tatum ranch was pretty decent, pretty damn dry and burnt out but still fully playable. greens were firm and fast but not unplayable.

I am heading out to quintero on sunday and probably vista verde on monday....anyone been out to vista verde lately? I assume it's in good shape like always

The problem is that afaik the best courses are private - Torreon and White Mountain C.C. The only exception I can think of is Silver Creek or whatever it's called, it's decent but it's out past Show Low.

Someone I know played Vista Verde a couple of days ago and had very good things to say about the condition. It's after the holiday weekend we have to start worrying about aerated greens.

vista verde was awesome for 24 bucks yesterday. We teed off at 1:10 and finished the round by 4:45 on a holiday monday which I tought was almost a record lol...

course was in fantastic shape and it is literally only 20 minutes off the 101 and pima so it's really not that far at all

one of the best values in the state right now imo

Curious how fast you are driving for that to be only 20 minutes...although it is probably <30. Co-sign on the course and value though, I really need to get out there more.

Played Papago yesterday - the three old guys I played with all walked at $12/each, amazing value considering the condition of the fairways and greens, they were excellent. I am not the walking type so paid $24. I don't think many people play on holiday afternoons because the course was fairly wide open and I've experienced that in the past too elsewhere.

I had my truck pegged at 60 MPH the entire way and didn't hit one light or stop from the golf course until the 101 so yes 20-22 minutes. My buddy and I couldn't believe it because it felt like it was way out there.

I forgot how beautiful the views are out there too, just open space for miles with basically no homes and awesome views of four peaks.

papago is a hot deal for 12 bucks to walk, we have played there a few times lately and enjoyed it. I still think some of those par 3's are a little ridiculous from the tips.

It's impossible to drive more than a half mile in Scottsdale without hitting at least one red light, thus your story cannot be true.

Next time I go up there I think I'll try Beeline to Fountain Hills and up. There's a very good chance that's faster and it's certainly less aggravating than dealing with Scottsdale, aka Home of the Red Traffic Signal.

Looks like I have fairly serious knee and shoulder injuries, so definitely couldn't make it to the White Mountains. I did play Torreon some time back but I don't remember much. WM are not a desirable golf destination.

lol, I guess I flopped complete nuts because my story is true. I took the 101, exited Pima and put it on cruise control and did not hit the 4-5 lights on pima until I hit dynamite and then there is no lights from pima and dynamite to dynamite and 174th street......

regardless it's not as far as people think and the country out there is awesome and you can see for miles instead of being boxed in with houses

played dove valley ranch and vista verde this weekend...

dove valley was 32 bucks and in really good shape, would highly recommend right now. it was in way better shape than tatum ranch right down the street

vista verde for 22 bucks again yesterday, still the best deal in the valley imo

vista verde at 10:30 saturday for 23 dollars and superstition mountain Sunday morning comped, another good weekend of golf.

hoping the wind isn't blowing like they are forecasting!

does anyone else notice that it rarely is windy during the week and then always blows on the weekends? Seems like it's dead calm everytime I look out my office window and then on Saturday/Sunday when I step on the first tee the wind starts blowing immediately lol

Wind? Try playing Talking Rock, which I did twice last weekend. It was blowing ****ing sideways both days, and last year when I was up there too. I guess it's pretty much standard for them as it sits up high. It was probably about a three club wind most of the time, and the gusts and changes in direction make for a lot of guesswork and luck.

Played Grayhawk the day after getting back to town and it was far more subdued, virtually nonexistent by comparison. Won't be taking calm weather for granted for at least a little while.

I love talking rock, wide open and very good conditions up there!

ended up playing vista verde and southern dunes this past weekend. vista was ncie as usual. southern dunes we got off for free but we forgot to ask if they had punched/sanded the greens so obv they were punched when we got there. the layout of that place is awesome but the sandy greens dampened the round obv.

I think we are trying to play tonto verde ranch course this weekend, tuq do you have any reivews there? worth playing?

Have only played Tonto Verde once that I can recall, it was a few years ago. And it was the course on the east side of the property, which crosses the road, can't remember if that's Ranch or not.

Anyway, really liked it a lot and hope to play it again sometime. Sure, there are homes on it but the course itself was really nice and creative, and the greens were the kind of hybrid you see at nicer courses that's durable and smooth. I think it's joined at the hip with Vista Verde in terms of management so presumably the budget and condition should be similar.

