shannonlisa

The Wigwam resort has 3 courses and this one is the most playable and fun. It has 2 main drawbacks: the tees are in the wrong places, as is the case with many older courses. There should be a forward set of tees at about the 4000-4200 yard mark and the white tees should be 5800-6000.
The range is sad. Mats are useless.

I’ve played the Falcon dozens of times over the past 8 years and it has consistently filled an important niche in the marketplace......it provided the “best slice for the price” in the west valley. For years you could get a twilight rate with cart of $25 or less. The layout is fun, the greens and tees were always good, fairways were playable, there’ was no sand in the bunkers and off the fairways was pretty rough, but for the money it was a good deal. I understand the course is now under new ownership and the same fair to poor overall golf experience is being offered for a twilight rate of $35. It ain’t gonna fly! While I understand that it’s hard to pay the bills at $25 a golfer, there are several other much superior courses in the area offering twilight rates of $39-$40. I’ll gladly play the Falcon for $30 or less but it isn’t worth a nickel more.

This course has an awful lot going for it......beautiful scenery, excellent condition, 5 tee boxes to accommodate all golfers (now if only the majority of golfers would use the tee box best suited to their ability, but I digress), wide fairways and little rough so you can go find it and hit it again. The layout could use a wee little bit more imagination, but I'm quibbling. Here's the bottom line: I'd play this course exclusively if I could get a green fee that fit my budget. That probably means I'll play it 4-5 times over the next few months whenever I can get a good deal. $100 plus green fees are not consistently affordable for me. So if you can get a reduced rate, or if money is no object then go!

The Wigwam has three courses....the Gold which is a ridiculously penal layout for anything but single digit handicappers....the Patriot which is just a poor layout....and the Heritage which is a fun, interesting design that is currently in about the best condition I've ever seen it. Twilight rates make it a great value. I have only one quibble: put some sand in the bunkers! Most bunkers have less than an inch of sand on a base of hard pan. That simply isn't fair and could be easily remedied.

The Patriot is the least busy of the Wigwam courses so if you're in a hurry it's the one to play. We were a twosome and went around in 3 hours 20 minutes. The course is in good shape (a few of the bunkers could use a bit more sand in them). Two beefs:
1. It's a goofy layout. Par 70 (36-34) and you get to the 6th hole before you get the first par 4.
2. The course ratings for the Wigwam courses are out of whack. Patriot is about 65. This is at least a stroke or two too low. Granted it's a par 70 but the greens are tricky....well protected by bunkers, often small, sloped, domed. The Heritage is about 69 (par 72) which is probably about right. The Gold, dubbed Arizona's Monster, is about 70.4. It's one of the hardest courses around and it's only rated a stroke higher than the Heritage???