2021 Phoenix Area Course Conditions

[MColin28]

Troon North yesterday for our last rounds of a wonderful trip.  We played Pinnacle and Monument.  Pinnacle was in great shape and dead.  Nobody out there (850am tee).  Played in around 3 hours 10 mins, if that.  Monument had a bit more traffic on it...but still a quick round.  Both courses in great shape - greens were a TOUCH slower than normal.  BUT, we came off of two days at Southern Dunes and Verde River; both rolling north of 12.5.

 

I absolutely LOVE Phoenix.  Can't wait to get back!  Thanks to all the help from the folks on the boards to help us map our trip.  Cheers!

Edited January 13, 2021 by MColin28
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[Argonne69]

First visit to McCormick Ranch Palms. Tough front nine with plenty of water. Don't recall seeing a split fairway with a waterway running down the middle (9th). Course was in reasonable shape. Fairways were typical. Bunkers had plenty of sand, but it was compacted and wet. Expected more for over $100. Greens were rolling 10 to 11. Pace was very good at 3:50. 

 

[Argonne69]

First visit to the Viewpoint Golf Resort this morning. Fun layout that felt very un-desert like. Probably the pine trees. Good use of mounding to keep things somewhat interesting. Tough collection of par 3s. It could use more bunkering. A few greens were quite challenging, e.g. #10. Conditions were decent. A few fairways had some fairly thin lies. The rough was patchy. Bunkers were pretty bad, with little sand, and what was there was wet and compacted. The greens looked nice, but were rolling very inconsistently. You'd get one rolling 10, and the next was 8. Pace was solid at 3:50.

 

[Argonne69]

First visit to Sun City Lakes West today. Happy to have completed the Sun City courses, so I can focus on the more interesting courses in the valley. I only have a handful of full length courses to play. Conditions were fine. Fairways a little dry (yeah!). Rough was patchy. Bunkers were wet and compacted. Don't understand why bunkers are in such poor shape around here. Greens were fine, and rolling around 10. Pace was excellent at 3:25. Gotta hand it to the retirees in Sun City. They don't mess around. Lol.

 

[puttnforthe8]

Verrado Victory today.  The nice cloud cover and warm overnight temp made it for no frost delay!! 

 

The course was in fantastic shape.  There were a few spots where there was a lot of water/wet which caused some muddiness, but not significant.

 

The greens were outstanding, running about 11.5.  They have rerouted a lot of cart paths as homes are going up like mold on month old cheese.

[puttnforthe8]

Played Rancho Manana - because I had to - and it is a waste of land!   Tough to even call it a golf course.

 

The conditions were absolute garbage - fairways were garbage with dead spots or pure mud and soggy, greens were rock hard, bumpy and inconsistent , bunkers rock hard or muddy, tee boxes were mostly non-existent and not a single level spot.  Apparently whoever set the pins thought they would be funny to put them no more than 1-2 yards from slopes, false fronts or drop offs all from the edge of the green....not sure, but I am sure there is some sort of rule or requirement for pin placement that should be adhered to. The service was a very bad.  POP was worse - 3:05 for 9 holes - one of our playing partners left at 11 (club house).  I should have left as well, but did not want to spoil such a nice day despite the rotten course.

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by puttnforthe8

[Bonneville85308]

Papago this morning. Everything was in great shape, course is probably playing the most firm and dry it has been in the past couple of months . Some very difficult hole locations today, many within 6-7' of the edge of the green. We finished in 4 hours, but the group that teed off right after us was a few holes behind where they should have been.

[AzSuperHack76]

Falcon Dunes was in really good shape. Greens were rolling very well. Just like the above it must have been "Greenskeeper" revenge day. Some of the most ridiculous locations I have ever seen out there. Pace of Play was perfect, 3:30 teeing off right around 1030. 

[DBill]

Played Orange Tree on Friday, first time for me out there.  Course was very bland, conditions were spotty on tee boxes and fairways.  Not too many good things to say about it as whole, and was a very forgettable layout.  Not sure how these guys get $100 plus this time of year.  Way better options out there.

[cbbaron]

29 minutes ago, DBill said:

Played Orange Tree on Friday, first time for me out there.  Course was very bland, conditions were spotty on tee boxes and fairways.  Not too many good things to say about it as whole, and was a very forgettable layout.  Not sure how these guys get $100 plus this time of year.  Way better options out there.

