Tag: arizona golf courses

From the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf News Desk

Mesa, AZ – Scottsdale Golf Group, led by Founder and CEO Shelby Futch, has just added the venerable Orange Tree Golf Club in Scottsdale to their expanding portfolio of golf facilities. SGG’s purchase also includes the Club’s existing 60,000 square foot clubhouse, banquet and conference facilities.

“The acquisition of Orange Tree is a wonderful opportunity to add an historic Arizona golf property to our growing portfolio,” commented Futch. “It is a unique property and very different from so many of the desert, target golf facilities in Scottsdale.”

Orange Tree, designed by Arizona golf legend Johnny Bulla, was originally called Century Country Club and opened in 1957 on the site of a former orange grove at 56th Street and Shea Boulevard. Following a update some 20 years later, the golf course still plays as a traditional all-turf parkland layout, a common design style around town in those days and a pleasant respite from today’s turf-restriction mandates.

Orange Tree features wide, lush fairways lined by mature shade trees accented by tropical foliage, stately palm trees and picturesque backdrops of both Camelback and Mummy Mountain. Although water hazards provide a challenge on six holes and the smallish greens are well-bunkered, you’ll find “run-it-on” openings at most green complexes provide everyone a fair chance to save par. Overall, Orange Tree is a complete test in a lush, green setting that’s enjoyable golf for players of all skill levels.

John Jackson, General Manager at Legend Trail, will assume the same duties at Orange Tree. “The experience guests will have at Orange Tree is completely different from a golf course perspective. Legend Trail is desert-target golf, while this course is parkland-style, with tree-lined fairways,” said Jackson. “But I can assure you, the customer service provided will meet SGG’s exacting standards, from the bag drop, all the way through the 19th hole.”

Scottsdale Golf Group is committed to investing in the property from the start, and true to form, their first focus is the golf course. “The course is in pretty good shape, but needs some cosmetic and conditioning enhancements,” stated Jackson. “We’ve already started and we’ll be ready for the upcoming season.”

Additional improvements are also in the works for the clubhouse, banquet rooms and conference center facilities. “These buildings have great bones,” commented Futch. “But they haven’t had many updates recently. Our focus will be to give them an updated look and feel so they are more in line with other such facilities in Scottsdale.”

Scottsdale Golf Group was founded in 1983 with John Jacobs Golf Schools. Their Arizona portfolio has expanded over the years and includes Red Mountain Ranch Country Club, Legend Trail Golf Club, Painted Mountain Golf Resort, Hillcrest Golf Club, Corte Bella Golf Club and now, Orange Tree Golf Club.

In 2011, the group also added River Crossing Country Club in San Antonio to its holdings. To learn more about Scottsdale Golf Group, visit their website: www.scottsdalegolfgroup.com

Click Orange Tree Golf Club to read the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz for the course; it’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

Visit www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/

From the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf News Desk

Polo Golf announced the debut of their Golf World magazine mobile access campaign today. The Polo Golf ads in Golf World allow readers to scan the QR code, or enter the vanity url: m.ralphlauren.com/golf on their smart phone browser, to access player videos created by Polo Golf’s Tour Player Staff.

Jonathan Byrd, 3-time PGA Tour winner, is currently featured and his 3 videos offer detailed instruction covering proper driver, iron and bunker play mechanics.

The Arizona Golf Authority AZGA staff’s favorite tip is in the driver video.

Jonathan describes, and we paraphrase here, how he’s focused on swinging the head of the driver as fast as he can, which he notes is different than swinging his hands as fast, or turning his body as fast, as he can.

Give that some thought; we’ve got a 460cc head on the end of a 45″ long stick that we want to reliably propel at 90-plus mph through space.

Adding some of the naturally occurring centrifugal force to that recipe sounds promising.

Avid golf fans can also join the Polo Golf Email Updates group and be the first to receive information and additional access to Ralph Lauren events. Check it out.

From the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf News Desk

Scottsdale AZ – We’ve all heard one of the main reasons people aren’t playing golf is because it takes too long. If you are an avid player, chances are you’ve experienced slow play. You know, the group that takes 10 minutes to look for a lost ball, the player who takes 5 practice swings before each shot or the chap that checks out his putt from every angle on the course before hitting it 3 feet short.

