It has been raining almost all day (Saturday) in Phoenix. It’s almost London type rain. But it’s time to return to the UK and we have had a wonderful week of weather so we can’t complain. Having despatched the kids home last Saturday we met up with friends in Phoenix for a week of golf and other activities which seemed to revolve around shopping so Mrs K could spend her Xmas present.
It is a long way to travel to play golf but worth it for the change in weather from the UK and a chance to spend time with friends, on and off the golf course. It has been a hectic schedule which means blog writing has taken a back seat so this will be a brief summary of the week.
We were straight out onto the golf course on Sunday morning after arriving at the resort late in the evening on Saturday. Just a 20 minute drive out into the desert to a place called Las Sendas which turned out to be the hardest test of the 4 rounds we played. The course was in excellent shape, well-manicured with fast greens. We were five golfers so were split into 3 and 2. Steve and I were joined up with Mr Choi at the first tee. We introduced ourselves as Jeff and Steve. Mr Choi introduced himself as “Mr Choi” and remained so for the day. He said his wife might join us later in the round if it warmed up a bit – it was a chilly 16C. He also announced that he wouldn’t be helping us look for golf balls on the course. I think maybe he must have seen Steve’s practice shots on the range. It did seem a bit rude but then he explained that he had been scratched by a cactus previously which had been quite nasty so he was staying clear of the scrub that lined each hole. The starter also warned us that a rattle snake had been seen recently on the 4th fairway and that we shouldn’t try to kick away any cacti that were on the path because the pins had been known to penetrate golf shoes. Mr Choi teed off from the back tees and kept it up the middle. As predicted Steve and I were slightly less accurate off the middle tees. Conversation was therefore fairly limited with Mr Choi who told us he had a playing friend that got him into Augusta to watch the Masters. We wondered if it might be KJ Choi but did not ask. It was a tough course but, not having played since early December, the break was good for me and I played relatively well.
Rattlesnakes and Mr Choi
Monday’s golf was at Talking Stick where we encountered more friends, including the local rodent – the round tailed ground squirrel. Three of us played with a local guy called Kelly. His girlfriend was in the golf cart for the ride and to take video shots of Kelly’s best moments. Colin told her that our wives were at the spa. “I’m doing this golf all wrong”, she said. She didn’t move much from the kart and missed most of Kelly’s best shots.
On Monday night we walked over to Kierland Common for a meal at a Mexican restaurant called ‘The Mission’. Our server was Erika and she was “looking after us”. Mrs K took exception to the way that she was leaning over me to serve water and I must admit that it was as much time I have spent in another woman’s cleavage for a very long time. “Pardon my reach” became one of the most repeated expressions of the week. After that, Erika kept her distance from me and diverted her attention to the other boys (especially Steve), but continued to be enthusiastic and exuberant and made for a fun evening! She said that she had visited the UK but had spent some time in Watford which wasn’t so great. No surprise there. By the way, Colin is a level 18 TripAdvisor reviewer so you can read his reviews of all the places we ate at over the week, but I am not sure he could comment on Erika’s service.
Day in the desert
On Tuesday we had a day off from the golf and drove up to Sedona, about 2 hours out of Phoenix, north towards the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We were expecting lower temperatures but it was a glorious day of sunshine. We stopped off to see some sights en route (including Montezuma’s castle pictured below) before having a quick lunch in town, enjoying the fantastic views of the mountains, sitting on a sun-bathed patio. Then we set off on the Boynton Trail which was billed as a 5 mile trek of moderate difficulty. All I can say is I’m glad we didn’t go for the more testing trail. The path was rocky and quite steep in places and weaved between the low level mountains. David was on hand to explain the geology of the rocks and the subtle change in flora as we walked up about 2000ft to a final elevation of around 10000ft. I was mainly focused on the path and avoiding tripping on a rock. Steve and Corinne set the pace both up and down but what was supposed to be a gentle afternoon walk turned into a 3 hour hike.
Following that we were probably not best prepared for the valentine’s night meal that had been booked in a fine dining place just down the road from Sedona in Oak Creek, but fortunately we found a nice casual diner which was really friendly and did just the job.
On Wednesday, we played at TPC Scottsdale which had just hosted the PGA tour in early February. That was on the Stadium course which is famous for it very loud 16th par 3 hole – large crowds of beered up Americans shouting “get in the hole!”. The stands were being dismantled as we arrived so we played the Champions course which was peaceful. Steve found his swing and scored 41 points to win the day and narrow the field going into the final round at ASU Karsten (Arizona State University). David and I played with Scott and Laurie from Minneapolis.
In the evening was our second non-golf excursion to watch the basketball between Phoenix Suns take on the LA Lakers. That sounded like an interesting fixture but we discovered that both teams are keeping each other company at the bottom of their league. But the standard of play, especially from the Suns, was incredible. I have watched baseball and American football live but basketball wins hands down. Some of the shooting was just incredible. Phoenix won the game in the first 5 minutes, building a lead of almost 20 points and maintaining that all the way through to a huge total of 133. We enjoyed the dancing grannies at half time and apparently there were some cheerleaders but I am not sure I saw them. Mrs K and Jill really got behind the Suns which I’m sure made all the difference to the home team.
On the way home, we drove out to the Talking Stick resort to visit the casino where Mrs K won her customary few dollars with no shortage of screaming and shouting and had to be dragged away.
One might ask what was going on while the boys were playing all this golf. I think there were two main activities, neatly summarised by the two photos below. One could surmise that the Irish contingent were more aligned to the first activity than the second.
Mrs B’s first words after sitting down at a restaurant were normally “Hendrick’s martini with a twist please”. And when the waiter said the baby Guinness was on the house, she promptly said “we’ll have another round then”
But the comment of the week has to be Colin’s observation of Mrs D. “You seem to drink faster than you eat”
Thursday’s golf was strange in that the 2 contenders for the golfer of the week (Colin and I) played terribly while the other 3 played brilliantly which turned the standings upside down. Both Steve and Kanny played the front 9 in 3 over par and Steve went on to score 41 points for the 2nd consecutive day but Kanny scored 39 and held on to win. Something I am sure he will talk us through many times over the next few months. Apparently, his putting was that of a pro. Given that Colin and I play with him most weeks, it is hard for us to imagine, but trust the ‘gimmes’ were not overly generous. Actually, according to the story, there were no gimmees because every putt just went in the hole.
Thursday night was couples night. Mr and Mrs Dua were meeting friends in town while Mrs K and I visited the Cheesecake factory. On the way back, we spotted others in a restaurant and literally popped our heads in the window to say hello.
On Friday, it was the boys’ turn to get some outlet shopping in. It was on a strict time budget – only 3 hours so we could get back to the poolside to relax. Mrs K found it difficult to spend so little time in each shop. Fortunately she knew the layout of the mall intimately so we navigated our way to the important shops with ease. I was pleased with my haul of bargains but Steve won the prize for the cheapest T-shirts.
Friday was actually a special day as it was Corinne’s birthday which we celebrated by visiting a mountain top restaurant called ‘Different Pointe of View’. The restaurant overlooked Phoenix. Most of us were sporting our new gear including Mrs P in some red high heels shoes. As Europeans we still forget that in America you drive up to the door of the place you are visiting. As the resort was busy we grabbed the first parking place we saw only to realise that the walk up to the restaurant was a further 1000ft climb up a steep road. So we climbed back in and Mrs K availed us of the valet service. It was a special evening with present opening at the table and a great way to finish off the week.
And finally, congratulations to Kanny
