The Phoenician Golf Club: How many steps?

A few weeks ago I decided to walk the Monument Course at Troon North Golf Club. Turns out it is nearly 20,000 steps and nearly 8.5 miles to walk that golf course, but I did it. It felt great; I wrote a blog post about it. Visit Monument Course: How many steps? to learn more about why I decided to hoof it. Yesterday I decided to walk The Phoenician Golf Club. Actually, it was The Phoenician that inspired me to walk in the first place. They have these new carts that, well, they are awesome. The Stewart XIX Golf Follow Cart is totally versatile and will pretty much follow you as you walk the course; I just had to try it. Check this out.

Stewart XIX Follow Cart at The Phoenician

So I decided to book a tee time and walk The Phoenician. But wait… They have 3 courses at The Phoenician. They have the Desert Nine Course, the Oasis Nine Course and the Canyon Nine Course. I was in for a long day, and what I assumed would be a lot of steps and miles; I was right!

Days before my tee time, I asked people how many steps it would be and got a lot of guesses. On Google+, Bill Crawford guessed 29,525 steps and 13.25 miles. On Twitter, Erik Broka, Head Golf professional, The Phoenician, guessed 11.2 miles. He didn’t guess the number of steps, but his mileage was close. So, how many steps and how many miles was it? Well, it’s not that easy. Since there are 3 courses at The Phoenician, I decided to track all 3 for you. So, here you go! (For the record, my legs were sore when I woke up on Monday morning. But I still managed to run 3 miles after work!)

Canyon Nine Course:
Steps: 7,381 steps
Miles: 3.32

Oasis Nine Course:
Steps: 7,779 steps
Miles: 3.48

Desert Nine Course:
Steps: 8,911
Miles: 3.98

Total:
Steps: 24,071
Miles: 10.78

There you have it! If you want to play 27 holes at The Phoenician, and walk, expect it to be roughly 11 miles to complete your round. Please note I do not track steps from the car to the range, on the practice putting green, etc. I am only tracking what it is from the first tee to the final green. It made it easy for me to track the number of steps for each course doing it that way, too!

Oh, I almost forgot. I unlocked a Fitbit badge yesterday. I walked over 30,000 steps yesterday, total, and unlocked the Trail Shoe badge. I wonder if there is a badge for 40,000 steps… Man, I might have to play 36 holes to unlock that badge!

Not sure where I am playing this weekend. There is rain in the forecast, so I might take a week off and just hit balls or something. Regardless of where I play, I will walk and will track my steps. I would like to personally thank the team at The Phoenician for making my experience enjoyable, to my playing partners for putting up with me walking, and to the wait staff at Relish Burger Bistro. Those BBQ chicken nachos were to die for. Funny… I had dinner at a restaurant that specializes in burgers, and ordered nachos. I had a couple of craft beers, though! I must say, the beer selection at Relish is great. ALL of their tap handles are local beers. They even did an event with Four Peaks Brewing Company during Arizona Beer Week. Great… Now I am hungry! Good thing I walked on Sunday to justify those nachos. I am still full!!!