It’s all a part of that “good walk spoiled”.

Cheer up, avid players, because we’re happy to report the experts at OB Sports have come to the rescue and now guarantees rounds of golf in under 4-hours at several of their OB Sports-managed golf courses.

Express Lane Tee Times, introduced at Angel Park in Las Vegas last February, has been expanded to include the Sedona Golf Resort and Eagle Mountain Golf Club in Arizona.

The Express Lane Tee Times program guarantees your round will be completed in less than 4 hours, 3:45 to be exact.

“We began the program as a way to speed up pace of play and to differentiate Angel Park from other courses in Las Vegas,” said Kris Strauss, OB Sports VP of Marketing. “We weren’t sure how it would be received, but found out quickly there are a lot of players who want to get out for an early morning tee time and be home in time to take their kids to soccer or baseball.”

As part of the Express Lane Tee Time plan, the first tee times of the day are reserved specifically for players who agree to play in their round in 3:45. When a player calls to reserve one of those tee times, they are told they must agree to play in the allotted time. When they arrive at the golf course, each player must sign an agreement committing to the pace of play. If a group falls behind, they are warned to speed up play. If that doesn’t happen, they are moved up a hole or to the back of the Express Lane Tee Times, allowing those on-pace to play through and complete their rounds on time.

“I think the key to the success of the program is that we communicate it loud and often,” stated Strauss. “We tell then when tee times are booked, we remind them in the Pro shop, have them sign the agreement and remind them again on the first tee. So no one can be surprised if our course marshal tells them to pick up the pace.”

Sedona Golf Resort announced this week they will dedicate the first six tee times each day to the Express Lane program. Eagle Mountain Golf Club in Fountain Hills has also converted the first four tee times on the weekend to Express Lane Tee Time. Plans call for additional courses to add the program to their tee sheets in coming months. As they do, we’ll let you know.

So, if you are a fan of the concept of a quick round, you how have two courses in Arizona to will cater to your needs. We applaud OB Sports for this innovative idea and thank them for implementing Express Lane Tee Times in Arizona.

Read the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz for Sedona Golf Resort and Eagle Mountain Golf Club, they’re both great plays.

From the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA News Desk

Mesa, AZ – Our friend at All Sports Arizona will host their 2011 Fall Charity Golf Tournament on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at Red Mountain Ranch Country Club.

Participants will not only experience a beautiful golf course, but they will help All Sports Arizona continue their quest to provide affordable, educational recreational activities in a safe and inviting environment.

Here is what your entry fee includes:

• 18-hole round Saturday, 9/24 at Red Mountain Ranch Country Club

• 1pm shotgun start

• Putting, long drive and closest to the pin contests

• Lunch buffet

• Tee bag of goodies

There will also be a silent auction for sports memorabilia and other items as well as a raffle.

As an added incentive, if you bring a playing partner, and sign-up prior to August 15th, you will receive a free round of golf at Red Mountain Ranch to be used later in the year.

Entries fee are $65/player; $260/foursome if paid prior to September 4th. If you wait until the last minute, it will cost $10 per player more. Entry deadline is September 14, 2011.

If this sounds like a good plan for you, click on www.allsportsaz.com for more details and to register for the tournament.

Then, visit the Arizona Golf Authority Golf Course Directory and read the AZGA Golf Course Buzz for Red Mountain Ranch; it’s a great test in a lovely setting, and one of the very few Pete Dye designs in Arizona. Have fun and play well.

From the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA News Desk

It’s the dog days of summer in Arizona right now. Temperatures and humidity are at that uncomfortable stage, meaning you do all your chores early and hibernate in the afternoon. It’s hard to think about wearing long sleeves and jackets, but for Sean Gregg, Antigua’s head designer, that’s exactly what’s been on his mind for the past several months as he and his team developed the Antigua Fall Collection.

Sean, Antigua’s head designer, was kind enough to share the inside skinny on what we’ll see in golf shops very soon. So, we thought we’d share that information with you.

AZGA: What’s the latest inside info on golf apparel these days?

Gregg: Golf apparel has reached the status of fashion, meaning color as a trend evolves seasonally. Traditional color palettes are perceived as almost “conformist,” thus fashion palettes are now often styled into most of the golf brand collections, tending to focus on the hot colors of the season.

