Yeah I wish the out of town poster would have listened to our suggestions but interested to hear his opinion. Obv he will like eagle mountain the best and the rest will be average/below average at best.

Heading out this afternoon to our old standby in the winter...Aguila

1:09 tee time, with a cart for $25 with my city card....hard pressed to find a better deal than that imo

Will report back on conditions but they always keep Aguila nice

Aguila was in really nice shape...some of the better greens I have played on since overseeding. Highly recommend as always.

Shot 39-33...played like an idiot on the front but got it going on the back

Alright, as promised (and requested too!) here's my weekend in AZ.

General comments: we stayed in Scottsdale, very close to Cactus & 56th. So while I haven't Google Map'd all the courses we played, I think we were around that vicinity between 15-30 minutes away for each course.

Thanks to the above posters for the recommendations. Probably a bit tardy on asking on my part as a fellow golfer did the booking so I couldn't take the suggestions of Quintero et al. into account. Looking at where Quintero is though, unless there's another course nearby, it might not have realistically fit into our itinerary.

I tried to grab some pictures but I am definitely one that forgets about such things and before I know it the round is over. Our itinerary was:

Saturday: Desert Canyon, Eagle Mountain
Sunday: Dove Valley, Legend Trail
Monday: Lookout Mountain

I played until mid September, my last round was October (Canadian Thanksgiving) and it showed, my body wasn't ready for this much golf after a couple months off. On Sunday my hands were beginning to blister early in the morning round, and my scores definitely showed it. Anyways here are some pictures and my rounds.


Desert Canyon
6,155 yards (blues) - 68.4/118
Scorecard



#1 tee, elevated tee dogleg left, 364 yards. Hit one way left of the water even, made a great up and down for par.



#4 tee, dogleg left par 5, 484 yards. Great drive here but my approach 3h went way left and settled for a bogey.



#10 tee, short par 4. Our whole group made a mess of this one and it was not a hard hole. I thought this course had a lot of nice scenery in the background.



#16 tee, downhill 152 yard par 3. Dunked one way short of the green, d'oh.

DC was a nice start. I wouldn't say overly challenging or punishing, some tricky spots where I certainly would have made different club selection off the tee but that's a given on a first go round. Good condition.


Eagle Mountain
6,269 yards (greens) - 69.1/127
Scorecard



#10 green, long par 5.



#18 tee, downhill par 4. Great view, already getting very dark by 5pm.

There were a few standout holes that were tough (#2 from the back tees was not easy) but overall there was a lot of room to miss at Eagle Mountain. Sadly I'd probably say I remember the least about this round, maybe the design wasn't very memorable for me. But it was a lot of golf in a short period. Good condition.


Dove Valley
6,475 yards (golds) - 70.2/124
Scorecard



I forget which hole this was on, but maybe 75 yards in front of the tee, some of the cactuses had been getting peppered by birds and golf balls it seems. I got a big kick out of it, this being my first time in Arizona.

I liked the layout of Dove Valley. Condition was fairly barren, apparently someone had put too much of a chemical in the water and it had really killed the course. Greens were easily the quickest we played all weekend. I can see why some people might say this is a dog track though, was not worth taking the camera out.

Legend Trail
6,400 yards (silvers) - 69.3/130
Scorecard

I didn't take any pictures here, probably a combination of my poor play due to my hands being ripped apart and being sour about the Ravens tossing away a game. But this was a beautifully kept course. Would probably call it the best that we played, unfortunately my worst round of the weekend.


Lookout Mountain
5,990 yards (whites) - 67.3/123
Scorecard



#1, simple par 4.



#10, par 4.


Took it easy on ourselves by playing the whites, and despite my struggles on Sunday, I rebound and shot a 39 on the front. First sub-40 nine ever! Woohoo! Naturally I blew up with a 51 on the back for a cool 90, lol. But it was a fun round and good way to finish. Groomed pretty well and definitely the wettest course we played, but it's not really wet when you compare it to the Pacific NW.



All in all, great first experience. I was just happy to be playing at this time of year and wasn't going to be upset by the quality, even Dove Valley in the condition it was in is better than 75% of the courses up here. Enjoyed the scenery and all the people we played with were great. Would like to go back and give some other courses a try, particularly when my game isn't in offseason mode. Putted pretty well overall and did not really have any experiences with inconsistent greens. They rolled similarly for each course and I liked that a lot. Greens are probably the worst part about golf in Canada, so many courses up here are garbage compared to these and some of you locals will probably say we didn't really play any upper tier courses.

Thanks for reading.

