another option I just saw is Vista Verde which overseeded September 23rd so they will be a month out of seeding and probably somewhat playable and only $75.

one more option is Dove Valley Ranch who seeded on Sept 16th and is only 50-60 bucks and the reviews I just read said it was pretty nice coming out of seeding.

hope u find somewhere decent

I had never heard of that course, and it's somewhat close to me. I looked online and it said overseeding was sep-oct 16th.

Will try to see what courses are playable. Looks like I might play sunridge.

vista verde is a sickkkkk value in the summer as I have posted about many times....I haven't really played it in season but it's still fairly economical $70-$80 I would assume.

it's definitely worth checking out in a few weeks after it gets back into good shape. pro tip I use is to read the reviews on golf now if you are thinking about playing a course. typically the reviews are a pretty good gauge to how the course condition is.

Troon Pinnacle. Course was in very very good shape, was impressed.

Played Sunridge Canyon today. Course was in kind of rough shape. The greens were ok, fast and very hard. The fairway grass was quite long and surprisingly patchy for whatever reason even though they were reseeded weeks ago. The round took FOREVER, quit after 12 holes, was on pace for 6 hour round.

I played Orangetree first group out yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at the conditions. Greens still pretty slow but fully playable. Tons of grass in the fairway and rough and best of all carts were allowed on the grass. We didn't rush and finished in about 3.5 hours as a 4 some

sick pics big pot...looks pretty juicy.

I hit up moon valley for free with my buddy who works out there. Teed off at 2:30...finished just a little after 5 and that was even with cart path only. The course was coming along very well out of overseeding and I would rank it slightly better than Orangetree condition wise.

Getting out Sunday afternoon at Quintero for the first time since seeding and pretty excited. From what I can remember since they have bent greens, they don't overseed them so the conditons are usually very solid right out of seeding.

played Quintero yesterday at noon for free

course was awesome as usual, greens fast as hell and yes they are bent so they weren't seeded which makes them firm and fast and would easily be willing to put those greens right now up against any course in the valley hands down.

I think they are charging like $130-$150 though on golf now but honestly if you have friends from out of town they are willing to pay...it's a much better value and experience than troon north imo

and no I am not affliated with Quintero in any way, I just honestly think it's one of the top 5-6 courses in the valley and no one really talks about it

played orange tree on sunday and moon valley yesterday.

orange tree was so busy that we had to play the front nine twice. conditions were ok at best, but they don't mow anything but the greens on the weekends so it's kind of to be expected that it will be a little messy by the time sunday afternoon comes around. greens are fairly slow but overall playable.

moon valley was drastically different yesterday morning. they do maintenance first thing monday morning and don't have the first tee time until 10 AM so they get it all nice for the week. everything was freshly cut and the greens were in far better condition. that place is going to super juicy in a few weeks. as always if you hit it off line you will be in dormant rough/dirt but straight and down the middle it's in perfect condition. I remember the good ole days when I was in high school and moon valley was wall to wall grass but I'm sure that get's pretty expensive year after year.

I had a great time playing gold canyon dinosaur course on Friday. What a fun course with great views and there was an enormous amount of critters making it a bit of a safari experience. (havelins, deers, rabbits, quails, road runners, bobcat, rattlers)

I played the course from the blue and can see how it would be a very different experience from the gold tees. The course was still in the later stages of recovering from over-seeding and the greens were a little long and a bit bumpy. The ranger was on the ball and we finished under 4 hours.

I am looking forward to play it again when the course gets closer to being in prime time.

gio - that's awesome you saw so much wildlife...even for that course you are really lucky to see all those critters, definitely makes the round another notch or two better

lol thread is dying quick...none of you AZ guys golfing or what?

As sad as it is, I haven't played since I went to Troon North back in July. I just haven't had the time. I'm working Tuesday-Saturdays now, and have been spending Sundays at the bar watching football. Mondays involve taking the kids to school close to 9, and picking them up at 2. So not a lot of time in there.

That said, I do have plans to go out this Monday. Nothing special, just one of the Sun City Grand courses, which all 4 have been decent enough. I know the one we're playing recently started letting carts on the fairways again. I'm just hoping all the rain we're getting right now doesn't change that. My knee doesn't handle cart path only very well. But either way, it'll be nice to knock the dust off the sticks and get out there again.

