yes definitely agreed talking rock >>>>>> seven canyons. talking rock is just in a pretty remote location but it's 1000% a better golf course. we usually play the tips but we talked to the starter and they were expecting the 20-25 mph winds so they actually pulled the back tee markers to avoid 5 hours rounds lol. We ended up playing the blue tees and with the severe wind it was basically all we could handle. I actually felt good about my 78 even though I bogeyed the last 3. The golf course is very fair with plenty of room to feel comfortable hitting it but with the fast greens it makes it very hard to secure birdies obv.

just read your post about talking rock, I must have missed it earlier...

yes it was basically a three club wind and it was crazy because sometimes it would stop mid shot and we would airmail the green or come up 10-15 yards short and there wasn't much we could do about it.

I hit a couple of shots that I was in love with that didn't even sniff the green lol

played mcdowell mountain today after work for the first time since they remodeled the course...

teed off at 4:30 PM for 25 bucks and easily finished 18 with a threesome. they had punched the greens about two weeks ago so they were a little beat but still 100% playable. I really enjoyed the remodeled course vs the old sanctuary course. There was much more room to hit your shots and a couple nice changes to a few holes..would highly recommend for the current price of 25-40 bucks...

fairways and tees were absolutely perfect so if you give the greens another week or so I would say it's a great bargain for right in the heart of scottsdale

just an FYI for all the phoenix golfers...I have played Aguila twice in the last week and playing there tomorrow and the conditions are awesome for a municipal course. Only 18-25 bucks to ride anytime during the day.

I was talking to the starter and they just had the US Publinxs qualifier there a couple of weeks ago so they really got the course into great shape and rolled the greens so everything was really nice. It's a tought time of the year to find courses in good shape with all the work being done on courses and punching, etc so just a recommendation.

Catching up on your posts.

Played Quintero last weekend for the first time in years. Obviously a fantastic course, it reminds me of Talking Rock in that it was built way the f out in the middle of nowhere at almost exactly the same time (about ten years ago). The difference between the two though is that Talking Rock has some actual infrastructure in the little general store they have and restaurant on the premises so one could theoretically not leave the course every day, plus Chino Valley isn't all that far away. Quintero on the other hand hasn't yet gotten that far so for the handful of houses on the course everything they do requires a 30+ minute drive. Great course, I drool over the long proposed second 18 (they may have sold the land since, don't know), but wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't make it. On our way back from Vegas one of my friends pointed out some development called "Wickenburg Ranch" that apparently got all the way to the hole routing and grass growing before running out of money.

Quintero of course is a bitch from the tips. Like a 75 rating and 150 slope. Fairways are generous enough but there is little to no chance of playing any ball that goes into the desert. Just dead like Sunridge Canyon.

Good tip on Aguila, and good update on McDowell Mountain Ranch. Never much cared for it as Sanctuary - let's face it, it kinda sucked - so hopefully it's fairer now.

Planning to play 2-3 times in coming days. Possibly We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro) tomorrow and either Kierland or TPC Champions on Friday.

getting out at quintero for free with my buddy who works out there sometimes. should be in good shape I assume since they punched 4-5 weeks ago

Played Las Sendas yesterday for the first time, I enjoyed it quite a lot though their driving range is under construction so no warm up. The course was in good shape though aside from some bumpy spots from punching the greens, but I assume another week and it will be very nice. Some fun holes and some awesome views.

Yeah, Quintero was fine.

Love Las Sendas, used to play that course constantly since we knew the guy who ran it, like at least 10x/year, but then he left and it's probably been 5+ years since we've been there at all. Too bad, bitch of a course but once you get used to it, it can get more manageable.

Three round brief log:

Papago: played Wednesday, greens are holding up nicely. A little rough and a little slow but much better than average considering it's the dog days of summer.

TPC Champions: played Friday, first time in a year or two I'd been out there. Every time I play it I wonder why I don't play it more often, it's a tough, fairly tight but not overly punitive course given that a lot of the desert seems to have been cleared out. 18 is still the hardest goddamned finishing hole that I can think of anywhere, and the bogey I made is very possibly the best score I've carded there in the several rounds since they redid the course 3-4 years ago. It's probably not an unfair hole, but it's tight, pretty long, and almost always plays into the wind.

Legend Trail: played today, not really sure where to begin with this. In short, it was in the worst condition I can recall seeing on any golf course I've ever played, including municipal courses and nine hole goat pastures. Should have taken a hint when the driving range was all dead grass and sand and the putting green was like playing plink-o. The tees sucked, the fairways really REALLY sucked - they were both dead and soggy, like the superintendent is trying to soak them back to life - and the greens were ****ing tragically bad. The best things about the course were 1) the bunkers were actually decent (I speak from a fairly sad amount of experience), and 2) the carts were stellar. They really hauled ass. When the two best things about a course are the sand traps and the golf carts you've got major problems. They only charged us $29 after tax, and now I see why. I feel particularly badly for the staff - they probably have to endure a ton of bitching from players and it's not really their fault.

