{"id":637,"date":"2012-11-28T12:44:14","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T17:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomharack.com\/?p=637"},"modified":"2012-11-28T12:44:14","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T17:44:14","slug":"scottsdale-just-like-i-pictured-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/golf\/637\/scottsdale-just-like-i-pictured-it","title":{"rendered":"Scottsdale, Just Like I Pictured It"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Even Scottsdale's "collateral" is, like its building architecture and golf courses, design-conscious<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s usually considered bad form to lead off a destination piece by acknowledging that the reader may well know more than you do about the destination in question. But that\u2019s the case here, as Scottsdale has remained a hole in an otherwise well-stamped golf passport, even as I realize the supply of new candidates is inexhaustible.<\/p>\n

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Still, there\u2019s a thing or two I know about Scottsdale despite having spent limited time there. Combined with the change in weather in the Northeast \u2013 it feels <\/em>like winter for the first time \u2013 expectations for a most welcome change of scene are high.<\/p>\n

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First, there\u2019s the wealth and quality of the golf, including a couple of iconic names on bucket lists near and far. As a guy who believes there\u2019s no such thing as a bad course, I\u2019m nonetheless prejudiced toward the old-style, cut-from-forest layouts typical of New England. Thus I can\u2019t wait to deepen my appreciation of desert golf architecture.<\/p>\n

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And distinctive design is widely regarded as a trademark of Scottsdale\u2019s identity, golf and otherwise. The downtown area is circumscribed by a canal system originally implemented by indigenous Indians and entertains as many as 30,000 daily visitors during high season. The absence of chain stores and retail outlets at SouthBridge, focal point of downtown, stands out as a progressive urban feature.<\/p>\n

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Scottsdale also is home to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright\u2019s western headquarters. Perhaps the design consciousness is connected to Wright\u2019s best work, in the Midwest; in any event, there are transplanted Chicagoans and Wisconsinites all over the place.<\/p>\n

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Scottsdale also occupies its own niche in the history of the upscale resort, including structures like the Hotel Valley Ho, a modern-architecture classic that dates to the mid-20th<\/sup> century heyday of the vernacular.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s even talk of a hot-air balloon ride to contemplate Scottsdale\u2019s exotic desert ecosystem \u2013 a treat for a guy coming from the Hudson River Valley, assuming nobody upchucks.<\/p>\n

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# # #<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s usually considered bad form to lead off a destination piece by acknowledging that the reader may well know more… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112266,676019,3992,9,676021,1129,676022,3913,676023,39217,676024,676014,676025,676015,676026,90615,676017,17],"tags":[5167,3795,677339],"class_list":["post-637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jim-mclean-golf-school","category-phoenician-gc","category-the-phoenician","category-golf","category-talking-stick-gc","category-a-cultural-thing","category-talking-stick-resort","category-scottsdale-cvb","category-raven-phoenix-gc","category-golf-road-warriors","category-sunridge-canyon-gc","category-grw-scottsdale-2012","category-westin-kierland-resort-amp-spa","category-venues-scottsdale","category-kierland-gc","category-antigua","category-cool-clubs","category-courses-and-travel","tag-hotel-valley-ho","tag-frank-lloyd-wright","tag-taliesin-west"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2012\/11\/cowgirl.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":639,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions\/639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}