Two Bonus Rounds

We are back in Edmonton in more than a foot of snow and, needless to say, I had to store my clubs away. However, as I had completed my seventy rounds early in our last week in Las Vegas, I managed two extra bonus rounds. Just as good as hitting the jackpot!!! For the 71st round, my brother-in-law Ernie and I played the Primm Valley Golf Club. There are two courses at Primm Valley, The Lakes Course which has lakes on 11 of the 18 holes, not counting the numerous fountains and waterfalls found all over the course. To Ernie's astonishment, he saw more water on these desert courses than on the Ontario courses he plays. The second course is the Desert Course with far less water and a lot more sand as evidenced in the next picture.

 

Primm Valley est situé à Nipton, en Californie, tout juste à la frontière du Névada, à environ 45 minutes du fameux ''Strip'' de Las Vegas. C'était notre deuxième excursion en Californie. La première fois, à partir de Reno nous étions allés au lac Tahoe qui se trouve à cheval entre le Névada et la Californie. Nipton toutefois se trouve en plein désert Mojave. Les vues et la végétation y sont magnifiques. Comme notre photographe officiel n'était pas avec nous ce jour là je n'ai que peu de photos pour en donner la preuve.

 

The 72nd and last round was played at the Bali Hai Golf Club in downtown Las Vegas, overlooking the Strip and, in the picture above, the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Bali Hai is one of the very high end golf course in Vegas and we were only able to play there thanks to Brad of Walters Golf who wanted us to have a special birthday treat, a very generous and pleasant one at that.

 

 

 

Brenda était à Bali Hai pour en capter la beauté en photos, quelques 37 photos, mais évidemment vous n'en verrez que quelques-unes. L'eau entre en jeu sur l'ensemble du parcours, mais en général de façon latérale, donc évitable, mais au seizième trou, c'est une toute autre histoire.

 

 

 Yes, this is the 16th hole, a gorgeous par 3 all over water but fortunately short enough to be carried  from all tee boxes. Golf is however a mind game and this lake probably sees a lot of golf balls. There is an added difficulty to this hole which we did not see until we got to the green : there is as much water on the other side and therefore one has to be precise on this tee shot or pay the price. Brenda and Ernie did very well with a bogey but I had to take a triple. Thruth be told, Brenda did so well that she outscored both Ernie and I, and following her own rule by which the winner buys the beer, she had to buy us beer (and lunch) after the match.

 

 

A Bali Hai on n'a vu que la faune habituelle mais pour la première fois on a vu un prédateur à la chasse aux oiseaux de toute taille. La chasse doit lui être fort agréable car ce chat est bien dodu. On s'est bien amusé à le voir faire un bon cinq minutes mais il fallait bien terminer le match.

 

Brenda and Ernie upon arrival at Bali Hai.

 

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.