2019 Phoenix Area Course Conditions

[OspreyCI]

Played Kokopelli in 5 hours. What an experience. Geez. Greens were good though. Did I say it took 5 hours on a Friday afternoon??

[Bonneville85308]

> @OspreyCI said:

> Played Kokopelli in 5 hours. What an experience. Geez. Greens were good though. Did I say it took 5 hours on a Friday afternoon??

I don't think I've ever heard of a round at that course that took less than 5 hours. Typical Arcis-managed course. Sorry to hear you had to sit through that.

[jatrain]

Aguila today, great as always. New restaurant is nice as well, good burger.

[DBill]

Anyone play Cave Creek lately? Will be my first time out there Friday.

[Bonneville85308]

> @DBill said:

> Anyone play Cave Creek lately? Will be my first time out there Friday.

I played it last Friday late afternoon after work. Greens rolled great. For $20 to walk 18 there was really zero I could possibly complain about. Just keep in mind the dormant rough is rock hard right now and it's real easy to roll/bounce an off-line shot OB on certain holes like 6, 8, 11, etc. My second shot on #11 missed the fairway on the left by about 5 feet and ended up down in the wash.

[ferrispgm]

Cave Creek is typically in pretty decent shape....normally not as good as Papago or Aguila but not far behind either. It's definitely a quirky course, especially on the greens, but one I enjoy more than I thought I would. For the rate though it's hard to beat.

[Rohlio]

Played Encanto tuesday morning and this afternoon...

Look, this course blows. I hate it. If it wasn't right across the street from my house I would never play it. That being said. It is in fantastic (for Encanto) shape. Greens rolling great. Fairways nice. Of course the bunkers are made out of dirt colored quikcrete, but if you just play them like you are chipping off a cart path they are doable.

 

For $23 walking with a city card it is a decent option... If you live across the street.

[Olson12]

Aguila is absolutely perfect. Although I didn't play 15-18 yesterday since we drove in to watch Big Cat bring home the trophy in the new restaurant.

 

Speaking of... The food in the new place is really good. Great upgrade vs the old.

[FlashNoonan]

Played Cave Creek yesterday. Course was in decent shape for Cave Creek. Greens were pretty good too. The older guys running the pro shop were more interested in watching the Masters than checking me in though.

I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and saw that it wasn't jam packed with cars. But that quickly faded after I was on the putting green and watching the back up at #1 start. I'm still dumbfounded how a course that wasn't relatively busy had a 4 to 5 group backup on #1. Pace was better after about the 4th hole but still made for a long round.

[jatrain]

Encanto yesterday. Second everything Rohilio said except I think I like the course more than him. Good for a round where you don’t want to have to think much, can hit a ton of drivers, don’t have to deal with desert crap, and can score. And cheap.

[DrSchteeve]

Papa> @FlashNoonan said:

> Played Cave Creek yesterday. Course was in decent shape for Cave Creek. Greens were pretty good too. The older guys running the pro shop were more interested in watching the Masters than checking me in though.

> I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and saw that it wasn't jam packed with cars. But that quickly faded after I was on the putting green and watching the back up at #1 start. I'm still dumbfounded how a course that wasn't relatively busy had a 4 to 5 group backup on #1. Pace was better after about the 4th hole but still made for a long round.

It's because nobody made tee times during the Masters, then everyone decided they wanted to play as soon as it was over.

 

 

[MackDaddy480]

Played Camelback Ambiente and Southern Dunes over the weekend. Both were in pure shape, Camelback's greens were a little quicker than Southern Dunes but no complaints about either courses. Just don't forget to bring some bug spray along for the trek to SD, there were quite a few mosquito's out there.

[AzSuperHack76]

> @Olson12 said:

> Aguila is absolutely perfect. Although I didn't play 15-18 yesterday since we drove in to watch Big Cat bring home the trophy in the new restaurant.

>

> Speaking of... The food in the new place is really good. Great upgrade vs the old.

 

Agree, Aguila is so pure right now. Greens today were near perfect, my buddy played We-Ko-Pa Saguaro yesterday. He commented that Aguila's greens were better today.

 

Got the Aguila burger after the round, really good chow.

