2020 Phoenix Area Course Conditions

[AzSuperHack76]

Prescott Golf Club this past weekend. Holy cow the greens were lightning, best greens I've putted on in quite some time. Overall the conditions were great, bunkers could use some work, other than that no complaints. 

 

500 Club yesterday, CPO secondary to the overseed, in solid shape coming out of the overseed. POP was 345 even with the CPO teeing off at noon. 

 

 

[AzSuperHack76]

Wigwam Red, shaggy and nasty. Rough is insanely thick with the winter rye, lost 3 balls within a few feet of the fairway. Fairways are super shaggy, some parts covering half of the ball. Greens are slow but rolling decent enough.

 

The Cactus tour is out there, the leader was -8 after 2 days. Insane to see those scores under those conditions. 

[puttnforthe8]

Played Torreon Cabin course Sat - even though it is close to shutdown it was in great condition.  The greens were 13+ with pins tucked - it was playing tough!  What a good facility...highly recommend.  

[vallygolf]

2 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

Played Torreon Cabin course Sat - even though it is close to shutdown it was in great condition.  The greens were 13+ with pins tucked - it was playing tough!  What a good facility...highly recommend.  

Good reminder.  I often forget that good golf can be had into november up in the mountains.

[azgolfer44]

Aguila came out of overseed nicely. Little shaggy still but should be great all winter. 

[puttnforthe8]

Poston Butte is in really good shape for overseed.  CPO of course.  Greens rolled nice.

[jayrod79]

Papago this morning, teed off around 8 and walked in 4 hours. First day after overseed. Fairways seemed to come in very nice and greens were of course slow, but good to get out. 

[puttnforthe8]

Talking Stick North (oodham) today.  Fairways have come in pretty good, bunkers nice to hit from.  Greens were as expected, horribly slow/shaggy.  The main issue is they had no control over the course as we were 3-4 on each tee box.  No marshall, starter just handing cards, not pacing anyone.  5hr round.  

 

Groups not playing from the correct tees.  Group in front of us was a young kid, his quite old grandfather, another guy and his wife.  The 3 guys got up on the first hole, which is only about 370, on the Black tees (7133 with wind blowing) and all proceeded to not make it to the ladies tees (about 190 drives) and then hit short of the green.  We asked them if they ever played the course, let them know it was almost 7200 yds especially with the wind and suggested they move up to the golds.  They kind of scoffed and kept on the blacks.  Finally, I think they realized it on #4 because none made it to the fairway and they finally moved up.  But I watched group upon group on other holes playing black tees and hitting the ball max 220.  I am guessing this caused the backups. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by puttnforthe8

[glenva]

Played Whirlwind Devil's Claw yesterday.  Conditions were very good.  They have let the rough grow up!

[ferrispgm]

On 10/25/2020 at 7:18 PM, puttnforthe8 said:

Talking Stick North (oodham) today.  Fairways have come in pretty good, bunkers nice to hit from.  Greens were as expected, horribly slow/shaggy.  The main issue is they had no control over the course as we were 3-4 on each tee box.  No marshall, starter just handing cards, not pacing anyone.  5hr round.  

 

Groups not playing from the correct tees.  Group in front of us was a young kid, his quite old grandfather, another guy and his wife.  The 3 guys got up on the first hole, which is only about 370, on the Black tees (7133 with wind blowing) and all proceeded to not make it to the ladies tees (about 190 drives) and then hit short of the green.  We asked them if they ever played the course, let them know it was almost 7200 yds especially with the wind and suggested they move up to the golds.  They kind of scoffed and kept on the blacks.  Finally, I think they realized it on #4 because none made it to the fairway and they finally moved up.  But I watched group upon group on other holes playing black tees and hitting the ball max 220.  I am guessing this caused the backups. 

If only I had a nickel for everyone that I've seen playing the wrong tees....I always play tips and nearly every round the others in my group want to play back there with me despite me telling them a few times that they can play whatever they normally play, i'm fine with it.....and almost every one of them barely hits driver 220, chunks/skulls most approach shots and blades/chunks most chips....people need to get over their ego....if you can't hit driver over 280 and keep it under 80 then play up

[fore_life]

Did I see some wrx’ers are viewpoint today? 
 

was at the range when two younger snowbirds set up shop, one of them had a track man lol!

