Beautiful weather: Rinse. Repeat.

We have now entered into the fall season of “Ground Hog Day,” a term we use because the days are the same every time you wake up - perfect weather. 'What is that weather,' you ask? At daybreak, temperatures are in the 60’s with the highs rarely reaching the 90’s. Without any wind it is like playing golf in your living room. That is if your room has perfect blue sky ceilings and green carpeting throughout, you get my drift?

The golf course has been running at capacity each day. Each day the greens are looking better, this week we should see the mowers being lowered, and that will help improve the green speeds.

LG Skins Game merchandise has been starting to show up in the shop. Be the first in your neighborhood to have the newest logo in the funnest fashions the industry has offer.

In sporting news the Oregon Ducks gave a beating to Big Sky Conference team Member Portland State, 55-12. We are just now able to make contact with Brandon O’Neill as he has just extricated himself from the Duck Football website. Brandon is a walking encyclopedia on many subjects, but nothing compares to his knowledge of Duck Football. Unfortunately for Brandon his Ducks will be playing in the Kelly Tire Bowl this year. At least the Kelly Tire company colors match the Ducks. The University of Montana Grizzlies took on Conference Opponent Idaho State; the 23-10 victory was not as close as the score indicated. The Griz defense held the Bengals to 7 first downs and 92 yards of total offense. Why so much coverage of the U of M Grizzlies? They are the #2 ranked team in the Nation. They play before some of the most loyal fans found anywhere in the country, they play in Washington Grizzly Stadium; which arguably is one of the finest D1-AA stadiums found anywhere in the country. Oh and by the way I was a two year letterman for the Men’s Golf Team way back in the 80’s. After a last minute loss to ND last week we are not sure if Jeff Perry’s UCLA Bruins are still playing football. We will get back with you on that next week.

Scott Werline and his Turf Management team members continue to work long hours preparing to improve your golfing conditions, and fine tune the golf course for the LG Skins Game.

This past week we had the pleasure of hosting the Coachella Valley High School Golf Team Fundraiser and the Shu Ming Chow Group from Los Angeles.

Being a native Montanan, I would use the phrase, “back in the saddle again”, to explain our first day open from overseeding.

The golf course made great strides in the last couple of days. The greens are a little slow, which is common when coming out of overseeding. The course opened with great reviews, people were just excited to get back out on the course. Weather conditions are ideal.

It's a “slice of Heaven," according to a guest from Michigan, who made the comment when referring to the facility.

Tonight begins the dinner menu for the Azul Restaurant. “Little Italy" night, with an Italian menu, includes staples like Spagetti and Vegetarian Lasagna, along with eggplant parmesan with spicy roasted tomato sauce. Give me a second while I wipe the drool from my mouth. I am missing my afternoon snack to write this blog. Just typing the words on the computer is making me salivate... I can smell the aroma of the Azul kitchen all the way across the building.

Head Golf Professional - or should I say “Professor” - Brandon O'Neil kicked off the season with new prescription eyewear from Oakley that added 50 points to his IQ.

Brandon is a walking advertisement for Oakley, with the logo etched into the lens. You can see the logo looking in, but he can’t see it looking out.

Ladies, speaking of eyewear, the New Paula Creamer collection from Sundog just arrived. Paula unveiled the new line here in the Coachella Valley in conjunction with the Samsung Championship at Bighorn. We are one of the first accounts to have a display in the shop. Brandon knew the product so well that the national sales representative suggested he take Brandon on the road to train his sales force.

Monday, October 23rd is the Resident Skins Game Qualifier. Time to get your game face on! The format is a modified stableford system that requires you receive a quota of points based on your handicap. The man and woman who exceeds his/her quota the most will advance to the Finals the Monday following the Skins Game.

The Azul Restaurant opened Monday with a new revamped menu to rave reviews. The restaurant was busy all day from breakfast to late in the afternoon.

The new hours for the Azul Restaurant will be breakfast served from 6:30 am to 11:00, and lunch from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. We will also offer a select number of breakfast items all day. There will be an Appetizer Menu from 4pm to 5:30pm. The dinner schedule will be limited until after the Skins Game. Italian Night will be every Tuesday night, with Friday Night featuring Prime Rib.

The word on the street is that we are one of the few public facilities open right now. Make sure that you book early and book often to ensure that you get your fix of golf over the next couple weeks.

The LG Skins Game countdown begins, we are inside 45 days! More on that next week.

Here’s to looking for more birdies and actually keeping them!

Until next week,
Bob V.

Tuesday the 10th of October

I took a tour of the golf course this morning. The front nine is coming along nicely. The back nine, seeded a couple days later than the front, is just getting grass popping today.

