Golfadelphia

2,310 yards, 88 Slope from the Back tees

Some times, the golf course finds you. Just coming off a Scotland trip, I wasn’t planning on any golf with the family Spring Break but my son insisted on it. He wanted to play something different after grinding away at our home course. So what to do. Peak season in Scottsdale, we didn’t have a whole day to spend on a round and while my son can get around ok, didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars to slow up a course he may have been overwhelmed by. The Short Course at Mountain Shadows fit the bill perfectly. An eighteen hole par 3 course (with a par 2 in between the Seventeenth and Eighteenth) that was well designed and presented as a serious course (as opposed to a pitch and putt), my son and I were able to get around in a couple hours and had fun hitting some shots. In short, we were able to enjoy ourselves with the time we had out there with no stress whatsoever. In fact, we liked it some much, we brought my wife and daughter back for lunch.

Mountain Shadows fills an interesting void in the game that makes you wish there were more of this kind of thing. And indeed, they are coming. Stand alone purposeful short courses for golfers looking for a meaningful round. Most short courses we see are appendages to some resort or full eighteen hole club, or the short course is part of a driving range complex that emphasizes practice or exudes more of a mini golf feel. Yet here back in 2016, Forrest Richardson repurposed the full length course that was originally designed by Jack Snyder in 1961. Snyder was one of the first green superintendents to become a course architect. Richardson was a protege of Snyder, who was brought in by new ownership to revitalize the course in conjunction with development plans. Richardson envisioned an eighteen hole par 3 course that emphasized fun in the form of substantial variety, especially at the greens. Richardson also avoided bunkers being the focus of the challenge, which was in line with Snyder’s design concepts and was Richardson’s way of preserving some of Snyder’s character. With low maintenance sustainability also a focus and the reduced footprint of the course, it was much less of a burden on ownership. This all conspired to transform Mountain Shadows into a unique place amongst a sea of golf courses in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Provide an experience as fulfilling as an eighteen hole round in less time and with a lot less stress. The course has flourished ever since.

The greens are distinct and wonderfully shaped. Their position relative to the tee is also varied, both in elevation and in angle. Each hole is a new adventure and can be taken on in different styles of play. This variation extends to the green surrounds, which feature a lot of interesting ground contours and some occasional bunkers and a few water features. I found myself using a lot of different clubs and encountering a lot of different short game situations. My son did as well. And he was able to pull it off in some of those scenarios while with others, he has something to keep in mind for practice. But he came off the round invigorated and wanting to play again as soon as we can. Any time a golf course can have that effect on a pre-teen kid getting his bearings with the game while providing a meaningful introduction, it has my attention. The surrounding desert mountainscape is as a nice backdrop to gaze upon between shots as well. We were able to play in the morning and get back to the hotel in time for check out and some lunch. At the same time, I could see the course providing just as much substance to a foursome on the more serious side, or a couple friends after work trying to get in a round before the sun goes down. Indeed, its shorter length gives it much more flexibility with respect to the needs and wants of the golfer.

Standalone short courses are growing slowly yet steadily. The Links at Terrenea in the South Bay of Los Angeles and the Palm Beach Par 3 course are among them. Mountain Shadows exudes the advantages of such a short course and is worthy of a visit for just about any sort of golfer out there. Yet another notable facet of public golf.

The First is a 107 yard par 3 (from the Back tees). “Plunge.” The green sits straight ahead slightly above the tee with Camelback Mountain beyond. The green is wide with inviting surrounding contours and nary a bunker. A nice gentle introduction if there ever was one.

The Second is a 162 yard par 3. “Climb.” There is a sandy waste area between tee and green and two bunkers guarding the front corners of the green. The green widens at the middle and sits slightly askew to the left. There is a generous apron before the green for anyone more comfortable laying up.

The Third is a 156 yard par 3. “Flagon.” More sandy waste area before the green complex, which is elevated and situated within elaborate mounding. The green is narrow yet deep with the mounding close at hand on either side. Recovering on the outside of the mounding can get interesting while putting from one end of the green to the other has its challenges. We are now well settled into the round.

The Fourth is a 193 yard par 3. “Biarritz.” The sandy waste areas between tee and green are part of the sustainability plan. Any miss onto them is still a required recovery and the hardpan of the waste area makes it even a more manageable recovery in some sense. This is an interesting iteration of the Biarritz with the entire cant towards the right rear corner. It’s as if the green is tumbling down the hillside. Lots of front to back movement and delicate putting is needed particularly around the swale. Knowledge of the green here is key to avoid some perceived slights of roll.

The Fifth is a 90 yard par 3. “Nutshell.” A reprieve of sorts after the challenging duo of the prior two holes. A short little pitch to the uphill green that is somewhat concave, with some push off towards the edges. Any tee shot that doesn’t hit the green will be a pitch back up the hill or from the bunker at the front left.

The Sixth is a 120 yard par 3. “Sixth Sense.” The tee shot must carry the bunker at the front right while the green remains blind until the golfer is able to walk on to it. Anyone feeling the need to miss should do so off to the left instead of to the right.

The Seventh is a 75 yard par 3. “Jutty.” We move into the interior of the course. The hole prior was priming us for the forced carry tee shot, which is now more direct over the water. There is something about carrying water, isn’t there? My son seems to have an uncanny tendency to focus and get his shots over water. When I was a novice, water had the opposite effect. I couldn’t help but hit it in. Maybe I like to hear the kerplunk sound the shot made. At any rate, we both made it over, a family success. The green is more wide than deep but the focus should be on the carry above all else.

