The Power Fade Golf Blog

Please bear with us while we experiment with the layout and exactly how to format our posts.

Another one of our goals is to juxtapose not only our personal views of the various items we post about, but also our views in light of our handicaps.  As the resident hack (a rather bloated 10.7 to JK’s 0.3 (?) ), my opinion will clearly resonate more with the masses.

As mentioned before, this was not our first crack at TPC Las Vegas.  I recall two shots in particular from the first trip with particular fondness.  Winds reached nearly 35 mph — seriously, we quit after 7 holes because of it.  The first was my approach (likely 4th or 5 shot not counting penalties) into par-five 6th.  With a stout cross wind, I cut a 5-iron about 135 yards into the green to about 7 feet.  Even JK was impressed.  The second was the tee shot on the par-three 7th.  Playing directly into the now 40 mph wind, JK and I both drew driver (209 for him, 195 for me).  After watching two towering draws become two hooks because of the wind, I drew back and nailed what is certainly one of the best drives I have ever hit in my life.  Not even a hair off-line, that bridgestone took off straight as a string and cut through the wind.  It is somewhat fitting that it would only go 193 yards (that’s golf, right?).  It was one of those shots that took felt so good that I could only smile after a ridiculous 4-putt.

Anyway, back to the post-bar round.

First, things I like to know about a course in a review:

From the tees that I played (Tips): 7080 yds – 73.4/136 – Par 71
Green size: average to small
length of par 3’s – 196, 209, 145, 202
Shortest par 4 and 5 – 349 and 544
Number of par 3’s/4’s/5’s –  4/11/3

Second, snapshot of the course:

Style/Architect:  Desert course/Bobby Weed & Raymond Floyd
prettiest hole: 18 –  Water left makes this a bear too!
most difficult hole: 8 – Long and plays into the prevailing wind.  This hole calls for a draw off the tee and a very strong second shot uphill into a two-tier green.  Be sure to avoid a deep bunker short and one to the left.  Going long is not an option as you’ll be using that desert club that JK mentioned.
best hole to gamble on: 2 – while it cards in at a stout 196, the true beauty of this downhill par three is that it can play 20 yards above or below that number depending on the wind.  Trust your club selection and don’t go left.

While I will normally strive to write the narrative of my review from the perspective of a 10-handicapper who works on his game more than he should given his profession, I must confess that shooting a good score was unequivocally the last thing on my mind while playing this round.  Having just finished the bar exam and beginning the summer of true freedom that I would have for the foreseeable future, I was dead set on having a good time and enjoying the amazing weather.  That attitude notwithstanding,  I played several of the holes remarkably well.  I’m happy to report that even from the tips, I managed to play the par 3’s at even par.  I may have had to venture into the desert on a number of the par 4s and the par-five 4th (a few times), but am happy to report that I finished the round in high spirits and with an even higher score of 89.

Part of the charm of this course was that it generally followed the natural lay of the land.  A particular feature to note was the large gorge that divided the 14th and 15th holes.  For a 10 handicapper, this course presents not only a challenge off the tee (many forced carries and blind tee shots), but also a strong test for your short game.  For those aiming to play for score, my personal recommendation for the 10-handicapper who’s Achilles heel is the driver is to play either the blue tees (6769 – 71.0/128) or the men’s blended (68.7/128) and stick to the trusty 3-wood.  For those who’s chipping and putting leads to inflated scores, spending a little time on the putting green to get used to the crazy speed on these greens is must.  You’re in luck, you get full use of the amazing practice facilities all day when you purchase your tee time.  Also, for even the 10-handicapper with an above average short-game, the bunkers on this course tend to be more punitive than most.  Avoid at all costs.  One more bit of local knowledge:  play in the morning.  The wind kicks up in the afternoon.

Other tidbits:

Pro shop: top of the line – as you would expect from a PGA Tour owned facility
Distance from attractions – about 20 minutes away from the middle of Las Vegas Blvd
Deals/Specials:  JK and I managed to get tee times for $199 including a pair of Adidas golf shoes (then valued at $85).  We even called ahead and got to order the exact colors and size (issue for those of us wearing 14 or larger) we wanted.
Make sure you grab a yardage book for this course from the pro shop.  Not only is it immensely useful on the par 5’s and the dog-leg par 4’s, it’s a nice keepsake to remember your round. You can also you use it to write well-informed blog entries (or comments to ours!).

