Lives
Devon, UK
Handicap
5-9
Gender
Male
Skill
Intermediate
Plays
A few times a week

Review Statistics

Average Rating

4.3
4.3
Total 7 Reviews

Rating Breakdown

7 Reviews
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
3
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Recommended Courses
6
Not Recommended Courses
1
Helpful Votes Count
0
Not Helpful Votes Count
0
First Review
01/05/2019
Last Review
01/21/2019

Reviews Map

Reviews

4.3
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Course Difficulty
First time playing this course
Recommended
Review has

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club

Played On 01/21/2019
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Windy weather
Walked

Ak-Chin Breeze

Headlines; Great staff; great course; great time - 5 stars.

Arrived at 08.20 for an 08.50 tee got away at 08.45. We let two two-ball groups play through on the front nine and finished in 4 hours 30 walking. Saw no-one else for the whole round.

A truly great course, good tees, fairways, good size greens running at 10 with very tricky breaks, bunkers a little variable plenty of sand but some very dry and light and some damp and heavy. There are no tricks on this course but you have to pick your way through the bunkers and know when to take them on and when to just lay up. Great variety of hole length, shape and challenge. The par threes are a real challenge, with great variety of length and some big forced carries which make holding the green difficult. We had a 20mph westerly wind for the whole back nine, meaning that we had to deal with winds that were helping, hurting and across us - what a great layout.

The course staff are all unfailingly friendly, helpful and welcoming.

Is a really nice course to walk, but it would be an added bonus if the course management would cut some walking tracks from green to tee - nothing fancy just a cleared path. Is a shame to have to walk the cart path quite so often.

My only gripe is the provision of water on the course. Every second hole there's an ice cooler with free plastic bottles of water. This means that every year Troon throw away tens of thousands of one time use plastic bottles - not cool. Give us re-usable bottles and water coolers to refill from.

Yes I'd recommend this course and I'll definitely be back.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging

Desert Canyon Golf Club

Played On 01/20/2019
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Great day at Desert Canyon

Headlines: Great staff; interesting layout; good condition; nice facilities, quick pace, great value.

We arrived an hour early for a 12.03 tee. Bag staff really friendly and helpful, starter got us off 30 minutes early in a gap in play. Saw no-one else for the whole round - played a 4 ball in 3hrs50 - perfect.

Course really uses the terrain well with a huge range of hole shapes and elevation changes. Tees and fairways in good if not perfect condition. Greens in good shape running at 9 or 10 and really tricky borrows - some very big swings on slopes that don't look that steep. Great variation in par 3 length and shape including a really spectacular elevated tee on the back nine. Bunkers had thin layer of light sand over very dense damp sand, which took a bit of getting used to.

Carts had really excellent GPS giving exact yardage to pin of the day, tips on hole strategy and touch screen for measuring lay-up distances - a proper golfers aid with no stupid gimmicks like music or TV.

Saw the nice beverage car lady 5 times in the round. Clubhouse nice with terrace overlooking 1st and 18th holes (and the Fountain that gives Fountain Hills its' name). Did not eat but the menu looked extensive and interesting.

Lastly if you are into houses then there is a huge range of interesting building architecture on display around the course - although the houses never really intrude on the course.

Terrific resort golf - we'd definitely play here again.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging

Arizona Golf Resort

Played On 01/18/2019
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

A pretty average day

Headlines: Some staff completely indifferent; cart path in play way too much; average course conditions, slow play.

We arrived at 9am for a 9.48 start. The bag crew and pro shop could not have been more indifferent "Oh you want a cart - sure help yourself". I'm not sure what the point of the bag drop is - unless you have trouble remembering where you left your clubs, it certainly wasn't used by any of the cart crew. To be fair there was a different crew when we finished and they were fine - cleaning clubs and offering to return them to the car. The beverage cart lady was really nice too - we saw at least 4 times during the round.

Course was in average condition ie tees ok but not flat, fairway ok but thin in places; greens running at 9 and a bit thin in places. Big borrows on the greens which is fine for the speed. Bunkers had sand but not uniform, resulting in mud lies. My particular hate was the cart path which is way too close to the fairway and is effectively in play on about 14 of the holes - you did not have to be wayward to hit the path. Layout was ok with good variation of hole shapes and good variation in par 3 length.

Play was a bit slow for my tastes - 4.5hours.

We were paired with a nice couple of snowbirds.

Did not visit the clubhouse.

There are better budget courses in the Scottsdale area. I won't bother with AGR again.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Difficulty Fairly Easy
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Commented on 01/23/2019

Hi, we are sorry to hear that you did not have a good time the other day. Your feedback is important to us and we hope to see you again soon.

Dobson Ranch Golf Course

Played On 01/17/2019
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Walked

Busy but fun

Headlines; Course in good shape; very busy; great staff and decent simple food.

Had a 9.49 tee and started on-time. Sadly while they call tee times there is no tee starter which results in bunching from the off - overall round was 4hrs10 which is ok but we seemed to stand over most of our shots all the way round. I suspect the course is jamming too many groups onto the tee?

Range, tees, fairways, greens and bunkers all in very good shape. Greens running at about 9, but they have big slopes and borrows, so they would be unplayable if they were set too fast. Not sure I had a single flat putt! Nice variation in hole shapes and good mix of short and long par threes.

