2022 Course Conditions - Phoenix Area

[azgolfer44]

Another year is here.  I played Papago on 1/2.  Course was in pretty good shape.  Greens seem to be a bit slower and not as full as they were 4-5 weeks ago.  Still a great deal for the City Card.  POP was under 4 hours in the men's league (which now has over 500 members).

[AzSuperHack76]

Hillcrest today, went out on a whim, it's been in awful shape the last year or so, like stay far away shape. 

 

Pleasantly surprised today, place is in great shape compared to what it has been, so compared to most other courses, it's in average shape. Per the pro shop guy they are actually putting some money into the course. Greens were rolling decent although a lot of the players out there fail to repair their ball marks. Bunkers are a bit messy and inconsistent. 

 

Teed off around 11, finished in exactly 4 hours. 

 

For 45 dollars, it is what it is, not quite worth it but you don't walk away feeling bad about it, especially with wither rates as high as they have ever been. 

[robcha]

For what it's worth, enjoying playing Sun City South Course. It's dormant grass so it's a little hard pan on the fairways but for $26 walking after 1PM and being very flat, I get to get in my exercise and golf for cheap.

[Arizonalefty59]

Played Southern Dunes with Fore today. Man oh man the conditions were phenomenal and the pace was amazing. Only thing that I can really complain about is the sound of the sports cars in the distance riding the track. It was super loud and seemed to be going non stop. Never played out there with that going on......

[FlashNoonan]

Played Tres Rios yesterday. Myself and my playing partners were pleasantly surprised. Is it Troon quality? No. But I put it on the same quality, maybe slightly lower than Encanto/ Cave Creek. I'd definitely play it again though. $46 to walk is great this time of year. While driving in, you are directly in line with the driving range so that is a little hairy. I never played the course before so I can't compare it to how it was before the new owners took over. 

[Bonneville85308]

53 minutes ago, FlashNoonan said:

Played Tres Rios yesterday. Myself and my playing partners were pleasantly surprised. Is it Troon quality? No. But I put it on the same quality, maybe slightly lower than Encanto/ Cave Creek. I'd definitely play it again though. $46 to walk is great this time of year. While driving in, you are directly in line with the driving range so that is a little hairy. I never played the course before so I can't compare it to how it was before the new owners took over. 

 

I played it right before overseed in October and was impressed as the new management has done a lot of work to it in the last year. It's a decent layout with no houses around it and an easy walk. The price is fair and it's usually not very crowded compared to other lower priced courses. The old management (CBIGG) had just completely let the place go for several years, and as a result it was getting hardly any play at all despite cheap rates. If I have any beef with the new management, it's that their online tee time system won't let a single book a spot.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[fore_life]

On 1/9/2022 at 1:58 AM, Arizonalefty59 said:

Played Southern Dunes with Fore today. Man oh man the conditions were phenomenal and the pace was amazing. Only thing that I can really complain about is the sound of the sports cars in the distance riding the track. It was super loud and seemed to be going non stop. Never played out there with that going on......

 

yeah the sound of the sports cars was insane, really took quite a bit away from the vibe you get playing out there, took away the feeling of being isolated. In spite of that, the conditions and the company were outstanding

[AzSuperHack76]

Union Hills CC today. Decent shape, the greens are really good right now, other than some thin spots they are rolling fast and true. $50 at 1145 with a bucket of balls is a good value. Pace of play was 3:45.

[AzSuperHack76]

Aguila is in great shape as recently reported. Greens are fast and very receptive, spun a few off today. Bunkers were eh.. POP was fine at 345, but we waited on every shot on a 3 some in front of us on the back 9, we were a foursome, probably would have finished in 320-330. 

[MCLefty05]

Has anyone played Foothills recently? Taking large group out there for a bachelor party (most of us came just for golf last year) and that was recommended as our "scramble format" round the first day to include some of the non-golfers who don't want to pay much. When we booked a month ago with Stand By it was a "$150" course in March that had 8:00 AM slots open for $97. They opened the sheet up for March and its now $79 across the board. Slightly concerned about it being the only course in the world who's lowering their rates.

