Talking Stick (North), AZ, USA   

The lefthand fairway bunker that must be carried from the 3rd tee.

If the authors were asked to show a course that illustrates the principles of minimalism, they would book airline tickets for Phoenix, Arizona. The North course at the daily-fee Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale not only shows what minimalism is, but it also demonstrates that an architect who knows his trade can build a first-rate, interesting course on a flat piece of land.

Talking Stick occupies a dead flat piece of land with no real natural features on an Indian reservation. The only natural attribute is the beautiful mountains that form the backdrop to this desert course. However, they are just scenery. Many architects would therefore feel compelled to move heaps of earth to 'create' some character, but Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore know better. They moved essentially nothing. The land is flat, so the course is flat, and that's all there is to it. So many architects talk of 'working with nature' only to proceed to mold the course to suit their needs, but not Crenshaw and Coore. The greens are generally just extensions of the fairway, being raised and crowned only slightly.

In fact, the course has such a low profile that the authors wonder where the dirt from excavating the bunkers went. From both the artistic and the strategic perspective, Talking Stick has one of the handful of sets of best bunkering of any course in the U.S. Rarely have the authors been so tempted so often to stop and take a close-up picture of just a bunker. These bunkers are real pits, as they had to be. If no earth was to be moved, there were no elevations in which to 'dig' the bunkers, so the architects had no choice but to go downwards. The bunkers are relatively small, with jagged edges that are a result of the shaping and not tall grass. Often a player's first step into such a bunker is down 18 inches. Here players will face a rare shot in the U.S., where the key is to get up in the first few yards to clear the lip.

The bunkering also illustrates somewhat of a dilemma to the modern architect. Bunkers such as the ones at Talking Stick are so attractive and well maintained that a player actually enjoys playing out of them - not exactly how hazards should be regarded. One cannot help but wonder if some architect (and his developer) should have the nerve to construct another Royal Ashdown Forest, with no bunkers at all. The higher-handicapped player would enjoy the round more while the better player would be frustrated by the more difficult recovery shots. However, the flat desert is not the place for such a bold design.

The land the North course at Talking Stick occupies is no different than thousands of square miles of land in the southwestern U.S. - flat and dotted by the occasional bush or cactus. One cannot help but think how one has driven hundreds of miles thorough identical terrain. Why, then, are there not dozens more courses like this? There is certainly enough land for it. The only answer is the fear that such courses would not be appreciated (or that the developer does not have the nerve to try it). Many architects would love the opportunity, but, sadly, few are given the chance.

Another distinctive aspect of the course that sets it apart from most courses in Arizona and many courses built in the last twenty years is that it is imminently walkable. Aside from being flat (and therefore easy to walk), there is rarely more than 50 yards from the putting green to the next tee. One of the authors was grouped with three players in carts for a round there, and several times he actually had to wait on the next tee for those players to roar up in their carts. Happily, they played their round in 3:40, another rarity for a daily fee course. All this contributes to what is a wonderful golf experience.

Holes to Note

2^nd hole, 510 yards: In the yardage book this looks an ungainly hole - a monstrously wide fairway leading to a green that appears off-center to the left. However, this width creates indecision on the part of the player as there is out of bounds tight down the left side all the way up past the green. The two greenside bunkers are to the right, meaning that if the player wishes to reach this green in two (a realistic goal) he must favor the left side. All of a sudden, nothing is quite so wide.

The 3rd green.

3^rd hole, 415 yards: The most attractive hole on the course, as this is at a corner of the property with just the desert and mountains beyond. With two bunkers guarding the right side of the green, the preferred approach is from the left side, and the architects create an illusion with a bunker down the left side that must be carried from the tee to afford the player such an approach. Although it requires less than 200 yards to make the carry, the player will often steer away from it at the last minute, thereby bringing the real trouble off the tee - the bunkers right of the fairway - into play.

continued >>>

© Copyright GCA 1999 - 2000. All rights reserved.