tuq, blackstone is pretty damn fun when I played it last week.

The course is playing firm and fast in the fairways/"light rough" so if you are spraying your driver at all you can easily get away with a solid 3 wood from the tips because it rolls out so much.

Around the greens is funny, you'll see what I'm talking about when you play. Some of your shots that you didn't think were good at all will end up closer than the shots you hit right at the flag sometimes. A lot of the greens are in bowls so the balls kick off all sorts of directions which some of it you can see from the fairway and some of it you can't.

Greens are fast and true and have a considerable slope towards the valley.

Be careful of #9 second shot if going for the green...there's almost no where to hit it and you have to hit an absolute perfect shot to reach it in two or your in the desert..you'll see.

Also there's a short par 5 on the backside that has a green that is literally no wider than 20 ft and is long and narrow and completely blind on your 2nd shot. It's mid iron if you hit a good tee shot but just look at the yardage guide and don't expect to end up on the green...a little long is an easy chip back.

#16 or something is a crazy par 3 with a green that looks like a boomerang and is like 230 yards lol....good luck there if the pin was straight away in the very back.

hopefully that's not overkill for you but I just really enjoyed that course

yeah I am definitely spoiled and can really only see myself paying $50-$60 for a round unless it's somewhere special.

whirlwind is my favorite out of the ones you listed. I have only played Cattail but the conditions have been outstanding every time out there for sure.

I don't mind the elaboration on Blackstone at all. I can remember just about every hole on every course I've played, in correct order, and which ones stood out to me as being good or bad or otherwise interesting.

Re: Whirlwind, Cattail is my strong preference. Devil's Claw is fine but too repetitive imo, whereas Cattail runs in an arc and has a wide array of interesting holes, par-3s that run in all four directions, and can be a bitch from the tees they built for the Nationwide Tour.

But the way we are going it won't be until at least April until we meet up, and then prices will be more in your wheelhouse.

^^ LOL, I mean I'm not a cheap guy just spoiled by getting comped, paying cart fees and tipping the service guys hard to get out.

if we can't hook anything up my other buddies usually like to hit up the city courses or places on the outskirts that are a good deal and then we play just about everywhere in the summmer..

it's more my buddies that don't wanna pay $50 but yeah I'm sure you get the point

I'm willing to, but not necessarily WANTING to pay 100. If someone can get me on a 150-200 track for 75-100, I'm all for it. Otherwise, I typically shoot for the 30-75 range. But I'd be willing to step up to the more expensive courses for something that's sure to be as legendary as the inaugural "2+2 Golf in Phoenix" outing.

My dad and some friends are coming to town for a golf vacation and looks like well be able to get 6-7 rounds in. Here's how it looks so far. Would love input or any recommendations you guys may have as I've only played about 10-12 different course jn the valley.
1. Talking stick (have to play this one)
2. Troon north
3. TPC stadium (realize this is worst value but they want to play jt)
4. Grayhawk (raptor or talon?)
5. Boulders (my favorite)
6. We-ko-pa
7. Open

Jon...

What time of the year will you be here because that makes a big difference in course selection and value. Also where are you staying and how far are you willing to drive?

Looks like money isn't really an option for your group so I will suggest the following courses as I have played just about everywhere in the phoenix/scottsdale area

Quintero - as talked about in this thread many times, it's outstanding and would be better than any course on your list...well worth the 45 minute drive and it's gorgeous scenery out there

Legacy - course is always in fantastic shape and it's a very player friendly layout and it's close to the airport if you want a quick round when you arrive or on your way home

Vista Verde - good value, good conditions, well liked in this thread

Whirlwind - better than Talking Stick courses all around

Southern Dunes - about 20 minutes past Whirlwind but it's an awesome design as it was originally planned to be a Men's Only club but that idea failed. They consistently hold US Open pre qualifiers there and it's well worth the drive and should be decently priced

Gold Canyon - Dinosaur Mountain, consistently ranked one of the best public courses in the state

Tuq and others may have other recommendations but it really depends on how much u wanna spend, how far you are willing to drive and what your skill level is (for example, if you are hacker will you really enjoy Troon North when you will be in the cactus all day).

As far as what he wants to spend, he listed the four highest daily fee courses in town and the other two aren't far behind so I'm guessing money isn't an option.

Lol yeah true but maybe he doesn't even know what those cost who knows

Golf Club of Estrella was one of my favorite courses when I lived out there from 2005-2008, it is a hike to get there though

clark, yeah that's where we held our high school state tournament. Fun course, haven't been out there in a while though but yeah if it's in good condition it's def worth the play.

It is way out of the city and not close to where most people live/stay unless you are on the west side. I live in North Phoenix and GC of Estrella may be legitimately an hour drive from my house possibly more

played moon valley yesterday afternoon and it was in excellent shape with the greens being about the fastest and nicest I have seen them since the good old days at moon valley.

playing aguila this afternoon

Good to hear about THE MOON. Hopefully the greens on the Moon Walk are decent. That's the course I really need to play because my wedge game from 80 yards and in is absolutely wretched.

