Fairways • Spring 09
A Golf & Spa Vacation - A Day Away

by Kurt Kragthorpe

The traditional marketing approach for a golf and spa resort is something along the lines of golfing for him, pampering for her.

Sandra Kragthorpe was having none of that plan. When the invitation came for us to experience a couple’s quick getaway to Mesquite, Nv., and then detail an eventful day for Fairways readers, she made it clear that if anybody would be teeing it up, she would.

I was less eager to have the spa treatment, but because this trip was all about gender equity, I would play along and we would each do both parts of the doubleheader.

First, the logistics: We turned the 700-mile round trip from Salt Lake City into a leisurely three-day excursion, which is just about right. With two nights in the CasaBlanca Hotel and a full day of activity in between, the pace was unhurried and enjoyable.

The golf was delightful, especially factoring in the snowy conditions in northern Utah on that day in late March. The Palms Golf Club—the first course you see from I-15, heading south toward Mesquite—is the area’s oldest. It may be less spectacular than some of the newer courses, but is still fun to play.

The Palms is a classic case of two entirely different nines. The front side is flat and defined mostly by bunkers, water and the ubiquitous palm trees. It is straight forward, but not necessarily easy. At 3,179 yards from the middle tees with a par of 35 and low elevation, it plays just long enough to be plenty challenging.

The back nine is shorter, but much more of an adventure. No two holes are even remotely alike, and each includes an elevation change—dramatically so, in a few cases.

The most memorable hole is the par-5 No. 15, with a tee shot so striking that it has you anticipating it all day (and I was already beginning to dread the end of the round and the beginning of the mysterious spa treatment, but more on that later). The view from the tee is spectacular in several directions, especially toward the fairway that lies 114 feet below, with a culvert running down the left side and the desert on the right.

Nos. 17 and 18 make a nice finishing pair of holes, starting on one side of the cliffside clubhouse and ending up on the other side, which means they go downhill and then back uphill.

The Palms is always enjoyable to play, with just the right level of difficulty for a resort course, and it pairs nicely with the CasaBlanca Golf Course that plays through the desert with more of a links style layout.

After the golf, following a light lunch, is was time to hit the spa.

I’m not sure how to describe my preconceived view of a spa experience, although the words “weird” and “uncomfortable” certainly would come into play. Yet not even five minutes into the treatment, I wondered why I had any reservations at all.

If the whole process seems a little self-indulgent, well, isn’t that the very purpose of a vacation in the first place? The brochure for the CasaBlanca Spa describes massages for all needs, with intriguing names ranging from the “Sea Kelp Clay Wrap” to the “Rose Renew Body Booster.” Personally, I was hoping for the “Hunched-Over Laptop Remedy” and somehow, they had just the treatment for me.

Technically, it was the “Rain Massage,” incorporating rain mist, aromatic oil and piano music in a darkened room and featuring a rain stick—a redwood stick, decorated with Native American symbols that, in theory, transfer energy.

All I know is, pressed against my back and shoulders, it felt good.

The 90-minute session was a bit long (the one-hour version would have been plenty), but it was definitely relaxing.

Sandra’s treatment was more exotic. The Shirodhara Ritual calls for warm sesame seed oil cascading onto one’s forehead, which she found a bit disconcerting. She would have preferred my session, I’m sure. But hey, I would like to have played from the red markers on a few holes, so we’re even.

Standing in line for the $4.99 pot roast dinner at the hotel’s Fez Bistro that evening, we chatted with some guys from Oklahoma who were mildly complaining that their feet were sore after a long day on the golf course. We didn’t have the heart to tell them we had just come from a spa treatment, so our feet had never felt better after 18 holes, or that Sandra was booked for a luxurious pedicure the next morning.

It all added up to a very nice stay for us, one I’d look forward to repeating. Late spring is hard to beat in Mesquite, especially when it means escaping the snow and cold, but there are advantages to going there virtually any time of year.

In the summer, green fees are lower and the time difference just across the border means you can tee off very early, when the temperature is more reasonable, and have the rest of the day for other activities. Later, such as in October of this year when both BYU and Utah play at UNLV, planning a stop in Mesquite would make a great couples’ trip on the way to Las Vegas to watch some football.

I’m guessing many couples would stick to the usual gender roles in making choices between the golf course and the spa, but I would tell the guys this: Don’t fear the spa. I’m glad to have found out what I was missing.

Kurt Kragthorpe is a Salt Lake Tribune sportswriter and frequent contributor to Fairways.