ken2v
This Space For Rent
Vegas
Stay: Imperial Pallor. Remodeled room was decent, the howl from Carnaval Court could not be totally drowned out by air conditioner noise.
Notable eats: Nora’s. As reported by others, very good “basic†(and that’s not a slam) Italian fare. We wolfed down a commendable Chateaubriand at the Pallor’s steak joint. It’s not Charlie Palmer Steak but more importantly it’s not Great Moments Room. Viva Mercado’s was markedly indifferent for lunch, which is the first time I can say that after a dozen or so visits. Could it be related to the pending move? Gotta give props to the Pallor's room service folks.
Play: Badlands (Diablo/Outlaw) – 89 from the tips; Troon Golf is running things at Badlands now and the change is bordering on phenomenal. On the crapper side, re-routing to accommodate the condo-towers on Desperado’s 9th remove the teeth from that once-stellar par 5 and return a Dentugrip-grade mid-length par 4 in their place. Also, a very bad decision on Diablo’s 4th (if someone buying a house on a course doesn’t see the course they deserve a few stucco-dings) puts the champ and back tees in an unplayable chute amidst the foliage … play that one from the added “pro†tee. LV National – no idea what I shot since it’s run by American Golf Corp. so that means after 4.5 hours plodding around the course I quit after 15 with four groups queued up ahead of us on 16. Paiute Sun Mountain – an ugly 41/54 = 95. I suck.
PGA Fall Expo: The move to Mandalay Bay’s conference center was a plus. But the show’s a dud and I doubt I’ll make it a three-peat next year. But I am quite impressed with the total line of goodies from Bridgestone.
Gambling: Played several hours of Jacks at MSS and LVH. Good beers at the former, one octogenarian cocktron sighted exactly once at the latter. $100 profit. Played a couple hours of vodka-hazed blackjack at the Pallor, scoring a small profit, then watched my bud toss the dice for 40 minutes w/o break.
Valley of the Sun
Stays: Westin Kierland and Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club. Hard to leave both places.
Notable eats: In-villa dinner prepared by Supe Mt. executive chef. Dinner brought to villa by line chef. The Good Egg at T-bird and Scottsdale. Roaring Fork ... 'nuff said about that place. The Kierland grub was pretty good.
Play: Kierland (Acacia/Ironwood) – 91. The Golf Club of Scottsdale – 84. Private Jay Morrish/Dick Bailey course between Troon and Rio Vista. It’s a “core†course meaning no houses and one you’d never tire of playing. An AZ top 10 easily. Just for giggles try the 500-yard par-4 18th from the tips. Superstition Mountain (Lost Gold) – 92. The LPGA-used Prospector track closed for overseeding the day we arrived. But after playing Lost Gold and driving Prospector, the pros should switch courses, methinks. Great members courses and I can’t remember a more driver-friendly Nicklaus design anywhere; he kills you on the greens.
Other fun stuff: Kierland has a three-part golf-improvement program with fitness training, clubfitting and instruction by top-drawer instructors Mike and Sandy Le Bauve. LeBauve (Mike) now has me (trying) to swing on an entirely new plane, I grunted my way through a session with the trainer (and could barely walk for two days) and I loved the fitting session. As for the latter, though I’ve gone through a number of such sessions, this had the advantage of launch monitors, green grass, course access and no single-manufacturer affiliation. Long-story short Ping appears to have fitted me properly for irons/wedges, I overload and overspin both stock drivers I play with (Ping G2 and TM R7 460), my fairway wood is ill-suited and I need longer, stiffer, higher-kick shafts in my hybrids. The driver session was most interesting because I could hit, say, a Nike Sasquatch with three different shaft/loft combos then do the same with Cleveland, etc., and long-story-short, I spec best into a 9.5* Callaway FT-3 draw-biased Tour head with a Mitsubishi Diamana Blue 73g 45†x-flex shaft. As for T, she went spa crazy.
Shopping: We both bought a ton of stuff (Vegas outlets, Nordy Rack and Nordy for me, Arizona Mills and Kierland Commons for T).
