2023 Course Conditions- Phoenix Area

[vallygolf]

New year is here and looks like a new condition thread needs started.

 

Played Seville last week, they didn't overseed the greens this year, and have painted them green, well as near to green as you can get.  Overall the course is in pristine condition.  The greens are probably running about 10-11 on the stimp, but are pretty uneven and bumpy compared to normal.  Still great putting surfaces, but this time of year they are normally pristine.  Cup is very ragged, not sure how often the dormant bermuda allows for changing locations.  Im sure they could keep them a bit smoother and maintained, but every ballmark, dragged foot or putter leaves a blemish that wont be grown out and mowed the next day.  It just stays that way for weeks.  Overall they are still ok, but not to the usual quality.

[scooterhd2]

5 hours ago, vallygolf said:

New year is here and looks like a new condition thread needs started.

 

Played Seville last week, they didn't overseed the greens this year, and have painted them green, well as near to green as you can get.  Overall the course is in pristine condition.  The greens are probably running about 10-11 on the stimp, but are pretty uneven and bumpy compared to normal.  Still great putting surfaces, but this time of year they are normally pristine.  Cup is very ragged, not sure how often the dormant bermuda allows for changing locations.  Im sure they could keep them a bit smoother and maintained, but every ballmark, dragged foot or putter leaves a blemish that wont be grown out and mowed the next day.  It just stays that way for weeks.  Overall they are still ok, but not to the usual quality.

 

Yikes. I live right up the street but have yet to play that course. Must be something to that area as Power Ranchs greens went to hell last fall and have yet to fully recover. I played there last week and the bulk of the greens are okay, but theres small sections along the fringe that still have lost grass. 

[AzSuperHack76]

Wigwam Gold today, as pure as it’s ever been. Tee’d off at 1224, waited on a few holes behind a 2some that was losing the 4some in font of them. Once our 4some got through the 2some, it sped up and we finished in exactly 4 hours. 
 

Not everyday you see 2 slow down 4. 🤦‍♂️

[azgolfer44]

Posted this in another thread but played Papago today.  Course was in good shape.  Greens, fairways, and tees were excellent.  Bunkers have way too much sand which is pretty annoying/frustrating.  

 

The new greens (6, 9 and 18) are much firmer and don't really hold shots.  You have to play them differently than the rest of the holes.  Overall, a good day and excellent value for around $55.

Edited January 27 by azgolfer44

[wrigley]

Played Camelback Ambiente yesterday, great layout, course was in excellent shape.  Pace of play was about 4.5 hours.

[ScubaSteve]

Playing a few "cheaper" courses in mid-Feb with our sons. Have Legacy and one of the Wigwam courses planned but looking for thoughts on the following. Will definitely try to get on some others (Aguila, Longbow etc) for similar price (<$100) but will be tough as have 2 groups and would like to golf before 2:00 pm at the latest. All other things being equal, which of these is currently in the best condition and worth playing over the others.

- Mountain Brook

- Lone Tree

- Dobson

- Encanto

- The Duke

 

Thanks

[AzSuperHack76]

Corte Bella for a tournament this morning. Overall the course is in decent to good shape. Greens were rolling well, fairways and tee boxes were good. Bunkers are very inconsistent, some with tons of sand and others with none at all. Large group for the tourney, 80 plus, 4.5 hour round, for a tourney not bad at all. Staff encountered along with post round food drinks were all great! 

Edited February 5 by AzSuperHack76

[jatrain]

Papago was good today. 

[Chief Penguin]

I was at Longbow last week and the conditions were really good. Fairways looked great and greens were fast and true.

 

also I was very impressed with the hospitality.

[puttnforthe8]

57 minutes ago, Chief Penguin said:

I was at Longbow last week and the conditions were really good. Fairways looked great and greens were fast and true.

 

also I was very impressed with the hospitality.

Thanks for this - I have been wondering about the course since the transition to new ownership/management.  

[BirdieRoll]

Any chance the new management at Longbow created walking paths from the tee boxes to the fairways?

 

It's a very easy course to walk because it's so flat, but desert scrub between tee boxes and the fairways means you have to walk back out to the cart path and take that until you get to the fairway.

