The Kokopelli Golf Stance

7002 Yds, Par 72, Slope 126, by Greg Nash


Golfweb

They Say: Tournament ready: As a five-time host of the Senior PGA Tour, two-time home to LPGA competitions, and past host of the Johnny Miller Pro Am, Hillcrest Golf Club has earned a reputation as the choice for exciting tournament play.
Challenging: Playing over 7,000 yards from the tips, Hillcrest poses a challenge to even the biggest hitters. There are, however, plenty of doglegs, water hazards, and white sand bunkers to keep them in check."

Interactive Map

Mr. Science had played here before and found it wanting, but I told him the interactive hole maps on the web made the course look really interesting. After we played I felt he might have been right, but he said, "As we played each hole, I remembered it from before and I thought it was very interesting, this time." Of course, he enjoys any course he breaks 80 on -- I question his objectivity. . . 8^D . . .I think I broke 100, but I can't find my scorecard.

The fairways are more subtle than the hole maps seem to indicate, and by-and-large, the course is flatter than one would think was desirable, but the doglegged fairways and the omnipresent water hazards keep the interest keen and the challenge fresh.

I don't remember what the #1 Handicap hole is, or what the Signature Hole is, but the hole I remember is #14, a long downhill Par 3, where the green juts out into the lake. The pin was nestled behind a frontside bunker and the shot looked impossible -- to get on the green anywhere near the pin instead of in the trap or the water -- but all 4 of our foursome was on the green. Only one of us made par, the other three had 3-putt bogeys, mine from over 100 ft.

I reckon some winter day we'll head back to see whether this course is as good as we think it is.