2020 Phoenix Area Course Conditions

[Argonne69]

Tres Rios booked for next Monday. The suspense is killing me. Lol.

 

[AzSuperHack76]

They just played a Cactus Tour event there a week or two ago, so it shouldn’t be that bad. It’s actually a fun layout, conditions have always been spotty though.

[teejaywhy]

See if you can identify the kinship it shares with Desert Forest.

 

[Argonne69]

Great Eagle today. Unfortunately this poor bird crashed into a highrise. Ouch. On the positive side it's not a bad layout. I played with a local who played it when it first opened, and he said it was $70 back then. It's definitely fallen on hard times. Good mix of holes. Some nice bunkering in places. The mounding makes for some awkward lies.

The local said that the conditioning is much better than a few years ago. He said there was a period where the "greens" were painted dirt. The tee boxes were shaggy. Think primary rough on some courses. The fairways were long. Very little rollout. Off the fairway was a disaster, hard pan, weeds, different varieties of grass, standing water. On a plus note the greens were freshly cut, and looked nice. They rolled at maybe a 6. I kid you not. I've played seaside links courses with faster greens. I can't even begin to imagine how slow they were before they were cut. I actually chipped on a few greens. The bunkers were trash.

Luckily my playing partner was very good company, and we kept each other entertained for the 4:40 round. I'd rate it a generous 3 (layout 4, conditions 2).

[Bonneville85308]

Great Eagle keeps the holes along Bell Road looking halfway decent to lure people in, once you pay your money and get to the first tee you find out the real story. lol

The conditions were worse when I played it a couple of years ago. Probably one of the few rounds I've ever paid less than $30 for and still felt like I got ripped off. The greens had bare dirt spots the size of manhole covers. To rub salt in the wound, the cart died due to a snapped belt on hole #7, I just left it there and walked the rest of the way around. Unless something changed very recently, the same ownership has both Great Eagle and AZ Traditions. They should probably just close Great Eagle, cover it in more RV's, shift the golf traffic over to AZ Traditions, and keep AZ Traditions in better condition.

[Argonne69]

The place was booked solid. I had a 10:04 am tee time. I arrived at 9:20 am hoping to get out early. No chance. The starter said they were booked solid until after 3 pm. Whatever they're doing seems to be making money. I'm guessing they cut the fairways and greens once a week. The carts are old. With local courses charging 50% more, I can see why it attracts the locals.

[isaacbm]

Argone69 reminds me a little bit of a friend we used to go to clubs with in college. He’d never leave the house until 1230 at night and see if he could wait till the lights came on to pick up the leftovers... then the next day he’d try and convince everyone that “ Honestly guys she was at least a 5 1/2...!”

In all honesty though, I’m quite enjoying your reviews. I’ve played some beauties in the Phoenix area. It never even crossed my mind to post reviews of them because mom taught me not to say anything if I couldn’t say anything nice...

 

tres Rios Is not nearly as bad as everyone is warning... Or maybe that’s the one I played drinking one beer for every two holes? Hopefully the lights don’t come on too early for you!

[az2au]

I personally love @Argonne69 s reviews. I hope he comes back next year and plays only good courses. They'll be much harder to find though.

BTW, for any locals, get out with him for a round. Great guy. We had a blast when we played.

[cbbaron]

I second that played with on Raptor and had a blast btw I think the only two premium courses he played were with the two of us

[Titleist_242]

Which is the better course to play if you can only do one - Troon pinnacle or monument?

[mckennwa]

I went to Scottsdale this past weekend for 5 days. Here is my lineup and thoughts:

Verrado Victory - good warm up track right off the plane. Generous fairways and green surrounds. I personally liked the course. Didn't struggle much at all with the few blind tee shots. I do agree that the course will not be as much fun once it is mostly surrounded by houses. Conditions were very good, but not high end.