[Olson12]

GCU after overseed is nearly perfect.  Played there on Saturday and actually met FerrisPGM by coincidence.  Great time and great conditions. 

[FlashNoonan]

AZ Traditions on Saturday. CPO and was actually in good shape. It's been a few years since I played there so I was pleasantly surprised. 

[puttnforthe8]

Legacy is in pretty nice shape after OS.  Greens rolled well.

[Argonne69]

Why is it that some courses just want to make life difficult, and discourage business? Trying to find a tee time for Monday morning. Of course you have the courses that don't allow singles to book online. 'Guess I'll spend my money elsewhere and let the courses eat the open single slot. Then there's the courses that don't offer a walking rate. Pure cash grab. You also have the courses that don't have online booking engines. What year is this? 1876?

 

Now you've got the courses that want me to create an account and log in just to look at the tee sheet, i.e. 500 Club. F that. I'll go elsewhere. What university business school teaches its students that putting hurdles in place for potential customers to browse your merchandise is a winning strategy? FFS.

 

Glad to be back in town. It looks like its going to be cool early next week, but I can live with the mid-60s. Well, for a while anyway. Lol.

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Argonne69

[Bonneville85308]

8 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Why is it that some courses just want to make life difficult, and discourage business? Trying to find a tee time for Monday morning. Of course you have the courses that don't allow singles to book online. 'Guess I'll spend my money elsewhere and let the courses eat the open single slot. Then there's the courses that don't offer a walking rate. Pure cash grab. You also have the courses that don't have online booking engines. What year is this? 1876?

 

Now you've got the courses that want me to create an account and log in just to look at the tee sheet, i.e. 500 Club. F that. I'll go elsewhere. What university business school teaches its students that putting hurdles in place for potential customers to browse your merchandise is a winning strategy? FFS.

 

Glad to be back in town. It looks like its going to be cool early next week, but I can live with the mid-60s. Well, for a while anyway. Lol.

 

500 Club drives me nuts. I love the course but hate their "screw you, we don't need your money" way of running the place. They won't let a single book online or even over the phone in advance, you have to call the morning of play or just show up and see if they can get you out, like courses did in the 1990s. I know for a fact that they have a ton of groups go out as threesomes there, where they could have sold the 4th spot to a single in advance if they would just get their heads out of their you-know-whats. They easily miss out on thousands of dollars in business per year just from me due to these policies. 

 

I've contemplated doing a listing of Phoenix area courses and their policies for singles, like you did in the Chicago area.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Bonneville85308

[puttnforthe8]

Southern dunes is in fantastic shape tee to green.  CPO of course, so we walked in todays wind.  We had a ton of fun playing the wind out there.  

[Olson12]

I 2nd want Puttnforthe8 said on Southern Dunes.  It is coming out of overseed VERY strong.  Played there last Friday and walked as well because of CPO.  Though, its a pretty easy walk and I enjoyed the course even more walking.  I may walk there during cooler months going forward.  Greens are probably rolling at 8 right now but will only get better. 

[Argonne69]

First round of the winter hibernation at Cave Creek this morning. Lovely weather. Conditions were decent. The CPO was lifted a day or two ago. Fairways were a bit shaggy in places, and there were a few thin spots, but overall it played nicely. The greens looked great, but were only rolling 8 to 9 at best. The pace on the front was great at 1:30, but we hit a log jam on the back, waiting on every shot. Still managed to finish in under 4 hours and so no big complaints. Great to be out walking again. 

 

[FlashNoonan]

Coyote Lakes on Sunday. Have a buddy who is a member or card member or whatever it is called there. So he always wants to play there, which is fine. Course is definitely hit or miss from overseed. Seems the front took it better than the back. The first 3 holes are pretty good and then from 4 on after it's spotty at best. Greens were pretty good though. I believe the rakes were back in the bunkers (they're still trashed) and sand/divot mix was back on the carts. Overall it's just Coyote Lakes. Nothing is going to wow you. 

