ASU Karsten Golf Course

We play the ASU Karsten Course every year on our annual "Man Trip" to Phoenix/Scottsdale and have always enjoyed the course. We keep hearing that they're talking about closing the course down and re-developing the land for dorms or something. This would be a shame as it really is a fun course to play. So, if you've never played it...do it before it's gone!

This course is really fun! They are going to close this course soon so get over here and play it ASAP it is really well maintained and one of my favorite places to play. Greens roll true and every hole presents a different challenge. REALLY FUN! I wish they would keep it open. I hear they are going to build houses on the land.

Where to begin...
I've been making trips down to Gilbert, AZ for the last dozen years and have never plated this course. Driving by on the highway and peering down onto what looked like a fairly flat and hilly course had my mind made up that there was nothing to see here. Boy was i wrong. For this years trip,, being Canadian, we were seeking some economical choices as we're paying an additional 30 cents on the dollar. We found Karsten offering $53 green fees for a friday morning at 8:14 and 8:22am. Standing on the first tee, all previous impressions I had conjured up melted away. Playing from the second furthest set of tees (forget the color), you're greeted with a downhill, dogleg right. Bunkers guard the corner on the left, but also line the right side of the fairway for any errant shots. I could tell immediately that, while the bunkers pose a challenge off the tee, they also give the casual golfer a bit of a buffer so as not to lose a ball on the first tee (assuming a big banana doesnt take you above and beyond). It was apparent that Gary Panks had designed this course with the casual golfer in mind, but not neglecting the things that make this course a tournament caliber track. I could go on an on, so i'll summarize as best i can. Greens were table-tops that held short to mid-irons easily. Fairways were narrow but well kept. Hills border many of the holes to give you the feeling that, your're not in the middle of the city. Staff were very friendly. 2 thumbs up and an absolute steal at $53 dollars. As reference, we also plated Ocotillo and Longbow this trip, but found we couldn't stop raving about ASU Karsten. Just hope it stays open long enough for our next trip down!

Played about 15 years ago. Still a nice course. Loved all the green grass. Good buy for the money. Also, friendly staff. The girl in the bar was great.

This one is tucked away in the middle of Tempe on the ASU grounds, and doesn't necessarily look like much from outside, but once you get out on the course it's quite a fun course to play. No one specific thing that shines, - just an all-around solid golf course with interesting holes and a fair degree of variety. You can get yourself in trouble with stray shots, but the course is not overly difficult if you're playing with beginners either. Well worth playing, and the fees are very reasonable. Folks in the pro shop are exceedingly friendly too.

Over all great course. Fun & challenging

Certainly glad we got to play the course. Second best decision we made was to play the Champions tees instead of the Tournament. Even though a couple of us are long hitters (6 & 8 hcp) that would have been a whole different course from way back there!

Even though the course is in AZ, it by no means is a desert course. This typical Pete Dye course could just as easily be in Myrtle Beach and you would never know it. However in Myrtle, you would pay $150+ for this caliber of track.

Glad we played but I when I play golf in Arizona, I prefer desert courses in the desert!

Great lay-out. Perfect greens. The rest was not as well kept as the top courses in Phx...but they don't charge top $, either. The only real disappointing feature is the crummy range. They either need to go to real turf or mats. That, and you can't tell how far you hit the ball because the targets are hard to see from the tee area. Was hard to believe that this was a Karsten facility.

Good track. Premium tee shots on many of the holes. Typical Pete Dye track. Anything other than precision with your approach shots and you'll struggle to make par. Good greens. Play it before it becomes a hockey rink. Highly recommended.

Very solid course. Not built on a mountainside so a good shot is rewarded with a flat lie. Greens were true and pretty fast. Not a "resort" course or feel but a good golf course that will be on my rotation for vacation golf.

This course reminds me of an old urban center course. Great Pete Dye design takes advantage of the small footprint with lots of interesting holes, including several par 4s most players won't reach in 2. Surprisingly OB is rarely a threat. Many holes you can't hit driver on due to good design.

Greens and fairways good, rough could use some work (grass bowls are fairly sad). Tee boxes need to be levelled, noticeably humped. Sand traps are as designed -- they're not supposed to be full of sand/dirt -- better traps than many much nicer courses in area. This would be a real jewel if maintained to private conditions.

Play goes quickly due to compact course but stacked up pretty badly to create a 5 hour round. Good value for money with availability of some prime tee times. Play it now -- conversation with pro says its going to be torn down in 2+ years for more ASU buildings.

10 mins from airport. Great final course before your flight.

Our tee time was moved out without this being communicated to us until we wanted to drive out to start play. Given this was a "twilight" time, it was not appreciated. There was no mention that range balls had to be purchased at check-in but when we tried to get balls, the attendants told us we had to go back to the pro shop to play. When we complained, they provided balls. They loaded our clubs but drove the cart over to the cart return area and would not provide the key until we were "called" to the tee. Very inconvenient to warming up. The course was in good shape but pins were consistently on the extreme back, front, and edges of the green which made the course play very difficult. Don't mind a few tough pins but this was extreme (probably a common strategy for Mondays to let greens recover from the weekend). Finally, there is no guidance on pin locations and with quite a few large and blind greens this resulted in a lot of mis-clubbing. (We are all low handicappers so this was not appreciated.) We had GPS-based range finders so couldn't pin point the pin yardages.

Course in good shape but very challenging even for a 10 handicap player
sand bunkers not in good shape as require much more sand

I have played your course several times over the last few years. Your cart boys where not as atenitive as in the past. Upon arriving the person was on his cell phone and took a few minutes to get his attention to load my bag. Had to ask several times when we would be starting. When done with round Had ssometining to eat and went outside got my car and drove to the front to pick up my clubs. Had to go find staff to get my bag. A little more attention to these would be greatly appreciated.
Your inside wait staff was great.
thank yay the course was in great shape.

Good design and quite challenging, especially since many of the pins were tucked behind bunkers.
The course was not in as good a condition as I expected for the money.

Great condition. Rewards accurate shots, but some hole designs make errant shots difficult to recover from. Will play again. Bogie golfer.

I played with some out of town guests. Course wasn't crowded so we played quickly. A number of challenges with water hazards, but overall an interesting layout.

Links style course with a good mix of challenging holes and easy holes with well defended greens. The over seeded fairways were a bit thin and had some bare spots. The greens were in good shape, firm but would hold a reasonable approach shot. Like many daily fee courses these days lots of unfixed ball marks on some greens. The staff were all great and accommodating.

I think this course would benefit from another tee box for seniors. Some of the par 4's were almost impossible to hit in two. The fairway's and green's were not as plush as I thought they would be but they were better than most in the area. The course has a nice layout and a good variety of holes. It was my first time playing here which made it that much more difficult. It's a great course if you're looking for a challenge.

Greens were excellent, fairways were patchy in spots. Would recommend for someone wanting a real challenge.