The Eighth is a 175 yard par 3. “Ebb.” Things lengthen out to this larger than usual green complex, which has plenty of room before it then is pushed up on a fairly wide scale. From above, one can see the green is very much in the shape of a heart. The sole bunker is at the rear center and with a general front to back movement, comes into play more than the golfer likely realizes.

The Ninth is a 90 yard par 3. “Halo.” The namesake likely refers to bunkers completely surrounding the green. The green is pushed up and so are the bunkers, yet the bunkers are below grade of the green. Fortunately it is a short shot so hitting the green solves most everything but those who miss will either need to carry the bunkers with a likely blind shot or will need to extract out of the sand.

The front nine gives us a little of everything. Short, longish, blind, wide open, forced carries and some with optional roll out. I would rank them 6, 8, 4, 3, 9, 1, 2, 7, 5.

The back nine starts with the 100 yard par 3 Tenth. “Punchbowl.” An oblong pushed up green nestled in mounding with a nice little punchbowl running more lengthwise than anything. No bunkers necessary here as the mounding and green movement are enough to keep everyone engaged.

The Eleventh is a 166 yard par 3. “Snyder Burn.” A longer hole where the water cozies up to the green at the rear and with the drop off on the left side, there’s always a possibility of a shot rolling in to the water. There’s also a creek running up the right side, very much in play. Plenty of room short to work with and the green is rather large in its own right.

The Twelfth is an 84 yard par 3. “Oasis.” The water now comes more into play and needs to be carried from the tee. It’s fairly well hidden but the golfer needs to make it a point to reach the green and not even consider leaving it short. The green has a lower front tier and higher rear tier, which complicates putting if the golfer needs to get from one end to the other. Especially if the golfer needs to go from the rear to the front, the water comes into play once again.

The Thirteenth is a 125 yard par 3. “Mummy.” We head back to the outer loop. The course insists on variety, as it should and does well. Here, we get a bunker in the middle of the green, which also dog legs left and downhill. It also serves as a double green with the Fourteenth, giving it a lot of versatility by inviting all kinds of shots in from the left side where those tees are located. A lot of that adventure in the green is well concealed at the tee and the pin position essentially impacts the dynamics of play. There are plenty of positions and they all make the hole play remarkably different. Well done.

The Fourteenth is a 115 yard par 3. “Dell.” We go around and to the left of the green prior to now hit uphill to the green. The tee shot is still some what blind and needs to clear the bunkers to reach the green. The bunker in the green can come more into play here, especially if the tee shot is a bit strong. A really good green making two fun holes, consecutively. Creative design that’s very effective.

The Fifteenth is a 180 yard par 3. “Dibbs.” One of the longer par 3’s to a wide green that hourglasses around a center line bunker at the front. One could hedge short on either side as a lay up while the sides have more room at the green. Carrying the center line bunker comes with the most amount of required precision. The bigger green helps but it’s a challenging par 3 requiring a good shot to land on it.

The Sixteenth is a 108 yard par 3. “Scotch Notch.” A shorter shot to a pushed up green that runs front to back with a steep run off before the front. There are no bunkers to speak of but the nature of the green slopes off on all sides, providing all the challenge for shots that might be a bit wayward. The notch also makes recoveries up to it needing some craft in placement.

The Seventeenth is a 173 yard par 3. “Nigh Bar.” Another longish par 3 to a well contoured green that does the most with its depth. Low on the front side then moving up as it gets to the rear while leaning to the left with a bunker on the left, there are plenty of safe places to land yet just as many tough recovery spots as well. In general the high right side can make the next shot much more tricky than those on the lower left or front.

The “Forrest Wager” is a par 2. I believe it is the first par 2 I have come across. The green is almost 60 yards long and while most of it moves uphill, the last third moves downhill. Rear pin positions require the golfer to use enough heft to pass the uphill section while letting up at the right time to remain on the green once it hits the downhill. It’s tougher than it looks; neither of us walked away with par. A cool idea and use of some extra land.

The Eighteenth is a 91 yard par 3. “Bedrock.” The final hole is all carry to the green, which is smallest at its front and most expansive at its rear. Right to left movement dominates while a large bunker at the rear wraps around. Favoring the right side and the namesake rock will account for the movement while off left will face an uphill recovery chip in a contour valley of sorts.

The back nine is well balanced while the double green at the Thirteenth and Fourteenth really stand out. I would rank them 13, 17, 12, 11, 14, 15, 10, 18, 16.

Generally, Mountain Shadows is a well crafted par 3 course that’s a whole lot of fun. The variety of greens and shots and the recovery shots emphasize options as well as using the contours and movement to the golfer’s advantage. These features hone the golfer’s scoring game and shotmaking as he realizes the more advantageous landing areas and how the greens move from various spots. The flow of the holes is likewise notable for its sequencing accounting for length and difficulty. A longer hole is usually followed by a shorter one. A couple stiff holes are followed by a more relaxed one, and so on. It’s a versatile course that provides a meaningful round to any type of golfer and is the kind of place novices should play over and over to sharpen their short games and ability to use the terrain to their advantage. For me, it was a place where I could show my son the brighter side of the game. He had a blast, insisted on buying a towel from the pro shop and kept asking where we were playing next the rest of the vacation. Music to my ears. Fun and strategy without a whole lot of stress, this is indeed some where those starting out with the game should frequent while a much needed refresher for the rest of us.

Clubhouse/Pro Shop: The pro shop is within the hotel structure. They have a pretty cool collection of putter head covers worth checking out.

Practice area: They have a putting green.