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Indian Wells Celebrity Course, Trip Review

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:52:36 +0000

December 31, 2009 By Tinou Bao

Indian Wells Celebrity Course, Trip ReviewAfter a great round on Tuesday at PGA West (Stadium Course) I had a horrible day Wednesday at Terra Lago (North). Wasted the entire morning taking care of low pressure in the tires. By the time I got to Terra Lago it was too late to grab breakfast or warm-up at the range. I’ve heard good things about Terra Lago but driving up to the clubhouse nothing really impressed me. After checking in I noticed the course was packed. Felt like I was at the local muni on a Sunday, even more after seeing the condition of the fairways. Should have paid a little more and played a nicer course.

Started off with a par but the rest of the day was blah. Definitely did not break 100. Part of the problem was I was playing with this couple who were absolute beginners. They didn’t know golf etiquette like who’s away or not stepping in your putting line. Took so many mulligans. Made concentrating/focusing that much more difficult. The bigger problem was I just wasn’t hitting the ball that well.

I couldn’t end 2009 with a bad round so I decided to play Indian Wells Celebrity Course today. Golfweek rates Indian Wells very highly on their “Best Courses You Can Play“. The Players Course is #10 and the Celebrity Course is #14 (California rankings). Picked Celebrity because the discount was bigger. As soon as I drove into the resort I knew I would have a good round despite my lower back cramping up. The clubhouse was great, the locker room was first class, staff was very friendly. After checking in I headed to the driving range. If there was one thing I didn’t like about Indian Wells it was the driving range. Has this weird mound running across. But the practice putting greens was awesome.

Things started off pretty bad, triple bogey. But I bounced back with a bogey on the 2nd then GIR and 2-putted the 3rd for par. Made mental mistakes on the 4th and 5th holes for doubles. But then I went bogey, par, bogey, par. 46 out. Not on pace to break 90, but felt like I was playing really well, felt like I could par every hole.

Back nine started out great. GIR, 2-putted for par. Not sure what happened on the 10th, carded a triple. But the one thing I’ve learned over the past few rounds is you can’t let a bad hole ruin the rest of your round. Then I went on a good stretch: bogey, par, bogey, bogey, par, double, bogey for a 45 in. Had my only 3-putt of the day for that double.

Course was in good condition and I really like the layout. No houses line the fairways so you can really go for it without worrying about breaking windows. Undulating greens were fast but not too fast so very playable. Really like the greens, thought they were more interesting than the Stadium Course. Frankly, even though TPC Stadium is more famous and has more name appeal I prefer the Celebrity Course. If I were to play again I’d play Celebrity over Stadium.

Great end to 2009. Top priority for 2010 is to get my chips about 3-4 feet closer. Right now it’s chip, 2-putt. I need to get it about 3-4 feet closer on the chips so that I can have a better chance at 1-putting. That brings the bogeys down to pars, doubles to bogey, etc.

FROST

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:57:09 +0000

Frost occurs when the water inside of a plants leaf freezes due to cold temperatures. This freezing causes jagged crystals to form and remain until temperatures warm enough to unfreeze the turf. Turf damage will occur if equipment drives across or anyone walks across the surface while frost is present. Blackened tire tracks and footprints are visual signs that the turf has been damaged due to the crystals inside the leaf rupturing the plant. Frost damage is permanent and requires replacement or reseeding to repair.

Operators of facilities in desert climates must be extremely knowledgeable about frost in order to maximize revenues while protecting the delicate turf during the winter months. Those of you familiar with Indian Wells Golf Resort know that our golf courses sit lower in elevation to most of the surrounding area. The lower elevation makes our facility more susceptible to frost due to the cold air settling during the night and early morning. Unfortunately there is no way to accurately predict frost due to the weather factors that cause it. During the 2008 winter our facility experienced 40 out of 60 days with frost delays. The 2009 winter only brought 5 days of frost.