Verrado Founders - the more interesting and challenging of the two in my opinion. Conditions were very similar between the two courses. Best value course we played. (Southern Dunes is my other favorite for value).

Camelback Padre - wanted to stay local for a day, so this was a good option. The greens here are lightening fast. Course was in great shape, with tons of room everywhere on the course. More parkland than desert golf. This course was my biggest surprise as it exceeded my expectations by quite a bit.

Wickenburg Ranch - we played on a fairly windy afternoon, and the pin was #2 (their hardest) so it was a challenging day. However, the conditions here never dissapoint. Near PGA Tour quality. Great layout and a must play for any true golf nut.

Quintero - I was skeptical of going here due to all the negativity it gets for its layout, but I greatly enjoyed the place. Sure, it is a bit redundant, with all its downhill par 3s and other similiar holes, but the setting and views distract you from that and provide for a memorable experience. This one is a must play (at least once) for any visitor. Unless you are a hardcore layout guy, you'll be talking about this place with your playing partners for a long time to come. Conditions were nearly on par with Wickenburg Ranch, with greens showing more ball marks and grasses being a little less dense. I did however appreciate that the surrounds and rough were green and not dormant. Also, we got a TeeOff.com deal here, as it was a cooler day with some rain chances. All in all, had I paid $240 or whatever it is at rack rate, I don't think I would have been disappointed. Everyone there is amazingly friendly. Any time I'm in PHX with someone who has never been there, I'd be happy to take them just to see their reaction.

[az2au]

The best 9 is the back 9 of Monument. The worst 9 (and it really isn't even close) is the front 9 of Monument. Overall I think Pinnacle is better by a decent bit.

[Argonne69]

Wow. Couldn't ask for a nicer day. Pebblebrook today. Solid layout with some quite tricky greens. I was pin high on the par 3 11th, 6 ft away, burned the edge, and wound up 6 ft below the hole. Conditions were excellent. Greens were rolling a good 10, and possibly 11 by the end of the round.

[Bonneville85308]

The 18th green complex at Pebblebrook drives me nuts. Most shots that land on the back half of the green roll off the back of the green and into the pond, especially since the rear apron is usually shaved down. Otherwise I enjoy the course.

[tw422]

Love the reviews and accompanying pictures. Seems like you have not had a single bad weather day? Keep em coming. Are you going to do the same for the higher end courses when you come back to the area? Did you do a review of GCU? Would be curious to get your take on the place as I have not played in a while. Thanks again for taking the time to do these reviews, I really find them helpful/useful and entertaining.

[Schley]

Rating?

[Argonne69]

Whoops. I'd give it a 4.5.

[Argonne69]

Actually, I've had a few foul weather days, but with over 60 rounds in, they constitute a small percentage. Played at least two rounds in a steady rain, and a couple more with off and on rain. A few more were in waterlogged conditions after the rain had passed.

I post reviews of all my rounds. 'Probably over 600 at this point. They're usually contained in a trip report in the appropriate travel subforum. As I journey across the U.S. and Canada later this year, I'll probably create a single travel log in the main travel forum to document my travels. I likely won't be back in Arizona for 2 to 3 years, as my plans are to cover the eastern half of the continent in '20 and '21.

Yes, I played GCU on 11/27/19:

[tw422]

Thanks for the quick review on GCU. Sounds like it was pretty good? Great news on hitting the Eastern portion of North America. Have you thought about doing your own website/forum? Seems to me like you could get sufficient traffic to support one. Your reviews are succinct and get people ‘taking’. I know I would subscribe. Thanks.

[Argonne69]

Yeah, I'm considering a dedicated travel blog. I have a few months to get things together.

[lvlites]

You should consider a vlog. Those pics you post look great, so a few short videos would be fantastic.

