2021 Phoenix Area Course Conditions

[pingnewbie]

Haha I know, we'll probably do 3&2. The 5 was going to scramble.

[jatrain]

GCU on Tuesday.  They had something, either sand or fertilizer, on the greens.  It didn’t effect anything, they still rolled at a good speed.  

[Bonneville85308]

Encanto this morning. One hour frost delay and they had everyone start on #10. Course was in better condition than last time I played it around Thanksgiving. Seems they have been laying off the irrigation and the ball is rolling now. The issue with the last 10-15 feet of the fairways going into the greens being wet with sparse grass has mostly been resolved. Greens were in nice condition and quick once the dew dried off. As I said last time, they cut the dormant rough a bit low for my liking and it leads to a lot of thin lies now that it has all been matted down by cart traffic. Pace around 3:20.

[bankkur74]

Just wanted to give my two cents from getting back from week stay and playing TPC( both courses).  It was first time playing and definitely enjoyed the stadium course. Thought the conditions of everything from tee to green were in great shape for stadium, I would definitely play there again. As for the champions, was not impressed whatsoever. The only thing that was good were the greens but the rough and fairways just were lacking for me.  Stadium was CPO for entire round, champions you could drive everywhere.  When we go back again in early spring, I would play the stadium anytime and definitely skip the champions. As a sidenote, I was very surprised and impressed that they give you a fore caddy for the stadium course. He made the round very fun and enjoyable as well.  

[puttnforthe8]

Wekopa Saguaro is in fantastic shape, except for some low sand areas in some bunkers.  The greens are quick and true.  Grass has grow in great.

 

one additional thing, they have really cleaned up brush and trees on the course. They have removed any overhanging limbs, and cut down scrub on virtually every hole.  Very open looking now. 

[Clueless]

Played Papago today, not sure why it gets the love it does. Stupid fast greens that don't hold shots, very narrow fairways with thin grass for fairways. Desert areas are quirky with lots of holes, easy to lose balls. Worst bunkers I've played in years with lots of pebbles and very little sand. All this for $140 without a city card. I'd play GCU any day over this course. I don't get it honestly. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Clueless

[tcbringhurst]

Bellair yesterday, forgot to post till now. 
 

The course conditions have improved greatly under the new owners.
 

Tees: grass is full and lush. They only have one set of tees (instead of 3) and that seems to help. Some tee boxes aren’t level, and that hasn’t changed under the new owners. I was hoping the tee boxes would be redone so they were level. 
 

Fairways: also full and lush. Not really in play on the par 3s but it’s in good condition on the par 4s. 
 

Rough: near the greens it’s great. Away from the greens it’s dormant, almost like a waste area in some spots. Not really in play unless you hook/slice it like I did several times. 
 

Sand: hard pan

 

Greens: great conditions! Receptive to shots yet fast and challenging to putt on. 
 

Range: Toptracer range is now open. I wonder if they use limited flight balls because the yardages it was giving me on hybrids and woods seemed lower than expected. 
 

Despite the shorter course length, POP was around 3:30. I’ll definitely be going back sometime this winter. 

[chisag]

... Anyone played Quintero lately? Friend of a friend coming to town and he insists on playing there. 

[Arizonalefty59]

Had the pleasure of getting out to Aguila with Fore Life this week. All I can say is WOW. The conditions were unbelievably good. Greens were the fastest and purest I think I have ever seen them. Fairways was perfect. 

[azgolfer44]

12 hours ago, Clueless said:

Played Papago today, not sure why it gets the love it does. Stupid fast greens that don't hold shots, very narrow fairways with thin grass for fairways. Desert areas are quirky with lots of holes, easy to lose balls. Worst bunkers I've played in years with lots of pebbles and very little sand. All this for $140 without a city card. I'd play GCU any day over this course. I don't get it honestly. 

Interesting opinion.   Personally, I think the greens are near perfect right now, and the firmness helps them from getting worn with ballmarks.  I can see how others may enjoy GCU over Papago, but for me, it is not even close.   As far as costs, it is driven a lot by location, and I think Papago gives a decent value over courses in similar price range (McCormick, Biltmore, Lookout Mountain, Legacy).

[puttnforthe8]

12 hours ago, chisag said:

... Anyone played Quintero lately? Friend of a friend coming to town and he insists on playing there. 