[Olson12]

I know many of you don't like Karsten but I played there yesterday. Surprisingly the conditions are really good. Greens rolled true but were REALLY slow. Fairways and bunkers were good. I really enjoy the course, its a nice change of pace and really penalizes for being out of position off the tee. I was surprised by how good the conditions were since they are closing soon.

[Rohlio]

It is kind of a broken record right now, but Aguila is in great shape. $24/ walk with a city card is an absolute steal for the level it is playing at. The bunker renovation last year has really paid off. I was in two bunkers today and they were basically perfect. Greens were good, fairways beautiful. The dormant rough is starting to grow so it looks a but shaggy off the edges of the fairways, but really nothing to complain about here.

[jatrain]

Papago today. Still good, greens are browning and are really fast and firm but still roll well.

[bangabain]

Hi all, first off thanks to everyone for the constant updates & advice in this and the other yearly Phoenix threads, always great to read!

 

My wife & I are coming down from Edmonton for a quick trip next weekend and I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice/confirmation on a couple of decisions that we haven't 100% nailed down yet... First just some background on our Phoenix experience, we come down every Christmas for 3 weeks and stay down in San Tan Valley on Johnson Ranch, I know there are some...opinions about Johnson Ranch, but we wind up playing 90% of our rounds there at Christmas for various reasons (Private cart, kids golfing with us, family, having the house on the 3rd hole, DUI laws to name a few ;P ), so when we come down for a little getaway we try to play a couple of other courses we haven't before. Last year we played Superstition/Dinosaur as a 36 day, and Ocotillo the day it was 40*C+ (again, totally get the local opinions on that one but there's nothing like it up here in Edmonton and my wife thinks it's pretty with all the water, so if she's happy I'm happy haha), so was looking for a couple of others to play this year around the same price/quality/distance (40-45 mins max) from Johnson Ranch.

 

Right now we're looking at either Longbow/Red Mountain + Las Sendas for a 36 day, and basically open to suggestions for somewhere within that 40-45 minute range for an 18-27 hole day. Qualifying that is my wife likes either elevation changes or lots of water (pretty will win over solid architecture), will not go near the I-10, and we're not looking for anything too crazy price-wise, so no pressure :P:P . I've checked through all the Phoenix threads and looked at most of the courses in that range and have a fair idea of what we're up against, but I'm basically just looking for local/current advice on anything we should definitely play or outright avoid at the moment :)

 

Thanks again for all the reviews and reports, and looking forward to continuing reading throughout the year!

[puttnforthe8]

> @bangabain said:

> Hi all, first off thanks to everyone for the constant updates & advice in this and the other yearly Phoenix threads, always great to read!

>

> My wife & I are coming down from Edmonton for a quick trip next weekend and I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice/confirmation on a couple of decisions that we haven't 100% nailed down yet... First just some background on our Phoenix experience, we come down every Christmas for 3 weeks and stay down in San Tan Valley on Johnson Ranch, I know there are some...opinions about Johnson Ranch, but we wind up playing 90% of our rounds there at Christmas for various reasons (Private cart, kids golfing with us, family, having the house on the 3rd hole, DUI laws to name a few ;P ), so when we come down for a little getaway we try to play a couple of other courses we haven't before. Last year we played Superstition/Dinosaur as a 36 day, and Ocotillo the day it was 40*C+ (again, totally get the local opinions on that one but there's nothing like it up here in Edmonton and my wife thinks it's pretty with all the water, so if she's happy I'm happy haha), so was looking for a couple of others to play this year around the same price/quality/distance (40-45 mins max) from Johnson Ranch.

>

> Right now we're looking at either Longbow/Red Mountain + Las Sendas for a 36 day, and basically open to suggestions for somewhere within that 40-45 minute range for an 18-27 hole day. Qualifying that is my wife likes either elevation changes or lots of water (pretty will win over solid architecture), will not go near the I-10, and we're not looking for anything too crazy price-wise, so no pressure :P:P . I've checked through all the Phoenix threads and looked at most of the courses in that range and have a fair idea of what we're up against, but I'm basically just looking for local/current advice on anything we should definitely play or outright avoid at the moment :)

>

> Thanks again for all the reviews and reports, and looking forward to continuing reading throughout the year!

