2022 Course Conditions - Phoenix Area

[Bonneville85308]

3 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

 

 

 

 

Reminds me of this sign I saw years ago on a course in Florida.

 

[tcbringhurst]

Foolish me. Had some extra time this morning and decided I’d go to Biltmore to practice putting. Seems like the practice green is getting replaced with a restaurant? Roads around the course are under construction, making it difficult to get to the course anyways. Said screw it and decided it wasn’t worth it to see if the range was open. Parking appeared limited. 

[hackeraz]

On the topic of seasonal (absurd) rates...

 

It's been a hot couple decades since I've played golf in the valley and this will be my first real "in season" time back at it. As a result, I have zero clue where to even look for halfway reasonable (sub 120?) rounds of golf. I'm in far North Scottsdale but willing to travel in order to find decent deals. What are some of the tracks in the North Phoenix, Peoria, Sun City, Surprise as well as N. Mesa areas that should be considered? Obviously, every course looks amazing on Golf Now photos but I'd rather steer clear of the dumps before wasting time and money finding out for myself. Have a city card as well. 

 

TIA!

Edited November 4, 2022 by hackeraz

[tcbringhurst]

10 minutes ago, hackeraz said:

On the topic of seasonal (absurd) rates...

 

It's been a hot couple decades since I've played golf in the valley and this will be my first real "in season" time back at it. As a result, I have zero clue where to even look for halfway reasonable (sub 120?) rounds of golf. I'm in far North Scottsdale but willing to travel in order to find decent deals. What are some of the tracks in the North Phoenix, Peoria, Sun City, Surprise as well as N. Mesa areas that should be considered? Obviously, every course looks amazing on Golf Now photos but I'd rather steer clear of the dumps before wasting time and money finding out for myself. Have a city card as well. 

 

TIA!

If overseed is successful, 500 Club is nice. They’re not on GolfNow. 
 

Bellair if you don’t mind a Par 59 layout. They’ve been putting work into the course to get it back in shape. 
 

Not sure about Cave Creek rates but shouldn’t be too bad with a resident card. 
 

Legend at Arrowhead isn’t worth it IMO. 

 

Sun City Riverview, Sun City Lakes West, and Sun City Country Club are decent tracks, but be prepared to walk if they don’t have sufficient carts

[ferrispgm]

On 11/4/2022 at 3:30 PM, tcbringhurst said:

If overseed is successful, 500 Club is nice. They’re not on GolfNow. 
 

Bellair if you don’t mind a Par 59 layout. They’ve been putting work into the course to get it back in shape. 
 

Not sure about Cave Creek rates but shouldn’t be too bad with a resident card. 
 

Legend at Arrowhead isn’t worth it IMO. 

 

Sun City Riverview, Sun City Lakes West, and Sun City Country Club are decent tracks, but be prepared to walk if they don’t have sufficient carts

I played Arrowhead this past spring and it actually wasn't too bad....The goose pies on a few holes were a little annoying but the rest of the holes were in surprisingly good shape.

[puttnforthe8]

So while we are out here upset with green fees, here’s a quick look at what’s happening elsewhere:

 

 

 

[hackeraz]

4 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

So while we are out here upset with green fees, here’s a quick look at what’s happening elsewhere:

 

 

 

Glad I played it 25 years ago and didn't pay. 

[soregongolfer]

6 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

So while we are out here upset with green fees, here’s a quick look at what’s happening elsewhere:

 

 

 

To quote Whitney Houston, "Awww, hell to the no."

[FlashNoonan]

Played Sunridge Canyon yesterday to knock one off the list. Course was in good shape. Sand was good. Greens were the fastest I've been on in awhile. Overseed still coming in. So, probably another month or so and the course will be in really good shape. The "wicked 6" though. My playing partners kept hyping it up until we got to it. It's a good mix of holes but I thought it was more gimmicky and wasn't as difficult as they were making it out to be.    

[fore_life]

On 11/8/2022 at 3:46 PM, soregongolfer said:

To quote Whitney Houston, "Awww, hell to the no."