Ha, the notable thing reading this to me is that it's a long-ass ride up the hill from the 12th to the clubhouse. I mean, you have to really WANT to quit to do so from that far away.

Maybe I'm just getting more errant or maybe cuz I've always sucked at that course but I'm way over Sunridge Canyon. Just too punitive / narrow from the tips for me to enjoy. Granted, I'm a lot wilder off the tee than most at my handicap but even straighter hitting friends of mine have problems because of how the holes are shaped and it's easy to hit straight ahead and have it roll through at the bend. If I never play it again, fine. If I'm driving out there would much rather play We-Ko-Pa, Eagle Mountain, or Firerock (if I could get on).

Also, they've had some management changes in the past year or two which may have some impact on the conditions.

After playing terribly in a member-guest up at White Mountain CC I opted to put the clubs away, and did so until two weekends ago. I've played four rounds at Papago since, including a tournament last weekend. Overseed has come in great, greens were getting back to full speed by last weekend - guessing they should be there by Thanksgiving - and the fact that there are no cart paths except around some greens means that there is no cart path only rule. Overseed came in great by the way on tees, fairways, and greens. Very lush.

One other thing of note is that the posts above reference both Gold Canyon and Quintero. Those two courses could not be farther apart from each other and still be considered part of Phoenix (it would probably take 90 minutes to drive from one to the other), and the other thing is that they almost certainly are 1-2 in the Valley in terms of the par-3s. Each has three with stunning drops that are great photo ops. Quintero is ostensibly the better of the two courses but Gold Canyon Dinosaur is probably more fun and memorable for most.

Got a group of 16 degens playing Friday morning at Aguila...should be a good time lol

anybody played FireRock since Troon started managing the course conditions? i bet its really posh now

To people who have played The Rim and Quintero, which do you think is better/enjoy more?

I have played both. I have pictures from The Rim Club earlier in the thread as well as Quintero, just search my posts in here.

#1 - Are you planning on playing anytime soon because it's damn cold up in Payson and/or the Rim Club is probably just about shut down for the winter I would assume.

#2 - I honestly enjoy Quintero more. If I had to pick one course to play for the rest of my life it would be Quintero over Rim Club. My main issue with Rim Club is a TON of blind shots. There is literally 4-5 times during the round that you have to hit a shot and can't see the flagstick which isn't really that fun and makes it feel goofy. Quintero is right out there in front of you, but still quite tough. Quintero has the best set of Par 3's in the state imo. Just solid solid par 3's.

#3 - If you live in Phoenix, Quintero is 30-45 minute drive depending on where you live and Rim Club is 1.5 hour drive.

#4 - Quintero is public and Rim Club is semi private (may be back to full private...not sure as it's gone back and forth)

#5 - Saying all of the above, Rim Club is still quite fun and is enjoyable if you haven't played it.

Golf is so expensive right now... Haven't golfed in a month. I miss summer.

yeah it's real pricy for sure, I played one of our go-to winter courses last week Aguila at 35th ave and baseline and you can play in the afternoon for like $30 and it's a good bargain and fun course that's always in good shape.

This is the time of the year that you are willing to drive a little bit to the fringes of the city you can find a little better deals....and/or find some buddies that work at the courses

I also played Orange Tree last sunday and it was surprisingly in pretty good shape. Greens were really solid as my buddy said they had actually rolled them and lower the mowers down to just about the final level for the season.

Thanks for info. Appreciate it. Will stick to going to Quintero then.

yeah it's a little pricey right now but worth it

Playing Cimarron tomorrow. Not expecting to be but so impressed with the course, but it'll be nice to get back out for the first time since mid July.

So, played Cimarron yesterday. Compared to Troon, Quintero, and those places, obviously it doesn't stack up. But, on it's own, it's a pretty decent course. It's was in perfect condition, and the greens were the fastest I've played on since moving out here last year. As far as courses out here in Surprise, it's as nice as anything else I've played. I wouldn't want to pay the $75 or so they charge, but I was with a resident so it was only $44.

The thing I was happiest with was the 80 I shot after not swinging a club since mid July. Granted, we didn't play from the tips, but I usually don't. 6300 yards was enough for me. Now I have the itch to get back out again soon.