Jeffrey8859416

The layout has many trees and is fair but lacks variety. Back 9 is more interesting. Conditioning was average. Nice to play on bluegrass fairways and bent grass green in Arizona! Very walkable routing! 11AM shotgun start was busy but efficient. Pace was a bit slow but it was very busy. No outside services. Lots of risk/reward decisions especially off the tee. Par 3s lack variety-I hit mostly mid-irons. $45 hot deal was good value. Perfect weather. Will go back and play. I'd rank Oakcreek around #22 of 72 courses that I've played in Arizona. Played with a local. The general consensus is the 7 canyons is the best course in Sedona then Oakcreek then Sedona Golf Resort. Seeing the scenic points, walking 18 holes and happy hour at Mariposa made for a fun day trip from Phoenix even with the short December daylight.

If Verrado-Founders was in Scottsdale it would be more popular & more expensive. I prefer Founders over Victory. Founders is more challenging. 2nd shot golf course decently bunkered. Lots of great holes. I really enjoy Lehman/Fought designs. Playable for most levels.

Course was firm & fast b/c they were overseeding the following day. Greens were tough to read. In my top 10 public in Phoenix. I enjoy it more than TPC Stadium, Grayhawk & We Ko Pa Cholla.

Holes 12-14 may be my favorite 3 hole stretch in Phoenix. Verrado is a great town. If it weren't such a far drive I'd play Verrado-Founders much more often.

I liked this Mackenzie gem more than PB, Spyglass & Erin Hills.

Layout-excellent especially the back 9. Mackenzie called the back 9 the best 9 holes in existence

Design & bunkering-genius

Greens-crazy but fun

Definitely a 2nd shot course

The staff was extremely friendly. I enjoyed spending time in the Mackenzie Grill.

I paid $143 on GolfNow.

Weather-horrible haha. Off & on rain during my whole round. It hailed once on each 9.

Conditions-very wet but the staff was trying to keep up. They had 12 greenskeepers working on the bunkers on 1 par 3!

Pace-excellent I was one of 4 people on the course

Worth the drive! 2nd time playing this course. The layout is forgiving but interesting. I could see where someone that is a 5 index or better would think it's too easy. I like the layout better than TPC Scottsdale-Stadium & Southern Dunes. SD & CC were both designed by Schmidt Curley. It was in better shape this summer than yesterday. Greens were slow & bumpy due to rain. I particularly like the par 5 12th. We played as a foursome in 3h 40m!

This course was empty and we played as a twosome this weekend in 3h 45m. We could have played faster but it was nice to hit a couple practice shots throughout the round. The driving range and clubhouse are very nice. The 18 hole putting course is awesome and very scenic (like putt putt with real grass). Overall conditions were very good. Greens were good but slow (8-9?). The sand in the bunkers was excellent. Customer service was good. I enjoyed this round on the Peaks more than the Ranch. The layout is pretty easy and very forgiving especially the opening hole. The course doesn't have any wow factor but some of the views of Four Peaks and the surrounding mountains are breathtaking (especially playing downhill/east).

I'd give it a 3 on the Doak scale. It meets 8 of MacKenzie's 13 architecture principles. This is in the middle of the pack of courses that I've played in Arizona.

If they were managed by Troon it would be better. You can see the difference when a course isn't managed by Troon (pace of play, conditioning & customer service)

Positives: they let me go out early, but they should have paired me up, big fairways, 3.5hr pace

Pace of play-poor, no ranger, a lot of stop and go

The practice facility is huge which is nice but no chipping area which is disappointing

Conditioning-below average. not that green, bad overseed? bunkers need more sand

Greens-10ish, some ball marks, undulating, 11 green was unplayable

routing-good not great, extremely walkable, but why don't they push carts available? the course should promote walking more imho

design-ok. coore & crenshaw minimalist design on poor piece of land. huge fairways which i like. We Ko Pa-Saguaro is hillier/tougher walk, also a C&C design but a much better golf course

value-ok

i prefer south over north..more interesting

I've played 50 courses in az, id rank talking south about #30.

