Thanks for the responses guys.
Looks like were gonna book Whirlwind for the Thursday round as we can get under 100 bucks at 10am right now. Hope its in great shape.

Any of you played Los Cabelleros? I heard its ok for an hour or so drive.

Our group made a good point about playing Foothills, we can all just get hammered and walk back to the house, so makes sense to play there at least once.

Got our pros calling around to see if we can get anywhere fancy for the Friday round.
Our group doesnt wanna shell out $180 for Quintero even though I told them how good it is.
I'm really hoping we can sneak on The Rim again. Maybe it was just the last (only) time I played it was one of my favourite rounds of golf ever. Perfect weather, had the course to ourselves, great shape, and I shot 69. Was just an awesome day so that course has always been one I'd love to get back to.

Los Caballeros has been on a list of courses I've been meaning to play for years but have yet to actually do it. That said, it's even farther than Quintero (probably 30 minutes or so more) so you'd be better off looking into Gold Canyon (Dinosaur) or Superstition Mountain. Good courses on the outskirts of the same side of town you're on.

Whirlwind is always in good shape. Cattail >>>>> Devil's Claw if you have an option, but both are worth playing.

If you can't get on The Rim but are committed to road tripping, two other options:

Apache Stronghold (http://www.apache-gold-casino.com/golf/). This is a Tom Doak design that's very highly regarded. Doak has some ridiculously great, famous designs including Pacific Dunes, Old MacDonald, Sebonack, Cape Kidnappers, and Ballyneal, which was my favorite from last summer's road trip. The wildcard is the condition. It reopened in the last year or two. No idea what to expect there but the layout should be stellar and is an absolute beast from the tips. $60 right now and I assume that includes cart.

Poston Butte (http://www.postonbuttegc.com/index.php). This is SE of the Greater Phoenix area, probably 45 minutes from where you'll be staying. Rate appears to be $56. This is Troon managed so should be in good shape.

The reason those rates are so reasonable is they're out in the sticks and they can't command top dollar. If they were in town I imagine prices would be much higher.

Rim club is one of the worst tracks up north but that's just my opinion....too many blind shots for me. Would much rather play chaparral pines, forest highlands, pine canyon, flagstaff ranch but if u got hook ups at rim club then obv it's better than nothing.

Saying that...as tuq said none of the courses up north are in good shape right now coming out of winter so way better to stay in phoenix/tucson.

Los caballeros is super fun but yes 20-25 mins past Quintero and literally 1:45 from south phx where u are staying basically. Much better off and easier drive going to tucson and much better chance getting off at a private club IMO.

I hear ya on getting wasted and being super close to home for golf one of your days

Played kierland today for free with my buddy's friend who works there and his buddy....just freaking awesome conditions but I would never pay rack rate to play it

We teed off at 12:45 and got around as a 4some in a little over 3 hours. Played ironwood/mesquite and doubled #1 on ironwood and bogeyed #9 on mesquite and still got around in one under. Gotta love kierland with good greens and pretty wide open!

Can't wait to get down to Phoenix and play some golf on grass!
These long Canadian winters are no fun.

Everyone from canada lovessssss phoenix/Scottsdale lol

Going to Phoenix in about ten days. Love to hear some suggestions. Mostly be playing a single but my gf may tag along and either drive the cart or hit some balls with me.

Also, any courses where walking is a problem? Been a long winter and anxious for some exercise.

Dino scan the thread..

Walking is allowed on city courses and a few public tracks but generally riding in the carts is the norm 95% of the time.

Golfnow will have good deals to book as a single and join a group. Just wait until day before or day of and look for single times which are heavily discounted off the regular rate to try to fill 4some. Generally won't be an issue to have gf ride along...worst thing you will encounter is a cart fee for gf and that's highly doubtful at most places.

Actually We-Ko-Pa Saguaro - which seems to win #1 daily fee course in AZ every year - encourages walking. The tees and greens are mostly close together with grass runways between them. They will give you a motorized pull cart in lieu of a regular cart if you prefer (for the same price). It's a fairly expensive rate but not ridiculous and probably one of the better values in town.

If walking is of interest I very strongly recommend he look into that option. He won't be disappointed.

Yeah we ko pa saguaro is nice for sure but I will take Quintero over it all day every day.

We've noticed! Have played Quintero at least ten times over the years and know it well. It's a fine layout and almost always in great shape. That said, if location and price were the same I'd easily choose We-Ko-Pa. But as it is, the location (for me and most people in Phoenix) is a big advantage to We-Ko-Pa, and the rack rate is much cheaper as well, at least for AZ residents.

Anyway, didn't open the thread to come at you about Quintero. Played Papago on Monday and Gainey Ranch on Tuesday.

Papago was predictably in good shape, the greens continue to impress for all the play they get, and we got around in sub-four hours with a hole or more both in front of and behind us. Greens were fast though...kept blowing putts well past the entire round. Not a fan of ASU's integration, but one notable improvement is putting rangers out on the course to keep an eye on things and nag people when appropriate. Although the remodel improved the course in most ways, I'm not sure they have had rangers at all since it reopened, or if they did it's been awhile.

