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 played there, it’s in a quiet little part of the valley, and has some nice holes for a 9 hole course… and it’s 9 regulation holes, not a pitch-and-putt. They do have a short course, but the main 9 holer has 2 par 5’s, long par 3’s, and some solid dogleg par 4 holes. My one beef is the faux-Pinehurst effect they originally tried on several greens, elevating the front for no good reason except to obscure your view of the pin. The other reason to go out there is one of the better practice areas in town… and I think we’ll all need a bit of practice before going out to play. They have a grass area to the range as well as mats, and a seperate green for chipping and putting practice, which is always nice. Somehow I always end up practicing putting when some guy is chipping to the hole behind me… and of course, chips 8 balls into me in the process.