 

[Bonneville85308]

Played GCU this morning, first time in probably over a year. Fairways were in excellent condition, a very plush overseed. I was really impressed given some of the trouble they've had with conditioning here in the past. The greens were considerably slower than those at Aguila, Encanto, Cave Creek, etc. but were in good condition with not many ballmarks. Sand condition was good. Pace was awesome since we were one of the first few groups. Rate came to about $48 with tax to walk with the city card. Probably 7 out of every 10 people I saw out there were walking this morning.

Despite the good conditions today, I never seem to enjoy playing this course. I think it's the fairway bunkering. I was in 13 fairway bunkers today total. I took a mulligan off the 16th tee because I was just extremely angry at myself for hitting into yet another one. They are just relentless, in the landing area off the tee off of every GD hole it seems. They are also so deep that while you may have a flat lie, your shot out of them is pretty much blind. If I play it again, I'd even consider moving back a tee color just to make the bunkers unreachable off the tee for me. Combined with the greenside bunkers and the wavy fairway contours, it seems like the course forces you to play an "aerial" game and discourages low running shots. Maybe I'm not "woke" since a lot of people love this course particularly on this forum and some others, but I play this game to have fun, and I personally don't have fun playing GCU. I want to like it; it's easy to walk, in good condition, price is right, etc. but it just doesn't suit my game I guess.

[ShakeyT]

In Chandler for a wedding, so I brought the clubs & played 36 yesterday. I played Whirlwind Devil's Claw & Cattail at the replay rate. Total for both rounds was right at $230.

Of the 2, Devil's claw had the nicer layout, but both were in great shape.

[MillerLowLife]

I occasionally get lessons from Milo Lines out of SS Mtn when he is out here in SLC in the summer. He told me one about my local track Talons Cove “This course would be private in Phoenix”.

I didn’t quite believe or understand that but after seeing some of these local more run down courses that still cost well more than my home track, I’m starting to understand.

[puttnforthe8]

Condition of the course has nothing to do with being private. There are 'private courses' here in AZ and everywhere that some munis are head and shoulders better.

[OspreyCI]

Big shot out to Whirlwind Staff. I practiced there and dropped my laser in the range. Called them and left my info. They went and found it and called me. Awesome guys!!! Thank you.

Great practice area for sure. Really good range balls too, clean and not scuffed.

Wife and I had lunch in their restaurant it was excellent. Love living in AZ!!

[Argonne69]

Thompson Peak this morning. You sure can see a lot of golf courses from up there. Lol.

[El_Nino_AZ]

Pinnacle. Better test of desert golf, can leave the driver in the bag for 12-14 holes. Monument has some really dumb holes. I find more average and older golfers play Monument which leads to lots of craters and unfixed ball marks on the greens.

[Argonne69]

Ugh. I forgot today is a holiday. Tres Rios is packed with hacks. Just watched a fivesome tee off and no one in the group hit it more than 100 yds. We're 20 minutes behind at 10 am. It's going to be a brutal day.

 

[Argonne69]

When you have low expectations, it's hard to be disappointed. Tres Rios didn't even match my low expectations. The only positive was that the layout didn't stink. The mature trees helped frame the holes, and basically required one to be able to work the ball both ways off the tee. The vast majority of the green complexes were boring, but a handful were decent.

Pace of play was awful. As we stood on the 12th tee, we could see the source of the backup. A group was taking their sweet time on the 16th green as the group in front of them was walking off the 18th green. Five hours of standing around waiting on top of the 20 minute delay.

Conditions were pretty bad. Fairways were somewhat playable, but there were plenty of thin or bare spots. Off the fairway was your typical collection of dormant Bermuda, dead grass, weeds, hardpan, and various strains of grass in small clumps. Bunkers were trash. Greens had some type of disease/fungus that created copper color rings. Then there were the bare patches. Only positive was that they had some decent speed.

Normally I would call it a goat ranch, but that would be an insult to goats. I'll give it a generous 2. Luckily for me my body was a mess from yesterday's 10 mile hike up Thompson Peak. With little in the way of an actual golf swing, I'm glad I didn't tee it up at a more expensive course.