[puttnforthe8]

3 hours ago, MCLefty05 said:

Has anyone played Foothills recently? Taking large group out there for a bachelor party (most of us came just for golf last year) and that was recommended as our "scramble format" round the first day to include some of the non-golfers who don't want to pay much. When we booked a month ago with Stand By it was a "$150" course in March that had 8:00 AM slots open for $97. They opened the sheet up for March and its now $79 across the board. Slightly concerned about it being the only course in the world who's lowering their rates.

 

Seriously?  Whoever recommended it to you should be castrated!  Sorry you have that in the rota!  It's terrible!

 

Heck, you can go 20 miles south and play a top 5 course for less $$!  

 

 

[MCLefty05]

Hm. Sounds like that round will be canceled lol I am glad I said something. We were going for Mountain Brook but they don't have spots during the times we want.

[puttnforthe8]

2 hours ago, MCLefty05 said:

Hm. Sounds like that round will be canceled lol I am glad I said something. We were going for Mountain Brook but they don't have spots during the times we want.

It's unfortunate that the rates have skyrocketed and March is probably the worst month to come play; you get stuck having to settle for terrible courses or pay through the nose.   Can't beleive they were asking for $150! 

 

It sounds like you are in the east valley? and willing to travel a bit - I would take a look at Poston Butte. Nice facility, good course, for a scramble it would be fun as well.  And has a good restaurant.   

[MCLefty05]

When I checked a month ago, they had their March tee times for close to $150. Stand By confirmed this but now you can book it on their site for $79.

 

We are in Mesa just off of Royal Palms course. Our other activity was a suite at Cubs Spring Training so we wanted to be close-ish to Sloan Park. The trip has gotten costly quick with the suite addition, so the non-golfers really wanted CHEAP for the round they have to play, some are just going to ride at Legend. We’ll probably end up throwing in a 3rd round now thanks to the stingy MLB owners. That round will probably be just us golf lovers, might check out Longbow since it’s so close. Or Sunridge. 
 

Will definitely check out Poston. At this point we’ll do anything cheap that’s not a mortar field to at least appeal a bit to us golfers. 

[DrSchteeve]

Longbow is much better than Sunridge, unless you are in it for views.

[robcha]

On 1/10/2022 at 5:25 PM, AzSuperHack76 said:

Union Hills CC today. Decent shape, the greens are really good right now, other than some thin spots they are rolling fast and true. $50 at 1145 with a bucket of balls is a good value. Pace of play was 3:45.

Just played there today and confirm greens are rolling real nice. 

 

Although, I swear the greenskeeper woke up on the wrong side of the bed and placed the flags in just the most hellacious positions. Like WTF.

[fore_life]

Aguila was great, can also attest to the receptivity of the greens, saw quite a few balls ripping excessively, not something we usually have to worry about.

 

Looking around for other places to play, the pricing is insane everywhere 

[puttnforthe8]

1 hour ago, fore_life said:

Aguila was great, can also attest to the receptivity of the greens, saw quite a few balls ripping excessively, not something we usually have to worry about.

 

Looking around for other places to play, the pricing is insane everywhere 

Yeah gotta travel. Poston is one of the better values for now;  

[AzSuperHack76]

6 hours ago, fore_life said:

Aguila was great, can also attest to the receptivity of the greens, saw quite a few balls ripping excessively, not something we usually have to worry about.

 

Looking around for other places to play, the pricing is insane everywhere 

Join the loyalty program at wigwam, great way to keep costs down and earn free golf. 

[fore_life]

37 minutes ago, AzSuperHack76 said:

Join the loyalty program at wigwam, great way to keep costs down and earn free golf. 

It’s 50 min away no traffic.

[etonduf]

11 hours ago, AzSuperHack76 said:

Join the loyalty program at wigwam, great way to keep costs down and earn free golf. 

 

Best value in the West Valley, in my opinion. They also sell discounted gift cards every Black Friday ($100 for a $120 CG) which helps during peak pricing.

