2020 Phoenix Area Course Conditions

[glenva]

Played TPC Champions yesterday. Course in great shape, probably punched a couple of weeks ago but recovered nicely. Quick round, 3 1/2 hours....

[Bonneville85308]

 

Biltmore Adobe early this morning. Course was in pretty good condition all around, some minor fairway dead spots here and there. Not too heavily watered, was getting good fairway roll. Bunker sand was good. Greens have recovered from aeration but were shag carpet slow. Played as a foursome in 3:25 with little waiting. Effectively paid about $25 with the Wigwam/Biltmore summer pass.

They have made some changes to the course since the last time I played it a few years ago. Hole #9, the ill-located par 3 where any shot leaked left would hit someone having lunch on the patio, is history. The long par 4 with the approach shot playing over a pond was made into a short par 4 and a short par 3 over the same pond. Old hole #8 was lengthened and made into a par 5. #18 green complex is new. Some bunkers are gone and some tee boxes were added or renovated. I was never really a fan of this course before, but will admit I kinda liked it today with the changes. Probably helped that I only paid $25, as this still isn't worth anywhere near $100+ or whatever they fleece the tourists for in winter.

[AzSuperHack76]

Vistancia yesterday morning. Course has made a miraculous recovery, from having no grass on the greens(painted and rolled sand) since the last overseed to barren fairways this spring. Greens have just about fully recovered, a little bumpy now but in a couple more weeks they will be able to cut them super tight and get them rolling fast and true. Fairways are great again, you can see on 18 some small patches of what happened but they are filling well. I live 5 minutes from the course and this is the first time I’ve played it this year due to the conditioning issues. Nice to have my “home” course back.

[Bonneville85308]

Thanks for posting. I like the course but had been avoiding it for a few months due to all of the stories I had been hearing about major conditioning problems. I'm going to give it a try this coming weekend.

[FlashNoonan]

Good play at Palmbrook yesterday. Tees were pretty beat up, very little grass or if it did have grass, they were shaggy. Fairways and greens were nice. Bunkers were in the best shape I've seen of any course during these times. (outside of the higher end courses). Got around in about 3:45.

[RawDawg]

TPC Scottsdale Champions today. Fairways and tee boxes were decent. Greens were sandy and aerated but playable...just extremely slow. Bunkers were very firm and made some of my bunker shots difficult to judge. Crowd was thin and finished in 3:30-3:45.

 

[Justmuckit]

Greens were much shaggier than I'm use to there, but Southern Dunes was in great shape yesterday. Only issues I saw were small spots in the fairway that were scalped due to mowing.

[Bonneville85308]

Played it this morning. It was really in great condition all around, and not overwatered. The greens were on the slow side but smooth, not really any ball marks or imperfections to speak of. Finished in about 3:30 as a foursome. Non-Vistancia resident rate was $60.

[tcbringhurst]

Wigwam Gold yesterday: overall course is in decent shape. Each green has some under-repair areas but were mostly at the fringes. Other than those spots, the greens were in great shape. Bunkers were soft. I’ll be playing there again.

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Ambiente in ok shape today

[AzSuperHack76]

Grayhawk Talon on Friday. Course is in good shape overall. They had just opened up from aerating the greens. The practice green was terrible, we were super bummed when we saw it and putted on it. Then we got to the first green and we were relieved, not near as bad as the practice green, pretty decent actually. Isabella’s after the round, I think the food tasted good, really wasn’t paying attention to the food, (if you know, you know).

 

Mcdowell Mt GC on Sunday, I had never played there before, fun course, a couple of wonky holes but over all a fun track. Condition wise it was in terrible shape, greens, fairways, bunkers, all terrible. They said the were shutting down today/Monday for maintenance, guess they said screw it all together for the last couple of weeks. Lunch after the round was nice, food was really good.

[FlashNoonan]

Westbrook Village Vistas on Saturday. Overall good shape. Greens a little shaggy after being punched a few weeks back but were in good shape. Had a personal best streak of 11 straight pars. Something about that course always suits me. They spaced us out in 12 minute intervals but by the 4th hole we were waiting on the groups ahead of us. Sped up on the back 9 and finished in 3:20 as a foursome.

[cbbaron]

Its too bad we won't see anymore of @az2au he got into a beef with mods and probably left for good

[AzSuperHack76]

What the heck?? What happened?

[jatrain]

Legend Trail yesterday. It’s in amazing shape. 2:45 as a single.

[cbbaron]

A post he was participating in a person disagreed with him and reported him and when the Mods notified him told them to deactivate account. Brian is a good man and does a lot for us AZ guys and visitors to the area

[tw422]

that's unfortunate, brian was very helpful to me when I had some questions about the AZ/Scottsdale area. he even invited me (not knowing me at all) to play with him at one of his clubs. hope he's able to come back.

[toypor]

This is pretty ridiculous. I don’t think there is a poster on this forum as well traveled and with as much knowledge of courses/architecture as Brian. Always seemed to be willing to help others a well.

[ferrispgm]

That is insane...I agree with others....Only met him once but a genuinely good dude. Invited me to play one of his clubs as well and had a great time. What a bunch of crap.

[jatrain]

Eagle Mountain today. Pretty good summer conditions.
Ive never met @az2au but hope he comes back. He aways provides really good insight.

[AzSuperHack76]

Ridiculous. Brian is as level headed and a good dude as it gets. I have played with him a couple times and it's always a pleasure.

 

This forum is just not what it used to be.

[puttnforthe8]

It's all the little snowflakes that are running around the forum! The first hint of not getting their way, they flag and report people.

[azgolfer44]

I have disagreed with him about golf courses Before (which is really insignificant in big picture) but also respectful and responsive. Hope he comes back. He provides a ton of value to this forum especially.

[cbbaron]

DMed you

[cbbaron]

sent you a dm

[Schley]

Total BS, overzealous mods are one sure way to lose the effectiveness of a forum. I have been on 4 regularly and one in particular was like a mine field. Brian always provided a great insight, collectively we all add our own and in the end get the full picture. His was valued as a local guy to Phoenix, but well traveled. Cooling off period I hope as the mods aren't the site, WE are the site.

[ferrispgm]

i just don't get how they can totally ban a guy from a public forum and who has a great track record here. I have had my share of warnings and stuff from Mods by me responding to some guy being a jerk. Knowing Brian, I highly doubt he was being ban-worthy at all. BRING BACK BRIAN!

[Bargegolf]

agreed

[cbbaron]

Clarification Brian was going to be suspended when a member was upset with him when the Mods contacted him he told them to deactivate his account

[Schley]

Is the thead still up where this took place? Post if so.

Also what a cry baby to contact the mods when someone gives a different point of view. Hard to believe Brian would post something worthy of being suspended in the first place.