COURSE:     Desert Highlands
LOCATION:   Scottsdale, Arizona
ORIGINAL DESIGNER:  Jack Nicklaus
GAME DESIGNER: Scott Chesney


Welcome to the Desert Highlands course, home of the inaugural
skins game in 1983.  Jack Nicklaus painstakingly preserved the
natural desert vegetation, ironwood and paloverde tree, and the
numerous cacti in building this course.  I have tried to
replicate that vegetation as much as possible within the
limitations (color and otherwise) of the program and my skills. 
You can score very well on this course if you are smart and you
are accurate.  The greens are moderately difficult and some
present very small targets.  Jack did a great job of
supplementing the sand with mounds, hollows, and rock defenses
for the course.

A few notes on the course.....Number 2 presents you with your
first major decision....go for it in two or three.  It is almost
impossible to reach successfully in two except with a tailing
wind and a little luck.  The long fronting trap swallows most
accurate approaches from long distance.  I prefer to play for a
surer birdie than a remote bogey.  Hole 6 has two fairways, each
of which has advantages and disadvantages.  I ususally go with
the fairway that the wind conditions dictate.  On eight, a trench
crosses the fairway in the driving area.  If you get deep into
the trench you will likely hit the upslope on your drive out of
it.  Clearly, try avoiding it by driving short or with a
prevailing wind, going over.  I hope you enjoy the very strategic
ninth, with hazards cutting across the fairway in two places. 
Accuracy is a must, unless you extremely lucky and resourceful
with sand/brush recovery shots. 13 offers another double fairway,
again each with its own plusses and minuses.  Try each way and
see which you prefer.  17 is another great par 5, where going for
the green in two can be hazardous to your game.  I love the fact
that this course has 5 par fives and 5 par threes.  It makes for
great scoring or total disaster, depending on conditions and your
accuracy.  

I hope you enjoy both the look and playability of Desert
Highlands.  Special thanks to Jay Johnson, who loaned me one of
his cacti (the one with the critter on the rock) for this course. 
By the way, if you want the ultimate thinking person's course,
download Jay's great design of Golden Valley.  It is an all-time
great course.  I would welcome any comments and suggestions you
might have.

Scott Chesney
27 Edgerly-Garrison Road
Durham, New Hampshire   03824
603-868-1251