G be be - good TR, I just feel like you missed out on a ton of great golf here in phoenix/Scottsdale with those selections but I'm sure you guys had fun and that's all that matters

Were u guys staying at Orangetree? I think your group would have enjoyed the course at Orangetree as much or better than desert canyon/dove valley and it was likely a one minute drive from you. Also camelback ambiente would have been right around the corner as well.

Prolly getting back out to Quintero on Tuesday for the first time since overseeding...might actually have a spot open for a comp since my buddy works there. pM me if u think you can play Tuesday afternoon...no guarantees cuz my other buddy might find a fourth. Usually just gotta tip outside guys $20

got an early morning tee time at Vistal for like $33 so we can get our round in and still watch football. I heard they didn't overseed this year so I expect firm and fast conditions but expect it to be decent. I always thought vistal had a decent layout and was pretty fun when in good shape. I guess I will find out on Sunday and report back.

Played vistal yesterday and forgot that it's actually a really nice layout. They didn't overseed and I thought the course was in solid shape. Only issue was for some crazy reason THEY DONT MOW greens on sat and sun lol. Since we played super early and with no mow there was quite a bit of dew on the greens so it really slowed the putts down. By hole 7-8 the greens got a lot more manageable but I just don't get not mowing on your busy days??? Especially when there's nothing else to really maintain since they didn't seed. Overall would play again in early morning for $32 I think.

That does seem pretty odd, it would take 1 guy about and hour to dew-whip the greens if they did not have the man-power to mow then. We mow our greens every day and twice on Tuesday. We had 8:30 full course shotgun last week and got all of the greens done on time.

That being said I almost prefer dormant bermuda instead of winter overseed. While the divots can accumulate in the more common landing areas and can be a problem for busier courses, the playability can be better than winter rye imo. Tends to be a lot of wet/soggy lies this time of year with overseeding and the speed and run-out on fairways can really help my style of game (short and straight).

I agree, I'm starting to think more courses should take a year off overseeding every now and then. I have heard courses get more healthy if you don't overseed every single year. Plus it would completely change the play of a course. I know talking stick didn't overseed their greens the last two years and I liked the way it played (firm and fast). Granted people wouldn't like the brown look in January but I'm with you...the courses would play so much better because it wouldn't be soggy.

I don't think a full on desert course would benefit from no overseed (it would be too hard for normal people) but a course like papago might be crazy fun with it playing super firm and fast. Maybe just overseed the greens? Seems like it could save a course a ton of money on seed/man hours and the course would be in consistent shape all year long. I'm sure there's a reason why courses are afraid to try it out but I'm hoping more courses take the plunge.

Playing Quintero tomorrow at 12:30....finally getting back to those perfect bentgrass greens. Gotta get prepared for how much longer that place plays this time of the year versus the summer. Usually I can hit my 3 wood on just about every par 4 from the tips and be fine but with limited roll out I'm probably going to have to hit 4-5 more drivers than I would like to. Gotta keep it in the fairway for any hope to score well tomorrow.

Bummed out...Quintero was sold out 11:30-1:30 and didn't wanna drive all the way out there for slow play and 14 holes. Sucks big time

My buddy did get us out at 500 club which I hadn't played in forever and like vistal I was pleasantly surprised. It's a lot tougher and longer this time of the year than in the summer when I have typically played it. Fairways were outstanding, greens were solid and just fine. Would recommend...very fun layout and relatively close to home

Played Orangetree yesterday again and was pleasantly surprised at the conditions. It's still just a tad muddy in spots but overall very solid and the greens are some of the best I have putted on this winter (seriously). They are relatively firm and fast which is rare for Orangetree.

I also managed to play the devils round...shot even par with 6 birdies, 6 par, 6 bogeys...can't figure out if I wasted a low round or saved a bad round lol

Haven't opened this thread in two months since my play has been limited. Just read through the g-bebe visit. Laughed when I saw he was staying at 56th St. / Cactus because I knew durango would immediately connect the dots with Orange Tree...

Good getting caught up, I appreciate durango keeping the thread bumped and sharing his experiences. I've only played three local rounds since September, two of which came in the last few days.

Mesa C.C.: played this back on Thanksgiving weekend for the first time in several years. Fun course, I like the mix of five par 5s and five par 3s. Had a 3-wood into the 18th green, which I shoved right. It hit the cart path, bounced LOUDLY on the metal clubhouse roof, and ended up who knows where. Sloped roof, it could have come off about five different places. I sheepishly gave it a look but no luck. Good greens which were scary fast downhill.

Legacy: one constant about Legacy is the condition. Regardless of time of year the greens are almost always great and general condition is tip top. That's to be expected in high season but they tend to keep it that way much of the summer too. This was no different. Greens were nice and rolled pretty quick.

