SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. - The Friday night crowd at the popular Proof American Canteen is in a festive mood. Hearty laughter and lively chatter fill the air.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. - For much of the year, the Sonoran Desert is a drab sea of sand and rocks punctuated in places by giant Saguaro cactus whose green skin is bleached by the relentless sun and heat.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – Sedona … Sonoma? Why is it I always get those two like-sounding city names mixed up, I ask to the man pouring me a glass of wine at a trendy Scottsdale restaurant called FnB?

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. - A door opens and a blast of hot desert air rushes into the spacious room with the low-slung slanted ceiling. In the doorway, an old man wearing a neck brace appears.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – I arrive at what’s called “the loudest hole in golf” and I’m greeted by silence.