Stay: Imperial Pallor. Remodeled room was decent, the howl from Carnaval Court could not be totally drowned out by air conditioner noise.
Notable eats: Nora’s. As reported by others, very good “basic†(and that’s not a slam) Italian fare. We wolfed down a commendable Chateaubriand at the Pallor’s steak joint. It’s not Charlie Palmer Steak but more importantly it’s not Great Moments Room. Viva Mercado’s was markedly indifferent for lunch, which is the first time I can say that after a dozen or so visits. Could it be related to the pending move? Gotta give props to the Pallor's room service folks.
Play: Badlands (Diablo/Outlaw) – 89 from the tips; Troon Golf is running things at Badlands now and the change is bordering on phenomenal. On the crapper side, re-routing to accommodate the condo-towers on Desperado’s 9th remove the teeth from that once-stellar par 5 and return a Dentugrip-grade mid-length par 4 in their place. Also, a very bad decision on Diablo’s 4th (if someone buying a house on a course doesn’t see the course they deserve a few stucco-dings) puts the champ and back tees in an unplayable chute amidst the foliage … play that one from the added “pro†tee. LV National – no idea what I shot since it’s run by American Golf Corp. so that means after 4.5 hours plodding around the course I quit after 15 with four groups queued up ahead of us on 16. Paiute Sun Mountain – an ugly 41/54 = 95. I suck.
PGA Fall Expo: The move to Mandalay Bay’s conference center was a plus. But the show’s a dud and I doubt I’ll make it a three-peat next year. But I am quite impressed with the total line of goodies from Bridgestone.
Gambling: Played several hours of Jacks at MSS and LVH. Good beers at the former, one octogenarian cocktron sighted exactly once at the latter. $100 profit. Played a couple hours of vodka-hazed blackjack at the Pallor, scoring a small profit, then watched my bud toss the dice for 40 minutes w/o break.
Valley of the Sun
Stays: Westin Kierland and Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club. Hard to leave both places.
Notable eats: In-villa dinner prepared by Supe Mt. executive chef. Dinner brought to villa by line chef. The Good Egg at T-bird and Scottsdale. Roaring Fork ... 'nuff said about that place. The Kierland grub was pretty good.
Play: Kierland (Acacia/Ironwood) – 91. The Golf Club of Scottsdale – 84. Private Jay Morrish/Dick Bailey course between Troon and Rio Vista. It’s a “core†course meaning no houses and one you’d never tire of playing. An AZ top 10 easily. Just for giggles try the 500-yard par-4 18th from the tips. Superstition Mountain (Lost Gold) – 92. The LPGA-used Prospector track closed for overseeding the day we arrived. But after playing Lost Gold and driving Prospector, the pros should switch courses, methinks. Great members courses and I can’t remember a more driver-friendly Nicklaus design anywhere; he kills you on the greens.
Other fun stuff: Kierland has a three-part golf-improvement program with fitness training, clubfitting and instruction by top-drawer instructors Mike and Sandy Le Bauve. LeBauve (Mike) now has me (trying) to swing on an entirely new plane, I grunted my way through a session with the trainer (and could barely walk for two days) and I loved the fitting session. As for the latter, though I’ve gone through a number of such sessions, this had the advantage of launch monitors, green grass, course access and no single-manufacturer affiliation. Long-story short Ping appears to have fitted me properly for irons/wedges, I overload and overspin both stock drivers I play with (Ping G2 and TM R7 460), my fairway wood is ill-suited and I need longer, stiffer, higher-kick shafts in my hybrids. The driver session was most interesting because I could hit, say, a Nike Sasquatch with three different shaft/loft combos then do the same with Cleveland, etc., and long-story-short, I spec best into a 9.5* Callaway FT-3 draw-biased Tour head with a Mitsubishi Diamana Blue 73g 45†x-flex shaft. As for T, she went spa crazy.
Shopping: We both bought a ton of stuff (Vegas outlets, Nordy Rack and Nordy for me, Arizona Mills and Kierland Commons for T).
