This past March, the Crimson Girls Golf team traveled to Arizona to participate in various golf clinics. Naturally, during our team golf trip, we spent a lot of time improving our golf play. 

Each morning, we had a 3 hour golf clinic. For the clinics, we broke up into different groups and rotated through a few stations that focused on various things. For example, there were stations that focused on full swing, putting, chipping, pitching, bunker play, and hitting from difficult lies. My personal favorite stations were the full swing stations, as these lessons really helped me improve my swing. Someone was able to film each of our swings, so we could clearly see what we needed to improve on. 

On the final morning of clinics, we went out to the course with our groups for a course strategy clinic. This clinic was a fun opportunity to think critically about the game of golf.  At around 12:30 pm each day, we enjoyed a fun team lunch with our coaches in the clubhouse. These lunches were definitely a highlight, as they allowed us to debrief what we were learning in the clinics. 

After lunch, we had the amazing opportunity to play 9 holes each day. This opportunity was so much fun, as we were able to split into groups with people we did not know very well. These new groups fostered a sense of inter-grade bonding. These games were also beneficial for our golf skills, as it gave us increased course experience. Additionally, it allowed us to apply what we learned in the clinics that morning to our actual game. 

Another highlight of our course experience was that the course we were playing on was so beautiful. The course is called “Legend Trail,” and it was full of interesting foliage native to Arizona such as cacti with a backdrop of stunning mountains. To surmise, through playing 9 holes each day and working hard at the clinics, we definitely all improved our golf skills for the season. 

Even off the course, we kept busy. We did a lot of activities as a team, which helped us with team bonding. For one thing, we had a lot of delicious meals together. Right off the airplane, we went to In and Out Burger. It was just what we needed after a long flight, and a treat to try since there aren’t any in New Jersey. That night, we had our first team dinner at the hotel restaurant. For this meal, we got a bunch of appetizers to share, such as a giant pretzel and nachos. The following night, we went to Etta for dinner. Etta was a restaurant from the spring break trip last year, so we decided to go back this year. The highlights of the meal were the “flaming burrata” and the focaccia bread. Another highlight was the celebration of my birthday, which even the waiters participated in. 

The next night, we had dinner at Forno 301, a fun and casual Italian restaurant. After dinner, we went to Old Town, Scottsdale, which is a western themed downtown. It was cool to walk around with the team and explore the different areas of Scottsdale. The following night, we ate our final team dinner at SOL Mexican Cantina. This meal was a delicious last meal, some highlights being the quesadillas and nachos. We decided to celebrate our amazing trip by walking to a nearby gelato shop. The gelato itself was amazing, and we took solace in the fact that the gelato was being advertised as being “healthier than ice cream.”

During the trip, we made time to try a bunch of fun “Scottsdale snacks,” meaning fun food that we wouldn’t have access to in New Jersey. For instance, we went to Swig. Swig is a drink shop that is known for its “dirty sodas,” meaning sodas with additional creamers and flavor shots in them. This chain is very popular in Utah, as it is a favorite in the LDS community. It has also gained popularity on Tiktok over the past year, so we were so excited to try it. I got a “Diet Texas Tab”, which is Diet Dr. Pepper, coconut cream, and vanilla syrup. This drink was different from anything I had ever tried. Another fun drink place that we went to was “Dutch Bros.” Dutch Bros is a coffee and refresher shop that is very popular in California and Arizona, and it was definitely a team favorite. I, as well as some of my teammates, got a “Golden Eagle,” which is a delicious iced caramel latte. 

Ultimately, this trip was an amazing experience. We can speak for the whole team in saying that this was an amazing opportunity to not only improve our golf skills, but also get closer as a team. We think that this trip will set us up for an amazing season of Crimson Girls Golf.