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A Par at the Hardest Hole at Encanterra
Russ Christ, Golf News
September 11, 2009
The best golf moment of my Labor Day Weekend was 15 minutes of alternating “smiles” and “frowns” during a round of golf in Queen Creek. I played Encanterra, (www.encanterragolf.com) a Trilogy Country Club designed by Tom Lehman, on Sunday. The last time I visited the Shea Homes community was a year ago when Mr. Lehman joined me and a few other golf writers for a media outing arranged by Ben Keilholtz.Mr. Keilholtz is Director of Sales & Marketing for Scottsdale-based Blue Star Resort & Golf (www.bluestargolf.com), a boutique management firm focused on supporting golf course owners and community developers in the execution of their resort and golf amenities.
The author before nine holes with Tom Lehman (January 2008).
Spending a few hours with Tom Lehman will give any golfer a renewed passion for the game—and life. But, with or without Tom, I hadn’t been back to Encanterra, a private club experience that should absolutely be on your must-see list.
Since it opened the course has received plenty of kudos, including a recent ranking among Golf Magazine’s “Top Ten Best New Private Courses in the United States.”
An old friend, Scott Anderson, the golf course superintendent, has the course in outstanding shape—and the ProV1’s on the practice tee helped my group get off to a good start prior to our 9:30 starting time.
I was also glad to see Chris Swartz. Encanterra’s amiable director of golf checked us in wearing a bright pink shirt. “You must be confident with your masculinity,” I smirked. He smiled. And yes, for some strange reason, I wanted one of those shirts. That wasn’t the case for my playing partners, (Mike Corey, president of Imaging Technology Solutions, and Dave Harris, an executive with Intel).
It turned out to be a fantastic day at Encanterra. A smattering of some great shots and, expectedly, many very poor ones by all of us.
The highlight of my round, which was played in four hours and 20 minutes, was a nifty par at No. 8, a difficult, slightly dogleg right, uphill, 504-yard par 4. We played hole from the burgundy tees (only 478 yards), which requires a forced carry over the water.
Bordered by the lake on the right, the water stretches from the black tee all the way to 120 yards from the green complex. The challenge at Encanterra's eighth is matched only by its beauty.
For several reasons, the eighth is the No. 1 handicap hole. There’s a left fairway bunker 280 yards from the tee and two expansive bunkers 95 yards in front of a raised, two-tiered green complex. A fourth bunker positioned in back of the green adds to the challenge.
Making a par at eight is a fine score for an average golfer like me. I managed to avoid the water on the right and all the sand–somehow.
To accomplish the feat I hit my best tee shot of the round, a slight fade about 280 yards right of the fairway bunker. It left me about 200 yards to the raised green complex. I should have hit a hybrid with some loft, but instead pulled a 4-iron form my bag, hoping to maneuver my approach shot over the bunkers somewhere close to the green.
It didn’t happen.
I choked, just escaping a watery grave and a double bogey six.
My second shot, a duck hook, landed to the right of the second bunker and about 10 feet from the lake. There’s 145 acres of turf at Encanterra. All that grass saved me here.
“Wow,” I said to my playing partners. “That was…..lucky.”
My third shot was a winner–122 yards uphill to the flagstick, which was cut back right. I couldn’t see the green, but my ball sat up in the rough and, surprisingly, my 56-degree Vokey Titleist wedge was struck perfectly. I knew it was on the putting surface. In fact, it was 10 feet from the hole.
After making the putt for par I realized a bit of luck helped me on Encanterra’s toughest hole.
Water and four bunkers, combined with a raised green complex, make the eighth a challenge.
Scott Anderson had left the rough high, or it clearly would have trickled into the lact on the second shot. It also helped that Anderson’s greens were smooth and slick. I made a number of putts during the round.
No. 8 was arguably my best hole of the day, but about two hours later I ended the day with a birdie at No. 18, a 525-yard par 5.
That really left me in a fine mood for the rest of the Labor Day Weekend.
