Yearly Archives: 2014

Is there anything not to like about Scottsdale? Of the more than 700,000 Canadians that visited Scottsdale in 2012 (an increase of 3.4 percent over the previous year) more than 33 percent of those visitors were from Alberta, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism.

Known for its world-class golf and the Jim Flick Golf Performance Center, Desert Mountain has added another luxury activity to its long must-try list: luxury camping, also known as “glamping”.

Desert Mountain in Scottsdale also boasts an impressive array of teaching technology at its new $1.6 million Jim Flick Golf Performance Center, including seven hitting bays, full-service club fitting, SAM putting lab, and four different short-game areas at its six courses.

Sequels often pale by comparison, but Desert Mountain Club in north Scottsdale enjoyed its second go-around as the host of a big event on the Champions Tour.

With Bernhard Langer already wrapping up the Charles Schwab Cup points title last week, Tom Pernice Jr. made sure the Champions Tour season ended with some excitement Sunday.

For four days, Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course, swirling winds and the best 50-and-older golfers in the world took their best shots at Tom Pernice Jr. Somehow, some way, he answered them all. Pernice stubbornly won the battle of attrition Sunday, finishing off a victory at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship by beating Jay Haas on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday to win the Champion Tour’s season finale.

After winning the 2013 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Fred Couples started off the 2014 tournament at Desert Mountain Club at 1-over 71 in the first round Thursday. He was even through nine holes on Friday, before catching fire on the back nine, making birdie six times, including four in a row from holes 12 to 15. He two-putted only one hole on the back nine.

On Thursday, Colin Montgomerie’s first round and entire tournament literally looked as if it had gone into the toilet at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

It was just another Friday at Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course for Jay Haas. The oldest man in the field missed shooting his age by 2 shots, firing an 8-under 62 to get to 12-under for the tournament and take a 4-shot lead into the weekend at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

It’s hard to imagine someone having a better season on the Champions Tour than Britain’s Colin Montgomerie did in 2014. He won the Senior U.S. Open, the Senior PGA Championship, finished second in the Senior Open Championship and recorded 10 top-10 finishes in 17 events.