Factors that will deter the formation of frost are wind and cloud cover. Wind will keep the air masses moving keeping the cool air from settling. Cloud cover will keep warm air from escaping into the atmosphere maintaining higher night temperatures.

Hopefully we will have a warm season keeping all of our guests on schedule and golf courses in excellent condition.

Rolland Vaughn

PGA Head Golf Professional

Indian Wells Golf Resort

Indian Wells Hotels Earn 2010 AAA Four Diamond Awards

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:27:36 +0000

Visit http://au.sys-con.com/node/1141364 for complete article and list of hotels.

Indian Wells, California Resorts to make list: Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, Villas, and Spa, Miramonte Resort & Spa and Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa

LOS ANGELES, CA — (Marketwire) — 10/13/09 — Sixty-six Southern California hotels and 32 restaurants have earned the 2010 AAA Four Diamond Award, the Automobile Club of Southern California announced today. Six locations appear for the first time on the 2010 list, including the SLS Hotel and the Montage in Beverly Hills; two in Rancho Mirage; one in Pismo Beach and one in San Diego County.

The coveted rating plaque featuring a design of four raised simulated diamonds and the AAA Four Diamond Award logo are presented to hotel and restaurant general managers and executive chefs to recognize the award-winning properties, which rank among the top 3.4 percent of more than 2,600 Southern California hotels, motels, and restaurants inspected by the Auto Club, the nation’s largest AAA affiliate.

“North America’s AAA Diamond Rating System is a long-time trusted method of rating lodgings and dining establishments, especially during what has been a difficult economic year for the hospitality industry and also for travelers,” said the Auto Club’s Approved Accommodations Supervisor Patricia Marenco. “Southern California’s hotels and restaurants that earn the AAA Four Diamond award maintain a very high standard of service in their hotels and restaurants in order to continue pleasing their guests.”

AAA’s Diamond rating program is the only hotel and restaurant review system in the nation that uses specially trained full-time field representatives. As part of AAA’s national network, the Auto Club’s own staff reviews establishments in Southern California without prior notification using objective and detailed rating procedures.

Lodging inspections include at least one unannounced inspection each year. Inspectors review and rate exterior, grounds and public areas, room décor, ambiance and amenities, guest room, bathrooms, housekeeping and maintenance, management and staff and guest services. Once the inspection process is complete, properties that meet all requirements receive a rating of one to five Diamonds.

AAA approves and rates more than 31,000 lodgings and 27,000 restaurants each year throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. A wide range of property listings are included in regional TourBook® guides, with a yearly distribution of nearly 20 million, and on AAA.com, where many travel planning and information services — including the well-known TripTik® Travel Planner, TourBook® listings and Diamond Ratings — are now available to non-members as well. The AAA Four Diamond rating is exclusive in that less than 4% of all AAA approved properties achieve this rating.

The 2010 AAA Five Diamond Award lodging and restaurant recipients will be announced in November.

PACE OF PLAY

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:45:18 +0000

“Season” as we affectionately call it here in the Coachella Valley has arrived. Season brings beautiful weather to our area which in turn brings our winter residents back to their homes and fills our resorts with guests. It is a great time to be living in the desert.

At Indian Wells Golf Resort we are fortunate to offer 36-holes of golf for approximately ten months of the year. During the months of October and November we continue to have 18-holes available during the overseeding process where 18-hole facilities will be required to close the course entirely. This means that our facility becomes extremely busy with guests of all skill levels and backgrounds including country club members, resort guests, local residents, etc.

Due to this busy time of year “Pace-of-Play” becomes an important challenge to ensure an exceptional experience for all or our guests. Two ways to improve Pace are to choose the appropriate set of tees and to play “ready-golf.” At our facility a target time for a round of golf is 4 ½ hours. Finally, we ask our guests to be courteous and respectful to each other and if an issue occurs to contact a Course Ambassador for assistance.