Gainey Ranch is a course which is always in great shape in season, and they often let it go pretty bad in the summer. We played the two best nines, Arroyo / Lakes. For some reason they had a thin layer of sand on all the Lakes greens. Didn't affect the pace much but got sand on everything and kept balls from stopping. Fun layout though and not particularly difficult.

Played first out at Orangetree on Sunday and Monday then played Tuesday afternoon at talking stick north...all comped, just gave the outside guys $10 for each round

Really feeling Orangetree right now as I feel it's in some of the best condition possible for that course. As I have said before I worked there for awhile and always had connections there but seriously the greens are solid there right now and makes it very enjoyable and with some fairly thick rough it's not as easy as it appears, especially green side!

Talking stick north was okay. Greens were decent, just bouncey cuz of no overseed but everything else is really nice. Excellent grass to hit irons and chip off.

Def agree with tuq that Gainey is real hit or miss. I have seen it awesome there and then next time it's not good at all. I'm too cheap to pay $65 to play Papago right now but prolly will hit it up in the summer.

Gotta abuse my connections as much as I can right now obv

Thinking ahead for U.S. Open local qualifying:

-Trilogy Vistancia
-DC Ranch CC
-Southern Dunes

Which would be the best strategy-wise for someone who is +length (310+ and accurate), a good putter and meh iron/wedge game? Iron game's getting better, though. Also working hard at it over the next 3 months.

DC Ranch seems like the most volatile of the three given that the back nine has a bunch of birdie holes. Thinking about getting out to Vistancia this week to jog the memory.

Southern dunes is crazy long so maybe that's good?

WARNING: THIS POST ISN'T HELPFUL.

Was trying to figure out what types of courses give you an advantage over others, and the type that comes to mind is presumably a long track with fairly flat green complexes and larger targets, so slight misses result in longer putts but not totally different zones or short sided situations.

Since I have only been out to Vistancia and have never seen DC Ranch even if that assessment is accurate I don't know which of the three would fit the best.

durango is probably out golfing somewhere and will respond when he gets back...

I have def played all three courses...

Vistancia - fairly open except for a few holes but takes driver out of your hand on a handful of holes, greens pretty sloped

DC ranch....pretty wide open but not really long. Back nine is way better than front because of elevation but once again driver not needed

Southern Dunes - healthy yardage assuming u are playing tips. If driver is your strong point and you are accurate I would chose this one. There is a grip of bunkers but u can hit driver on almost every hole and give you a shorter yardage than others. Greens pretty sloped but good long drives more important here than other courses mentioned. Assuming u are comfortable out of traps cuz u will find them eventually and okay with fairly sloped quick greens then go with southern dunes.....however this is the most "players course" out of the three so I would imagine the field to be a little tougher than average but it is a deep drive so that might keep some people away.

If it were me though I would chose vistancia cuz I am stronger with 3 wood off tee and my wedge game

Take my advice for what's it worth

Also there's a fly by on southern dunes website I think so u can kinda see your lines and distances off tee

Tuq - how the heck have u not played southern dunes??? Yes it's a deep drive but it's legitimately a top 6-7 public track in the state IMO. It's legit assuming it's in good shape

I've played Southern Dunes a bunch of times. It's the other two I haven't played.

Thanks for the responses guys. One thing I didn't mention is that this is the start of my tournament season (mid May) and that I have the option to play the qualifier before or after the AZ Stroke Play Championship. Vistancia and Southern Dunes are before, DC Ranch is after. I'm also going through a swing change but I'm not worried about it. Super pumped to test it out in fact. I have plenty of time to get more reps in, too.

I also mention this to get Durango to start thinking about playing in the AZ Stroke Play this year. IT'S AT AGUILA!!!!! May 14-17.

Do it, man!

Lol I do kinda own Aguila...but suddenly my game has been struggling. Pretty sure it's mental but I have shot like 77-80 last couple rounds which is just pathetic. Gotta find my game ASAP

Hey guys!

I'm looking to swap golf connections with anyone that has them, or play with other decent golfers (4 handicap or better). I work at Longbow and can get a 4 some off any day I'm not working (generally either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday). I also might be able to get us off on other OB Sports courses, like We Ko Pa, Eagle Mountain, Etc.

I played in high school at Brophy (if you're from the phoenix area) and was +1.5 at my best. I'm probably hovering between a 4-8 right now, but I've been practicing a lot and should be back to scratch fairly soon.

Durango- I think you'd have a good time playing Aguila in the AZ SP. I know you've been apprehensive about it before but it'd be a lot of fun to play well and/or contend there.

kz- I'm working hard on my game right now and should be ramping up playing more often in late March. I'm a +1 that probably looks more like a 5-10 HCP if I were to play 18 right now. PM me if you want to play sometime. P.S. I don't have any connections, sorry.

Kzy - I'm in kind of a weird spot. I used to work at Orangetree and very close with head pro so can get us out there except it's so freakin busy every day there that the only times we really play is first out and I have abused the connection pretty hard the last couple months.

My main connection is a guy a few years older than me that knows EVERYONE lol. He works occasionally at Quintero but mainly just knows a few big wigs that he's close with that literally call out to random places and somehow gets us out. I still don't really get it but me and my other two buddies are basically tag alongs to form our "normal" group.

Saying that, since you work at the course it's easy for you to hook up obv. We could start out with a 4some from here at your course and then exchange numbers and I could hit you up when we need a 4th.