The golf shop continues to go through some nice renovations to accommodate the new fall clothing that Brandon and his staff have brought in. The golf shop is open from 8 am to 12 noon. You're invited to come in, but you must be fully equipped to exchange classic lines from Seinfeld, Caddy Shack, and Tommy Boy. The banter between the shop team is full of laughter, with rapid fire classics from some of the great comedies of our time.

Café Solaz opened last Thursday to rave reviews! Congratulations to everyone involved in the revamping of the menu and design of Café Solaz.

Our weekly homeowners' gathering at the Santa Rosa Clubhouse on Wednesday featured margaritas. One unique feature about the evening was that I was called in from the bullpen to be the bartender for the night. The fact that the strongest drink I have had in 20 years is a diet coke should have raised some eyebrows; the second fact was that it was the first time I had ever mixed drinks. I was apprehensive at first, but it became apparent that the drinks were acceptable, so all was fantastic. I'm still not sure if the drinks were really that good, or if I just put so much alcohol in them that no one was going to complain.

It was a perfect evening, with a full moon and [finally!] cooler temperatures. I invite all of you homeowners who have not yet experienced the night of friendship to come out this coming Wednesday.

Back to golf... we will officially reopen October 16th, 2006. We moved back the date from my first report to you. We felt like the golf course was going to need a couple more days of growth. We will open with 'golf car paths only' until after Thanksgiving.

Be sure to check our website this week. We will be offering golf specials next week, and we will also be unveiling our golf instruction programs for the year. Your days of worrying about your poor performance on the golf course are numbered! We have assembled a golf professional staff that can assist you with any part of your game, from fitness to mental training, full move mechanics to short game mechanics.

We are offering a fantastic LG Skins Game promotion, with a free - yes, I said free - ticket to the LG Skins Game Pro Am on Friday November 24th, 2006. For every paid green fee from our opening until November 12th, golfers will receive a free ticket to the Pro Am. Let friends and family know of this awesome offer.

The next Trilogy Report will be after our first official day of reopening, when there will much to report on.

Until next week,

Bob V.
Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta

Welcome to the Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta Blog!

The goal of this weekly blog is to keep you updated on the day to day action here at Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta.

Golf Course Superintendent Scott Werline and his crew are working at a feverous pace to get the golf course overseeded and ready by October 16th. The front nine is seeded, and the back nine will be seeded in the next couple of days. Scott, who is without an assistant superintendent, is busier than a one armed paperhanger. Regardless of the lack of man power, the 'Werline way' is to muscle through it without a whimper. I applaud Scott for his efforts on minimizing the particulate in the air. If there is anyone around here more allergic to grass in the air than me, I'd like to meet him/her. In years past, this time of year was a nightmare for me. This fall I have had minimal problems, thanks to Scott's talents.

The golf professional staff is busy unpacking newly ordered fashions for the fall season. Clothes man Brandon O’Neill has outdone himself with the ordering this year. Each season I think he has maxed out, but he continues to amaze me. Be prepared for bright and colorful fashions here at Trilogy. Now that I think about it, I don’t think those two words would do Brandon’s fall order justice. That is like saying Ian Poulter dresses conservatively. Brandon is never been shy about putting together bold ensembles himself. The only thing Ian Poulter has over Brandon is Spiked Hair, and a head cover designed in his likeness.

Nick Mitchell is busy getting his staff prepared for the upcoming season. I just saw the note about the guys needing their Scobey sleeping bags and rations, to get through the next couple of days. I didn’t read the whole memo, but it has something to do with cleaning my office and Brandon’s. We may be a little disorganized to some, but a sleepover to complete the task? I think Nick is going a little overboard.

Food and Beverage Manager Jim Carvajal and his staff are still providing lunch service each day from 11-2 pm. On top of that they are working on unveiling a new menu... Chef Isaias and his staff are preparing some out-of-this-world dishes for Azul Restaurant and Café Solaz. The new menu has created a problem for General Manager, Jeff “Never turned away a meal” Perry. Jeff has had to step up his already vigorous workout routine to burn off the increased caloric intake due to the daily tasting of new menu items. Jeff has even convinced Brandon to visit the gym, but for Brandon, it is just more of the same - Jeff loudly commented to all those within earshot that Brandon was 8 minutes late for his first workout session. For those of you who know Brandon well enough, that means he now only spends 9 hours a day away from Trilogy.

If you are looking for someone to follow over the next couple of weeks, check out Anthony Kim, a personal friend, and a former La Quinta resident. Anthony, 21, turned a Sponsors exemption into a second place finish at the Valero Texas Open. That allowed him an exemption into the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. He finished tied for 16th this past weekend. Anthony now travels to Greensboro, North Carolina to play in the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

Circle October 16th, 2006 on your calendar, when we will be coming out of overseeding. We look forward to having everyone back!

As always, visit our website and book your tee times to enjoy this fantastic southern California golf course!

More next week...