Rates that make you want to smoke crack and drown in a bathtub 

[Bonneville85308]

Sundance this morning, my first time since probably early 2020 I believe. I like the layout. They are a little over a month out of overseeding. It came in a bit sparse on some fairways, there is patchy dormant bermuda in many of them. The rough is going dormant but not matted down from carts yet. The entire course played somewhat dry and firm which was great. Greens were a little bumpy in spots with some random tufts deflecting balls near the holes; seemed like the greens need to be rolled perhaps? I wasn't in any bunkers but a few of them looked bad with mud or standing water. They have cleared out a lot of the "junk" along the sides of the holes and in the forced layup/carry areas which is a positive. Pace 3:40 as a foursome, only waited for 2 minutes on a par 3, and never saw the group behind us after #1. $58+ tax. 

 

 

[puttnforthe8]

@Bonneville85308  Since you get out to the SC courses, this may work with you if you have a playing partner:  https://golfmoose.com/product/fountain-of-the-sun-cc/  Don't know if it is worth it for that course.

[AzSuperHack76]

7 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

@Bonneville85308  Since you get out to the SC courses, this may work with you if you have a playing partner:  https://golfmoose.com/product/fountain-of-the-sun-cc/  Don't know if it is worth it for that course.

That’s a Mesa Course. 

[puttnforthe8]

56 minutes ago, AzSuperHack76 said:

That’s a Mesa Course. 

LOL...doh!  I just saw "sun" and assumed it was Sun City! 

 

https://golfmoose.com/product/verrado-golf-club/  This is pretty decent - time of day sucks...but Verrado for 85ish thru eoy is not bad.

[cbbaron]

17 minutes ago, puttnforthe8 said:

LOL...doh!  I just saw "sun" and assumed it was Sun City! 

 

https://golfmoose.com/product/verrado-golf-club/  This is pretty decent - time of day sucks...but Verrado for 85ish thru eoy is not bad.

I saw that Verrado deal and think Ill be in town week b4 Xmas

[Bonneville85308]

I'm playing Bear Creek this weekend, first time. Is this a very easy to walk course similar to a Phoenix muni? It sort of looks like it from a google aerial. Any unusually long green-tee transitions where I'd be running to catch up if the rest of the group is riding? Ala 9 to 10 or 16 to 17 at Kenny Mac.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[fore_life]

Yeah you’ll be fine walking, I don’t recall any long walks

[parkleo]

9 to 10 is probably the longest walk when looking at the course layout and google maps. 

[puttnforthe8]

Worst courses of Phoenix charging at least 80-100.  So the 2 hr drive to play AZ National for $60 was a no brainer! #boycottPhxGolf

 

 

Edited November 25, 2022 by puttnforthe8

[MackDaddy480]

Played Papago yesterday, course in in decent shape. Couple more weeks and greens should be great.

 

All of the bunkers have good sand in them now. All changes to the course look good, they added a decent amount of yardage to 6. Around 50-60 yards or so. 

[jatrain]

Papago today, course was in good shape, greens were quick.  I thought the changes were good.  
 

Got my first ever hole in one on 8!

Edited November 27, 2022 by jatrain

[AZ_JHWK]

My first trip around Dobson Ranch today. It's hard to get a tee time unless you have a Ranch Card. I slid in as a single at 9:30 and got done in 4 hours. Pretty nice layout for a Muni and more of a parkland design. Trees, lakes and canals come into play on many holes. Greens had a nice pace to them and were very undulating. Keeping approaches and chips below the hole is important. Driving range is mats with Top Tracer available and I guess they keep really busy. 

[Bonneville85308]

Ahwatukee CC this morning, first time for me. I had been prepared for the worst, even by my low standards, as this course usually gets some of the worst reviews of any course in the county. 

 

Conditions were pretty inconsistent. Some fairways had a good full overseed, others real thin and patchy with lots of dormant bermuda showing through. Same inconsistency for the greens. Some fast some slow, some smooth, some bumpy, some on the back had areas repaired with sod or sand/fertilizer. Lots of clumps of dried out clippings on the back nine greens. Don't bother with the practice green next to #1 tee, it's way slower than anything on the course. Wasn't in any bunkers but they all looked like they were raked by the staff within the last day, and my high-handicap playing partners seemed to get out of them fine. Dormant rough is mostly matted down/hardpan at this point and you could tell it was sparse even when the bermuda was growing.

