Yup. Reachable par fives? Yes sir. Heroic, long par fives? How about two of them? With wildly undulating fairways and greens and myriad playing possibilities on each hole, Sagebrush offers as much variety as any course I've ever played. It's truly a place where you can play a hundred times and each time you can try something different. One quibble is that a couple of the par fives (7 & 16) and a couple of par fours (2 & 5) play and feel very similar. From a memorability standpoint, every hole seems to have a different wrinkle to it but the whole concept of the course and it's design seems to flow beautifully from the first hole all the way to the last. The backdrops at Sagebrush are awe-inspiring, with the mountains towering above the course and Nicola Lake always present in the background as well. As for conditioning, the seventh hole was still in kind of rough shape when I played as mentioned earlier.
There was also some work being done near the green on 16 but I must say that the overall conditioning here is outstanding. Norley Calder has done a wonderful job getting the course to play exactly how Richard envisioned - firm and extremely fast. The greens were stimping at close to 11 when we played, or "right on the edge" as Richard said. The ball just rolled and rolled on the fairways and the ground game is embraced with open arms at Sagebrush. Truly wonderful and the course was recently awarded by the USGA as one of the top clubs in North America from an agronomic perspective. The overall feel and atmosphere both on the course and at the club is off the charts. This 'feels' like the way golf should truly be - the club likes to have only about 7 to 8 groups on the course on any given day, making you feel like you're the only ones out there.
Add this to the gorgeous backdrops, the coolest halfway house I've ever seen, the fly fishing and the unbelievably fun golf course and you have the perfect golf experience! There are a couple really tough hikes from green to tee so it would be a very difficult walk. What I can say honestly is that my day at Sagebrush was one I'll never forget. I obviously had the great fortune of teeing it up with the ultimate escort in club chairman Richard Zokol but even putting that aside for a second, I've never played a golf course that was more fun than this one. There are so many different ways to play each hole and each shot you face during your day. You have a smile a wide long on your face all day as you watch balls trickle down slopes toward the pin or tumble an extra 30 yards down the firm fairways. This is the way golf was meant to be played and enjoyed and I truly can't wait to get back. Let me know what you think of the course based on my profile and photos and let me know if you would ever be interested in tipping it up out there. I'm hoping to make a return in 2010 and would perhaps have the opportunity to bring some guests with me.
If someone jumps into the space let them, at the end of your journey they will only be a few cars in front of you, or wrapped round a tree, or talking to Mr. Plod. When you have to stop, try not to touch the brakes hard, let the cars momentum fall away of its own accord. If you have cruise control use it as much as possible, the car is better at maximising fuel use than you are. Try not to exceed speed limits, because if you do, inevitably you will need to engage in wasteful braking down the road. There are many more 'tips' that I can add in but the mindset needed is that your brakes are poor and your tyres are bald. Drive with those two in mind and not only will you go 50 miles further on a tank full of fuel, but you will reduce servicing costs by almost as much as the fuel savings. This is particular true with the slightly older car. All modern cars are designed not to break down whilst under warranty, irrespective how big an idiot is behind the wheel. At current approximate prices my car cost 100 pounds to fill up. Before implementing the above my range would be 360 miles, after application of the above my range is 430 miles. At 10,000 miles per annum I now fill up 23.25 times cost 2325 pounds, before I would fill up 27.78 times cost 2778 pounds. Savings 453 ponds on fuel alone. The savings on brakes, tyres, and servicing almost certainly exceeds the fuel savings. Also my Kids think that I am a safer driver than their Mum, but they won't tell her, and I haven't got the bottle.
