Tag: PGA West

PGA Tour 2023: The West Coast Swing

Rham and Scheffler Battle at TPC Scottsdale

While the 2023 wrap-around PGA Tour season technically began back in September, the year really begins to roll with the “West Coast Swing.” The first leg was the American Express at La Quinta, featuring a stiff test on the Stadium Course designed by Pete Dye, and then moved over to The Farmers at Torrey Pines, where Tiger famously won the US Open Championship in 2008 playing on a broken leg.

The third stop on the Swing was the AT&T Pro-Am, home to perhaps the greatest course in the world–Pebble Beach Golf Links. This week is the WM Phoenix Open, played at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona.

The history of the WM Phoenix Open goes all the way back to 1932, and was originally called the “Arizona Open,” held at Phoenix Country Club. In 1987 the tournament moved to the Championship Course at TPC Scottsdale, designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish.

Next week the West Coast Swing moves back to California and the Genesis Invitational at iconic Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, where Tiger just announced that he will be making his 2023 season debut (and also where he made his first appearance on the PGA Tour).

PGA West: Rham wins American Express

The Recap

Jon Rahm won the American Express, his second PGA Tour win of the 2022-2023 season, where he outlasted young Davis Thompson with a one stroke margin at 27 under par. The Farmers Insurance Open saw Max Homa winning his 6th PGA Tour event, where he took down a charging Keegan Bradley, who recorded his 3rd top 10 of the 2023 season to build on his resurgence in 2022 when he recorded 6 top 10’s.

Another big name, Justin Rose, suddenly emerged from the doldrums with an impressive win last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, ending a four-year victory drought by beating Brendan Todd and Brandon Wu by three strokes.

The West Coast swing has delivered plenty of excitement thus far, and this weekend promises even more as Rory McIlroy joins the field at TPC Scottsdale.

TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale AZ

WM Phoenix Open

TPC Scottsdale is home to one of the most popular tour events of the season, where a half million or more golf fanatics assemble each year to watch their favorites and let it all hang out.

The centerpiece of the tournament is the par 3 16th hole, otherwise known as “The Coliseum,” where raucous spectators turn it up to max volume, testing the focus of even the most seasoned tour pro.

Past winners include many of the biggest names in golf, including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Rickie Fowler.

16th at TPC Scottsdale: The coliseum

Tiger left his tracks at TPC Scottsdale in 1997 with a hole-in-one at The Coliseum, and the intensity of the thunderous ovation registered on the Richter scale all the way over at Caltech in Pasadena.

This week’s field includes most of the top players in the world, headlined by Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, and two-time past winner Hideki Matsuyama.

As we head into Sunday, Scottie Scheffler is in the lead as he ramps it up to capture back-to-back Player of the Year honors–while trying to hold off the red-hot Rahm, Jordan Spieth and Nick Taylor. Jason Day and Rickie Fowler are also among the leaders as they look to continue 2023 comeback seasons.

With Scheffler, Rahm, Rory, and a field stacked with the top players on tour jockeying for position, the weekend will be loaded with thrills–and it’s a pretty good bet that the final round on Sunday will be one you won’t want to miss.

Looking Ahead

The Players: Jewel of the Florida Swing

All eyes will be on Tiger when he tees it up at the Genesis Invitational next week at Riviera Country Club in LA. What already promised to be a great week of golf just jumped to a new level of excitement before the Tour heads east for the Florida Swing.

Genesis Invitational 2023: Tiger’s back

The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach will be first up (February 23-26), where the world’s best will have to negotiate the infamous “Bear Trap,” followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational (March 2-5) at Bay Hill.

The Players (March 9-12) highlights the Florida swing, followed by the Valspar Championship (March 16-19).

There’s a great stretch of golf on the horizon, and before you know it The Masters will be here, the best golf week of the year—can’t help smiling about that.

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Top 20 Golf Resorts and Public Courses: Southern California

PGA West

Southern California public golf includes work by many of the great modern course architects. Tom Fazio designs include Pelican Hill, The Grand, Rams Hill, and Oak Creek. Pete Dye sculped The Stadium Course at PGA West, both courses at La Quinta, as well as and Trump National Los Angeles. Jack Nicklaus laid out two courses at PGA West and Escena in Palm Desert.

Wonderful courses by the talented architectural team of Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley can also be found in southern California (Shadow Ridge, Shadow Hills and Tierra Lago).