 

[AzSuperHack76]

Vistancia a couple days ago, cold and windy. Overall the course is in great shape, other than the bunkers. Some of the worst bunkers I’ve seen recently, nothing but rocks and some some loose sand, a real blemish on otherwise solid course. The greens are absolutely pure, rolling fast and true. $80 for an 1115 was well worth it, got around in 3 hours. 

[chisag]

... Played SunDance Golf Club today, a course I had never really heard of and it was a mixed bag. Conditions were pretty good and the greens were excellent. Some of the smoothest rolling greens I have played this fall/winter. But oh my are they undulating. Both my partners rolled putts off the green from 10 feet with just a hair too much pace, caught a slope and rolled another 30 feet off the green and down into a swale. It was pretty obvious right away that short was going to be infinitely better than long. No 3 putts for me but played at least 10 feet of break 3 times. To the courses credit, not a single pin was in an unfair spot, difficult but never unfair.

... The really annoying feature though is ending fairways with desert, rock, bushes in odd distances forcing quite a few lay ups with my 5 iron and a couple 2 irons. One 2 iron went too far and into the desert about 220 off the tee. But for $44 with a cart on the weekend I was very pleasantly surprised and would play there again. 

Edited February 19 by chisag

[AzSuperHack76]

15 hours ago, chisag said:

... Played SunDance Golf Club today, a course I had never really heard of and it was a mixed bag. Conditions were pretty good and the greens were excellent. Some of the smoothest rolling greens I have played this fall/winter. But oh my are they undulating. Both my partners rolled putts off the green from 10 feet with just a hair too much pace, caught a slope and rolled another 30 feet off the green and down into a swale. It was pretty obvious right away that short was going to be infinitely better than long. No 3 putts for me but played at least 10 feet of break 3 times. To the courses credit, not a single pin was in an unfair spot, difficult but never unfair.

... The really annoying feature though is ending fairways with desert, rock, bushes in odd distances forcing quite a few lay ups with my 5 iron and a couple 2 irons. One 2 iron went too far and into the desert about 220 off the tee. But for $44 with a cart on the weekend I was very pleasantly surprised and would play there again. 

Definitely a value course worth the play. But with that being said, the pace of play can be brutal out there. How was the pace? 

[chisag]

20 minutes ago, AzSuperHack76 said:

Definitely a value course worth the play. But with that being said, the pace of play can be brutal out there. How was the pace? 

 

 

... On a Saturday after an outing it was certainly slow. We didn't play 3 times during this past week and we are used to playing every weekday but with temps finally in the mid 70's all I could find for a Saturday was a 2:18pm. We played 16 in pretty much dark conditions so 4:15 to play 16 holes which means right around 4:45 for 18. Judging by the comments of the regulars that live on the course behind us, that is pretty much normal for weekends. 

[Bonneville85308]

On 2/19/2023 at 1:17 PM, chisag said:

 

 

... On a Saturday after an outing it was certainly slow. We didn't play 3 times during this past week and we are used to playing every weekday but with temps finally in the mid 70's all I could find for a Saturday was a 2:18pm. We played 16 in pretty much dark conditions so 4:15 to play 16 holes which means right around 4:45 for 18. Judging by the comments of the regulars that live on the course behind us, that is pretty much normal for weekends. 

 

I do like Sundance and they have kept their pricing relatively reasonable compared to some of the other ridiculousness going on elsewhere. It's also in much better condition than it used to be a few years ago. In the past couple years they cleared out a LOT of ball-eating junk growth in the desert areas where the fairways stop and along the sides.  I did learn they had trouble during the overseed last fall where a major irrigation pump died during the grow-in, so it came in thin and got crispy quick, but they were able to recover from it. 

[puttnforthe8]

Southern Dunes yesterday.  Fairways in really nice condition.  Greens were excellent - I am not a grass expert, but I did notice that there seems to be a second grass growing which looks like Poa?? They looked kind of like the greens in Bandon - just not as much.    Bunkers were below average with lots of large rocks. I get that bunkers are tough and expensive to care for - but it feels like they don't do much at all; there were a number of bunkers with the under layer material poking out.

 

POP was actually quite good considering it was packed all day.  Teed off at 1210 (early!!) and finished in 4:10.

