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Actually, I haven't played a single hole of this 36-hole facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, that was at the fore of the upscale daily fee trend—the " country club for a day" experience—that started to gain hold around the country in the early 1990s. But I have spent a lot of time at the course that will be hosting its first full-field PGA Tour event, the Fry's Electronics Open, October 18–21. Here are some Grayhawk memories.

While working for the Orlando Sentinel, I covered the 1999 Williams World Challenge, the first edition of Tiger Woods' event now known as the Target World Challenge. Normally, an unofficial event played over the New Year's holiday wouldn't merit flying across the country to cover, but this was in the middle of Woods' remarkable 1999–2000 run: He had won four consecutive tour events and this would be a stop on the way to Kapalua for the Mercedes Championship, which would be Woods' fifth straight win, in a dramatic playoff over Ernie Els. Plus, as far as I know, this is the only golf tournament (or any sporting event, for that matter) to be played over two millennia, starting in 1999 and ending in 2000. Woods must have been recovering from some New Year's celebration, as he began the millennium with a final-round 76 that was his highest score of the entire year, which didn't turn out too badly for him after all.

On another visit, I looked on with curiosity as Paul Trittler, lead instructor of the Kostis McCord Learning Center at the course, demonstrated a new type of flatstick now known as the belly putter at Grayhawk's practice green. I had never seen it and thought then—as I do now—that any club that is fixed against the body isn't golf.
While both proprietors of the golf school are announcers, Peter Kostis is also one of the best teachers in golf, full of insights about the game. He is engaging to talk to, provided you can hold up your end of the conversation, because he will disagree with you just for the sake of hearing how well you can back up your arguments. In any case, he is full of insights, including one he pointed out during a discussion about why many golfers have trouble hitting the ball solidly: He said that most amateurs prefer a lie in the light rough than one in the fairway because they don't have to hit the ball off the ground—it already is.
On a beautiful spring day, I hit balls next to Kostis' partner, Gary McCord, at the special tee for tour players at the back of the range. He had just turned 50 and I had been assigned to do a Q&A with him for Golf Digest. McCord had made a living with his on-air one-liners, many of which made fun of his on-course ineptitude (he was 0 for 376 in regular tour events). But he didn't crack a single joke as he hit pure shot after pure shot. I remember thinking that he must be the worst putter in the world if he couldn't win with that ball-striking. Sure enough, in his first year, McCord won two Senior Tour events, including the Tour Championship.

Grayhawk Golf Club

You don't have to play a course to have fond memories of it