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Western Skies Golf Club
Played On 02/19/2024Best Value in the Valley
A morning tee time in spring at any full length par 72 18 hole course in the valley is probably ~$130 or more on average - so getting on here at 8:30 AM for 100 dollars is already a huge win. The course is simple straighforward, with out and backs for each 9 between endless suburban track homes, just like 70% of the golf courses here. Not really any grass in the rough and bare dirt up to the home fences, but fairways were perfect, and the greens were every bit as good as any you'd find on a troon managed course. The course is pretty easy, plenty or room to the right side if you tend slice the driver as a right hander. (I do.) You just can't beat this course for the valve in the prime season. If I lived a little closer I'd play it every weekend.
Foothills Golf Club
Played On 01/15/2024Average suburb golf community course
A very typical phoenix housing development course - 2 non-hole out and back routings between endless stucco track homes. Fairways and greens were in great shape, typical dormant bermuda first cut then the usual 10-15 feet of bare sparse rocky hardpan up to the property walls of the homes. None of the holes are particularly challenging, however there are several high lipped greenside bunkers that are avoid-at-all costs and 2 or three fairway bunkers that are the same way - so it's not just swing away and pars will come easy. There's a decent amount of undulation from the mountanside topography so you'll probably get to try some fun sidehill lies. Fun course and good value for price, but nothing special.
Encanto Golf Course
Played On 01/01/2024Basic fun muni - Great value
I play this course a lot when I get an unexpected free afternoon. It's wide open parkland style, especially the back 9, you can just about hit the driver anywhere and have a good chance to make par from the other fairway. The greens slope hard back to front with false fronts and bunkers left and right on most. If you get above the hole, putting it downhill is going to make 3 putt avoidance a good challenge. Particularly with the front pin locations. A very straight forward simple course, but the greens give it enough teeth that i wouldn't call it easy. Dormant Bermuda rough which is typical here in PHX wintertime, and some spotty areas where the sprinklers aren't hitting where they need to on the fairways.. otherwise the course is very playable and fun. And for the price, walking or riding, in the winter weather here in the valley you just about can't beat it. There are very similar parkland courses at resorts within a 20 min drive in every direction in similar condition that charge triple the green fees.
Sterling Grove Golf & Country Club
Played On 06/17/2023Great course. Worth the drive.
IMO - This course is the perfect layout to satisfy everyone. Great card with ratings for 5 tees + combos so everyone can find an appropriate set to play from. Excellent big flat tee-boxes, generous green well manicured fairways invite you to let the driver go just about any shape you like to hit, but then dramatic undulation and bunkering to stress the approches to lightning fast greens with ig ridges so it seems like hitting the green anywhere but right next to the pin, you are not going to have an easy 2-putt par. If you struggle with the putter, these greens will kill you. If your short game is tight you are going to win the money. Lots of different varying hole designs, no two alike, all fun. A couple fun Drivable 4s, some lengthy par threes, beautiful landscaping in the areas around the club house. I had a fantastic time and I'd play this course every month if it was a little closer to my house. I golf everywhere in the valley and this is instantly in my top 5.
Grand Canyon University Golf Course
Played On 06/16/2019Lots of potential, fairways need work
This layout is super fun, that's what keeps me coming back. The greens and bunkers are all pretty good. Great given the relatively cheap fees. The knock on this course is the condition of the fairways. many of them that don't get any shade from the big trees in there are usually toasted hard crusty flaky earth with no grass. Its kind of a bummer to bomb a good drive but then have to hit a wedge off that stuff. Otherwise the course is fun and interesting. If they really worked on the grass and got it greened up it would be the best course in a 5 mile radius.
TPC Scottsdale - The Stadium Course
Played On 06/26/2018Many fairways are in terrible shape
At a high price point you expect a certain minimum level of course conditions even in phoenix in the summer, the stadium course failed to deliver. The greens bunkers and practice facility were perfect, however the fairways were bare to the fried flaky soil in many places and in others they were a soggy mess. Several areas had lengths of hose and several sprinklers stretched out across spots and even a key landing zone. A few holes 15 and 18 in particular, had such poor green surround conditions, i just elected to putt with a hybrid instead of trying to chip off of hard-pan or muddy soup. Total bummer for such a top tier course to be played like that.
Arizona Biltmore Golf Club - Estates Course
Played On 06/23/2018good it its under 40 dollars
Right now they are asking too much for summer conditions. Greens are getting kind of crispy. #16 was toasted down to the sand. For 25-30 bucks it would be worth it. Its a fun easy course to go work on your long drives and not worry too much about losing a ball, especially on the front nine.
Talking Stick Golf Club - O'odham Course
Played On 06/17/2018No cart girl, slow play
The course is always in decent shape, even when it's dried up in the summer. And the layout is fun. But I've probably played here 7 times in the last 3 or for years and never had a round that was under 5 hours. it seems like they really pack you in on the weekends. And this time, we saw the cart girl once on the first green.. then never again. It's not the kind of setup where is easy to grab a snack at the turn either.