If you would like more information on how to improve your Pace-of-Play visit the link here at http://golf.about.com/od/golfetiquette/ht/paceofplay.htm.

Enjoy the weather and good golfing!

Rolland Vaughn

PGA Head Golf Professional

Indian Wells Golf Resort

PRESIDENTIAL GOLF

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:07:40 +0000

Rumors were floating around about President Obama playing a round of golf with Tiger Woods during his trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Although the power 2-some never took place it did bring to mind a couple of questions. Who have been the best Presidential golfers and what if Tiger were to enter into politics?

Golf Digest compiled a Top 10 list of Presidential golfers in its January issue. John F. Kennedy is at the top of the list with Barack Obama placing a solid eight. Probably one of the desert’s favorite Presidential golfers would be Gerald Ford who was on the list at number three.

Tiger has already commented that he may be retired prior to golf becoming an Olympic Event. One couldn’t imagine a person with his presence simply slipping out of the public eye and into the shadows. If he were heading down the political path his first step would have to be finishing his college education since he left after 2 years at Stanford to turn Pro. However, he has gained a strong economics education since joining the PGA Tour in 1996.

I am sure there are some opinions about both of these topics and we would love to have them.

Rolland Vaughn

PGA Head Golf Professional

Indian Wells Golf Resort

‘Ramble California’ offers offbeat travel ideas

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:30:27 +0000

The Times-Standard

Posted: 07/26/2009 01:37:09 AM PDT

GOLDEN, Colo. — Eric Peterson says California “just might be the greatest state for road trips.” And he’s written a new book to prove his point: “Ramble California: A Wanderer’s Guide to the Offbeat, Overlooked, and Outrageous.”

The book includes sections on Los Angeles and Southern California, on San Francisco, on Central California’s coastal areas and valley, on the High Sierra, on places in the California desert like Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley and Palm Springs and, yes, the North Coast also has several mentions in the book.

Peterson writes about the Captain Courageous roadside memorial in Klamath, the Curly Redwood Lodge in Crescent City, the Willow Creek-China Flat Museum and other locales. He also spends several paragraphs on the infamous “Emerald Triangle,” focusing on Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties.

Listings highlight others quirky attractions, too, like the Bunny Museum in Pasadena, San Diego’s haunted Whaley House, and Barney’s Beanery in Hollywood, where chili has been the house special for decades. Some chapters are more travelogue than guidebook, like “A Beer Drinker in Wine Country,” and “Sand and Surf and a Fence into the Ocean,” about a six-day, 300-mile trip that included 50 miles by bike and time on a surfboard.

The $19 paperback, published by Colorado-based Speck Press, is part of a series of “Ramble” books by Peterson, which also includes guides to Colorado and to the U.S.

Separately, the California Travel and Tourism Commission has just released its free annual road trips guide. Copies of California Road Trips 2009 can be ordered from (877) 867-3748 or downloaded for free from http://www.visitcalifornia.com/visitorsguide. The booklet highlights places like Calico Ghost Town, Old Mission Santa Barbara, and the Sundial Bridge in Redding. The Web site also has a deals section at http://www.visitcalifornia.com/summerdeals mentioning hotel offers, gift cards and gas card credits, and options like the Southern California City-Pass, which bundles theme park tickets at a discount.

Mental Toughness

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:10:17 +0000

Tiger Woods is the first thought when it comes to mental toughness. Think of his last victory at Torrey Pines beating out Rocco in a playoff with a fractured leg and torn knee ligament. PGA Tour Professionals are able to find a higher level of concentration than most recreational golfers. They are able to block out all other thoughts and focus on that one goal at that one moment.

Unfortunately, it is difficult in these tough times to forget about life and focus on golf for 4 ½ hours. What a great concept though – forget about all of your troubles and get lost in a round of golf. Be in the moment and focus on that one shot, like Tiger.

Rolland Vaughn, PGA
Head Golf Professional
Indian Wells Golf Resort