Man I really shouldn't badmouth a course I've never played but everything I've heard about Kokopelli has been that it's a goat pasture, the Western Skies-tier of unimaginative daily fee track that is only to be played as a last resort. So I've never bothered.

You'll want a wide open course for your level of play, and on that side of town I think you'll find it at a place like Dobson Ranch or Ken McDonald, both munis that I consider fun for the money and not overly challenging. Rolling Hills too. Maybe Longbow if the price is right? Courses that are basically in one square plot where the holes run adjacent so if you spray it you're not breaking glass or ending up in the desert.

Those are all ideas on that side of town, if you live elsewhere I'd have different suggestions.

Queen creek juat played links then apache sun the next day good times now that summer rates are coming up soon

getting back out at Quintero this afternoon...pretty excited...haven't been playing that well lately so just planning on grinding it out and focus on getting in the fairway off the tee there (lots of 3 woods probably)

will post report later today or tomorrow

I'm hoping to get out there for the first time in the coming weeks. Now that prices are dropping(since some of us still have to pay for golf ) it makes it a little more affordable for me.

I really need to find a new driver. My old nike sasquatch just doesn't go anywhere. I hit my 1 iron just as far, but with a lot more accuracy and workability.

yeah I hear ya...we have to pay a cart fee now here at Quintero but obviously still worth $20 plus we bring a bunch of beer since it's not economical for me to purchase beers from the cart lady (I would go broke).

yeah my ping driver is fine but I am just far more consistent with my 3 wood and this time of the year with the ball rolling forever I can still easily get away with hitting off most tees and pretty much insuring myself a fairway hit.

during the dead of winter Quintero plays long but in the spring/summer it plays fairly short from the tips for the most part

quintero was nothing short of perfect conditions for this time of the year...everything about the course was outstanding. we ended up having to pay $33 to play now (expensive cart fee lol) but still well worth it.

Ended up shooting 37-45 lol...started off solid, playing well and then once a little bit of wind picked up and the beer count got pretty deep I sh#t the bed on a few holes and got myself into some absolutely terrible spots in the bunkers and just spewed.

still fun times

Forgot to post from this last weekend but we ended up playing Aguila on Sunday around 10:00 AM. As I have said before on here, for a city course...this place is pretty sweet. Always in good shape and on Sunday there was literally no one on the course so we played in right at 4 hours with our foursome.

Granted the course isn't that difficult but I ended up with a 69 (-3) for my first round in the 60's in quite awhile. Had 5 birdies and 2 bogeys and made a few really nice par saves to keep the round going.

Yeah I played three times with three different groups of friends over the holiday weekend:

Papago: it just continues to amaze how good the condition of this course is in. Greens were as good as a high-end daily fee and the fairways were decent as well. A friend told me he took two friends who were members of exclusive country clubs (GC of Scottsdale and Desert Forest) out to Papago and both wondered why they were spending so much time and money at those courses when this one is much closer and in such good shape.

Also this course in the summer is my go-to: nobody is there late afternoons, there were three of us and we got around in 2:40 without much effort and playing from the tips. When playing alone I can dink around and play in two hours easily, and because the holes are all adjacent I can jump around as needed if I come upon other players.

Kierland: I really need to stop playing this course. Not because I don't like it - it's always in great shape to meet the expectations of the hotel guests, and all three nines are fun and easy on the nerves. But - it wrecks my handicap. Last time I shot a 74 that could have been sub-70, this time I shot a 71 that should have been sub-70. Now I have to carry those boat anchor scores around for 20 more rounds while they cost me money because they drag my handicap artificially down. Pace was not great, about 4:30 which was an unexpected disappointment given the tee sheet for that afternoon looked pretty open.

Whirlwind Cattail: ran into a friend the day after this round. When I told him I had played three straight days he correctly predicted the order of my scores as "ok, good, and bad". Yep. Didn't need this third day, although it had nothing to do with the course. It was in solid condition, although a little wet as the reservation courses tend to be due to their unlimited water access. And it was a steal at $29 including range balls and cart. But I was running out of quality swings and patience not long after the turn and unfortunately another 4:30 round didn't help either of those things.

Of course, right about this week all the courses will start aerating and all these great greens will putt like Plink-O.

Nice TR tuq! Yeah I am dreading aerification myself too

Yeah I'm bracing myself for it.

This weekend played the inevitably to be plowed under Karsten in a scramble. This is a course that I have ranted about in this very thread as one I won't miss when it's gone. I will say though that their director of golf Daryl Crawford works his ass off - I remember him from when he and his brother worked the cart shed at Orange Tree a long long time ago. Every scramble I've played there Daryl is out putting it together, directing traffic, handling scores, answering questions and this one was no exception.