I'd give the course a 2 out of 10 on the doak scale & it meets 6 of mackenzie's principles of golf course architecture

Played cattail

Good course but not amazing

Customer service-below average for Troon

I heard that they have a great pb & j buffalo burger but unfortunately the grill was not open for dinner after or round

The course is in a great area (202 & 10) wild horse pass hotel & casino, outlets...
Conditions-very good

I thought cattail was more interesting than devils claw but they are similar

The layout was pretty easy but still interesting; water, very wide fairways, areas surrounding the greens are cut short which is nice in that it leaves the ground game as an option

Value-we paid $80. This is the max that I would pay

Greens-9.5? We thought they were fast until we played Quintero the next day

4 out of 10 on the doak scale
8 out of McKenzie's 13 design principles

I'd rank it as my 25th favorite course in az (middle of the pack)

Both courses at Troon North are phenomenal

Pace of Play: played as a single in 3.5 hours!
Course Conditioning: Excellent
Greens: Good except for a lot of ball marks especially on the front 9
Value: Excellent, Hot Deal-$58 with tax & fees
Design: Challenging but fair, I like Weiskopf as a designer

Great clubhouse, customer service... as always

AWFUL GREENS (GRAINY, SANDY, NOT PURE ROLLS)

VERY FAR DRIVE FROM N. SCOTTSDALE

VALUE WAS GREAT-I ONLY PAID $15 FOR 18 & CART WITH ALL TAXES & FEES

I WOULDN'T RUSH BACK B/C OF THE LONG DRIVE

LAYOUT IS AVERAGE, GOOD FINISHING HOLES ON BOTH 9'S. THE PAR 3 17TH WAS MY FAVORITE HOLE B/C OF THE INTERESTING GREEN COMPLEX

I'D GIVE IT 4 OUT OF 10 ON THE DOAK SCALE

IT MEETS 8 OF ALISTER MACKENZIE'S PRINCIPLES OF GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE IMHO.

POSITIVES WERE GREAT PACE OF PLAY (3H 30M, FLEW THRU AS A 2SOME, STUCK BEHIND A COUPLE GROUPS FOR THE LAST 5 HOLES OR SO)

DESIGN WAS ABOVE AVG (JACK'S SON)

I've played Padre before but Ambiente is at a whole different level.

Routing: Out 9 and back in 9. I'm surprised they didn't make the course more walker friendly. I was planning on walking with a rented push cart. The gentlemen at outside services said they had only 3 and they were all being used. They were very apologetic, I could understand why they don't have more. The course is pretty flat but green to tee walks are rather far.

Views/Elevation Change: Pretty flat, not as a good of views as Troon North, Quintero, We Ko Pa... Although you get a nice view of Camelback Mountain on a lot of holes!

Value: Excellent, the regular rate for my starting time was approx. $189. I paid $71 with tax & fees on Golf Now for a Saturday late morning.

Greens: I've played at least 25 courses in the valley. Ambiente's greens were defintely top 3 along with Wickenburg Ranch & Quintero. Running about 11 with lots of undulations. Challenging but fair!

Design: Very interesting. Room off the tee, good bunkering (similar to Erin Hills). I was excited to play another course design (Hurdzan renovated Ambiente) by Michael Hurdzan. The original Hurdzan designs that I've played are Olde Stonewall in PA, Little Mountain in OH, & Erin Hills in WI (My favorite course I've ever played, Host of the 2017 US Open). It's tough to find balls out of the native grass. Play the right tees and you'll be fine. 3 or 4 of the 1st 10 holes are risk/reward short Par 4s!

Pace of Play: The course was very busy. We finished in 4h 30mins but lots of stop & go. There were rangers monitoring pace of play but it was so busy there wasn't much they could do.