I have stayed at Orange Tree like 25 times over the years never played there but have used their practice facilities

[Argonne69]

Typical conditions at Cave Creek this morning. Actually, it was probably a little drier than normal. I actually had several approach shots land short of the green, and hop on the putting surface. Greens were only rolling 9 to 10. Pace was a little slow, but it's a holiday, so no real surprise. After a 30 minute frost delay we finished in 4:15.

 

[Bonneville85308]

Papago again this morning. If they aren't going to use their usual color-coded flag system for hole locations because of a tournament later that day, they need to make the hole location sheets available to everyone (not just the people in the event) or placed in a prominent location for people to take. Frustrating. 

[YMark]

21 hours ago, DBill said:

Played Orange Tree on Friday, first time for me out there.  Course was very bland, conditions were spotty on tee boxes and fairways.  Not too many good things to say about it as whole, and was a very forgettable layout.  Not sure how these guys get $100 plus this time of year.  Way better options out there.

 

They get that much because there's another word after Orange Tree. That word is "Resort".  Definitely not worth the price, but snowbirds love convenience. 

[jatrain]

Encanto Saturday. Worst I’ve seen the greens in several years. Lots of dead spots with seed spread on them. 

[Bonneville85308]

Papago lightly top dressed the greens this morning, but it had little if any effect on speed or roll so nothing to get concerned about. Hole locations are back to the normal color system.

[Argonne69]

Caught a break with the weather this morning. It was raining when I left the house heading to Mesa to play Apache Wells for the first time, but it cleared just as I exited the 202 loop. The course is another yawner. Stop me if you've heard this story before. Can someone please break the mold for these cookie cutter development courses? This one was interesting because it had four par 5s on the back nine. The par 3s played long with the steady north wind. Otherwise it was another snoozer. 

 

Conditions were very good. Kudos on the nice sand in the green side bunkers. Greens were nice, and rolling 10 or so. Pace was the best part. The course is one of a handful in the area that uses a shotgun start. The pro shop was kind enough to pair me up with a couple of walkers, and our threesome finished in 3:20. We had three riders in front of us, and our only wait was the opening hole. 

 

[Argonne69]

2 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

Papago lightly top dressed the greens this morning, but it had little if any effect on speed or roll so nothing to get concerned about. Hole locations are back to the normal color system.

 

They must have tournaments out there on a regular basis, because I have yet to see the red/white/blue flags. Totally agree that pin sheets should be readily available. 

[Bonneville85308]

14 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

They must have tournaments out there on a regular basis, because I have yet to see the red/white/blue flags. Totally agree that pin sheets should be readily available. 

 

Normally it's:

Yellow/white checkered = front

Red/black checkered = middle

Yellow/black checkered  = back

 

But when they have a tournament, the flag colors don't correspond to the actual hole locations, they just use whatever flag probably was already on the stick from the previous hole location. So you'll have a yellow/black flag in a hole 5' off the front edge of the green.

[Argonne69]

8 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

Normally it's:

Yellow/white checkered = front

Red/black checkered = middle

Yellow/black checkered  = back

 

But when they have a tournament, the flag colors don't correspond to the actual hole locations, they just use whatever flag probably was already on the stick from the previous hole location. So you'll have a yellow/black flag in a hole 5' off the front edge of the green.

 

Unless one has the vision of Superman, how is one supposed to distinguish the difference? Never understood why a course wouldn't simply use red, white, and blue. Checkered flags are extremely difficult to differentiate. 

 

[Bonneville85308]

6 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Unless one has the vision of Superman, how is one supposed to distinguish the difference? Never understood why a course wouldn't simply use red, white, and blue. Checkered flags are extremely difficult to differentiate. 

 

 

The story I heard, and this could be total BS, is they wanted to use ASU's colors...maroon and gold (aka red and yellow). So technically each flag has one of those colors.

[Argonne69]

Dove Valley Ranch this morning. A bit breezy to start the round, but the winds died and it turned out to be a very nice day. Course conditions were decent, but oh the greens were glacial. Someone forgot to wake the greens crew, because the greens were shag. The munis are rolling 10 to 11 this time of the year, but DVR's were rolling 8 to 9. Borderline unplayable. Pace was decent at 4 hours. 