Anyway, the greens were unusually good - which means they are no doubt punching them as I write this. Just really smooth and sufficiently quick. I was totally stunned given some of the summer rounds I've played out there in the past. It's probably not sustainable though but then again I don't anticipate going back to find out either.

Hopefully when it closes Mr. Crawford will move on to a course which doesn't annoy me. He deserves it.

tuq - the greens are karsten were likely still really good because of the NCAA regionals they held out there last week I think? Yeah that course is alright at best. For a program as solid as ASU you would hope they would have a better overall track to play on everyday...

I was in Tucson this weekend with my gf (so no golf obv) but I managed to sneak out of work yesterday to play the The Pointe at Tapatio Cliffs. My buddy who works at Moon Valley set it up so we got out for free so the price was right The course was in really good shape overall and the greens rolling fast. I have played this course many times and never really truly enjoyed it but every once in a while it's fairly fun. You have to hit it straight to score and it's firm and fast so the ball rolls all around into/around trouble.

I had it going pretty good but bogeyed 16 and doubled 17 to end up with a +2 (74).

They finally switched #2 back to a short par 5 so now the course is a par 72 again.

Side Note: They had a solid 8.75/10 young lady working the BAG DROP/CLUB SCRUBBING which was pretty nice. Super friendly and cute...probably marry her right now not even knowing her hahaha

Ah - yeah, also I was told that they were having an invitational junior event this week so it makes sense that they have it in prime condition.

Can't remember if I posted this upthread and I refuse to look because I am absolutely sick about it, but ASU and Papago are apparently and finally officially BFFs and that will be their new home in a year or two. It's quite a course upgrade for them - and evidently the ASU baseball team is moving next door to there to Phoenix Muni as the A's are going to Mesa. But Papago has never been in better shape and I can't see anything good in terms of value or access coming from them co-branding that property. So they'll build a clubhouse, who cares? I don't play a golf course because of the quality of the clubhouse.

1. The second hole was actually pretty decent from the old tee but I imagine they had to abandon it because snap hooks either ended up in the strip mall to the left or out on Thunderbird. The trees down the right kind of aim people left from back there. Even now it's an awkward, partially blind drive. It was a legit hole as a par-4 but kind of lame as a par-5. fwiw I would still play the back tee if it was still grass but now it's all just large rocks so it's not really feasible.

2. Of all the holes, 17 is an odd one to double. You must have hit it left. And the green is super narrow so it's easy to end up in a bunker.

3. One time - I actually remember exactly when it was, Memorial Day 2005*, - I was out playing with a friend and we were just driving around playing a bunch of extra holes and were by far the last people on the course (they had to come get us). We then took our cart out in the parking lot which led to a member of the staff SCREAMING at us like I have never been screamed at before by an employee anywhere before or since. Since we kinda deserved it we apologized and left but still joke about it all the time eight years later.

4. The 18th was made a lot less compelling by filling in the pond, but they explained that it saved them something ridiculous like $200K in yearly water cost so I can't blame them.

5. I like the course because it has a lot of interesting holes and some great views and Troon does a nice job of keeping it in shape but it's definitely Mickey Mouse at times.

* the Suns were down 0-3 to the Spurs in the WCF but won a game in San Antonio that day which is why I remember when it was. I was a huge Suns fan but had no interest in watching that game as the series stood.

That employee yell at you because you were the last ones or because you were driving in the parking lot and not supposed to be?

Golf course is open til dark imo. Doesn't matter if you're the only ones, as long as you finish with some light left, they should wait on you.

Tuq...yeah on 17 I hit it left off the tee but still in the left rough...wind blowing fairly hard right to left and pin was all the way back. I over hooked my iron shot and it shot left into the desert by the path...had to chip out and standard double...

Yeah 18 is real easy now...driver 5 iron from the tips onto the green for me. Used to be a real dicey approach but not anymore.

#2 I agree its aim right then aim another 10-15 yards right and rip it and u have like 160-180 left max

Sarver ruined my favorite team man. I see him about once a week because we frequent the same coffee shop. I'm really tempted to just tell him that one of these times. It would be one thing if he was just stingy but he's also a douche by the assessment of many LONG-time employees of the Suns, many of whom he has chased off over the years.

That said, I heard a rumor recently that Jerry Colangelo may be interested in buying back the team. He's getting a little old so I dunno but that would be so great. Even if they suck at least I'd believe in the ownership and wouldn't feel dirty giving them my money.

It was a holiday and they were apparently trying to close early. We were cocktailing hard - I usually had a handle of Jack Daniel's in my bag and that day was no doubt no exception. There is a chain that they use to close off the course at some holes where it crosses roads - I think the par-5 fifth is one hole - and we wedged our cart between the post and the wall, a total clearance of about one inch and kept playing on from there. We may have been the last people out there by an hour or more.