Course Conditioning & Customer Service: Excellent

Overall: 86/100
I'd give Ambiente a 6 on the Doak Scale
In my opinion the course meets 11 of Allister MacKenzie's 13 general principles of golf architecture.

I can't wait to play Ambiente again!

The layout, design and views are all excellent. I love the elevated greens, very undulating and unique from one to the next! Greens running 9-10 range. My favorite holes are the long Par 17th, the drivable Par 4, and the 470 yd Par 4 on the front. Again the views are amazing. Great pace of play & customer service! The clubhouse is temporary, but the community is gated and more houses are going to start going up soon. The course reminds me of we po saguaro and las vegas Pauite. It's a must play!

Hawthorne is one of the best public courses in Ohio. It is a Donald Ross design that opened in 1924. The layout is not long but very demanding and tight--lots of doglegs. Small greens. Conditions are average to above average. The course is hilly and similar to Manakiki. Pace of Play was stop and go, but I still got done in about 4 hours as a single on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The back 9 is not as tight and you can hit driver more. Regular rates are about $65 but you can get GolfNow Hot Deals for around $25 around noon most days!

My golf course report card:

1) layout 10 8
2) Elevation change/views 8 5
3) pace of play 10 8
4) conditioning 10 6
5) value 7 6
6) design 6 6
17) consistency of layout 4 4
7) Pretty 4 3
8) customer service 5 5
9) greens 4 3
10) fun 2 2
11) variety 2 2
12) Memorable holes 3 3
13) clubhouse/practice area 3 3
14) Unique/interesting 2 1
15) Lack of houses 2 1
16) G-tee far apart/isolated holes 3 2
18) Pin Location Marked 4 4
19) Good Difficulty Level 1 1
20) Good Finishing Holes 1 1
22) How green is the course 3 2
23) Paired up 4 4
24) wow factor 2 1

Overall 81 out of 100

Critique/Total Possible Points/Points Received

1) layout 10 10
2) Elevation change/views 8 8
3) pace of play 10 7
4) conditioning 10 5
5) value 7 7
6) design 6 6
17) consistency of layout 4 4
7) Pretty 4 4
8) customer service 5 5
9) greens 4 2
10) fun 2 2
11) variety 2 2
12) Memorable holes 3 3
13) clubhouse/practice area 3 3
14) Unique/interesting 2 2
15) Lack of houses 2 2
16) G-tee far apart/isolated holes 3 3
18) Pin Location Marked 4 4
19) Good Difficulty Level 1 1
20) Good Finishing Holes 1 1
22) How green is the course 3 3
23) Paired up 4 4
24) wow factor 2 2

Critique/Maximum Possible Points/Points Received

Overall 90 out of 100

TPC Treviso Bay is a solid Arthur Hills design. I have played 2 other Hills designs and I can see the resemblances. Best greens I have ever played on! Poa I believe. Good layout that looks like a resort course. Clubhouse was never finished. Pro shop is in a trailer. I play a course for the course not the clubhouse so it was fine. Service was good. Not as good as Old Corkscrew. Not worth $180, $80-$140 is a decent price to pay for this course. Course conditions are excellent, layout is above average not excellent.

Raptor Bay Golf Club at the Hyatt Coconut Point in Bonita Springs is a must play if you are in SW Florida!! The course has fairly large fairways and greens, it is a resort course. It gets challenging when you are on or near the greens. Greens are elevated and have little to no rough, so chipping was difficult for me coming from the Midwest. Bump and run is probably the smartest play when you miss the green on your approach. This Ray Floyd design remind of Palmer design that I have played, big fairways and greens but challenging on and around the greens. I paid about $100 on GN for an 8AM tee time on a Friday in January (high season). Pace of play for 3 players was just over 3 hours!! Play Raptor Bay, you won't be disappointed. I liked it just as much as TPC Treviso Bay, but I would put Old Corkscrew a step above TTB and RB.