[AzSuperHack76]

12 hours ago, fore_life said:

It’s 50 min away no traffic.

Ugh. I got nothing else...

[vallygolf]

Bear Creek in Chandler yesterday.  It has been a few years since I played out there and I was pleasantly surprised.  Fairways were firm and uniform.  Greens were firm and quite smooth and running 9 or 10.  Typical muni "rough around the edges", but pace of play was good and I paid under$80 for a prime tee time.  For what it is, if you are looking for a last minute "just want to play" round. It might tick the box.

 

**inadvertently posted this in the 2021 and moved to 2022.

[AzSuperHack76]

Palm Valley North/South yesterday. Overall it was in decent shape with some spot issues on a good portion of their greens, dead grass spots but didn't affect the roll too much. Teed off around 10 and finished in 4 hours. For $60 it is a decent value. 

[Bonneville85308]

Papago yesterday. Everything was in great condition, fairways especially. Course was playing fairly dry and somewhat firm.  Greens were slower than I expected, especially compared to how crazy fast they were at this time last year, but they were at an appropriate speed. Hole locations were all in reasonable locations. I remember in the past they would often put them in goofy/ridiculously difficult locations on Mondays probably for the Monday skins game.

 

It's been darn near impossible to get a morning tee time there at City Card rates, even on a weekday, so I was happy to get out there. Seems like people are gobbling up the tee times at full tourist rate this winter before the City Card window even opens.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[FlashNoonan]

GCU on Sunday. Pretty good overall. Bunkers were pretty thin. Fairways were a tad shaggy though. POP was 4.5 walking. We had a 3 group back up on #2 and then didn't really speed up until 10. 

[Bonneville85308]

Arizona Traditions this morning. Conditions weren't as bad as the last time I was there in early 2019, but for $45 on a Saturday morning in January, you can't be picky. Greens were kinda bumpy with some thinned-out patches and small repaired areas. Fairways generally had very good grass coverage but some were shaggy and others were cut tight. Dormant rough is basically hardpan at this point from cart traffic except around the greens and the steeper mounds where the carts can't go. I was in one bunker, it had decent sand. Course was dried out and playing somewhat firm. Pace 3:45, we had a slow guy in the pairing and would otherwise have finished right behind the group ahead in 3:30. The starter was smart and didn't let people tee off on #1 until the group ahead was on the green.

[AzSuperHack76]

Played at Tres Rios over the weekend, it's defiantly in better shape than I've seen it in the past, it's still pretty rough around the edges, again, soooo much better than what it was, glad to see it's made a come back. Greens, fairways and bunkers were all in good shape. 

 

I was a bit confused on the greens though, they seemed to be 2 different types of grasses, On the front they seemed to be what GCU has, I believe dormant Ponte Verde Grass????  They were rolling true and fast, very nice to be honest. On the back they were your typical overseeded winter rye grass, not as nice but still rolling true for the most part with a couple greens that were thin and spotty. 

 

It's a fun layout, a couple of quirky holes but overall enjoyable. 

[azgolfer44]

Saguaro was really good yesterday, except some of the bunkers need sand. Two of us were in the right bunker on 9 which had maybe 1/4” inch sand. Impossible to get it on the green. 
 

Course is pruning back the desert and trees. It looks a lot different and you can actually find balls in the desert. 

[AzSuperHack76]

Played Rio Verde CC, the White Wing course today. Played with a buddy who is a new member and had an absolute blast. Fun layout, great conditions, greens were near perfect and super quick. Not a long course by any means, 6500 from the back tees but again, I can't stress how fun it was and how good the greens are. When you're on the course it has a Los Caballeros and Oak Creek CC type of feel, old school with a bit of character. Greg Nash and Jeff Hardin did the original design in the early 80's and Lehman redesigned it in 2007. The par 3's are similar in length, 3 at 200 yards, give or take 15 yards, and one at 165. The 3 long par 3's while similar in length give you very different looks with bunkering and the varying green complexes themselves.