Michael
Apr 28, 2005, 11:57 AM
Scorching the desert
Arizona is expecting a mean fire season, and Judy Phelan of Scottsdale provided evidence of that when she hit a shot Friday from a transition area and started a brush fire on the Renegade Course at Desert Mountain.
"I think it must have been my tremendous clubhead speed," she joked.
Actually, the blaze was started by striking a pebble with a 7-iron, made with a titanium composite, which created a spark.
"I had seen sparks before when I hit shots, but didn't think much of it," Phelan said. "I got back in the cart and heard a noise that I thought was a rattlesnake, but when I looked around, the brush was on fire and because it was breezy, the flames were spreading."
The area on fire was about 3 feet in diameter. By the time Phelan and her three partners walked 15 feet to reach it, it already had jumped 5 feet.
"It was odd because there really wasn't much vegetation where I hit my shot," she said. "But it was spreading toward a thick, brushy area. If we hadn't seen it right away, it could have become a major fire.
"I know it's a rare thing, but it's a very real possibility, especially when you think about people who throw down cigarettes and cigar butts on a course. This was just a tiny spark. It was frightening."
They managed to put out the fire with bottles of water and water from the ice chests on their carts.
One way to prevent a recurrence might be to save those nice Callaway titanium irons for shots in the fairway and hit the desert shots with a beat-up old 6-iron you can buy for two bucks at a thrift shop.
"Well, all of my clubs look like they're about 40 years old," Phelan said. "I'm used to hitting them out of the dirt because I seem to be there a lot."
Source (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0428golfcol0428.html)
Arizona is expecting a mean fire season, and Judy Phelan of Scottsdale provided evidence of that when she hit a shot Friday from a transition area and started a brush fire on the Renegade Course at Desert Mountain.
"I think it must have been my tremendous clubhead speed," she joked.
Actually, the blaze was started by striking a pebble with a 7-iron, made with a titanium composite, which created a spark.
"I had seen sparks before when I hit shots, but didn't think much of it," Phelan said. "I got back in the cart and heard a noise that I thought was a rattlesnake, but when I looked around, the brush was on fire and because it was breezy, the flames were spreading."
The area on fire was about 3 feet in diameter. By the time Phelan and her three partners walked 15 feet to reach it, it already had jumped 5 feet.
"It was odd because there really wasn't much vegetation where I hit my shot," she said. "But it was spreading toward a thick, brushy area. If we hadn't seen it right away, it could have become a major fire.
"I know it's a rare thing, but it's a very real possibility, especially when you think about people who throw down cigarettes and cigar butts on a course. This was just a tiny spark. It was frightening."
They managed to put out the fire with bottles of water and water from the ice chests on their carts.
One way to prevent a recurrence might be to save those nice Callaway titanium irons for shots in the fairway and hit the desert shots with a beat-up old 6-iron you can buy for two bucks at a thrift shop.
"Well, all of my clubs look like they're about 40 years old," Phelan said. "I'm used to hitting them out of the dirt because I seem to be there a lot."
Source (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0428golfcol0428.html)