 

Yeah...it's in great shape tee to green.  Near flawless actually.  The fairways were obviously slower than normal, but not bad at all.  

[YMark]

On 12/19/2021 at 8:07 PM, chisag said:

... Anyone played Quintero lately? Friend of a friend coming to town and he insists on playing there. 

 

Let the friend pay then.  I'll probably get knocked for this, but I don't get the love for Quintero, especially for the price. Plus they're snooty. I'd much rather drive another 30 minutes and play Wickenburg Ranch.

[chisag]

3 minutes ago, YMark said:

 

Let the friend pay then.  I'll probably get knocked for this, but I don't get the love for Quintero, especially for the price. Plus they're snooty. I'd much rather drive another 30 minutes and play Wickenburg Ranch.

 

 

... I LOVE this thread. Always interesting how we view courses like Southern Dunes that got extreme opinions. I was not a big fan of Wickenburg Ranch after several gave me the same advice "it is better than Quintero". I am sure that colored my opinion because if I just played WR without the hype I probably would have loved it. But I prefer Quintero for the views and don't really care about the staff (which I also found a little arrogant) especially compared to WR that bent over backwards to be friendly. I would add with 2 back surgeries, driving that far and then playing is always a bad idea so that may have factored in as well. Just too far drive for me and I am not sure what kind of sports car you are driving to get from Quintero to WR in 30 m minutes but for me it is another hour. 🤪  I was also a little disappointed in Los Caballeros that was highly recommended considering the drive. 

... Probably a moot point as predictions are a high of 61* with 80% chance of rain Friday which means I will cancel my Quintero Golfnow tee time. Then I can play it again next summer when it is much more reasonable. 

[AzSuperHack76]

Sterling Grove yesterday, it's in excellent shape, greens were awesome and the ball rolled so pure. $76 @ 120 is a good value in my book. There were 2 foursomes in front of us that were clearly beginners or if not first timers. I had zero hopes before we tee'd off that we would finish by dark. I have to give major props to the Sterling Grove Marshalls who kept everything on pace and them moving. When we tee'd off on one the starter told us they were aware of the groups. We finished in exactly 4 hours, just before sunset. 

[FlashNoonan]

Dove Valley last Thursday. I haven't played there in about 4 years but was pleasantly surprised. Was kind of worried about the tee time spacing, seemed like they had it at 7 or 8 minutes. There was a 3 group backup on the first hole but then it quickly evened out. Everything was in great shape and the greens were true and quick. Some greens though, people need to figure out how to fix ball marks. I had a free round voucher. For $90 for a 1230 time during the week is a bit steep IMO but that's the Scottsdale area though. Course was jam packed so obviously people are paying the rates. 

[jatrain]

Papago today, pretty much perfect fairways and greens.  Good pace, tee’d off at 1:30, finished before dark

[azgolfer44]

Played Verrado Founder's yesterday.  Conditions were okay. I thought the greens were on the slower/bumpy side and the overseed didn't come in real well.  Everything else was good.

 

This is only my second time playing the course - the front 9 feels kind of bland but I did really enjoy the back 9.  The stretch from 13-17 is great.  POP was right at 4 hours which was better than expected.  Overall, not sure if I will go back for the price of the greens fee (especially compared to Papago, Aguila or GCU), but still an enjoyable day.

[puttnforthe8]

Southern Dunes pretty much perfect tee to green except a few bunkers look like they took a hit in the recent rains and had sand washed to other parts.  The guys were out there trying to 'repair' the bunkers today.

 

 

[AzSuperHack76]

Sun Village Par 3 course in Surprise, never have been there before, really no reason to go. Par 54, 18 75-145 yard par 3 holes. I am glad I went, it's actually a great place other than the range to work on the short game. Next time I go I'll just bring a Sunday bag with 9 iron through 58 degree wedge. Overall the course is in good shape, greens were slow but as expected after a few days of rain in the West Valley. Front 9 is more or less meh, in terms of features, small greens with green side bunkers. The back nine is a fun set of 9 holes with water coming into play on most every hole, visually it's a good looking back 9. I can't stress enough that it is a great place to work on the wedges, soft receptive greens made it fun. 

[chisag]

On 12/28/2021 at 6:32 AM, azgolfer44 said:

Played Verrado Founder's yesterday.  Conditions were okay. I thought the greens were on the slower/bumpy side and the overseed didn't come in real well.  Everything else was good.

