The course was created in 1986 for the specific purpose of hosting the Phoenix Open, and designers Jay Morrish & Tom Weiskopf provided exactly what it's name suggests, a stadium course.
It gave us our first taste of "desert" golf, with rocky waste areas and plenty of cactus.
Behind the par three 4th hole you can see the Fairmont Scottsdale Resort, all 68 acres of it.
The further you travel around the course, the more you can see it is a purpose built venue. There is so much space, and it needs the grandstands to help frame the holes properly.
Libby McCann getting ready here to fire down the 10th hole, after a strong 18 point front nine.
The course gains more interest the further you go, with the latter stages of the back nine having some very good holes.
Michael Merrett is pictured here at the "coliseum" 16th hole. Doesn't look like much of a colisuem at the moment does it.
Well it looks a lot different during tournament week. 20,000 people surround this hole on each day, contributing to the 200,000 plus on weekend days, and 600,000 for the week!
These stands remain on the course for 6 months. A 4 month build is followed by a 2 month teardown. The stand removal had only just been completed prior to our arrival.
Marilyn Cookes shows her style on famous TPC course par threes. Last year, she birdied the famous 17th hole at TPS Sawgrass twice. Today, Marilyn was again unflustered by the famous hole, hitting a great tee shot. A birdie did not follow this time, but that may have been due to tiredness. A cancelled flight resulted in a red eye flight overnight, arriving just in time for the round today.
No one was able to produce what Tiger did in 1997.
The view up the 18th as we completed a nice way to start the tour. The 35 degree temperature was also quite a change from the Melbourne weather.
On to one of the original Arizona desert courses tomorrow, in Desert Forest.
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