 

Have you gone down to Poston Butte? It's down the way from where you are in JR. Obviously, Southern Dunes - the drive is not that bad. Then there are the Whirlwind courses too. Legacy and Raven. From there there is Dobson Ranch, Bear Creek, San Marcos and Ocotillo - not the greatest bunch, but serviceable.

 

 

[lvlites]

Wigwam Gold yesterday. Played right after the Pac West Championship. Firm and fast. The best condition I've seen for the Gold in 13 years.

[copperjeff]

> @puttnforthe8 said:

> > @bangabain said:

> > Hi all, first off thanks to everyone for the constant updates & advice in this and the other yearly Phoenix threads, always great to read!

> >

> > My wife & I are coming down from Edmonton for a quick trip next weekend and I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice/confirmation on a couple of decisions that we haven't 100% nailed down yet... First just some background on our Phoenix experience, we come down every Christmas for 3 weeks and stay down in San Tan Valley on Johnson Ranch, I know there are some...opinions about Johnson Ranch, but we wind up playing 90% of our rounds there at Christmas for various reasons (Private cart, kids golfing with us, family, having the house on the 3rd hole, DUI laws to name a few ;P ), so when we come down for a little getaway we try to play a couple of other courses we haven't before. Last year we played Superstition/Dinosaur as a 36 day, and Ocotillo the day it was 40*C+ (again, totally get the local opinions on that one but there's nothing like it up here in Edmonton and my wife thinks it's pretty with all the water, so if she's happy I'm happy haha), so was looking for a couple of others to play this year around the same price/quality/distance (40-45 mins max) from Johnson Ranch.

> >

> > Right now we're looking at either Longbow/Red Mountain + Las Sendas for a 36 day, and basically open to suggestions for somewhere within that 40-45 minute range for an 18-27 hole day. Qualifying that is my wife likes either elevation changes or lots of water (pretty will win over solid architecture), will not go near the I-10, and we're not looking for anything too crazy price-wise, so no pressure :P:P . I've checked through all the Phoenix threads and looked at most of the courses in that range and have a fair idea of what we're up against, but I'm basically just looking for local/current advice on anything we should definitely play or outright avoid at the moment :)

> >

> > Thanks again for all the reviews and reports, and looking forward to continuing reading throughout the year!

>

> Have you gone down to Poston Butte? It's down the way from where you are in JR. Obviously, Southern Dunes - the drive is not that bad. Then there are the Whirlwind courses too. Legacy and Raven. From there there is Dobson Ranch, Bear Creek, San Marcos and Ocotillo - not the greatest bunch, but serviceable.

>

>

 

I live in the area of Johnson ranch.... While there are quite a few courses within 45 minutes, there aren't many great ones, or even that many scenic. If you expand your range a bit, many better courses start to come into the mix.

 

As far as super scenic courses in the far SE/E valley, JR and Dino are about it.

[AzSuperHack76]

500 Club, overall in really good shape. Greens apear fast but are actually on the slower side, a lot of putts were left short today due to that wizardry.... Decent pace at 4 hours teeing off at 745.

[Kuhndogg8]

> @bangabain said:

> Hi all, first off thanks to everyone for the constant updates & advice in this and the other yearly Phoenix threads, always great to read!

>

> My wife & I are coming down from Edmonton for a quick trip next weekend and I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice/confirmation on a couple of decisions that we haven't 100% nailed down yet... First just some background on our Phoenix experience, we come down every Christmas for 3 weeks and stay down in San Tan Valley on Johnson Ranch, I know there are some...opinions about Johnson Ranch, but we wind up playing 90% of our rounds there at Christmas for various reasons (Private cart, kids golfing with us, family, having the house on the 3rd hole, DUI laws to name a few ;P ), so when we come down for a little getaway we try to play a couple of other courses we haven't before. Last year we played Superstition/Dinosaur as a 36 day, and Ocotillo the day it was 40*C+ (again, totally get the local opinions on that one but there's nothing like it up here in Edmonton and my wife thinks it's pretty with all the water, so if she's happy I'm happy haha), so was looking for a couple of others to play this year around the same price/quality/distance (40-45 mins max) from Johnson Ranch.

