{"id":284,"date":"2011-03-26T20:12:23","date_gmt":"2011-03-26T20:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jaystuller.com\/?p=284"},"modified":"2011-04-21T22:00:56","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T22:00:56","slug":"grayhawk-s-talon-and-raptor-makes-hearts-soar-and-also-rips-them-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/golf\/284\/grayhawk-s-talon-and-raptor-makes-hearts-soar-and-also-rips-them-out","title":{"rendered":"Grayhawk\u2019s Talon and Raptor Makes Hearts Soar And Also Rips Them Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Raptor's sharp claws are in evidence on most holes. <\/p><\/div>\n

Most golfers have heard about the Grayhawk Golf Club.\u00a0 Its Talon and Raptor courses have both been raking on Golf Magazine\u2019s Top 100 You Can Play list.\u00a0 The layouts hosted the Accenture Match Play Championships three times in the 1990s, and a trio of Fry\u2019s Opens in the last decade.\u00a0 It\u2019s the home of a learning center bearing the names of Peter Kostis and Gary McCord.\u00a0 Phil\u2019s Grill, which offers pricy but excellent fare, is named after that Phil, who back in the day used to hang around the joint fairly frequently.<\/p>\n

So what is it about the meticulously conditioned courses and the service that drives such opposing and strongly held opinions from visitors?\u00a0 I have one friend who hates coming out of speakers hidden under fake rocks near the bag drop, putting green and clubhouse, although the choice in music, 1970s and 1980s rock, is plenty good. He also hates it when attendants are overly obsequious, but then he\u2019s cranky.<\/p>\n

Another friend, the late and great Ed Rentner, called the place \u201cheaven and hell,\u201d and described the Raptor as being \u201cmeaner than the Talon.\u201d \u00a0It has everything you love and hate about modern golf architecture, Ed once wrote.\u00a0 \u201cAt 6700 yards from the back tees and 7100 from the tips, it has formidable length. If you miss the fairway, you’ll find yourself in unplayable desert rock and flora. You’ll find cross bunkering to please the eye, but your mood will change upon entering them. Greenside, they’re extremely deep and profoundly sculpted, with thin, unforgiving sand. Finally, the huge mounded, rolling or terraced greens offer an abundance of pin placements. They’ll mock many a well-conceived and struck pitch or chip. \u201c\u00a0 Ed did, however, like the course conditioning and Grayhawk\u2019s food.<\/p>\n

Scan the social network for reviews of the place and you\u2019ll get the idea that folks were visiting completely different places.\u00a0 Clearly, Grayhawk induces a schizophrenic set of opinions. \u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n

The Raptor course at Grayhawk is a remarkable golf course. \u00a0The course includes spectacularly beautiful golf holes, and challenging, technical layouts.\u00a0\u00a0It is a true pleasure to play, and it is a gem, especially as a public course. \u00a0The Fazio design includes dramatic bunkering, and a brilliant intertwining of desert and grass . . . you are in for a real treat.<\/em><\/p>\n

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With bunkers that are extremely receptive, the Raptor's greens are well protected.<\/p><\/div>\n

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And then: WORST golf experience in Arizona. Show up early hoping for breakfast, but kitchen doesn’t open until 11. Food from snack bar was awful. Course in very poor shape for price asked. Ball washers (when found) are empty, now towels or water offered. Course all tricked up. Totally unfair. Cart girl developed bad case of attitude when she didn’t get the tip she expected. Could not buy food at turn because no one was working snack bar. Too fat and greedy for me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ouch.<\/p>\n

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The Raptor may not be as mean as the Talon, but it also has its share of bunkers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Then again: \u00a0From the minute I got out of the car to the minute I left, the service was fantastic. \u00a0I played Talon because of its reviews. It was a very tight course. Target golf with plenty of bunkers, deep bunkers! \u00a0Immaculate in its condition. I showed up as a single and they gave me the option on the range of who I would like to tee off with, allowing me more time on the range. Pace of play is great and never felt rushed once. Customer Service: A+. <\/em><\/p>\n

OK, so which is it?<\/p>\n

Having played both courses several times, I tend to agree with both.\u00a0 The architecture is indeed appealing to the eye.\u00a0 However, even a player with a handicap that\u2019s high single digit is going to struggle these courses, especially from the back tees.\u00a0 The desert here is unforgiving and perhaps more so than at many other Scottsdale area courses.\u00a0 One day at Grayhawk can feel like three, stimulating a need for an early cocktail and bedtime, although shooting a round in the low 80s is also a cause for celebration. \u00a0Both the Raptor and Talon presents holes that will make your heart soar.\u00a0 But when a mound feeds a good shot into the cactus, the predators will eat it raw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most golfers have heard about the Grayhawk Golf Club.\u00a0 Its Talon and Raptor courses have both been raking on Golf… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6569,9,3913,17],"tags":[4541,6159,6160,6157,115,6158],"class_list":["post-284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-azga","category-golf","category-scottsdale-cvb","category-courses-and-travel","tag-peter-kostis","tag-phil-mickleson","tag-ed-rentner","tag-grayhawk-golf-club","tag-scottsdale","tag-gary-mccord"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2011\/03\/gh-raptor-5.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":328,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions\/328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}