How I could afford to play so much golf in Phoenix in the 1990s


Golf has always been a rich man's game, and that's never been me. I've always been a working man, working nine to five, glad to get a regular paycheck, but that's all. But I've always had a special fascination with golf, and when I moved back to Phoenix from Los Angeles (where it was waaaay too expensive for me to get on the links), I decided to find out how I could do it.

And make no mistake, even though prices have gone up since then, paying green fees has always been expensive. So I had to get creative.

The first thing I did was to get a resident discount card for the municipal courses, but that was only step one. The other step will show you that I've always been crazy: I played a lot in the summer. I walked, carried my bags, and usually only played nine holes each time. I was in my early thirties, and very fit, so it was really not that difficult for me. I carried water in my bag, and used a LOT of sunscreen. I tried to get an early morning tee-time, which was often quite pleasant, but by August even the crack of dawn Phoenix gets to be over 90 degrees. And it heats up fast. But I was still out there!

My two favorite courses, by far, were Palo Verde and Cave Creek. I lived on El Caro, so I played there quite often, too, but the other courses are where I spent most of my time. By the way, if you've never played Cave Creek Golf Course, you may be confused as to where it is - it's not in Cave Creek, it's ON Cave Creek (the creek) between Greenway and Thunderbird at 19th Avenue. And when I first started playing there, in the early nineties, you could really feel that the ground hadn't settled yet (it's on top of an old landfill). I like the fact that it was big, and rough, because I could hit 'em far, but not very straight.

Another trick that I used, which was the best, was to let the advertising manager at Bank One know that if he couldn't play golf with the agency, that I would be glad to stand in. And whenever a vender offered a round of golf, I was always right there, waving my hand: "Pick me! Pick me!" But really the fancier courses didn't interest me, it was all too foo-foo, and you had to ride in a cart (I hated that!).

I used to see people riding in carts, or using a pull-cart for their clubs on the courses where I would play regularly, and I would scoff. I vowed that when I had to do that, it would be the end of golf for me, and it was. I haven't played for years. I can't imagine what the green fees would be nowadays, and I'm too old and fragile now to be out there in 100-degree heat.

Fore!

Image at the top of this post: At the Foothills golf course in 1995
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