Brennans Caddy Report-Frys Electronics Open

The FBR Open in Scottsdale is always one of my favorite stops on tour. For the second time this year we are heading back to the same area for a second PGA Tour event. This weeks stop is also in Scottsdale and only about a mile from the TPC where we played earlier this year. The host venue is Grayhawk Golf Club which is a very exclusive, 36 hole public facility.  The two courses are Raptor and Talon and this week we are playing the Raptor course which is a good test of golf. As many times as we have been in the area I have not been around the courses in all my time here. For the last three or four years Mike and I have been fortunate enough to stay at a friends condo that is on the Grayhawk property, and he has never seen the course before this week either.
 
After a solid tournament last week this will be Mike's last event on the PGA Tour for 2007.  There are a few events left in Florida but this will be the finale for Mike. This has been a pretty easy week for me as Mike left Vegas on Sunday night for San Francisco where he participated in a chartiy event there on Monday. He then left for Edmonton where he went up to a trade show for the Weir Golf brand, arriving in Scottsdale late on Tuesday.

I did walk around the course on Monday trying to get a good feel for it as I have never seen it before myself. Wednesday is the Pro- Am so we will get a good look once before the event. I personally got to play a little golf on Tuesday with a friend of mine out at Whisper Rock which is one of my favorite clubs to play in the country. Its a private club right here in Scottsdale and the place is incredible, great courses and a great experience. Aside from a little golf this week there are two Coyote hockey games, one on Thursday against Edmonton and one on Saturday against Detroit so that should be fun.
 
The golf courses at this time of year in the desert are either one of two grasses, bermuda which is a tougher grass or rye grass which is the really green looking stuff. The grass at Grayhawk is bermuda which is a much more durable grass but isn't as nice to look at. The course is your typical desert course where you have grass then off the sides of the fairway you have just bushes and cactus, full desert. The course isnt all that tight but if you do hit a stray shot off the fairway it will be very lucky if you have a shot from the desert. The unique thing about this course is that all the greens are elevated and they have all kinds of collection areas off to the sides of the greens. The greens are very severe in places and you always have to take into effect the valley here when reading putts. There is some local knowledge that comes into play as most putts break towards the valley which is the lowest spot in the area, sometimes that makes things tricky.
 
There are several good holes on the course but they are very difficult to explain as desert golf is a little mononotunous and dull. The last few holes are probably the best on the course, 16 is a 210 yard par 3 that plays downhill and has water all down the left side of the green. The bail out area is right but that makes for a difficult chip shot. The last hole is a converted par 5 for members, 500 yard par 4 for the event, an easy tee shot but tough approach. There is water down the right side of the green and once again the left is a very tough chip so it forces you to play a little bit more aggresive! Aside from these two holes I am curious to see how the course plays today, it is difficult to walk a course and get a good feel for is as you never know how the balls are rolling out.
 
The season is winding down and I am looking forward to having a few weeks of to hang out at home with the family. I am very encourageed how Mike's game has come around and look forward to anohter good week to finish the season.