[azgolfer44]

Papago was pretty decent this last week. Everything was still pretty soft and shaggy. Actually growing rough in some places. They took out a tree on the corner of 18 and added some extra grass to bailout areas on 6 (right down the hill) and 16 (left of fairway). Course should be solid all winter. 

[jatrain]

Longbow yesterday. Still CPO, tees and fairways still a little shaggy but it wasn’t wet. Greens were running at a 6. (They had a sign up). The absolute slowest greens I’ve ever putted on. 

[ferrispgm]

Ashamed to admit that I played Legend at Arrowhead.....it was a free round from a vendor we use....course was actually in pretty good shape when you get away from the goose turds on half the holes and 4 or 5 greens that had a boat load of ball marks.  Bunkers are thin and full of small pebbles though.  Definitely echo what others say in that I would never go back on my own accord but for a free round and to work on some things on a course...sure why not.  On a side note...if they actually did something about the geese I wouldn't be too bad...however not paying attention and grabbing your club and feeling a turd squish all over your grip and glove was no bueno.

[Argonne69]

GCU this morning. Other than the bunkers the course was in great shape. Would it kill them to put sand in the greenside bunkers? The greens looked fantastic, but were only rolling 8 to 9. Pace was OK, but could have been oh so much better. I'll never understand why some people go out early, but are incapable of keeping up with the group in front of them. We were on the 15th green, and we could see that the group two in front of us was at least 2  holes behind on the 16th green, while the group in front of them was already finished. 

 

First visit to Painted Mountain tomorrow morning. 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Argonne69

[AzSuperHack76]

Arrowhead CC yesterday. Course is in really good shape, greens are nearly perfect. Overseed came in really well. Best shape I've seen it in a few years. Bunkers have no rakes so covid rules, they left a lot to be desired but most courses are in the same boat.  Pace was perfect, 3:45. 

 

[Argonne69]

First visit to Painted Mountain this morning. I can safely say that in playing more than 650 courses I've never started on a 600 yd par 5. Lol. The 200 yd par 3 2nd was also thrilling. Great way to ease into a round. Oy. Otherwise it was a forgettable development course. Do these architects compete to see who can design the most mundane layouts? I know that they don't have much to work with, but surely one can design a few interesting holes. Six par 3s on this one, and only two were somewhat memorable. They also figured out how to save money on maintenance by having zero fairway bunkers. 

 

Conditions were iffy. The first fairway was a mess with mud and standing water. Guess the overseed didn't quite take. Other holes were better, but it was still patchy in spots. Greenside bunkers were a tad wet, but playable. Greens looked very nice, but no surprise they were only rolling 8 at best. Pace was nice at 3:40. 

 

Definitely not a course I'd recommend. Not terrible, but nothing really stood out. 

 

Papago tomorrow. It's been quite a while since I teed it up there. 

 

[jatrain]

Encanto yesterday.  No problems, what you expect there. 

[MackDaddy480]

58 minutes ago, jatrain said:

Encanto yesterday.  No problems, what you expect there. 

How were the greens rolling?

[Bonneville85308]

Wigwam Red early this morning. Had about a 30 minute frost delay.  Played as a foursome, 4th or 5th group off and finished in 3:40.

 

Fairways good, not wet. Greens slow.  Overseeded rough was thick but probably cut in the last day or two, from the clippings laying on it I could tell it was very high before getting cut. Multiple bunkers had a silly amount of nickel-sized rocks in them. 

 

One thing that bugs me is the 5,800 yard tees aren't rated for men, when they are a great option for seniors and short ball hitters.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Bonneville85308

[Argonne69]

Beautiful morning at Papago. It was my second visit to the course. I played it back in early 2015. 'Love the new clubhouse. The course was in great shape. Fairways are a bit shaggy, but it's fine if you like having the ball teed up a bit. Bunkers were playable, but could use more sand. Greens looked excellent, but were on the slow side. 'Probably 9. Pace was fine. It was (alternating) rough only today, so the three guys I was playing with slowed us down enough that we only waited on two shots all day, but still managed a sub-4 hour round. Speaking of rough only, those carts are annoying a h-ll. The carts must have shut down at least a dozen times when they were no where near the fairway. If you're going to have a stupid GPS-based defense mechanism built in, at least get it right.