The thing I liked best though was the 18 hole putting course they have. It takes up a lot of space and is ideal for gambling. I wish a lot more places had something like that. Make time to play it afterward, hopefully it's in good condition.

thanks for the info, yeah I think I played there a while back when I was a junior golfer. I remember the putting course for sure but not much of anything else.

We have a tee time at the ranch course because it said it's a little more open and some of my other guys are long off the tee but pretty wild so they like some room off the tee lol.

I will be calling them tomorrow to make sure the greens aren't punched because that's the biggest downer this time of the year obviously.

Visited my buddy out in Arizona not too long ago. Encanterra and Gold Canyon were 2 of the courses we played. Encanterra was an absolute bitch to play with winds gusting up. One guy in our group had a ball blow completely off the green from the back, was insane to watch.

Encanterra






Gold Canyon

cool pics inbetween...gold canyon dinosaur course is always up there in the Arizona public course rankings.

I am heading up north this weekend to get out of the heat with a bunch of buddies. Just a quick 2 day trip but should be a blast. My buddy is trying to get 8 of us set up at Flagstaff Ranch or Pine Canyon for Saturday and then we head down the hill to stay at Seven Canyons in the villas there and play Seven Canyons sunday.

I will try to take some pics and post to liven this thread up a little bit.

I'd be interested in seeing pics of either Flagstaff Ranch or Pine Canyon, have played neither. I have a comp at Pine Canyon I need to use at some point this summer, would help get me excited about it a bit. We were talking about making a two day trip and playing Flagstaff Ranch the other day.

alright, I will try to get some pics if we get out there. This is all depending on if my buddy can swing 8 guys getting off on a Saturday up there.......saying that my buddy usually comes through so we'll see where we end up.

If it's Pine Canyon or Flag Ranch I will take pics. I have played Pine Canyon a few times and it's awesome. It's fairly open off the tee and the conditions and layout are fantastic. It's like 7300 yards from the tips but obv plays much shorter. Hole 18 is like 490 downhill looking straight at SanFran Peaks. The only course I like more up there is Forest Highlands Meadow Course. I haven't played Flag Ranch but a bunch of my buddies have and they say it's pretty sweet.

You prefer Meadow to Canyon. HERESY.

I actually do, almost all of my buddies agree too. I guess it's just that I like the open air feeling of meadow vs canyon.

I also don't like that on holes 6-13 there is FIVE par 3's....

I agree there are more dramatic and awesome holes on canyon (specifically number 9, 13, 14) but meadow just seems more standard layout and fun to play. I also HATE the pace of play on Canyon. Everytime I get out there it seems like it takes donkeys 5 hours at least to get around that place because it's too hard for the average golfer.

Meadow has always played faster and been more enjoyable for my group.

Six. Starting with the 4th hole every other hole is a par-3 thru the 14th. 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. That is a bit much but there are also some good holes among them. 4, 8, and 14 in particular.

I do see your point though.

yeah, imo championship courses should haven't a par 3 ever other hole....but obv I like the course I just prefer meadow but that's just my opinion.

apparently my buddy did hook us up for a cart fee at a nice course in Flag for a 10:40 tee time tomorrow but he's being sneaky and not telling us until the morning on our drive up lol. We gotta wear slacks and he said it's a big boy course so I assume he got us set up at pine canyon, flag ranch or maybe even forest highlands because his mother in law has a house there.

either way going to be a fun weekend of golf, booze, poker and grilling
I will take pics and report back like always.

my buddy threw us all for a loop and ended up hooking us up for a cart fee at Talking Rock just outside of prescott. i have played there a few times and it was a sweet course. the wind was blowing about 30 mph during our round on saturday so it made it quite tough, but the conditions were fantastic.

seven canyons was pretty fun on sunday except it wasn't in pristine condition that we are used to. the bunkers had a lot of spots where there was no sand and I had a ton of bad lies around the greens that we usually don't see.

all in all, fun trip and of course I was boozing too hard to take any pics

As mentioned upthread, played Talking Rock two days in a row a few weeks ago. Really like the course the more I play it, plus I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for them - the howling wind seems like it's pretty much a constant, which can't be good for their always floundering membership drive. One thing I noticed this time is that like Classic Club in Palm Springs it sits up high and naked relative to the land to the southwest - the most common wind direction. So there is nothing to stop it.

Haven't played Seven Canyons in a few years but unsurprised about the feedback given the news I've been hearing about some irrigation issues which they couldn't afford to fix. Beautiful piece of land but Talking Rock is clearly a better golf course because Seven Canyons just doesn't have as much land as they need.