But there are a couple of current trends in men’s golf apparel that seem to be holding ground and are probably more specific to golf apparel. One hot trend is layering. Gone are the days when you consider an outerwear piece for the start of the round and remove it at the turn.

The focus now is on developing product from the base layer up. Lightweight base layers such as the Antigua style Hero developed as a micro-fleeced back jersey mock can stand alone or can be worn under a performance polo such as Exceed, or with a mid-weight pull-over performance fleece style such as Succeed, or under a water and wind resistant wind shirt found in our Resilient and Highland lines.

The new mentality from the tour player to the weekend golfer is that they want to be comfortable at any point during play and they look for layering options that correspond with the fluctuations in weather that occur especially during golf ’season’.

AZGA: Is layering just a trend or here to stay?

Gregg: We believe layering, for both men and women, is less a passing fad and more a staple in golf apparel as a function of the sport and a necessity of its competition.

We see fit and function as synonymous and our development focuses on each individual layer. As an analogy, the introduction of performance synthetics in competitive swimming donned by athletes performed so effectively that the full body suit has been banned from professional swimming competition dramatizing the genuine effects of focused performance product development. And though we’d like to think that our fabrics can be that effective, we appreciate the dissimilarity in functionality, but equally appreciate the importance of taking the direction of development seriously to improve a golfers performance through the right garment choice.

AZGA: So, color palettes and layering are important, what other trends will we see in the coming year?

Gregg: The second biggest and more current trend is in apparel fabrics and specs. Like the evolutions in technology on the hard goods side, apparel companies are focusing on improving playing performance. We’ve developed lighter and lighter fabrics to perform faster with regard to wicking speed, while being less restrictive during release. The Desert Dry Xtra-Lite (D2XL) fabrics are a prime example of this new trend.

Another trend – narrowing specs – is based on the same dynamic. The need to pull your shirt sleeve up before set up has been eliminated from our performance collections by focusing on minor adjustments to specific core fit anatomy. We haven’t made smaller garments, we’ve made better performing garments while leaving areas like the torso spec intact. And as we grade up in size, we cease the “taper in” fit. This fit can be comfortably modified for medium and large sizes, but has disadvantages in the XL and larger sizes. As the population has grown in stature, we’ve look to be accommodating in our offering to cater to that evolution.

AZGA: What are the new colors for the Antigua Fall 2011 line?

Gregg: As the performance apparel category took hold in golf, it was inundated with derivatives of the activewear market with regard to the use of both color and fabric blocking. As the shift solidified and the trends diversified, there was a lack of newness coming into the performance apparel markets when it came to brands that specialized in side-line apparel and dabbled in golf wear.

Taking our cue from the fashion market and less from the collegiate market our focus was to be golf wear specific. We developed and have updated color palettes in what we coined ’contemporary performance’. We transitioned from the warm natural earth hues in our 2010 collections and to a rich jewel palette for our 2011 performance lines. We believe this distinction in both our brand and our product shows our intent to cater to the genuine golfer with our genuine golf apparel, both esthetically and functionally.

AZGA: What goes into developing a new line of golf apparel?

Gregg: While we’d like to think we have all the right answers, we know there is a distinct correlation between the involvement in our product R & D and the acceptance by the consumer, especially with regard to technical details and features that demonstrate focus on both form and function. We talk to consumers about their likes and dislikes and we do a lot of testing before we launch any line. Through this collaboration of R&D and the consumer, we are able to create products that look good, feel great and meet our performance standards.

AZGA: What’s your favorite item in the fall ’11 line?

Gregg: I’d have to give the nod to our Hero line, it’s one of the most comfortable performance fabrics we’ve developed. It’s light enough to be worn on its own in mildly cool temperatures, yet warm enough to hold out the unwanted elements. It’s only been part of the collection for a short time, but based on its popularity in accommodating layering needs we’re expanding into additional base layers such as ribs and textures. I personally love the duality of the base layers. And we’re finding our customers agree. They are buying and pairing a polo with a base layer one-for-one in milder weather.

To check out all Antigua products, go to shop.antigua.com.

Visit the Arizona Golf Authority Golf Course Directory at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/ for the inside story on every golf course in Arizona.