TPC Scottsdale: Champions and Stadium Courses
The allure of a tournament course (like the TPC Scottsdale Stadium course) is playing where the pros play and seeing the course on TV and saying, “Hey, I remember that hole.” This is especially true for courses with memorable holes: the 17th at Sawgrass, 10th or 18th at Riviera, pretty much every water-front hole at Pebble, the 3rd at Torrey Pines, and you get the idea. Of course, one of the most famous tournament holes in golf is the 16th at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium course. For the pros, it’s like playing a par three at “The Vet” in Philly at a 4 PM Cowboys game when the Birds fans were nice and liquored up. So as a fan, you plunk down some real $$$$, make your way around a very good but not great quasi-desert track in anticipation of 16 and then finally…meh.
It’s unrecognizable. Without the stands, the hole really is just a mediocre par three that’s 140 yards from the “playah’s” tees. I parred it. Usually if I par a memorable hole (I plunked one in the water on the TPC Sawgrass island hole and took a five but remember it, for instance), you get all excited. Here? It’s whoop-di-fucking-do. All this is to say, if you plan to play the Stadium course, make sure you do it around the tournament so the stands are still up. Not sure why they just don’t keep them up on this hole 24 X 7 X 365. It’s probably cheaper and is definitely the experience most want when playing here.
If you’re planning your first buddies Scottsdale trip, I definitely wouldn’t include the TPC courses on the rota. Of course, that all depends on you and your buddies.
If you want the “desert golf” experience and don’t mind shedding a few Franklins to get it, I’d suggest the We-Ko-Pa, Troon North and Boulder courses. If your friends are little tight with the sheckles, then I’d try Rancho Manana, Camelback Ambiente (Padre was a goat track but I heard they recently refurbished), Papago and Las Sendas. Throw in a We-Ko-Pa splurge round, too, If your pro has serious swag, you belong to a Top 100 course, or one of your old buddies retired and moved to/joined Desert Mountain, then I’d try to get on Estancia, any of the Desert Mountain or Whisper Rock courses (never have and would appreciate the invite). Or If you’re a group of boozebags that are Uber-limited, then stay in Old Town and then and only then I would include the Stadium course, Talking Stick, Grayhawk or Kierland.
To the courses. First the Stadium: you get the country club-esque treatment, there’s great conditioning, access to booze was aplenty. I already bored you with 16, but 17 is an awesome short par four (298 from the blues) and 18 is a blueprint TPC finisher with water all along the left. Finally, 15 is a great risk-reward par five. The rest are good holes with no houses and some decent views of the distant mountains. It’s a Weiskopf/Morrish design so it has the architectural cred. Shot an 88 so that’s pretty good for me. Played here with Johnny Cocktails, Scotty and my buddy Elliott so had a great time to boot.
Played the Champions back in 2016 as part of an Eagles road trip with my brother and hooked up here with Johnny Cocktails and our buddy Ron. Similar to the Stadium course the conditioning is great and the access to booze is fine. There are no homes to distract but like the Stadium, it’s only quasi-desert golf. I played super well here for me (an 86) with a birdie on the par-three sixth. If I told you I really remembered anything about the course, I’d be lying. As you’ll see in the pics below, there are some nice desert mountain backdrops. If you’re a 36-a-day warrior, then the TPC duo are another great one-two punch you can pull off in an early season day. Otherwise, I’d rank it below some of the more deserty tracks. I’ve seen some knuckleheads rank this above Stadium. No. Don’t believe it.
Stadium Course
Champions Course
Golf Scrapbook 