 

The positives? I really liked the layout, had a good time and made two birdies (#2 & #18) though missed a third probably due to the ball hitting a bump 2 inches in front of the hole. This course really must have been something nice back in the 1970s and 1980s before Wilson Gee got involved. The course played somewhat firm and fast but the greens were receptive. It's an extremely easy course to walk, all greens and tees close except for the stretch from 9 green to 10 tee and 18 green to the parking lot where you cross under 48th Street in a tunnel. I paid $30+tax, finished in 3:40 on a weekday with minimal waiting, and it wasn't crowded.

 

[chisag]

3 hours ago, Bonneville85308 said:

Ahwatukee CC this morning, first time for me. I had been prepared for the worst, even by my low standards, as this course usually gets some of the worst reviews of any course in the county. 

 

 

... They have clearly made improvements this year. Last couple years the greens were more dirt than grass. MUCH more dirt than grass. But I agree with you, since it used to be a private CC the layout is pretty interesting and fun. It's just the conditions that were probably the worst I ever played. 4 years ago I rented a house on the 11th fairway and didn't even go out at night to putt on the "green" because it was pretty much just dirt. So glad to hear it is in better shape! 

[MUNIGRIT]

The Tuke is what it is. A goat ranch that is budget friendly and a fun layout. The goats all left though in protest of the grass conditions though!

[Bonneville85308]

14 hours ago, chisag said:

 

 

... They have clearly made improvements this year. Last couple years the greens were more dirt than grass. MUCH more dirt than grass. But I agree with you, since it used to be a private CC the layout is pretty interesting and fun. It's just the conditions that were probably the worst I ever played. 4 years ago I rented a house on the 11th fairway and didn't even go out at night to putt on the "green" because it was pretty much just dirt. So glad to hear it is in better shape! 

 

#11 was actually the green that had the sod patches and looked like it was having the most trouble, I wonder if it's because of how much shade it gets from the big trees close to it.

 

If I lived in the immediate area, I'd definitely use Ahwatukee CC as my winter backup course if I couldn't get a time at Aguila, since there seems to be no issue getting early AM times at Ahwatukee CC.

[chisag]

1 minute ago, Bonneville85308 said:

If I lived in the immediate area, I'd definitely use Ahwatukee CC as my winter backup course if I couldn't get a time at Aguila, since there seems to be no issue getting early AM times at Ahwatukee CC.

 

... Living on Ahwatukee I only played it once. I drove up to Aguila most every day although I played Papago quite a few times as well. The surprising thing when I lived there was Golfnow had deals all winter in those pre covid days but Ahwatukee was always packed with golfers getting their balls out of our yards. 🤪

[Bonneville85308]

Mission Royale in Casa Grande this morning, another new-to-me course. This is a Greg Nash design that apparently closed down for a while a few years ago (2020-2021?) and was subsequently purchased and revived by the residents of the housing development that surrounds it. The layout had a lot of elements that made me think of his designs in Sun City West like Grandview and Trail Ridge that I've played a bunch of times. $62+ tax walk or ride. Course has a walkable layout, lots of shortcuts between greens/tees, though #1 tee and #18 green are a bit of a hike from the clubhouse.

 

Greens were a mixed bag visually but all putted pretty smoothly at a consistent, appropriate speed for this type of course. Lots of interesting undulations and shelves on the greens. Fairways (which are also undulating) had a decent overseed, though visually they had a bunch of different colored rye and there were some very small bare spots here and there. They were pretty wet in the low lying spots as they must have given the course a good soaking last night. Dormant rough wasn't cut low and had some nice fluff to it in areas not traveled by carts, which I like. Bunkers looked pretty muddy with standing water/poor drainage in several. Tees all had good grass coverage and were level. I'd say this course plays a lot better than it looks visually at the moment.

 

A bonus was that the savings from filling my gas tank in Casa Grande for $1/gal less than in Maricopa county just about paid for the gas it took to get down there and back. Probably not a course I'd drive 60+ minutes to play again, but one I enjoyed and would definitely play a lot if I lived in Casa Grande.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[AZ_JHWK]

 

 

A rare sight in the valley today, at least for me. Low hanging clouds on South Mountain as the rain stopped 10 minutes before our tee time. Really a perfect day at the course that shall not be mentioned. 😉 

 

 

[MackDaddy480]

21 minutes ago, AZ_JHWK said:

 

 

A rare sight in the valley today, at least for me. Low hanging clouds on South Mountain as the rain stopped 10 minutes before our tee time. Really a perfect day at the course that shall not be mentioned. 😉 

 

 

damn, that couse that should not be mentioned is looking mint!