So I get that it was a dick move to keep them waiting and he was probably at the end of his rope, but we were drinking and having fun and his feelings weren't a priority at the time.

Ah yes, the overcooked short iron over the green. That was one of my most "reliable" shots for awhile. These days I can count on a lame wiped shot that comes up about fifteen yards short and right. Easier to get up and down from there though.

Tuq,

Well hating Sarver is obvious. You don't have to hate the suns though. We got some fun players to watch still and some potential with draft picks.

Did the course tell you before you teed off they were trying to close early? Sorry to keep on this, just had this happen a couple times and it really ticks me off (especially since I worked and managed cart staff for a few years). Who cares if there's only one group out there, if it ain't dark they have a right to be out playing still.

i worked 5-6 years at orange tree when I was in high school/college and sometimes it was frustrating when there was only 1-2 carts out on the course but if there was an hour or so of daylight we never kicked them off.

Saying that....there were times that people would literally play the last 3-4 holes in complete darkness...like not kind of dark, so dark you couldn't see anything.

Those were the people we got pissed at because of course when they finally did come rolling in it was always "the clubs are good, we're running late, the cart girl took all our money, my wallet is in my car, etc".

If you are going to be the last ones out you need to make sure to tip decent just out of common courtesy imo

got invited to a scramble tourney at foothills this weekend (lol)...don't expect the course to be in good shape but this particular tourney is always a boozefest so it should be fun and my team is strong so we are always in the top 2-3 teams.

sunday we are thinking about heading up to vista verde since the rates dropped down to $27 and that's a great value imo. for those in this thread that haven't played there I encourage you to check it out. no houses, no clubhouse, etc but the course itself is solid and usually in good shape.

tuq - we are also thinking about playing papago for 25-30 bucks...u have been raving about it. I haven't played it since last summer but I assume it's worth the trip out there?

No - I would have remembered that. The lolbiltmore - a course I live on and yet have only played like once in the past decade - used to tell everyone to be in by 7PM, which was kinda ridiculous when you can easily play until at least 8 in June and there were still a lot of people on the course. They'd send messages to the carts via the ProLink system if we weren't in and if that didn't work - like if it was 7:05 - they'd drive out to the course and tell us to stop and come in.

I do have sympathy for guys waiting around for a single group though and on the rare occasions that's us ensure that we tip well, at minimum $5 each (that's good by our standards anyway...). I've noticed that on some holidays people don't golf late in the day. Many a New Year's Eve I've played in the afternoon and the courses have been empty and sometimes closing early. That seems weird to me, an afternoon before a holiday that's not particularly family-oriented. Should be one of the best days to play.

Well one of the most attractive things about it to me is the location - it's just a few miles from where I live. I can walk out my door at 3:30 and be back by 6:30 having played 18+ holes. Even if I hit it like crap at least it is fast.

So if you don't live particularly close it's less of an awesome thing but it's still easily worth the rate. Of course now that I have said this they will probably aerate like five minutes before you tee off.

ended up playing vista verde for a total of $28 plus they had a promo of a free 6 pack of beer on their online website.....course did not disappoint at all. I have played there a bucn of times the last couple of years in the summer but today the course was honestly fantastic. HIGHLY RECOMMEND the course for anyone looking for a fun track to play under $30. it's not that far of a drive and the course more than makes up for it trust me

"It's not that far of a drive" is largely contingent upon where you're coming from. It's definitely a long haul for someone from the SE Valley or the WEST SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE. Even for me in the middle of town it's at least 45 minutes. That's halfway to Prescott in terms of time.

Great value though, I'll give you that. Not having any houses (well ok, like 2-3 houses) makes it that much better too. Yay horrible home market! Back nine seems to be a bitch, or at least we all scored worse on it the last time we were there. Other than the short par-5 there's no letup until 18, which is manageable if you stay dry on the approach.

Papago this weekend didn't disappoint. For reference they said they are aerating the greens today and tomorrow (small tines) so I imagine it's to be avoided for a week or two.

tuq - true I live right near the 101 and 7th street so for me it's definitely not bad drive at all

yeah we were thinking about playing papago but I didn't wanna pay $40 but I will have to get out there in a few weeks for sure.

i think we are first out at Quintero on sunday to get our round in before watching the open

Well, we got a durango155-esque deal on Saturday since one of the guys I was playing with was friendly with the guy in the shop so we paid $22 which included cart. It was the nine hole twilight rate. Normally would be like $33 or so.

You should send me a PM and we'll tee it up just the two of us some scorching hot day this summer.