>

> Right now we're looking at either Longbow/Red Mountain + Las Sendas for a 36 day, and basically open to suggestions for somewhere within that 40-45 minute range for an 18-27 hole day. Qualifying that is my wife likes either elevation changes or lots of water (pretty will win over solid architecture), will not go near the I-10, and we're not looking for anything too crazy price-wise, so no pressure :P:P . I've checked through all the Phoenix threads and looked at most of the courses in that range and have a fair idea of what we're up against, but I'm basically just looking for local/current advice on anything we should definitely play or outright avoid at the moment :)

>

> Thanks again for all the reviews and reports, and looking forward to continuing reading throughout the year!

 

You'll get some negative feedback here on Las Sendas, but based on your descriptions your wife would probably like it. Quite a bit of elevation change from about holes 4-14, and there's some really great views. That look on 18 looking out at Phoenix over the water is pretty amazing, especially later in the day if the sun's setting (just get help tracking your ball if that's the case). The complaints on the course is that it at times is unnecessarily tricked up with some blind shots that don't need to be there. I generally still find it a fun track even though the layout can be a little frustrating at times. From your description of cost/views/location, I think it's up your alley.

[bangabain]

> @Kuhndogg8 said:

> > @bangabain said:

> > Hi all, first off thanks to everyone for the constant updates & advice in this and the other yearly Phoenix threads, always great to read!

> >

> > My wife & I are coming down from Edmonton for a quick trip next weekend and I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice/confirmation on a couple of decisions that we haven't 100% nailed down yet... First just some background on our Phoenix experience, we come down every Christmas for 3 weeks and stay down in San Tan Valley on Johnson Ranch, I know there are some...opinions about Johnson Ranch, but we wind up playing 90% of our rounds there at Christmas for various reasons (Private cart, kids golfing with us, family, having the house on the 3rd hole, DUI laws to name a few ;P ), so when we come down for a little getaway we try to play a couple of other courses we haven't before. Last year we played Superstition/Dinosaur as a 36 day, and Ocotillo the day it was 40*C+ (again, totally get the local opinions on that one but there's nothing like it up here in Edmonton and my wife thinks it's pretty with all the water, so if she's happy I'm happy haha), so was looking for a couple of others to play this year around the same price/quality/distance (40-45 mins max) from Johnson Ranch.

> >

> > Right now we're looking at either Longbow/Red Mountain + Las Sendas for a 36 day, and basically open to suggestions for somewhere within that 40-45 minute range for an 18-27 hole day. Qualifying that is my wife likes either elevation changes or lots of water (pretty will win over solid architecture), will not go near the I-10, and we're not looking for anything too crazy price-wise, so no pressure :P:P . I've checked through all the Phoenix threads and looked at most of the courses in that range and have a fair idea of what we're up against, but I'm basically just looking for local/current advice on anything we should definitely play or outright avoid at the moment :)

> >

> > Thanks again for all the reviews and reports, and looking forward to continuing reading throughout the year!

>

> You'll get some negative feedback here on Las Sendas, but based on your descriptions your wife would probably like it. Quite a bit of elevation change from about holes 4-14, and there's some really great views. That look on 18 looking out at Phoenix over the water is pretty amazing, especially later in the day if the sun's setting (just get help tracking your ball if that's the case). The complaints on the course is that it at times is unnecessarily tricked up with some blind shots that don't need to be there. I generally still find it a fun track even though the layout can be a little frustrating at times. From your description of cost/views/location, I think it's up your alley.

 

Thanks @Kuhndogg8 , @copperjeff & @puttnforthe8 for the replies, We've ended up going with Mountain Brook/Dinosaur (we played Sidewinder for our morning round last year so figured we'd change it up for a cheap morning round) & Longbow/Las Sendas for our two 36 hole days, with JR in between on the 2 other days. Sounds like from your comments and a few other conversations I've had that I was somewhat on the right track for a few fun days of golf that will hopefully end up with a happy wife at the end :P

 

Cheers again, I'll post a few conditions pics and get the thread back on track once we're home!

 

PS - this is what we're leaving behind so apologies in advance for the biased condition reports :P:P

 

[puttnforthe8]

> @bangabain said:

> > @Kuhndogg8 said:

> > > @bangabain said:

> > > Hi all, first off thanks to everyone for the constant updates & advice in this and the other yearly Phoenix threads, always great to read!