Arnie left us with a terrific layout at PGA West, along with a stiff test of golf at the The Classic Club in Palm Desert.

The GolfDay rating is based on a variety of criteria, including the stature of the architect(s) who did the original design(s), updates that have been done on the course(s), USGA Course and Slope Ratings, current local and national rankings by Golf Digest and Golfweek, the quality and diversity of practice facilities, general course conditioning and current reviews. The resort rating also includes a factor for the variety of courses located at the property as well as the quality of accommodations and level of service.

If you are considering a place to enjoy some great golf this winter, southern California is hard to beat.

Resorts

PGA West, La Quinta CA
  1. PGA West/La Quinta, California
  2. Hilton Honors
    • Holes: 108 (Six Eighteen Hole Courses)
    • Course Architect: Arnold Palmer/Greg Norma/Matthew Dusenberry/Tad Burnett/Jack Nicklaus/Tom Weiskopf/Pete Dye
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • Palmer:                        73.9 Rating/141 Slope
    • Norman:                      74.6 Rating/136 Slope
    • Nicklaus Private:      74.3 Rating/136 Slope
    • Nicklaus Resort:       75.3 Rating/143 Slope
    • Weiskopf:                    74.2 Rating/130 Slope
    • TPC Stadium:            75.8 Rating/148 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers and Golf Academy.
    • Golf Academy
    • Accommodations
    • Golf Packages
    • Rankings: Golf Digest Top 100 Public, Golfweek Top 200 Resorts, Golf Digest CA Top 45, Golfweek CA Top 30 Public, GolfDay Top 100 Resorts
    • GolfDay Resort Rating: 100
    • Location
Pelican Hill, Newport Beach CA
  1. Pelican Hill Golf Club/Newport Beach, CA
  2. The Resort at Pelican Hill
    • Holes: 36 Holes (2 Eighteen Hole Courses)
    • Course Architect: Tom Fazio
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • Ocean North: 73.5 Rating/137 Slope
    • Ocean South: 72.0 Rating/133 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Putting Green.
    • Golf Academy
    • Accommodations
    • Rankings: Golfweek Top 200 Resorts, Golf Digest CA Top 45, Golfweek CA Top 30-Public, GolfDay Top 100 Resorts
    • GolfDay Resort Rating: 94.8
    • Location
La Quinta Resort, La Quinta CA
  1. La Quinta Resort & Club/La Quinta, CA
  2. Hilton Honors
    • Holes: 90
    • Course Architect: Pete Dye
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • Mountain:       72.8 Rating/135 Slope
    • Dunes:              72.3 Rating/134 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
    • Golf Academy
    • Accommodations
    • Rankings: Golfweek Top 200 Resorts, Golfweek CA Top 30-Public, GolfDay Top 100 Resorts
    • GolfDay Resort Rating: 93.3
    • Location
The Grand Club, San Diego CA
  1. The Grand Golf Club/San Diego, CA
  2. Fairmont Grand Del Mar
Desert Willow, Palm Desert CA
  1. Desert Willow Golf Resort/Palm Desert, CA
  2. JW Marriott
    • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses)
    • Course Architects: Michael Hurdzan/Dana Dry
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • Firecliff:                    74.1 Rating/141 Slope
    • Mountain View:     73.0 Rating/132 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens
    • Golf Academy
    • Junior Golf
    • Accommodations
    • Rankings: Golfweek Top 200 Resorts, Golfweek California Top 30 Public, GolfDay Top 100 Resorts
    • GolfDay Resort Rating: 92.4
    • Location
Eagle Falls, Indio CA
  1. Eagle Falls Golf Course/Indio CA
  2. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architect: Clive Clark
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.8 Rating/133 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker
    • Accommodations
    • Golf Packages
    • Rankings: Golfweek Top 200 Resorts, Golfweek California Top 30 Public
    • GolfDay Resort Rating: 91.7
    • Location
Shadow Ridge, Palm Desert CA
  1. Shadow Ridge Golf Club/Palm Desert, CA
  2. JW Marriot
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architects: Lee Schmidt/Brian Curley/Nick Faldo
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.7 Rating/135 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers
    • Accommodations
    • Rankings: Golfweek Top 200 Resorts
    • GolfDay Resort Rating: 91.7
    • Location
Journey at Pechenga, Temecula CA
  1. Journey at Pechanga/Temecula, CA
  2. Pechanga Resort Casino

