The Golf Club at
Eagle Mountain

Souring with the Eagle
Scottsdale, Arizona
Part 3

by Anthony Scaggs
Golf Clubs, Golf Resorts, Golf Courses

While Hole #10 is not the signature hole, it is beautiful and challenging. It is a 510-yard, par 5 from the green tee.

There are 7 bunkers guarding the green, water placidly waiting for the errant drive or second shot

as well as roller coaster peaks and valleys on the right. Don't be mesmerized by its tranquil setting and visual appeal. Like the Sirens of old, it will cost you if you are not careful. The yardage book shows a pastoral setting and an inviting opening to the heavily bunkered green. Setting up for your second shot, it is far less inviting and far more intimidating. The bunkers appear to swallow the shallow 29-yard by 27-yard green.

The yardage book calls it a wide fairway. From the #10 tee box, one fixates on the water that looks like one of the Great Lakes (imagination) or the desert shrub that pinches down the opening from the tee to the fairway. Also, the desert landscape blocks a clear view of the right side of the fairway. One notes the undulations to the right of the fairway.

(Like the moguls on Organ Grinder at Mt. Stowe, VT, from a distance they look small and forgiving but when you are working your way down the slope, it is different, very different. One quickly learns the reason it is called, "Organ Grinder".)

I elected to hit my drive right center. I made good contact and squared the club's face. The ball shot off the tee and landed exactly where I aimed. My second shot was a slight down hill lie. I decided to go for the green. I lined up to hit the ball to the right side with a slight draw that would land short of the green, bounce to the left, and roll to the pin. Everything worked perfectly, EXCEPT, I caught the right front edge of the large left side bunker next to the green. I made a 20-foot putt to save the hole. Not how I planned it. Next time, I will use a three-wood aiming for the left center towards the water. I will hit my second shot short of the green leaving a wedge shot to the green. It sounds good, but a chance for an Eagle is very tempting.