Course is not particularly difficult, but would suit mid to higher handicappers looking to improve their game. Is set on flat ground in a housing area - so no dramatic visuals.

Pro shop and clubhouse staff really friendly and the lunch menu was good solid simple fare - I had a great Philly cheesesteak.

I'd recommend the course as a decent value budget course, just don't expect visual drama.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
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Commented on 09/20/2019

Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate your input and hope you'll come back to join us again sometime in the future!

I Recommend This Course
5.0
Perfect weather
Used cart

Millionaires Target Golf

Headlines: Fabulous but hard course; very unforgiving; great staff; nice clubhouse. Started at 9 am and saw no-one else on the course for 4 hours - just like owning your own course!!!!.

If you think golf is "Smash the ball 300 yards roughly towards the hole and then ping a wedge onto the green from any old lie" - then you'll probably hate this course. We played the Rattler / Roadrunner combination. You need to have long straight carries off the tees (Black), an ability to hit long carries over gullies onto the greens and then be able to read some very subtle breaks. Anything wayward or short is a lost ball. Frankly the course wrecked my card, but if you are willing to use a course to teach you to hit straight and long, then this is a great course to come and improve your game. Sure you may lose a few balls but the rewards of hitting greens in regulation here are amazing. Tees and fairways were immaculate, greens running at about 9 ie not quick but very tricky breaks. The only criticism was that the greens were very soft, almost any flighted approach shot left a really large deep gouge in the putting surface that was hard to repair nicely. I think they ought to stop overnight watering for a while and allow the greens to firm up. I'd play this again in a heartbeat.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging

Encanto Golf Course

Played On 01/07/2019
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Walked

Sunny day at Encanto

Headlines Good value at $35; quick greens; good fairways; straightforward fair layout; slow play.

We arrived on time and were greeted nicely by the pro shop staff. Decent grass range and good chipping/putting area.

Had a 10am start and thought the course was going to be quiet. Sadly I hadn't spotted the tournament ahead of us which had a very slow back-marker group who lost two holes on their field. From holes 2 to 15 we stood waiting on every shot which was a shame since it took the edge of what would have been a very enjoyable round. The back-markers walked off at 15 and we played the last three holes in 25 minutes giving an overall round time of 4.15.

Tee boxes, fairways and greens all in good shape. Being from the UK, we're still getting used to the sight of bright green over-seeded fairways cutting through yellow rough - still it's pretty clear where you're supposed to hit the ball! Mid-sized greens in very nice condition, running at about 12 with a nice mix of borrows and flat putts. A few old pitch marks, but for a muni - not too bad.

Bunkers did have sand and were playable, but it's hard to know what the bunkers were really like as they had been soaked into "wet cement" texture by the heavy rain. Not much one can do about that.

The course is wide open with no rough and scattered trees As a place to visit regularly it would best suit higher handicappers looking to build confidence in their game. This is not meant to talk down the course, which has enough long par fours to interest the lower handicap player on a casual visit. Combine this with great views over downtown Phoenix and a $35 price tag and you get a nice day out.

There was quite a lot of casual water on fairways following heavy rain and personally I thought it a mistake to allow carts on fairways as you could see clear ruts forming where golfers had not bothered to steer round the wet areas.

Nice cart lady who we saw at least four times during the round. Did not visit the clubhouse.

Ball washers on every tee, which was useful since the wet ground created a lot of mud balls.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Fairly Easy
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Commented on 05/12/2021

Thank you for taking the time to review us. Your feedback is valuable, and we look forward to delivering you excellent service again soon. Encanto Golf Course thanks you!

Union Hills Golf & Country Club

Played On 01/04/2019
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Cold weather
Used cart

Frosty Union Hills was fun

Headlines: $30 is really good value; fair course set-up; good quick greens; good fairways; helpful friendly staff; not much in the clubhouse.

Sadly Jack Frost had got to the course before we did and there was an hour delay while the course thawed out. Nothing the club can do about that, but the pro shop folk were really good at keeping us informed on when we would start and even gave us some of their own coffee while we waited (the clubhouse bar didn't open til 10 am). Eventually our 08.07 start was at 09.20 as second group out.

Course was playing 90 degree rule for carts which is fair enough given the frost, but as usual is a bit of a pain for pace of play.

Overall the course is a fair layout, with no "tricked up holes" - play well and you'll score well. Fairways had good grass cover on a firm base. Greens are a credit to the greenkeeping staff - mid-sized with significant slopes, quick (11 maybe 12 stimp) and really true. A few old pitch marks - but sadly that's true of every course (what's wrong with some folk?). Just a few mud lies near greens where the water runs off and the overseeding had not been applied.

Bunkers were interesting. The fairway bunkers were very firm and shallow, but with plenty of sand, which meant that escape with longer irons or even woods was perfectly practical, but did mean that some shots rolled straight through and out of the hazard. Greenside bunkers had deep soft sand which could lead to plugged lies. Not sure if this is intentional design.

Off the course there's not too much to keep you. The clubhouse is ok. On the day we visited there was only "bar food" on offer which was very limited, although the wings were fine. The clubhouse staff were the highlight - really welcoming.

We are visiting from UK and this was our first round of the trip. We liked it and we'd play here again.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
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