It's also too bad I had committed to this round as last night I got a call and had a chance to play Phoenix C.C. for free today and one of the members of the foursome was Ken Kellaney, possibly the most accomplished amateur golfer in Arizona history and someone I've always wanted to golf with. But backing out of a(nother) round of golf at the last minute is an absolute no-no so I had to decline.

Yeah we played the third tees (gold) at Las Sendas and the course rating is still slightly over par from there (6350 yards I think for par 71), its a slightly weird layout in that all the short holes are par 3s and par 5s and all the par 4s are medium / long except for 17. I hit driver / hybrid on a couple par 4s and I hit driver / 6 iron on one of the par 5s. I could tell its the type of course that 1) plays brutal from the back tees, and 2) plays tough if you aren't hitting your driver just how you want. I was cutting corners all over the place from the gold thanks to some nice driver accuracy and the course seemed relatively tame to me. 18 is an odd finishing hole though, a visually scary par 5 but no matter where you hit the tee shot its nearly impossible to not go for the green in 2 since you either have to hit over a lake or hit over the corner of the lake into a really narrow fairway unless you want to lay up outside of like 175 yards for the 3rd shot. I hit a crappy drive left and still only had 200 to the green over the water (and shorter if I bailed out left of the green which I did like a chump). Feels like a course that would get a lot easier with familiarity.

The guys we played with also recommended red mountain ranch cc which is right next door practically and open to public now, I'll have to check that out

Played Quintero from the tips yesterday and it was awesome. Course was absolutely perfrect as expected. Tee boxes, fairways, rough, bunkers, greens, etc EVERYTHING was in great condition. Bogeyed the first three holes like a donk but ended up playing the rest of the front in -1 for a 38. Started to get drunk on the back 9 and just whittled away my round with 5 pars and 4 bogeys for a 40. 78 isn't tragically bad from tips but decent considering my start and finish.

Everytime I play this course I like it more and more. There is far more room off the tee than what you can see usually so once you are comfortable out there you can let some driver rips and play some holes more aggressive. Obv most of the game out there revolves around the greens and putting as the greens are easily rolling 11.

I think golf now has the place for 39 in the afternoon which is an absolute steal considering reading TUQ's report from Legend Trails...nothing worse than getting pumped up for a round of golf only to walk up to ****ty conditions FTL.

oh yeah forgot to mention that I left my 60 and 64 degree wedge on #17, called the shop and they haven't got back to me......

might be in the market for a new set of wedges I guess

also, I would have bailed on my buddies to play Phoenix CC and they would understand. That course is such a fun design and always in good shape obv.

I have to get out to quintero I guess, always hear good things. I played gray hawk other day, not in very good shape. In the winter it's in good shape but def not worth the price.

Also durango, why do you carry a 60 and a 64?

I carry a 60 and 64 because I guess I'm "different". I carry Drive, 3 wood, 4-9 iron, PW, GW, SW, 60, 64....

My rationale is that my 3 wood is my best club in my bag. If a hole is even the slightest bit narrow I just hit 3 wood off the deck and here in AZ it easily goes 260-290 with how dry courses are here for the most part. Saying that I have a pretty big gap from my 4 iron to 3 wood (220 4 iron - 270 3 wood). Most courses that I play I rarely ever have a shot of 240 yards that is in this gap. Even then I can try to slam a low 4 iron or high cut a 3 wood to take some yards off.

Since I'm not worried about that gap really...I decided a while ago to go ahead and mess around with a 64 and it never left my bag. I consider myself an above average wedge player and I really like the options that i can get by carrying a 48, 52, 56, 60, 64.

I hit my wedges the following distances (be advised the ball obv goes further here than other parts of the country)
PW - 145 yards
GW - 130-135
SW - 120-125 yards
LW - 100 yards
64- 75-80 yards

These are all full swing approximate yardages. As you can see basically anytime I get inside of 150 yards I can make a full swing with any of my 5 different wedges and control my distance. Obviously there are times were I knock a GW down or vice versa but for the most part I get my distance and love making a full swing because I'm way more consistent.

Also the 64 is my go to club out of the bunker and flop shots. It's obv against theory but for some reason the 64 really plops the ball out of the bunker good for the short sided bunker shots that are relatively short. I can flop it out and make it stop quick which lets me hits shots others wouldn't try. Also it's super fun to open the blade wide open on a good lie and hit some crazy flops. It takes practice but it works for me.

The only thing I would consider I guess would be to drop my GW and replace it with a 5 wood or hybrid but for now I just don't have a lot of 230-250 shots versus short game shots.

I live near grayhawk fwiw so def know how the ball flies but you forsure hit it pretty far.
I prob should put a hybrid in my bag never had one (3/5w 4-9irons). Is the only place to try out clubs like inside a golf shop on the screen?

in regards to distance..yeah I hit my short irons pretty far because I like to aim left and play little "trap" 5 yard draws with my wedges to eliminate the short right miss. This causes me to de-loft the club slightly through impact so that's where the extra yards come from on the wedges..

