April has arrived and along with it comes the start to the 2011 golf season on the Divine 9. The courses are open, warmer temperatures are on the way and we’re ready to tee it up for another great season in the Carson Valley.

Empire Ranch is celebrating their 14th birthday April 11 – 22 with $14 rounds, demo days with Taylormade and Adidas on the 16th and 17th with $14 massages by Massage Envy and daily chances to win a new car from Capitol City Ford.

In addition to these great rates at Empire Ranch, be sure to visit each of the Divine 9 course websites to view special spring rates and season pass opportunities.

If you’ve not yet secured your Ticket to Paradise this year, there’s still a chance to get on board. While quantities are limited and getting smaller every day, we have a few left until we hit the magic 300 mark. Pick up your Ticket to Paradise and treat yourself to nine rounds (one at each of the Divine 9) for just $265 – a 50% savings off normal rates.

If our heavenly views of the high desert and open valley in Carson City/Carson Valley aren’t reason enough, course improvements offer another reason to worship the Divine 9 golf courses. We’ve highlighted a few of the updates golfers have benefited from this season:

Carson Valley’s new back tee box on their 12th hole, as well as a widened fairway.

Eagle Valley East’s new nine tees on seven of their holes.

Eagle Valley West’s fresh new look with new banquet facility and outside covered patio.

The Resort Course at Genoa Lakes’s reversed nines now feature a subtler introduction to the course with a more challenging finish.

Part four, a series by Phil Weidinger

Talk about knowing your market. Carson Valley Golf Course is the area’s original, built in 1965, has a niche and plays to it. And that niche loves playing Carson Valley. Among the area’s most affordable courses, Carson Valley is big with families, beginners, kids and accomplished players looking for birdies. Huge, hundred-year-old Cottonwoods dot the area, lining the Carson River which flows through the course.

The course is 6,021 yards long – which upon first glance may scare off the uninformed long hitter, but Mr. Big will soon find a test with water on 15 holes, and a track where accuracy off the tee and sharp iron play is a premium.

Did I mention Cottonwoods? You’ll love those trees especially on Nos. 14 and 15. Standing on the tee to the 325 yard, par 4, No. 14 for the first time may cause confusion: yes, that is a giant tree literally in the middle of the fairway. First reaction is typically, “What the …?!” But like most great short par 4s, it offers options that offer risk vs. reward. Take it under the tree with a mid-iron low draw and lay up to about 100 yards; try a low, straight shot toward the right; or go big and over the tree. It’s quirky but cool.  A tiny green with protective bunkers says you better be hit a short club accurately. The setting is spectacular with the Carson River all along the right side and huge trees surrounding the hole. A lovely country home sits about 50 yards behind the green so watch the language if that 3-footer goes awry.

No. 15 is a solid par 5 of 492 with the Carson River protecting the entire right side and houses that do not intrude on the course set back along the left with only OB stakes to protect the backyard dog! Don’t forget those trees! A solid drive to the left center of the fairway leaves a low to mid iron in to another tiny green well guarded by bunkers. (Are you noticing a trend here?) Most lay up to leave a wedge in – and again it better be accurate.

The name of the game at Carson Valley is fun. It’s a family operation and they appeal to families with kids’ tees, great rates and friendly service. It’s a must play.

Part two; a series by Phil Weidinger

By the time you get to No. 8, you need to be ready! Any tentative swings should have been exorcised by this point, so no excuse like tight muscles will hold water. Speaking of which, that is the focus of every player on this beautiful par 3 since it’s all carry over a large pond – no fairway, no bailing out unless it’s dead right and certain bogey or worse.

The yardage stretches from 149 yards from the Blue marker, to 165 from the Green, to 188 yards from the Golds. Even the 97 yard distance from the Forward tees is all over water. A large green evens out the daunting shot, but from every marker, the tee shot has to be hit solidly. There’s no fairway, it’s just tee, water, then green.

The spectacular backdrop of Job’s Peak in the distance and a waterfall behind the green just adds to the drama. This is one of those holes that can make or break a round. Just hitting the green gives players a well-earned sense of accomplishment.

Even if you three-putt, you’re dry and still playing the same ball. Watching the hang time against the Sierra Nevada range is sight to behold. Lofting one up that high means a solid chance that the ball will be dancing on terra firma when it lands. Get to the green, putt out and run like a thief. You just escaped for another day!

Part one; a series by Phil Weidinger

Standing on the tee with the entire hole and Job’s Peak reflected in the pond that runs 240 yards along the left side. What a way to end a round. Great golf, great views and a feeling that you’re a small speck in a special place.

It’s 449 yards from the tips and 441 from the Championship tees with the back tee providing a bit more elevation that’s worth the extra yards. The shot needs to carry about 190 – 200 yards to the fairway which then doglegs left to a right to left sloping green. A conservative tee shot toward safety and the first fairway and it’s too long a second shot for a realistic attempt at par, let alone birdie. Pull it or hook it and it’s time to re-load from the tee while you’re cursing yourself for blowing a great finishing hole – especially if you have an “Aloha” on the line. (Double or nothing on every bet.)

Carp are slapping the water with every leap – a reminder you certainly don’t need of what can happen to an errant shot. Take it toward the top of the peak and if you have the wherewithal to bring it back left you’re a better man than me. That left side falls away quickly toward the pond.

A sign of relief for a safe landing is soon followed by trepidation over club selection on the second shot. A late afternoon valley breeze means one more club and you know the ball will follow the terrain and move left after touching down.  A back right pin makes it tough to get close, but anything within 15-feet is good, plus the putt will be uphill. A rushed swing has the ball going dead left into the bunker along the length of the green, and a long carry comes up 20 feet short.  

The glory, cheers and adulation of the imaginary gallery dissipate as the par putt skirts the hole to the right and reality sets back in. Time for a cold one or three from the sports bar in the clubhouse overlooking No. 18 and the course. Tomorrow’s chase will soon be here…  

Ben Wright Testimonial

The Divine Nine are strikingly scenic and affordable Lake Tahoe / Reno area golf courses, where you may just find heaven on earth. Forgiving fairways, tight approaches, strategic water hazards, large greens… These Nevada golf courses are sure to please, offering great views and variety. The Divine 9 golf courses offer 171 holes of championship golf, spread across 70,000 yards of scenic Nevada terrain that can encourage beginners and challenge the pros.

For our latest video, we sought out a name as big as the likes of Divine Nine course architects Palmer, Miller and Jacobson and a personality as grand as the surrounding Sierra Nevada. Ben Wright, noted golf broadcast legend of CBS TV for 23 years, EMMY® award winner and editor at large gives you a glimpse of the Divine Nine. Wright’s wit, humor and nostalgia for his native Scotland make you wish you were playing the courses with this celebrated personality.

Wright, who recently visited remarked, “…it would be shameful if you missed out on such a great area.”

Here’s what else he had to say about the Divine Nine golf courses: http://www.youtube.com/user/divineninegolf