High Sierra golf is as good as it gets

Golf Betting Lines

06/25/2010 - Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twenty-five years and one wife ago, I first discovered the Reno-Lake Tahoe area and was taken by the beauty of the desert, mountains and pine trees. I was also impressed with the variety of golf courses in the region and as a Seattle native, I thoroughly appreciated those abundant blue skies.

Make no mistake, besides the magnificent setting, I was attracted by the casinos - and still am. Where else can you get golf and gaming and great weather in a spot like this? Nowhere. That's why I keep coming back year after year.

In June, I played in a press junket called the High Sierra Media Tour in which writers sampled the area during a weeklong golf bender that included 36 holes every day if you were so inclined, which I was. We stayed at one hotel one night, another the next, playing courses in the morning and afternoon, and doing it all over again and again. It was wonderfully repetitive.

If you can't stand hot and humid weather, this is the place to be in the summertime, especially Tahoe, where the temperatures are typically in the 70s and 80s. And if you somehow still get overheated, take a dip in the lake - it's glacial-fed. If you get out of the lake and are still hot, cool down at the craps table - I found it to be downright frigid.

The golf is glorious. I'd suggest a week or two with three buddies on the same route we took, starting in Reno then heading to Carson City, South Lake Tahoe, North Lake Tahoe and Truckee. They're all jumping-off points for some of the best and more affordable courses you'll ever play.

The drives are mostly spectacular. Take the one up Kingsbury Grade from the Carson Valley on the way from Genoa to South Lake Tahoe, and if you have the time, drive up the west side of Lake Tahoe instead of the east side when going from end of the lake to the other. The west side features a not-to-be-missed view of Emerald Bay.

Here are some more trip tips that will make your golf vacation in Reno and Lake Tahoe a memorable one:

- After playing D'Andrea and marveling at the views of Reno below, stop at the High Sierra Casino on your way to the Arnold Palmer design at Dayton Valley. Have a burger and a malt at Johnny Rockets, make a bet on your favorite team at the sports book and look forward to your $40 round at Dayton Valley, knowing that if you were here last year, the same round would've cost you $80.

- Don't miss, and let me repeat this in bold face and capital letters, DON'T MISS playing at Genoa Lakes in the Carson Valley. You'll never realize how pretty the Carson Valley is until you're there, looking at the mountains that surround every inch of it. And the feeling you get when you play the course is almost mystical.

- If you hit a jackpot on a slot machine or just feel like splurging, play Edgewood at South Lake Tahoe. This is where they hold the annual American Century Championship celebrity tournament in July, and no matter what you shoot, you know you'll have a better score than Charles Barkley.

- Before leaving South Lake Tahoe, visit the Harvey's Casino sports book, but don't bet on Geoff Ogilvy to win the U.S. Open like I did (he missed the cut), and make a point of having breakfast at the Red Hut, a local greasy spoon that's a hangover helper.

- In the Truckee-North Lake Tahoe area, tee it up at Coyote Moon, Gray's Crossing and Old Greenwood, three pine-tree lined layouts that will immediately join your list of best courses you've ever played. Coyote Moon has some unforgettable holes with boulders around the greens, and one, the 13th, that is incredible - a severely downhill par-3 over a cavern that plays two to three clubs less than the yardage. Gray's Crossing used to be a very private club that is now open to the public, and Old Greenwood might be one of Jack Nicklaus' best.

- Put this one in the area of my own personal preference, but it could be yours too - I was dazzled by the Ritz Carlton where we stayed one night at Northstar, a ski area on the Northwest side of Lake Tahoe. But I got more of a kick out of my room at the Truckee Hotel the next night. It's Rustic with a capital R. The original hotel opened in 1873. When you ask for a wake-up call, they'll call your cell phone and have coffee ready for you in the morning, made by the cool guy with the bushy beard behind the desk who will show you a scrapbook and tell you all the stories behind this historic place. The Truckee Hotel, like the golf and everything else in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area, gets five stars from me.

For more information, visit www.golfthehighsierra.com.