> > >

> > > My wife & I are coming down from Edmonton for a quick trip next weekend and I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice/confirmation on a couple of decisions that we haven't 100% nailed down yet... First just some background on our Phoenix experience, we come down every Christmas for 3 weeks and stay down in San Tan Valley on Johnson Ranch, I know there are some...opinions about Johnson Ranch, but we wind up playing 90% of our rounds there at Christmas for various reasons (Private cart, kids golfing with us, family, having the house on the 3rd hole, DUI laws to name a few ;P ), so when we come down for a little getaway we try to play a couple of other courses we haven't before. Last year we played Superstition/Dinosaur as a 36 day, and Ocotillo the day it was 40*C+ (again, totally get the local opinions on that one but there's nothing like it up here in Edmonton and my wife thinks it's pretty with all the water, so if she's happy I'm happy haha), so was looking for a couple of others to play this year around the same price/quality/distance (40-45 mins max) from Johnson Ranch.

> > >

> > > Right now we're looking at either Longbow/Red Mountain + Las Sendas for a 36 day, and basically open to suggestions for somewhere within that 40-45 minute range for an 18-27 hole day. Qualifying that is my wife likes either elevation changes or lots of water (pretty will win over solid architecture), will not go near the I-10, and we're not looking for anything too crazy price-wise, so no pressure :P:P . I've checked through all the Phoenix threads and looked at most of the courses in that range and have a fair idea of what we're up against, but I'm basically just looking for local/current advice on anything we should definitely play or outright avoid at the moment :)

> > >

> > > Thanks again for all the reviews and reports, and looking forward to continuing reading throughout the year!

> >

> > You'll get some negative feedback here on Las Sendas, but based on your descriptions your wife would probably like it. Quite a bit of elevation change from about holes 4-14, and there's some really great views. That look on 18 looking out at Phoenix over the water is pretty amazing, especially later in the day if the sun's setting (just get help tracking your ball if that's the case). The complaints on the course is that it at times is unnecessarily tricked up with some blind shots that don't need to be there. I generally still find it a fun track even though the layout can be a little frustrating at times. From your description of cost/views/location, I think it's up your alley.

>

> Thanks @Kuhndogg8 , @copperjeff & @puttnforthe8 for the replies, We've ended up going with Mountain Brook/Dinosaur (we played Sidewinder for our morning round last year so figured we'd change it up for a cheap morning round) & Longbow/Las Sendas for our two 36 hole days, with JR in between on the 2 other days. Sounds like from your comments and a few other conversations I've had that I was somewhat on the right track for a few fun days of golf that will hopefully end up with a happy wife at the end :P

>

> Cheers again, I'll post a few conditions pics and get the thread back on track once we're home!

>

> PS - this is what we're leaving behind so apologies in advance for the biased condition reports :P:P

>

>

 

ICK!! You get to come to something like one of my recent rounds:

 

[OspreyCI]

Anyone play Talking Stick lately? One course I have never played and got a good deal through TEETIME.com. Playing North course (whatever the name is).

[Ty Vil]

> @OspreyCI said:

> Anyone play Talking Stick lately? One course I have never played and got a good deal through TEETIME.com. Playing North course (whatever the name is).

 

I prefer the North Course.

[MackDaddy480]

Played 36 at Talking Stick yesterday, all on the North Course. It was in good shape, greens had just been sanded a week ago but they had cut and rolled them yesterday AM so they were rolling nice.

[OspreyCI]

> @MackDaddy480 said:

> Played 36 at Talking Stick yesterday, all on the North Course. It was in good shape, greens had just been sanded a week ago but they had cut and rolled them yesterday AM so they were rolling nice.

 

Good to know. Appreciate the feedback.

[BettorThanMost]

Troon North Monument yesterday. Everything was really good, just a couple exceptions - a lot of ball marks on the greens on some of the shorter holes, and the driving range is in horrible condition.

[cbbaron]

> @BettorThanMost said:

> Troon North Monument yesterday. Everything was really good, just a couple exceptions - a lot of ball marks on the greens on some of the shorter holes, and the driving range is in horrible condition.

Is there a worse practice range than TN in the morning the sun is in your eyes no idea where ball is going?