| :East Valley Tribune; |
:Nov 20, 2003; |
:Sports; |
:45 |
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Redesign gives Longbow a boost
‘New’ course has added depth while retaining its charm
By BILL HUFFMAN FOR THE TRIBUNE CONTACT WRITER: (480) 540-1780 or bhuff56765@aol.com
History, ancient and recent, have played a role in Longbow Golf Club, which held its grand opening Tuesday at a new address on a new street: 5601 E. Longbow Parkway in Mesa.
Wait, you say that you’ve already played Longbow? Well, play it again for the very first time! The Ken Kavanaugh-designed — and redesigned — layout actually opened in 1997 on the corner of McDowell and Higley roads. At the time, the Boeing Corporation, which sits right across the street near Falcon Field, was the owner.
Boeing named the course after its "Apocalypse Now"-like AH-64 D Longbow Apache helicopters, which still buzz the course on occasion. But that was then, and this is now, with today’s theme being centered around the long bow of archery fame, which was used to decide the 100 Years War (1337-1453), when the English/ Welsh defeated the French.
Bob McNichols, who heads Daedalus Real Estate Advisors LLC, the developers behind the new Longbow golf course and business park, said the original helicopter theme was actually borrowed from archery.
"When we were putting this project together, we actually went into the Boeing offices, went through their original files, and they had all this information on the long bow, which their helicopter was named after,’’ McNichols said. "So they had indirectly began that theme way back then.’’
McNichols likes the concept tied to Robin Hood’s weapon of choice, because Longbow the golf course demands power off the tee and accuracy to the greens. And to give that idea a bit of a boost, he had guests on Tuesday participate in an archery contest.
Of course, shooting arrows at bull’s-eyes hardly compared to the main event, which was the first real look at the Kavanaugh’s redesign, which has added 20 acres of turf and 250 yards of length. Not to be forgotten, is a total remake of the old clubhouse, which has been transformed from blase into "Arizona contemporary’’ while being moved from the southwest to the northeast corner of the park.
Kavanaugh, for one, is delighted with the changes, even though he admitted it was "a bit of an emotional experience tearing up my original design.’’
"I’ve always liked ‘the Bow,’ because I felt it was a solid piece of work where golfers had a lot of fun,’’ said the Tucson architect, whose portfolio also includes the Dinosaur Course at Gold Canyon. "Now, it’s probably harder for the better player because we’ve added length (7,003 yards from the tips), but easier for the higher handicapper (5,831) because we’ve added width.’’
Kavanaugh is shooting straight when he says it’s "easy to make a hard golf course, and harder to make it easier.’’ But the bottom line is, the new Longbow is more playable while retaining its championship caliber.
Another feature that golfers will admire is that the views are improved, and that’s a big deal when you have such landmarks as Red Mountain, the Superstitions and the entire East Valley lining the horizon.
"There still is about 30 to 35 percent of the old course still intact, including seven of the greens, 30 (out of 72) of the tees, and 21 acres of the turf,’’ Kavanaugh said. "Pretty remarkable, considering no hole went untouched.’’
For the most part, the front nine is a brand-new ball game, while the back nine is made up of "the best of the rest’’ that remained from the original 18. The challenge, McNichols and Kavanaugh agreed, was getting the course to start and end at the new clubhouse.
"The whole idea was to make the golf course the centerpiece of the business park,’’ McNichols said of the 330-acre, mixed-used development. "In that regard, I think Ken did an excellent job.’’
At the moment, the course still is a little fuzzy after coming out of overseed, with the back nine being slightly ahead of the front for obvious reasons. But when the carts are allowed off the paths in two weeks, the course should be green and gorgeous, as superintendent Greg Gavelek has done a stand-up job coming out of construction.
Longbow’s best stretch is perhaps the 13th through 17th holes, where golfers are faced with, in order: a demanding dogleg par-4 over water; a blind par-4 over or around a massive fairway bunker; the signature par-4, which features a one-of-a-kind beach bunker surrounded by water; a short but spectacular par-3 back-dropped by Red Mountain; and a drivable par-4, also aligned into the red rocks.
Which is to take nothing away from the other 13 holes, as the par-3s are all special, with the par-5s setting up some intriguing riskreward situations. Although the course doesn’t end with quite the bang the old one did — the par-4 18th is a long (474 yards), narrow closer — it’s definitely better from start to finish.
There are several other points of interest to like about the new Longbow:
First, it is being managed by Scottsdale-based OB Sports, whose quality presentations will go a long way here, as they have done earlier at We-Ko-Pa and the Duke at Rancho El Dorado. And the head pro, the easy-going Jay Larscheid, has put together a staff that is all about friendly service.
Second, the clubhouse, while not overly fancy, is quite functional with an enormous patio centered around a massive fireplace. Adding to the flair, on the patio and on the course, pale-orange Tsunami umbrellas give Longbow a bit of distinction. And for the ardent sports lover, flat-screen TVs drop from the iron rafters.
Third, the green fee remains reasonable, with rack rates ranging from $49 (current) to $90 (peak). Some might say that’s still pricey, but the value is there.
McNichols said the idea for a golf-business park came during his early years in Denver, where he watched similar plans mature into great things in the suburbs of Lakewood and Aurora. He also noted such Scottsdale examples as Gainey Ranch and Kierland Commons to emphasize his point.
"Mesa suffers from being in the shadow of Phoenix, and thus they have developed some of that second-city attitude,’’ he said. "Hopefully, with the (Loop) 202 now extending all the way out here to Higley, where it almost drops you off at our door, some of that is going to change.’’
In that regard, McNichols will eventually hit his target, guaranteed. Mesa needs Longbow, desperately.
In a way, it’s like the Greek hero McNichols named his company after. According to mythology, Daedalus was an innovator who crafted wings of feathers to cleverly escape the labyrinth, proving that creativity and ingenuity are essential for success.
Perhaps McNichols and his version of Daedalus will do the same.
Bob McNichols
IN PLAY: With Red Mountain as a backdrop, a foursome tees off on the 9th hole of the newly redesigned Longbow Golf Club in Mesa. DARRYL WEBB, TRIBUNE