Jim Moore is a sports columnist for seattlepi.com. You can reach him at jimmoore@seattlepi.com.

Wwwhkcyber Golf Betting News

<< Federer, Djokovic, Hewitt reach fourth round at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Roger Federer, third-seeded Novak Djokovic and former champion Lleyton Hewitt were straight-set winners in third-round action Friday at Wimbledon. The six-time Wimbledon champion Federer

<< NCAA upholds sanctions against former SEMO hoops coach
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An NCAA appeals committee has upheld the sanctions levied by the governing body against former Southeast Missouri men's basketball coach Scott Edgar. The NCAA penalized Southeast Missouri's men's and wo

<< Ghana carries the weight of a continent
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teams from the African continent have made steady progress on the sport's biggest stage starting since 1990, when Cameroon became the first team from Africa to reach the quarterfinals. Nigeria followed up by advancing to

<< In the FCS Huddle: Spoilers ready to step up
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are always teams that look like locks on paper. You know, like France and Italy advancing to the knockout phase of the World Cup. And that's the point. There are no sure things in sports. The o

<< Cubs activate Ramirez
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez was activated off the 15-day disabled list Friday. Ramirez had been sidelined since June 8 with a left thumb contusion. He made a pair of minor league rehab appeara

Padres activate Everth Cabrera from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres activated shortstop Everth Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list on Friday. Cabrera has been sidelined since May 24 with a strained right hamstring. It is the same injury that had

No doctor needed for Morrow's arm >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Morrow appears to be doing his best Roy Halladay impression of late. Though you could argue that the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander is simply, finally, being himself. The 6'3" Morrow has been comin

Federer, Roddick, Djokovic, Hewitt into Wimbledon round of 16 >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt were among the winners in third-round action Friday at Wimbledon. The top-seeded and six-time Wimbledon champion Federer had his f

USC appeals NCAA ruling >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Southern California has filed an appeal with the NCAA seeking a reduction of the sanctions imposed on its football program earlier this month. USC was given a two-year bowl ban, as wel

Horn signs and retires with Saints >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran wide receiver Joe Horn signed with the New Orleans Saints so he could announce his retirement as a member of the club with whom he starred for seven seasons. The 38-year-old Horn joined the

MySportsbook.com, Online Sportsbook and Casino, is celebrating our 9th football season online since our launch in 1997. MySportsbook.com has experienced exponential growth, having taken over $8 billion in Sports and Casino Wagers since we opened our doors.

This year we will accept over $3 billion in wagers. Tens of thousands of winning wagers are created daily for the 300,000 people that have joined our website. In August of 2005, MySportsbook.com was acquired by Sportingbet, a UK company which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. Combined, MySportsbook.com and Sportingbet easily form the world's largest internet sportsbook company and one of the internet's most profitable companies. The acquisition has provided for added transparency and accountability to MySportsbook.com customers and thus provides more safety and security for our customers. Our business is audited by BDO Stoy Hayward, one of the largest auditing firms in London, and our accounts are published quarterly on the London Exchange. We encourage you to take a look around and truly hope you enjoy your experience.

Through advertising deals with the top handicapping sites in the world, MySportsbook.com reaches a global audience and is one of the most commonly visited gaming spots on the Internet.

MySportsbook.com offers the largest selection of casino games and sporting wagers on the Internet. We believe that an educated player is a more responsible gambler, thus we provide you with all of the latest news and handicapping information. MySportsbook.com is your ultimate destination for gaming information and wagering. You can start by signing up in the Casino or Sportsbook. Once you sign up you can use your same login in either the casino or Sportsbook. So do it now and start winning serious money Today!

If at any time you have a question, we have numerous people waiting to help you, so don't be afraid to call our customer service department. We do not take any telephone wagers but we can certainly answer any questions you may have about our service.

MySportsbook.com is officially licensed in Antigua as a preferred licensee recognized by the Directorate of offshore gaming of Antigua and Barbuda.

What more could you ask for from an Online Sportsbook?