 

This is only my second time playing the course - the front 9 feels kind of bland but I did really enjoy the back 9.  The stretch from 13-17 is great.

 

 

... Followed through with my Golfnow tee time and wish I had not. Greens while not exactly slow but more of a medium speed and they are very bumpy. Literally hundreds of ball marks on most every green and patches of sand. By far the worst conditions I have ever experienced at Verrado and putts bounced all over the place. As you stated the rest of the course was fine. 

... I really like all the holes considering the mountain views and elevation changes but I will not be gone back until I hear the greens have returned to rolling like ... well ... greens and not Chinese Checkers. 

[FlashNoonan]

Encanto yesterday. Hour or so frost delay, no biggie. Course was the best that I remember seeing it. Tee boxes, fairways and greens were all excellent. Rough was dried out dormant Bermuda which in a lot of areas was hardpan. Still overall worth a trip if you want to avoid the pricing gouging with other courses during this time of year. 

[LBattaglia93]

On 12/30/2021 at 9:31 PM, chisag said:

 

 

... Followed through with my Golfnow tee time and wish I had not. Greens while not exactly slow but more of a medium speed and they are very bumpy. Literally hundreds of ball marks on most every green and patches of sand. By far the worst conditions I have ever experienced at Verrado and putts bounced all over the place. As you stated the rest of the course was fine. 

... I really like all the holes considering the mountain views and elevation changes but I will not be gone back until I hear the greens have returned to rolling like ... well ... greens and not Chinese Checkers. 

 

Damn!...I just booked Founders for 1/22 for the last round of a buddies trip to Tucson/Phoenix. I'm bummed to hear Founders isn't in great shape.

 

We're already playing Southern Dunes on Friday when we're driving up from Phoenix. Do you have any other spots you'd recommend for a round on Saturday? We have a 430pm flight to catch so our limitations would be an early tee time and preferably something less $300. We did We-Ko-Pa Saguaro last year and I thought it was worth the ~$280 greens fee but unfortunately they're already full on Saturday. 

[cbbaron]

2 minutes ago, LBattaglia93 said:

 

Damn!...I just booked Founders for 1/22 for the last round of a buddies trip to Tucson/Phoenix. I'm bummed to hear Founders isn't in great shape.

 

We're already playing Southern Dunes on Friday when we're driving up from Phoenix. Do you have any other spots you'd recommend for a round on Saturday? We have a 430pm flight to catch so our limitations would be an early tee time and preferably something less $300. We did We-Ko-Pa Saguaro last year and I thought it was worth the ~$280 greens fee but unfortunately they're already full on Saturday. 

Whirlwind Devils Claw

[LBattaglia93]

11 minutes ago, cbbaron said:

Whirlwind Devils Claw

 

Devil's Claw was on my shortlist before I pulled trigger on Founders. Have you played it at all recently? I'm curious how the conditions are right now. 

[puttnforthe8]

1 hour ago, LBattaglia93 said:

 

Devil's Claw was on my shortlist before I pulled trigger on Founders. Have you played it at all recently? I'm curious how the conditions are right now. 

They are excellent.  

[puttnforthe8]

Troon Pinnacle - Fairways were all really good.  Bunkers nice.  Tee boxes were in horrid shape and inconsistent lengths; plus whoever put out the tee markers was a sheer moron - they were put at the front of the box about 3 yards wide.

 

The greens were terrible - seemed like there wasn't a single ball mark fixed on many holes.  Terrible...I'd be pissed paying full price for those greens.  

 

They had a 1.5 hour frost delay today, but caught up nicely.

 

Front desk pro shop staff were a couple of really unprofessional and discourteous clowns who were rude to the customers.   

[pingnewbie]

If given the choice for next weekend, would you play Papago or Aguila? Haven't played either. Thanks.

[fore_life]

1 hour ago, pingnewbie said:

If given the choice for next weekend, would you play Papago or Aguila? Haven't played either. Thanks.

I think Aguila is better/more enjoyable 

[chisag]

5 minutes ago, fore_life said:

I think Aguila is better/more enjoyable 

 

... Much better views of South Mountain and Estrella. I also like the layout more at Aguila. 

[fore_life]

Agreed