 

[Argonne69]

 

TPC Scottsdale Champions course today. Conditions were very good. There were a number of wet spots from the early morning rain, but otherwise I was getting some rollout in the fairways. Bunkers were nice. Greens looked great, and were rolling ~10. There were a few that seemed a little slow, though. Pace was 4:10.

 

[Bonneville85308]

16 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

TPC Scottsdale Champions course today. Conditions were very good. There were a number of wet spots from the early morning rain, but otherwise I was getting some rollout in the fairways. Bunkers were nice. Greens looked great, and were rolling ~10. There were a few that seemed a little slow, though. Pace was 4:10.

 

 

What did they charge you for the walking rate?

[Argonne69]

9 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

What did they charge you for the walking rate?

 

$80 plus tax. 

[Argonne69]

Soggy, but otherwise pleasant round at Union Hills. There was a light rain that fell off and on for most of the round. No surprise that the course was wet, and playing a little long. Conditions continue to be sketchy. Fairways are multiple shades of green with a few bare patches. The rough is very thin. Bunkers need sand. The greens are pretty bad in spots, but they do a decent job with the pin positions. 'Not sure if the course will see decent conditions this winter. Still, for $39 it's playable. Pace was not an issue. I went off as a single, played through two groups, and basically had the course to myself. I could see a twosome riding ahead, but I never caught them.

 

[AzSuperHack76]

Sun City West Grandview today. Went off at 0900 and no rain, rained out by the 6th hole. Apparently SCW has a no rain check policy so that sucked. Anytime I've been rained out before the turn on any other course I have been given a rain check or voucher. Pretty crappy customer service in my opinion, at least the way the guy in the pro shop handled it, or didn't handle it. 

 

Other than the lack of customer service the course was in good shape, bunkers were nice, greens were really smooth but on the slower side. Fairways and tees were great. 

[rochestergolfer36]

First round on my Phoenix trip and played Vistancia this afternoon. Weather turned out not bad. First time out there as my parents just bought a retirement place in the community. 

 

It was a nice course, mid level for what I’ve played around here. Nothing amazing but something I’ll be happy to play again. Some tough bunkering around the greens made for needing precise approach shots. 

 

Pleasantly surprised it wasn’t too soft even with rain the other day. Got some roll with driver and even from all the way back it wasn’t bad. Lush fairways came through nice. Greens rolled ~10, fairly smooth. Bunkers decent shape. 

[Argonne69]

After a rainout yesterday, I caught a little bit of a break this morning. Looking at the radar it looked like the rain would break at Cave Creek by 8 am. While there was an occasional sprinkle, and some light hail at times, it was otherwise playable. Well, for a Midwesterner I guess. It was 39 degrees when I teed off, and 46 when I finished. 

 

The course had some wind damage from yesterday's storm. A handful of small trees were uprooted, and a large number of larger trees lost branches. Shouldn't really effect play. There was standing water in a few spots, but otherwise it was playable. The bunkers were obviously wet. Greens were still rolling 10. Pace was not a problem. I was the first one out, and another single was four holes behind. Always nice having a course to yourself. 

 

 

More pics: Cave Creek

 

[Bonneville85308]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

After a rainout yesterday, I caught a little bit of a break this morning. Looking at the radar it looked like the rain would break at Cave Creek by 8 am. While there was an occasional sprinkle, and some light hail at times, it was otherwise playable. Well, for a Midwesterner I guess. It was 39 degrees when I teed off, and 46 when I finished. 

 

The course had some wind damage from yesterday's storm. A handful of small trees were uprooted, and a large number of larger trees lost branches. Shouldn't really effect play. There was standing water in a few spots, but otherwise it was playable. The bunkers were obviously wet. Greens were still rolling 10. Pace was not a problem. I was the first one out, and another single was four holes behind. Always nice having a course to yourself. 

 

 

More pics: Cave Creek

 

 

With my luck, I'm guessing none of those big trees on the inside of the dogleg on #12 lost any of their limbs hanging over the fairway...

[Argonne69]

58 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

With my luck, I'm guessing none of those big trees on the inside of the dogleg on #12 lost any of their limbs hanging over the fairway...

 

Lol. Actually, it looks like the large tree on the corner lost a branch in the upper right, or the tree to its right lost an upper left branch, as there now appears to be a gap between them. 'Not sure if I'd target it, but if you try cutting the corner, and go a little low, you might squeeze through.