Playing Desert Golf in Phoenix

I've come to the realization that playing golf in Phoenix is really hard on a set of golf clubs.  You should see my freaking lob wedge.  The rule here is, if you hit into the desert, you gotta play it.  If you take a penalty stroke, you get two club lengths.  And that's it.  And there are times when taking two club lengths doesn't get you to a playable lie.  That's why I try to avoid desert courses.

If you're going to follow the rules to a T, here is how it goes.

I hit a wayward tee shot into the desert.  There are some open spots over there, but I hit a provisional just in case I can't find it.  The provisional is a great shot, but it doesn't matter because I end up finding my tee shot.  It's in an unplayable lie, and two club lengths doesn't get me to a playable lie.  Two more club lengths?  Nope.  How about two more?  Yeah, I can find a place here where I *could* hit from, but I don't want to.  I'm probably going to take two more club lengths.  Ahh....good old rocks to hit off of.

The only option at that point is to go back to the tee and hit another shot with a stroke-and-distance penalty, but that's not an option because there is another group on the tee.  Obviously, the words "I found my tee shot, so I'm not allowed to play the provisional" will come out, and they won't understand.  I don't want to have that kind of a conversation on the golf course, so I break the rules.

Now if I'm wrong on the rules, I hope someone can correct me.  But also keep in mind that desert areas, with rare exceptions, are not staked.  There is one course in the valley where the desert area is protected, and the score cards says to treat them like implied green stakes.  Everywhere else, though, the desert area is "in play".

Speaking of "in play", you should see my golf clubs.  I need a new set because I've really worn out both of my sets from hitting off of rocky turf.  Those freaking things cost a lot of money, and I don't feel like spending that again.  My shortest wedge, a 56*, looks like it got stuck in a garbage disposal.  Even my fairway wood, my newest club, is beat up.  I just hit off of the rocks with it last weekend.  It was a great lie, so I'm going to put some wear and tear on my club to get a good shot.  Of course, I hit it a bit fat, and doing that on rocks has disastrous results.