Troon North

Getting To Know: Troon North Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Jeff Brinegar, PGA Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Jeff Brinegar, PGA who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Provide Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property?
Troon North Golf Club stands as a hallmark of the Scottsdale desert golf experience with two 18-hole courses stretching through the natural ravines and foothills in the shadows of Pinnacle Peak. Giant granite boulders lie strewn across the rugged landscape of Arizona's Sonoran Desert, where Troon North Golf Club combines iconic golf with the visual sensation of desert landscape, providing a standard unmatched in the American Southwest.

Revered as Scottsdale's crown jewel, the challenge, visual sensation, and special ambiance of Troon North sets the standard by which all other desert courses are measured. The immaculately groomed fairways, bentgrass greens and exceptional customer service create the renowned Troon Golf Experience. Troon North's Monument and Pinnacle courses consistently rank at the top of every golfer's must-play list. Recent course renovations by original designer and British Open Champion Tom Weiskopf have created two new layouts that bring his original concept to life. Golfers in search of the classic desert golf experience are returning to Troon North Golf Club again and again to enjoy Weiskopf's true vision. Whether you're playing for the first time or a regular at Troon North, the Monument and Pinnacle courses in sunny Arizona offer golf connoisseurs the best in desert golf!

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
We are perched on a natural slope that has a 4 percent grade to it. But that grade is heavily camouflaged by Weiskopf's brilliant architecture. Even when a putt looks like its downhill it could still be heading up the slope. Some say everything breaks towards the valley, but you should experience it for yourself.

With several short par-4's in the mix position off the tee is crucial if your score is important to you. The yardage card, local knowledge or one of our seasoned caddies can help with your club selection and strategy.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Courses You Can Play" for 2012 - United States:
#20 - Troon North Pinnacle Course, #52 - Troon North Monument Course

Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Courses You Can Play" for 2012 - Arizona:
#1 - Troon North Pinnacle Course, #4 - Troon North Monument Course

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The par 5, 3rd hole on the Monument course provides the namesake for the layout with an enormous granite monolith in the middle of the fairway at the apex of the dogleg. The "monument" forces players to choose a side - either play it safe and steer left of the rock or test your accuracy and length by challenging the corner. Both courses provide a great variety of hole designs where you never feel like you're playing the same hole twice.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Why? Any Tips to Play It?
My personal favorite is #17 on the Monument course, named Westward Look. This long downhill par 4 requires a well struck tee shot followed by another lengthy mid to long iron shot for most players. At 495 yards from the back tees this hole always seems to greet you with the breeze in your face. Once you've reached the green it's like you're starting the hole all over again due to the undulations and expansiveness of the putting surface. A great hole for match play as well because anything can happen. The view from the tee box is pretty amazing as well.

Must Have Dish or Drink at the 19th Hole?
This is easy, the Fried Chicken & Waffles. Buttermilk chicken fried golden brown and served with savory waffles, honey drizzle and candied bacon almond praline. Delicious!

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
We actually had a golf professional on our Guest Services staff, Matt Van Cleave, who earned the record on both courses with a 63 on each course. And yes, I'm sure the scores could even have been lower if not for a couple of missed putts.

Course Stats From The Back Tees
Monument 72.9/147 Par 72 Length 7070
Pinnacle 73.0/149 Par 71 Length 7025

More Information
Troon North Golf Club
Monument & Pinnacle Courses
Scottsdale, Arizona 85262
480.585.5300
www.troonnorthgolf.com

Revised: 03/18/2013 - Article Viewed 36,836 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.