The Oakcreek Country Club

Getting To Know: The Oakcreek Country Club

An Insightful Interview With Micah Filice, Assistant 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 Micah Filice who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The Oakcreek Country Club is Sedona, Arizona's original golf course. Founded in 1968, this stunning Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr. collaboration offers a golf experience unique to the state. Play a championship-level layout under the cool shade of mature pine trees all while enjoying continuous up-close views of Sedona's red rock formations. On-site amenities include a double-sided practice range, the area's most well-stocked golf shop, a full-service restaurant, and large banquet facilities. As a semi-private club, there are also numerous membership options.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Great golf intertwined with great views! Oakcreek Country Club offers the most fair and well-maintained course layout of any Sedona-area golf course. There are no gimmick holes at OCC! We currently have the best greens the area has to offer. Our semi-private status allows us to continue to fund course-improvement projects and keep our course very green throughout hotter times of the year. Our pricing for guests is always extremely competitive and we offer discounts to guests staying at local resorts.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The course is traditionally-routed through trees, and almost every hole doglegs one direction or the other. The ability to shape the ball off the tee to both the right and left is a valuable skill for success at Oakcreek. Out-of-bounds areas are found on the left side of every hole--so watch out for the dreaded duck-hook! On the greens, watch out for the "Valley Effect"--every green slopes to the south.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
The Oakcreek Country Club is known as "The Home of the Sedona Open". The Sedona Open is a major professional tournament held every July and hosted by the PGA Southwest Section. This tournament draws over 100 players and many spectators and showcases the challenging layout and great playing conditions Oakcreek is known for.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Our signature hole is Hole #4, a mid-length par-3. From an elevated tee box, you look upon a green that has been nestled against a red rock canyon wall. This hole may be one of the most photographed holes in the country, and for good reason.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My personal favorite hole is Hole #9. This hole is the most-difficult on the scorecard. One reason for that is the length, long for a par-4, measuring 450 yards. A nasty fairway bunker guards the left hand side, and a thick row of cypress trees borders the right. A tee ball hit too straight may find its way into a lake that runs from the 150-yard marker all the way past the green. This water feature juts out near the green, and will catch any shot landing short-right. To succeed on this hole, think about hitting a 3 wood down the center of the fairway and be prepared to play a wood or long iron toward the left of the green. A second shot landing short-left will bounce up and roll to the center of the green, offering a chance at a two-putt par.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
In our on-site restaurant, Redstone Grill/Bar/Patio, the signature dish is the Pesto Marinated Chicken Sandwich, featuring savory chicken breast, grilled tomatoes, carmelized onions and Montoro cheese on a fresh-baked Kaiser bun. Wash it down with an Alaskan Stout poured ice cold from the draught.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
The course record is shared by Jerry Norquist (2005) and Charlie Beljan (2010), both shooting 62 (-10). Both of these scores were posted in tournament rounds of the Sedona Open. Beljan shot 27 on the front-nine enroute to his record score, and now plays on the PGA Tour.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6824
Slope: 131
Rating: 71.7

More Information
The Oakcreek Country Club
690 Bell Rock Blvd
Sedona, Arizona, 86351
928-284-1660
www.oakcreekcountryclub.com

Revised: 09/12/2012 - Article Viewed 33,354 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.