{"id":837,"date":"2012-02-26T00:35:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T00:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jaystuller.com\/?p=837"},"modified":"2012-02-26T00:35:44","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T00:35:44","slug":"shadow-ridge-shows-its-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/golf\/837\/shadow-ridge-shows-its-done","title":{"rendered":"Shadow Ridge Shows It\u2019s Done"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The dramatic bunkering at Shadow Ridge.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Palm Springs Golf Road Warrior\u2019s Friday started not long after dawn, with the links portion of the day ending on a nearly pitch black 18th<\/sup> green, illuminated only by the light of a crescent moon.\u00a0 For the first of two rounds, we were treated to Shadow Ridge<\/a>, one of the best designs from six-time major championship winner and the all-time Ryder Cup point scorer, Sir Nick Faldo.\u00a0 It is also home to the spacious Faldo Golf Institute.<\/p>\n

So, with arrangements made by the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Authority <\/a>we headed out in our sponsored AUR shirts<\/a> that were packed in our TravelPro Luggage<\/a>, Callaway Clubs<\/a>, Diablo Golf <\/a>balls, and with real time match scorekeeping provided by Grow The Game Golf<\/a>.\u00a0 On a day scheduled for 36 holes in heat that exceeded 90 degrees – – in late February – – we needed that sponsorship support.\u00a0 But back to Shadow Ridge . . .<\/p>\n

Set against the stunning backdrop of the snow-capped Santa Rosa Mountains, the course was inspired by the great sand belt courses of Australia, says Faldo, whose name is on the restaurant, locked room and just about everything else here.<\/p>\n

“Our fairways are typically generous but our bunkering style is impressively bold. The greens have plenty of subtle undulations and they reward and encourage a variety of approach shots.”<\/p>\n

The bunkers were indeed dramatic – – and menacing.\u00a0 Strawn plugged a ball in one – – see photo – – and had to puzzle his way out.\u00a0 Several of the greens had false<\/p>\n

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Strawn wasn't happy that his bullet down the fairway plugged in a bunker faace, but he did hack his way out in one.<\/p><\/div>\n

fronts that couldn\u2019t be seen from the fairway, treacherous slopes that on at least two holes fed pin-high shots into catchment areas.\u00a0 Next time around we\u2019d play it better.<\/p>\n

Doing It Right<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

While we were given awfully good treatment, the visit to Shadow Ridge was what golfer travelers should expect.\u00a0 We were greeted by Director of Golf Brett Meabon and Head Golf Professional Colin Gooch, who introduced themselves and offered any kind of assistance we\u2019d need. The starter knew we were journalists and asked where our stories would appear, where we\u2019d been and where we were going next.\u00a0 The Golf Road Warrior sign on our two carts – – special made, since we weren\u2019t part of a tournament – – was a kindly touch.<\/p>\n

It was a marked contrast to the previous day, when a skeptical woman at the counter didn\u2019t have our reservation, claimed we were out of luck, and seemed to imply we were some kind of grifters looking to skim four tee times.\u00a0 The indifferent head pro came to straighten things out, and admitted they\u2019d made a mistake booking us the previous day.\u00a0 We got out, but he didn\u2019t bother to say hello or introduce himself.<\/p>\n

I get that people have bad days and job pressures, even in the hospitality industry.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not that journalists are particularly special or deserve squat.\u00a0 But if the management and staff treated us with suspicion and indifference, how are they treating customers paying $180 for a round?<\/p>\n

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Marriott Shadow Ridge cart sign . . . <\/p><\/div>\n

In any event, the contrast with Shadow Ridge was sharp and vast. \u00a0\u00a0And we think Wallach likes his new Callaway sticks, including the Razr irons and Razr Fit Driver, which he was just killing.\u00a0 We also think Wallach is sleeping with his Odyssey <\/a>putter tonight, after rolling in a 30-footer on the 18th<\/sup> at Shadow Ridge for a cool 79.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Jeff Wallach, Mr. Seventy-Nine Golf Road Warrior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Palm Springs Golf Road Warrior\u2019s Friday started not long after dawn, with the links portion of the day ending… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299119,9,6127,39217,152652,152654,152655,288270,294736,294737,5658,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greater-palm-springs-cva","category-golf","category-so-cal-golf-assoc","category-golf-road-warriors","category-callaway-golf","category-travelpro","category-gtg-golf","category-grw-palm-springs","category-aur","category-venues","category-shadow-ridge-golf-club","category-courses-and-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/02\/shadowridge-course_overview.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837","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=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}