strategically placed over the course and particularly in front of the greens as a supreme defense, or the many creek crossing or deep dry gulches negotiated usually at great expenses. One is hardly ever safe until one has found the bottom of that 4 inches hole.

Sur ce parcours, il n'y a qu'un seul lac et on le retrouve au dixième trou. Il faut se souvenir que ce club de golf est en plein désert donc aucune surprise ici. On peut éviter la difficulté en jouant sur la droite mais ce choix ajoute un coup à la normale quatre comme de raison. Quant à moi j'ai fait bien pire et me suis retrouvé avec un 8 bien mérité. Tant pis pour moi! À vrai dire j'ai très mal joué au deuxième neuf mais c'est sans importance. Nous avons eu une belle journée et le parcours d'Arnold Palmer est de toute beauté.  À l'exception de quelques petits canards, la faune s'est faite rare mais la flore était superbe.

63 of 70 Rosewood Lakes, Reno, Nevada

For our first round in the Reno area we played Rosewood Lakes Golf Course which happens to be a lovely municipal course entirely surrounded by the ever present Sierra Nevada mountains. The course is routed amongst wetlands that come into play on each and every hole. For additional defense, the greens and the fairways have some unfriendly sand traps but the real danger here is to be found in the acres of bullrushes to contend with on every hole.

The front nine, with good course management, will allow fairly reasonable scoring. The average hole will look somewhat like the one pictured above. The back nine, however, is another story entirely. Holes 10 and 11 are quite tame but from the twelveth on fasten your seat belt. Look at the picture on the right, the bulrushes in front of the tee box are more than six feet high and the fairway is nowhere in sight. All you can do is look at the yellow losange (middle top of the picture), take dead aim and hope your drive can carry 180 to 200 yards in the air and pray that your ball will be in the fairway when you get there. The same scenario will be repeated on 14, 15 and 16. The fourtenth is a par 3 and is considered the easiest hole at Rosewood. The ranking must have been done by someone as blind as your tee shot.

Nos voisins américains sont loins d'apprécier nos outardes, pour eux ce ne sont que des nuisances et il est difficile de les contredire car partout on trouve du fumier sur les verts, parfois même des trous aussi grands que ceux dans lesquels on veut mettre la balle. Les outardes sont toutefois heureuse d'y retrouver leur cousin le héron bleu.

62 of 70: The Quarry, Edmonton, AB

The Quarry, which is another Les Furber design and perceived as one of his best, just opened in 2012. The course will eventually consists of three 9 holes: the Granite, the Slate and the Ironstone, allowing three different championship rotations. The first two opened this year and Ironstone is slated to open next season. The top picture presents a general overview of the layout, and the one on the left depicts the first hole of the Granite nine. When enlarged you will clearly see the severe undulation that not only comes into play, but also wants to bring you back to the lake. The greens are quite large and will require a two or three club differential on the approach shot depending on the pin placement. The greens are always well protected by large sand traps and the numerous natural lakes found all over the layout.

 

La photo du 9ième trou du Granite encore nous démontre assez clairement la difficulté de ce magnifique parcours. En terme de distance, le trou est relativement court mais il reste vachement difficile avec un lac de chaque côté où un drive imparfait risque de se retrouver. Un peu trop long et on plonge dans le ruisseau qui passe d'un lac à l'autre devant le vert. Une normale quatre ici relève pratiquement du miracle.

 

This will be my last round in the Edmonton area, next week will find me in Reno, Nevada. The weather here has gotten too cold with temperatures dropping to below zero at night. The courses are getting difficult to play as we encounter many deadpan lies and tricky rough patches. I still had fun today and greatly enjoyed Dale, Ed and Fred's company. I agree with them as to the worth of the Quarry and will return next year.

 

En terminant, je vous laisse en plus de la photo de ces jolis canards, celle d'un rat musqué prise au 18ième et dernier trou. J'ai trouvé là toute une colonie de rats musqués mais le moindre mouvement et ils disparaissent sous l'eau. J'ai quand même réussi à en capter un.

 

Muskrat photographed on the last hole of the day.

 

 

 

61 of 70: The Ranch Golf and Country Club, Acheson, AB

 

View of the first fairway on the right of the pond and the 10th on the left.

The Ranch is ranked as the 14th best public golf course in Alberta and the second best in the Edmonton area. It is a beautiful course built, according to the scorecard, on the site of the former Flying Red Wheel Ranch and barely twenty minutes from downtown Edmonton. The architect has retained the mature natural forest. Many holes offer substantial elevation change as already evidenced in the first two pictures. One also has to negotiate a number of ponds from either the tee box or around the green.

 

Gordon, a member of The Ranch and my partner on this round, offered to guide me around the course as I was playing it for the first time in over twenty years. In his own words, he was to be my caddy and he was. Not that he had to carry my bag as we were riding but, he gave me the line of play, the distances to hazards or preferred landing areas, and most importantly, he read my putts just as Melias did for me when I was golfing in Malawi (see one of the very first posts). We had a good time together and had a reasonably good game considering the fact that on the back nine we had to play in a gale force wind. Just have a look at the flag in the next picture.

 

Au deuxième neuf il se préparait une tempête terrible et il faisait quasiment un vent d'ouragan. Voyez le ciel dans la photo de gauche et le pli des arbres et du drapeau. Pour atteindre ce vert par exemple, sur mon coup d'approche j'ai dû viser une trentaine de mètres à gauche du vert malgré cela, ma balle s'est arrêtée à environ trois mètres à la droite dans l'herbe longue. La tempête a duré un peu plus d'une demi-heure et on a eu du temps calme pour terminer la ronde avant que la pluie prenne pour de bon.

 

Les trois derniers trous sont probablement les plus difficiles de tout le parcours. Sur la photo de gauche on voit le vert du 16ième trou à l'avant plan, et de l'autre côté de l'étang, le drapeau du 17ième.  À droite, pour atteindre le vert du dix-huitième, il faut au deuxième coup traverser l'étang, soit en ce qui me concerne, une distance de plus de 180 verges. Un bon coup  quoi! À mon grand étonnement, je l'ai réussi et j'ai terminé la ronde avec une normale 4. Une très bonne fin de journée!

 

The only vestige left of the former Flying Red Wheel Ranch.