Sunridge Canyon: I basically stopped playing this course years ago because it was overwhelmingly frustrating for me. Unlike Las Sendas, a similarly difficult course that I played regularly for years, I never figured this one out so just started to avoid it completely. A friend I hadn't played with in awhile dangled a $39 rate, which is crazy good for a late morning start, which he leveraged through his connection with the staff. He was putting together a "single digit handicap" event and was hoping for 16-20 guys but it was such short notice he could only get eight. $100 buy-in which was half net skins (half pops) / half blind draw two man net. He also moved us around the teeboxes, playing around 7-8 from the back, and the rest a mix of one up with a couple of white and red tees thrown in for good times.

Had no doubt the worst four hole stretch in many years on holes 3-6 when I went triple, double, triple, triple. Especially egregious because #3 and #6 are two of the easier holes on the course. Fared better on the more difficult back nine, including a birdie on 18. The horror continues but at least it ended well.

Two other notes: 1) course in good shape, greens were not overseeded so are dormant and rolled quick and pretty smooth, and 2) we played with the head pro from nearby Desert Canyon. While that may be the least good of the courses in the area - due in part to the fact that it was built like 20 years before any of the others - it's nonetheless fun when it's in shape. We're talking about a similar event in the next couple of months for a discounted or comp rate. If that happens I should run it by here to see if there is any interest.

Tiger is going to be playing the Phoenix Open first time in 13yrs!!

I can't even imagine what crowds are gonna be like. In addition to the hundreds of thousands who are there every year anyway, now we're gonna have all the people coming just to see Tiger. Gonna be nuts.

Played Quintero on Monday and Tuesday...ate a weed cookie before my round on Monday and shot 83...Tuesday just drank some beers and shot 74. Prolly gonna avoid the green stuff on the course for now on.

Course was just in fantastic shape except for some thin spots in traps but I guess they are fixing that in the coming weeks. Greens are just lightning and perfect but they look a little brown from the recent frost. Ended up having to pay $30 for each round but still a deal considering rack rate is $180-$200.

Legacy might be the most consistently good conditioned course throughout the year. As tuq said that place is pristine just about every time I play there. I really like the layout there and it's such a fun course to play for all skill levels

Good god the crowds will be shattering records if tiger shows up...my bet is the waste management guys dangled a helicopter ride and tickets to the Super Bowl to get him here

Don't worry - Tiger will only be playing for two days, so Saturday shouldn't be any crazier than normal. Given that guy that was concealing a gun and harassing him last time + world affairs in general I can only imagine the security precautions.

Reminds me, I'm too lazy to check but not sure if they're running the event Wed-Sat like they did at least one other time the Super Bowl was in town. Not sure whether I like that or not.

Anyway, played Desert Forest again yesterday. Not cheap this time of year but nonetheless a solid value considering the quality of the course. Greens were perfect, albeit diabolical, and the course in general was in good shape. One challenge which I hope sorts itself out in years to come is the firmness of the greens. Holding them downwind was totally hopeless no matter how high or soft the shot. I came in high with 8-iron or less a few times and watched it land in the middle of the green and roll 40+ feet off the back, spoiling the few good approach shots I hit.

One thing about this course is that almost all the holes play east/west, the only real exceptions being #10 (south), and both #7 and #18 which play to the NW. Thus a wind coming from one of those directions is going to have a huge impact on the way the course plays. A 465 yard par-4 going into the wind actually played much, much shorter than a 535 yard par-5 downwind. That didn't mean the downwind holes were necessarily easier as it was nearly impossible to hold the green.

I found out that my Jeep's GPS also includes altitude. Whereas I live at around 1200 feet, Desert Forest is actually above 2500 feet, so a pretty big difference which explains why it's not as brutally hot up there in the summer.

So even though it was liked being kicked in the nuts for five hours I look forward to it again soon.

Here is a picture from the back of the 7th green, there were ~20 javelina milling around by my ball, which was just over the hill. Seen a lot of wildlife on Phoenix courses over the years including deer out at Troon but this was a first.

Desert forest is one narrow track!!!

Sucks the greens are too firm there cuz that place is a sick track that people don't even know is up there...you never really hear about it, EVER

Played talking stick north yesterday with my buddy who works there...course was in solid shape. They didn't overseed greens again so takes a bit to get used to it. Good surface to putt on tho

Kierland absolutely perfect right now. Super easy cuz it's Kierland but the greens are in awesome shape.

Yeah I wish I still knew people that worked out there...if u start hitting it good out there u can rack up birdies quick!