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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Where To Play archive for Jan. 1, 2009

TUESDAY, DEC. 29, 2009

Florida on a Budget

So, we are what, 3 weeks into the arctic wonderland that the Inland Northwest has become? Too bad I traded in my skis for golf clubs long ago. Now the problem is, you can't hop over to Kennewick or Lewiston to play... not even the…

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MONDAY, AUG. 10, 2009

Slow Play - A Problem Even on Tour

Another WGC event gone by, another Tiger Woods win. His dominance is almost boring, if it wasn't so astounding at the same time. I was very interested to see tiger go head to head with Paddy Harrington, a great golfer who you could only knock…

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MONDAY, AUG. 3, 2009

How Hot Is Too Hot??

With temperatures soaring into the triple digits this weekend, our family retreated into the comfort of AC, getting projects done in the early morning and then shutting up the house so as not to let the cool out. Of course, later in the heat of…

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MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009

Old Tom Morris vs. Poor Tom Watson?

What a week for the Open Championship. If watching Turnberry in Hi-Def doesn't make you ache to go over to Scotland to play golf, you might need to take up tennis. Today, the Monday after, the story is "Poor Tom Watson". I admit, I was…

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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2009

Links golf - Have You Really Played It? 

The Open championship is underway in Turnberry, Scotland, and the difference in true links golf to what we typically play in the US is on display. The Alisa course has no trees, severe bunkers, and will completely change depending on the direction of the wind.…

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2009

Muni Golf, Down and Dirty 

The latest issue of Golf Digest has a great article on municipal golf (they abbreviate it as "muny", which I don't really get, but okay). The gist is that while we see tour pros on privately owned, perfectly manicured courses, the real heart and soul…

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THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2009

Spokane courses - Better than ever 

There's been some improvements to already great golf courses in our area this year. I bring it up because I recently got to play the two new greens at the Creek at Qualchan, #10 and #15. If you can remember those holes, both were very…

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2009

SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2009

Big Easy Golf (not Ernie)

This week's PGA Tour event in New Orleans turned out to be quite dramatic coming down the stretch on Sunday, with a lot of guys in contention, but nobody grabbing it in the end. Saturday's leader Jerry Kelly won for the 3rd time on tour,…

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Get the Season Started with DEALS!

Okay, it's time to play, right? Enough is enough. How can I get my season started right with a crazy, way too much golf at once blitz? Well, let's see...If you can get to Circling raven this week, the rest of April is only $50.…

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MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2009

Masters-Whoa Momma!

So I'm guessing you watched the Masters on Sunday... if you didn't, why in the world are you on this website? One of the best Sundays at Augusta... just incredible. For me, even better, it was up for grabs, as opposed to Tiger winning by…

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2009

High Winds and High Drama in Houston

The week before the Masters is usually unnoticed, but some interesting things happened at this year's Shell Houston Open. Since moving the tournament to the Redstone golf club 3 years ago, they try and emulate Augusta conditions to prepare the players headed to the Masters...…

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Get out there!! Give me reports!!

Here's a plea to the 7 people who read my blog... please post local course conditions so we know were to go! Here's what I know:Indian Canyon: hit balls there the other day, not a lot of grass on the range, and it's very wet.…

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MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009

Goose on the Loose in Tampa

Has it really been 4 years since Retief Goosen had won a PGA Tour event? Seems like it couldn't be true, but his win at the Transitions (?) Championship in Tampa this week was his first in quite a while. He has come back in…

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MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2009

Phil vs. Tiger . . . again?

Following this week's World Golf Championship at Doral, interesting things happening in the world golf rankings. Phil Mickelson has jumped over Sergio Garcia for #2 in the world, and is closer than he's ever been to overtaking Tiger Woods for #1 in the world. If…

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What's open? Get the season started

Monday morning... watching highlights of the tournament at Doral. OK, so it's not in the 80's and we won't have perfect greens to putt on for quite a while, but oh well. Can we play yet?Painted Hills is open on permanent greens. If you haven't…

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MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009

Play Local, or in FLA

I will address the local golf situation first, sad as it may be, with snow falling this Sunday in the first week of March. Assuming it warms up beyond freezing, Painted Hills golf course in the Spokane Valley is open, on permanent greens. It's a…

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SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009

Tiger's Big comeback not so big?

The Accenture Match Play event this last weekend became much more exciting when it was revealed it would debut the return of our lord and saviour... oh, wait. Sorry. It's actually Tiger Woods. If you watched any commercials for it though, you would have thought…

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SUNDAY, FEB. 22, 2009

LA Open has Hollywood ending

Nice title, right? Actually, this year's LA Open (Northern Trust Open? Please) was very entertaining, but not quite a Hollywood ending. I'm guessing most screenwriters would have Fred Couples winning, his balky putter somehow coaxing the final putt to creep over the edge of the…

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MONDAY, FEB. 16, 2009

The Big Wie-sy

The AT&T at Pebble Beach is always fun to watch... more for the course than for the actual tournament. Especially this year, when the weather went nuts to the point of canceling the final round, and they just hand the trophy to Dustin Johnson. Here,…

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Pebble or No Pebble?

The AT&T at Pebble Beach was held this weekend, and the annual time for me to wistfully stare at the TV, drooling over holes 7-11, is here. Add to that the Golf Channel just had a top 10 show of "Top 10 Ocean Courses", and…

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MONDAY, FEB. 9, 2009

Torrey Pines! Play a US Open Course

Have you ever been watching the US Open, the hardest test in professional golf, and thought, "I could play that course."? Well, typically that will never happen, as the Open is usually played at high-profile private courses, like Oakland Hills, Winged Foot, or Shinnecock. However,…

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Buick Open with no Tiger = a good time

This week's PGA tournament at Torrey Pines in San Diego, the Buick Invitational, is typically where Tiger Woods begins his play for any given year. Of course, that was mostly due to his sponsorship with Buick, which is no more. Maybe we'll actually see him…

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TUESDAY, FEB. 3, 2009

TPC Scottsdale... worth it?

Hey! This week's PGA event was held at TPC Scottsdale, a public course, and you know I love when the big boys play a venue where you or I can hack it up there and play almost the same game. Question is... is it worth…

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FBR - Phoenix Open

On tour this week was the FBR (Phoenix Open), played in Scottsdale in front of the largest crowds all year for a tournament. If you watched it, they love to show the 16th hole, a short par 3 that normally would not be a big…

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Where To Play

Eric has an 8 handicap and lives near Qualchan. He was born and raised in Spokane and one of the reasons he loves the area is the quality and variety of the golf courses, and the good people who play them. His home course is the Creek at Qualchan and the best course he’s ever played was Oregon’s Bandon Dunes. Some day he’d like to play Cypress Point.



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