{"id":648,"date":"2012-12-05T09:05:40","date_gmt":"2012-12-05T14:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomharack.com\/?p=648"},"modified":"2012-12-05T09:07:35","modified_gmt":"2012-12-05T14:07:35","slug":"phoenicians-twenty-seven-holes-prove-worthy-bucket-list-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/golf\/648\/phoenicians-twenty-seven-holes-prove-worthy-bucket-list-challenge","title":{"rendered":"Phoenician’s Twenty-Seven Holes Prove Worthy Bucket List Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Phoenician's three nines wow you without beating you up. Above is the 8th green, a short par 3, on the Desert Course<\/p><\/div>\n

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If you\u2019re anything approximating an avid golfer, you\u2019ve experienced the mindset: Such is the constellation of famous, \u201cname brand\u201d courses that you feel you know many of them \u2013 at least by reputation \u2013 even when you\u2019ve never played them.<\/p>\n

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So it\u2019s always intriguing in such instances to see how preconceived notions mesh (or collide) with reality. Perhaps The Phoenician<\/a> resort\u2019s larger-than-life image \u2013 600-plus accommodations within stunning architecture, nine swimming pools, a $25 million art collection, a two-acre cactus garden and 250 acres of manicured grounds \u2013 primed me to expect that the 27 holes of golf would be of similarly strapping proportions.<\/p>\n

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This notion turned out to be erroneous. At the same time, the three nines \u2013 named Canyon, Desert, and Oasis \u2013 made a bigger point relevant to current discussions about the creeping obsolescence of many older courses: Golf\u2019s challenges and delights don\u2019t require immense forced carries and a layout stretching toward infinity.<\/p>\n

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In fact, the longest 18-hole combination of the three nines at The Phoenician is less than 6,300 yards, giving even us golf geeks the rare opportunity to say we played \u201cfrom the tips.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Designed in increments by Ted Robinson, Sr. and Homer Flint during what might be called the golden age of resort golf architecture, the three sides are sneaky difficult: narrow fairways and putting surfaces — including a sand-island green — with subtle, difficult-to-gauge contours.<\/p>\n

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Lush turf conditions complement exotic desert flora, all framed by views of distant mountains and the tasteful architecture of the resort itself.<\/p>\n

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Relish Burger Bistro also represents one of the best 19th<\/sup> hole options around. Besides the eponymous Kobe beef offerings, the menu features an immense list of beers, including an ever-revolving selection of seasonal choices from local craft brewers.<\/p>\n

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  If you\u2019re anything approximating an avid golfer, you\u2019ve experienced the mindset: Such is the constellation of famous, \u201cname brand\u201d… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3729,676021,3913,676022,39217,676023,294737,676024,676014,676025,676015,676026,90615,676017,112266,676019,9,3992,17],"tags":[687180,115,1016126,686777,687054],"class_list":["post-648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf-travel","category-talking-stick-gc","category-scottsdale-cvb","category-talking-stick-resort","category-golf-road-warriors","category-raven-phoenix-gc","category-venues","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-jim-mclean-golf-school","category-phoenician-gc","category-golf","category-the-phoenician","category-courses-and-travel","tag-homer-flint","tag-scottsdale","tag-the-phoenician","tag-relish-burger-bar","tag-ted-robinson-sr"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2012\/12\/PHXN.Des_.8.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648","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=648"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648\/revisions\/651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}