18th Tee.  JK on the left, LG on the right.

This being the first course review written for this blog, I’m not sure exactly what to write. The caveat to this review: my experience was more than just the course’s describable features.

A little background: my co-author (LG) and I met and became friends as interns working together in Palo Alto, CA. Through some random luck, we found out we both liked golf and, through the next few years, learned more and more about each others’ games. After some time, we started planning trips–a run down to Carmel, CA, to play Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay, a few trips to Las Vegas to try different courses (including a drive to Mesquite to play Wolf Creek–twice), and a well-planned trip through Alabama on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

Through our trips, we managed to arrive at TPC Las Vegas twice–first in April 2010. TPC Las Vegas was the third course we had played in 4 days, including two 18-hole rounds at Wolf Creek in Mesquite, NV. Fortunately for my back, we actually had to take a “rain check” due to excessive winds after playing only 9 holes.

Determined to make it back and finish the round, we planned a trip for early August 2010. The timing was not coincidental. We had both finished law school and spent the entire summer studying for our respective bar exams (LG in California, JK in Georgia).

A quick aside for those that don’t know much about the bar exam: each state decides to thoroughly and painfully torture every person who wants to practice law within the state by administering a test know as “The Bar.” This test is like a random sampling of topics that you may or may not have covered over the prior three years of law school. Your inability to answer the questions on this exam means that you will be unable to work as an attorney–or, in other words, you won’t be permitted to earn a living. Imagine it this way: think back to when you were graduating high school. You didn’t take every single course the school had to offer, but you had the basics–English, History, Math, and most of us were afraid of Sciences. But, at least we had had those subjects. Now, imagine that, before you can graduate high school and move on with life, you have to take a test. One of the questions on the test asks you which US ship was referred to as “Old Ironsides.” The next question asks you which elements make up the halide group. The following question asks you what a driver should do if he sees a flashing yellow light. And the next one asks you to find the limit of f(x) as x goes to infinity of f(x)=1/x. Hopefully, the introduction of mathematical formulas has brought enough fear into this description to fully describe the essence of the Bar.

In any case, having taken the Bar, we decided to embark on a journey to Las Vegas to play the course that had gotten away. Did it ever live up to the billing.

Measuring at 7050 yards from the back tees, the course seems formidable at first–until you realize that the ball travels a little farther in the desert air. A beautiful patch of green fairway split the rocky desert on each hole. As intimidating as the rocks be, the fairways and greens were even more impressive. When we played in April 2010, the greens were rolling at 13.5 on the stimpmeter (which the starter volunteered). Although they were considerably slower on this occasion (due to the intense summer heat in the desert), they still were smooth and consistent, rolling at least 10.5.

One of the most interesting aspects of the course: entering the desert to find and play your golf ball is totally permitted–and even encouraged. Rental sets at the course include a “rock club,” which looked extremely knurled and knicked.

Perhaps the highlight of playing the course was the par 3 12th hole. Although only 145 yards, the flight to the green was all carry over a hazard. The hole provided the greatest firework show of the day. Having placed my ball on the green, LG topped his (for a perfect layup short of the hazard), and then laid a gap wedge onto the green. Both of us about 35 feet away, I putted first (because I was borrowing LG’s putter–I didn’t want to bring mine through the airport after having it scratched when traveling earlier). A well-struck putt sailed into the cup as I raised the putter into the air. LG putted next. With the ball only 10 feet off of the face, he harkened back to Family Guy, singing “ball in a cup, ball in a cup, it’s a ball in a cup.” A miraculous birdie and par, and the two of us had made our putts.

The course itself just kept getting more incredible. The Canyon holes were amazing. The course finished on an excellent par 4 with a lake just left of the green.

All-in-all, the course was amazing, and the perfect end to a stressful week. Although I probably wouldn’t play the course again–there are just so many others to choose from–I would definitely recommend this spot to anyone.

Cost: $150 in April, $90 in August

Temperature: 55 and windy in April, over 100 and VERY dry and hot in August

Carts and range balls were included

Check out the course website at http://www.tpc.com/tpclasvegas_58.aspx

And, if you do plan to play there, check out this website–which is pretty hard to find these days:

http://www.tpc.com/lasvegas/faqs/index.html

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BTW, for those interested, the answers to the “Graduation Test”:
1. The USS Constitution
2. Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, and Astantine
3. Yield to traffic from other directions–treat it as a yield sign
4. 0