I think PGA superstore lets you actually demo the club for a few days if you put down your credit card...just do that with some clubs to get what they feel like out on the golf course.

Needed new grips so go to pga superstore..

Guy was ok told me he can get them done that day so that cool.

Go to hit some clubs on the machine. Omg, they were such dicks. Nobody seemed like they wanted to help, and when I asked questions I got a damn attitude.

played Quintero on Saturday and TPC Champions on Sunday.

Quintero - as always, still in flawless conditions and is just about my favorite course in the valley right now overall. there were storms going crazy all around us saturday afternoon but somehow all of them managed to avoid us and we barely saw a sprinkle. I later looked at the rainfall totals and Wickenburg which is only 10-15 miles down the road got 2" of rain in an hour....glad that storm missed us...

TPC Champions - very impressed with the conditions here. Tee boxes, fairways and greens were all very nice and the round went smoothly. We teed off at 3 PM and was off the course right on pace a little after 7 PM. We played the back plates since they had most of the tees up a box or two and I really had it going early. 4 under thru 11 holes but of course a couple bad lies in the trap and a few 3 putts and I spewed to a 73. I don't get it going that far under very often so kind of disappointing to let it slip. Had a couple beers at Twin Peaks after so that eased my disappointment pretty fast....

also, TPC Champ was only $29 plus tax/fees to $33 total to play. Pretty solid value as I think that course has a great layout after the redesign a while back.

Played Palmer course at Wildfire yesterday. Pretty tough at 6700 yards. I literally did not hit a single fairway. Every single drive was like a duck hook snap to the left, I have no idea what I was doing. Probably had 7 penalty strokes and shot an 82.

nice, we were thinking about playing wildfire palmer because we saw it at $29 bucks too. Were the greens nice over there? I have a buddy who works there that I need to hit up to get me out there asap. I like the faldo course a little better than the original palmer.

The greens were in perfect shape. A little slow from all rain but rolled very nice.

Btw, the gps in the carts were amazing

Well, what did you get on 18???

Also, broads at Twin Peaks are ridic hot, but on the video they show on a loop there are always a couple of really hot chicks whose bodies are ruined by totally ******ed tattoos.

A couple weeks back I was in Golfsmith just walking the aisle and I hear EXCUSE ME. I had immediate 'nam-like flashbacks to my years in retail (now 15 years removed but still haunting). Turned around to see some guy staring at me so I stared back at him. He finally asked me if I worked there - apparently because I was wearing a red shirt, I was a likely employee. I said no and walked away, glad for not having to deal with the guy who just yelled at me in a fairly annoying manner.

Later that day I was at a Van's Pro Shops and needed to get a 3-wood regripped and also buy some shoes. By the time I had selected my shoes they had already regripped my 3-wood and had it waiting at the register!!! Remarkable. I was expecting to come back a day or two later, total shock.

As an aside, the prices at Van's and Golfsmith were basically identical for shoes. Thought that the latter may be cheaper because of buying power but it was not the case. They may actually not have more inventory than Van's but I assume that's the case cuz the stores are like 3X the size.

Golf-related, since I'm posting itt I played Sedona Golf Resort yesterday for the first time in years. Fully expected a rainout or at least a delay or two but the weather was perfect save for it being about a two club wind. We were part of a SWPGA pro-am shotgun event, four-man teams but play your own ball and count one net / one gross each hole. Have to give credit to teams for honesty because I've played in four of these now the past year and everyone seems honest because we have left a ton of strokes out there and yet finished in the money each time (pro shop credit, yesterday's 3rd place got us each $100 in the pro shop, plus there are cash skins and cash KPs).

Greens were phenomenal albeit slow. Many bunkers were in ruins because of all the recent rains and many were marked as GUR, pull out and drop. Course is indeed tight but not terribly long so if you can steer it straight a good score can be made. A lot of fun. Thinking I may rank that about even with Seven Canyons in terms of the enjoyment factor (Seven Canyons has better views but a slightly less interesting course imo).

seven canyons > oak creek cc > sedona golf resort for sedona golf imo.

Sedona Golf Resort is definitely fun but have always enjoyed the tight robert trent jones oak creek cc feel over the "resort" course but to each their own.

In regards to TPC Champ...I hit 3 wood, 5 iron onto the green on 18 and promptly 3 putted but that hole is a true beast these days...espeically into the wind wow.

Yesterday I had a real treat. My buddy that works out at Quintero invited me out to play again since Tuesdays the course is "closed". Apparently they do a lot of their big maintenance items on tuesdays and then go home. We teed off at 3:30 PM and finished right at dusk and it was truly spectactular with not a single human being other than my four some on property (okay, there was one security guard). We saw 2 snakes, javelina and handful of deer to boot.

I played solid again from the tips with a very respectable 76 that included a stupid triple on #4 after a bad lie in the bunker turned into a blade into another bunker short sided followed by jacking it around on the green.