 

 

[AzSuperHack76]

Wigwam Red today. Very solid conditions all the way around, greens are outstanding. All bunkers on the course have been redone with fluffy white sand, a little too much and will need to settle, but nice to play in real sand for a change, fairway bunkers were difficult to play out of due to the amount of sand. Tee'd off at 2pm, finished in exactly 4 hours. $59 for the loyalty rate is spot on. 

[AZ_JHWK]

Power Ranch today after the rain. Cart path only makes for a longer day. Still got around in 4:30. The practice green was extremely slow, so my expectations were low. Got on the course and they were a great speed. Looks they had a very successful overseed as the fairways were lush as were the green surrounds.  They have added concrete banks around the lakes on #9 and #18 since last time I had played. it really cleaned up the look. Booked a twosome on Thursday for $99. I think they normally go for $109-$119. 

[fore_life]

99 total or each 

[AZ_JHWK]

 

12 hours ago, fore_life said:

99 total or each 

 

$99 for each. Forgot to mention the bunkers. Granted they were very wet, and some had standing water, but you could tell they were lacking sand in a bad way. That's true of a lot of courses though. 

[Scottyb943]

Have been playing a lot of Augusta Ranch this winter, seems to be the only place I can grab tee times week off. Conditions are pretty good. Seems like this past week they have been mowing the greens but not blowing them after. Lots of cut grass sitting on the surface. Speed is okay overall, not too quick. Fairways (what few there are) and tee boxes overall are good. Anything in the rough though is just dead grass. 

Also lapped Toka Sticks recently after work. This place has potential, just needs more love. Still a few greens messed up from last summer (1 is the worst) but it's a nice flat easy walk. Not exactly worth the $99-$109 on the weekends they are charging to keep up with the others in the area but that is life in the PHX area for winter golfers. 

[hackeraz]

Grayhawk Raptor yesterday. Forgot how nice of a track this place is. Conditions all throughout were primo as they get ready for NCAAs. Had the Georgia women's team chasing us the whole way. 

[puttnforthe8]

4 hours ago, hackeraz said:

Grayhawk Raptor yesterday. Forgot how nice of a track this place is. Conditions all throughout were primo as they get ready for NCAAs. Had the Georgia women's team chasing us the whole way. 

Seriously - and you didn't let Caterina and Candace catch you??

 

[hackeraz]

15 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

Seriously - and you didn't let Caterina and Candace catch you??

 

Felt they should be spared from seeing such terrible ball striking. 

[puttnforthe8]

16 minutes ago, hackeraz said:

Felt they should be spared from seeing such terrible ball striking. 

I'm sure your charm would have overcome the swing! LOL!!  

[Bonneville85308]

Grandview this morning. Excellent condition all around as is usually the case in winter at the SCW courses. Greens were somewhat firm but the fairways were playing damp from irrigation and were soft/not a lot of roll, iron shots landing short of the green weren't rolling up. They have a major irrigation system project coming up, 9 holes close in early April, all 18 close in late May and stay closed until after overseed in late October. Already starting to stage pipe along the outer perimeter of the course.  They did add this really cheesy sign to #13 tee...

 

[AzSuperHack76]

51 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

Grandview this morning. Excellent condition all around as is usually the case in winter at the SCW courses. Greens were somewhat firm but the fairways were playing damp from irrigation and were soft/not a lot of roll, iron shots landing short of the green weren't rolling up. They have a major irrigation system project coming up, 9 holes close in early April, all 18 close in late May and stay closed until after overseed in late October. Already starting to stage pipe along the outer perimeter of the course.  They did add this really cheesy sign to #13 tee...

 

Solid value course to play usually in good shape. It's been a little bit since I have played there, I forgot that #13 is an awful par 5. I've been playing Deer Valley and Pebblebrook a lot, short but such fun layouts, especially Deer Valley.

Edited March 10 by AzSuperHack76

[Double K]

Aguila today. 

 

Course is in decent shape. Fairways are extremely lush leading to some mud balls. 

 

FU to the guy who took a couple divots out of the second green. 

[AzSuperHack76]

2 minutes ago, Double K said:

Aguila today. 

 

Course is in decent shape. Fairways are extremely lush leading to some mud balls. 

 

FU to the guy who took a couple divots out of the second green. 

That is awful, hopefully that disrespectful POS will find every hazard and catch every bad break from here on out.