Public Courses

Rams Hill, Borrego Springs, CA
  1. Rams Hill Golf Club/Borrego Springs, CA
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architects: Ted Robinson, Sr./Tom Fazio
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.5 Rating/141 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and chipping Greens with Bunker. ProV1 Range balls included with Greens Fee.
    • Golf Academy
    • Accommodations/Packages
    • Rankings: Golf Digest Top 100 Public, Golfweek Top 200 Resorts, Golf Digest CA Top 45, Golfweek CA Top 30-Public, GolfDay Top 100 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 100
    • Locations
Torey Pines, San Diego CA
  1. Torrey Pines Golf Course/San Diego California
  2. City of San Diego
    • Holes: 36 (2 Eighteen Hole Courses)
    • Course Architects: William F. Bell/David Rainville/Stephen Halsey/Jack Daray, Jr./Rees Jones
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • North:  75.8 Rating/138 Slope
    • South: 78.2 Rating/144 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker
    • Rankings: Golf Digest Top 100 Public, Golf Digest Top 200, Golf Digest CA Top 45, Golfweek CA Top 30-Public, GolfDay Top 100 Public, GolfDay Top 25 Municipal
    • GolfDay Rating: 100
    • Location
Shadow Hills, Indio CA
  1. Shadow Hills Golf Club/Indio, CA
    • Holes: 36 Holes (Eighteen Hole Regulation Course (South) and Eighteen Hole Par 3 Course (North)
    • Course Architects: Lee Schmidt/Brian Curley/Brian Costello/Mark Hollinger/Bob Moore
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • South: 73 Rating/134 Slope
    • North: 54.1 Rating/84 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
    • Rankings: GolfDay Top 100 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 95.8
    • Location
Oak Creek, Irvine CA
  1. Oak Creek Golf Club/Irvine, CA
Classic Club, Palm Desert CA
  1. Classic Club/Palm Desert, CA
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architect: Arnold Palmer
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 75.4 Rating/142 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Double Sided Grass Driving Range, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
    • Golf Academy
    • Rankings: Golfweek CA Top 30-Public, GolfDay Top 500 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 94.7
    • Location
Trump National Los Angeles, Rancho Pales Verdes CA
  1. Trump National Los Angeles/Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architects: Pete Dye/Perry Dye
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 74.6 Rating/144 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets and Putting Green (Chipping Green with Bunker–Instruction Only).
    • Golf Academy
    • Rankings: Golfweek CA Top 30-Public, GolfDay Top 500 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 93.5
    • Location
The Golf Club at Tierra Lago, Palm Springs CA
  1. The Golf Club at Terra Lago/Indio, CA
    • Holes: 36 (Two Eighteen Hole Courses)
    • Course Architects: Lee Schmidt/Brian Curley
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • North:  74.1 Rating/138 Slope
    • South: 73.9 Rating/137 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunker.
    • Rankings: GolfDay Top 500 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 92.4
    • Location
Steele Canyon, Jamul CA
https://www.ocregister.com/
  1. Steele Canyon Golf Club/Jamul, CA
    • Holes: 27 Holes (3 Nine Hole Courses)
    • Course Architect: Gary Player
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating:
    • Canyon:          35.8 Rating/134 Slope
    • Ranch:             37.7 Rating/141 Slope
    • Vineyard:       36.5 Rating/137 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers (2).
    • Rankings: GolfDay Top 500 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 91.3
    • Location
Mission Hills, Ranch Mirage CA
  1. Mission Hills North/Rancho Mirage, CA
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architect: Gary Player
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 73.6 Rating/131 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Grass Driving Range with Targets, Putting and Chipping Greens with Bunkers.
    • Rankings: GolfDay Top 500 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 91.1
    • Location
Arrowood, Oceanside CA
https://www.golftroop.com/
  1. Arrowood Golf Course/Oceanside, CA
    • Holes: 18
    • Course Architect: Ted Robinson, Jr.
    • USGA Course/Slope Rating: 72.4 Rating/135 Slope
    • Practice Facilities: Driving Range with Targets (Grass-Weekends/Mats-Weekdays), Putting and Chipping Greens.
    • Golf Academy
    • Rankings: GolfDay Top 500 Public
    • GolfDay Rating: 90.9
    • Location
The Golf Club of California, Fallbrook CA
  1. The Golf Club of California/Fallbrook, CA
Escena Golf Club, Palm Springs CA
  1. Escena Golf Club/Palm Springs, CA
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