Ahwatukee C.C. was...well I see they dropped the "C.C." at some point when I wasn't looking and now are "Ahwatukee Golf Club", and apparently fully public. It was a business-related golf outing so the course was incidental, but as expected the conditions were very mediocre. Slightly fuzzy, uneven greens, fairways were bumpy with divots everywhere, and yet again a 5+ hour round. Got what we paid for. Still, the weather was perfect so whatever.

EDIT: hear that the owners of Ahwatukee Lakes, the adjacent executive course, are looking to bulldoze that because the land value is so high. The same people own both courses evidently. Haven't played the Lakes in nearly 20 years so wouldn't really shed a tear, then again it's not like we need more cookie-cutter houses either.

the moonwalk has been beat to crap for the last year or so everytime I look over at it from the 3rd tee....not worth playing at all unless u just care about hitting targets and not putting out

aguila was in fantastic shape yesterday and once again I highly recommend if you want a fun course for $35 bucks or less. Pace of play was slow but it was a holiday so whatever.

I think I'm playing biltmore adobe this afternoon, should be fun at least

Biltmore is where some of my poker buddies work. Even though I live on the course I've never leveraged them for a rate. Wouldn't want to play Adobe anyway, too much of a goat pasture, although it's good for the self-esteem. Links is aight.

Sad to hear about MOON WALK. Growing up the greens were fine and really not noticeably different from the course. I guess their tight budget doesn't allow for a lot of grooming on that little course.

Getting super tired of slow play regardless of the excuse. I hear the USGA is going to have a future initiative on pace of play which is long overdue. Five hour rounds are totally ridiculous on most courses. Makes me like summer golf more and more, when what few people are on the course are motivated to move.

Adobe for free versus work is a pretty easy decision though lol, it's moving quick out here...teed off at 1:50 and already on 12 but ya slow play sucks.

Greens are good for adobe today actually

Played 2,3,4,6 last year with my dad on our first ever trip to AZ, posted lame trip report but with a ton of pics in this thread on 4/5/12

Mountain Shadows is a good executive/par 3 course for wedge work also...I lived in the Biltmore area and used to practice my chipping/putting there

Blackstone was excellent. It's just a shame it was so ridiculously windy - it was probably a 3-4 club wind pretty much the whole round and from the tips was more than enough challenge. At least it wasn't particularly cold like it appeared to be in Tucson, just windy. Saw a lot of balls oscillating on the tees and greens. Also, the ground is really firm so all the fairway lies are super tight which means for a digger like me it meant a lot of banging into the ground.

The greens on the course are probably the most interesting I have ever come across. Many of them are shaped in a way that different hole locations could lead to a totally different approach to playing the hole. Most greens are huge and sectioned, some are small, some are incredibly lengthy - the par-5 14th has a green depth of 68 yards according to the card but it's so narrow it looked like it's even longer. And while they have a fair amount of undulation, they aren't unfair. Fairways are generous but as noted above since there really isn't much rough a wayward shot is likely to roll right through into the desert, which is more often than not a penalty.

Also there are a wide array of interesting holes, and I like that the back nine has three par-5s and three par-3s. The staff was very friendly. Can't think of a bad thing to say about this course, except that maybe it's too far away and that I don't know when I'll get a chance to play it again.

Very good description.
Had a property on the tenth fairway of Trilogy for a number of years when it first opened and had the pleasure to play Blackstone a handful of times.

tuq, glad you enjoyed blackstone. It's definitely firm and fast out there but that's the way I like golf courses to be but it's probably just a personal preference. Did you see how some of your bad shots ended up close after kicking off a hill. It's pretty wild around the greens and yes there is a few greens on the back side that are wild.

I played OrangeTree (lol) yesterday in the howling wind. I shot 75 which I felt was a minor miracle considering the wind.

Orange Tree's greens are actually really really nice right now but the rest of the course is definitely so-so.

I'm heading to palm springs this weekend with the lady and will probably play a round or two. Anyone got any recommendations there for something in the $50-$80 range?

I've been part of a Palm Springs (actually, Palm Desert) golf outing for a number of years and the two offsite courses we usually play other than Classic Club are Desert Willow and Shadow Ridge. Both are roughly equivalent to The Raven or Legacy here - good daily fee courses with fun layouts but not super high-end. I'm guessing they're above your listed price range right now though.

Yeah, there are a lot of bowls at Blackstone which worked to my benefit a time or two. My main issue was with how hard the ground was - I had three double bogeys, two of which came with a short iron in my hand from the middle of the fairway. I hit down on the ball as always but the club bounced back up at me with no divot, the ball going nowhere at all and ending up in the barranca short of the green (#8 and #12). I par those two holes and I shoot a 77, which is no small feat (for me) in those conditions from the tips. Also the fairway lies were really super tight - little to no grass was under the ball, it felt pretty bare. This is less a complaint than an observation, and something I would have to get used to if I played there regularly. Maybe it would help me become less of a digger out of necessity.

Great mix of holes though. The two least interesting holes were probably 1 and 18, but the latter doesn't bother me since it provides a pretty easy finishing hole for people to go out on a high note.

Yeah I am a classic trap the ball player so I love the tight lies...the only club I have teed up in the last 4-5 years has been a driver. 3 wood off the deck is my go to club so I love the extra roll I can get on courses like blackstone