Talking Stick Golf Club - Piipaash Course
Played On 05/29/2016Great Course - Great Value
This course is already a good challenging and well maintained track, and at this time of year if you don't mind being a little hot, 30 dollars is a steal. I'd play every day for that price if I didn't have to work.
Arizona Biltmore Golf Club - Links Course
Played On 04/10/2016Good Value
The links course has a lot of variety between the holes, nothing boring about this layout. Fun undulations, a great hilltop par three, and the view from 17 tee box tips is great.
This course is older, and not kept up to top condition. (crumbling cart paths, trashed tee boxes) so definitely not at not troon-level like you might expect for the out-of state fees, but at the much lower resident fee rate, you get a good value. 60 bucks for this track is too much, 40 is a good deal. I live centrally, so I have a lot of choices - and I play here often when I can get on for 50 or less.
Superstition Springs Golf Club
Played On 02/20/2016Fun Layout - Tough Greens
My first time playing here, I was surprised and pleased with the interesting and fun variety of hole types on this course. Some short technical par 4s, 2 long open 5s, a fun uphill par 3. Most holes are forgiving off the tee, there is often plenty of bail out room if the driver is loose.. however the greens are unusually small, and demand a skillful approach shot. Scrambling up and down for par after missing a green by a few yards on most holes is usually going to be very difficult and adds a good deal of challenge to this course. Conditions were overall pretty good, although at a 7:30 am tee time there were a few very muddy areas that you wouldn't play out of. Short and right of the #11 green was a swampy mudhole when I got there.
Coldwater Golf Club
Played On 11/29/2014Solid Fun Cheap Course
This course is a great value for the money. If it were 10 miles closer to Phoenix, it would be 30 dollars more for a round. The fairways are forgiving, bowl shaped, and easy to hold if you are in any control of the driver. But if you are wild enough to miss and slice past the 2nd cut, you are in back yards and very unforgiving rocky desert waste. Fun tiered greens, and a lot of variety in the tee boxes. Don't expect anything nice from the clubhouse, it's bare bones. But expect a well maintained course, fair greens, and a interesting and challenging 18 holes for twenty dollars less than you'd spend on a course in scottsdale that wasn't in half as good shape.
Raven Golf Club - Phoenix
Played On 05/04/2014Great course - Slow play in the afternoons
This is a fun course with 4 sets of tees and plenty of diversity between holes. The the early summer condition was not bad.. the greens were receptive and rolled true. No complaints!
The main challenge here is lots of elevation change, and few even fairway lies. A good place to test your iron striking when the ball is above or below your feet. I played from the silver tees, 6700 is plenty of golf to challenge the mid handicapper.
The complaints here - is the foursomes are sent off to quick in succession in the afternoons. Twice I had THREE foursomes on one hole backed up. Pace was very slow and got me out of my rythym. 60 bucks for 100 degree weather is a little steep fro a 12:30 tee time on such a crowded course. So the value for the money is a little below average.. they didn't even include range balls for that big price.
Rio Salado Golf Course
Played On 04/14/2014Only worth a practice round - maybe
This course is pretty bad. I would give it a 1.5 out of 10. It's dead or dying everywhere but the greens. Many of the holes are little more than dirt 5 feet outside the fairway. It's a 9 hole course, and If you pay anything more than 17 dollars, which is what i paid, you are paying too much.
I'm a 19 hcp. and it was extremely easy from the tips.
To be fair - the condition of the greens is the one thing I can speak positively about for course in such a state of decay. They were mostly green, and rolled surprisingly well. For 17 dollars I have no complaints about the putting surface.
Conclusion: If you live or work near there, this course serves it's purpose as a 1 hour round of nine holes to zip through and tune up your irons as a practice round for 18 on a real course. Otherwise, don't waste your gas money driving to this trailer park disguised as a golf course.
Arizona Biltmore Golf Club - Estates Course
Played On 04/13/2014Great old school course
The Links course at the Biltmore is one of the most interesting courses you can play in Phoenix. It twists and turns through the old neighborhood where rich Phoenicians used to live in the 40s-50s.
It's not terribly long, but the course runs up the side of a mountain range, and really takes advantage of the undulation and elevation change to make the approach shots challenging - even when you hit the center of the fairway, particularly on the back 9. Greens are always rolled smooth, receptive and fairly quick. I love them, and always putt better than average when I play here. The view from the top tee on the 15th is one of the best in central Phoenix.
It's an older course, some of the usual edges are frayed - but that's part of the charm. 30 bucks or less in the summer, 70 or less in the winter would be considered a good deal, in my opinion.
Camelback Golf Club - Ambiente Course
Played On 04/12/2014Great change of pace in AZ
The Ambiente course is an awesome place to golf in AZ if you want to spend 4 hours and forget you are in the Valley of the sun. It's great to play a course that isn't another typical desert style scottsdale resort.
The Wildflowers and taller grass are beautiful lining many of the fairways, and are an excellent deterrent to trying a risky shot you aren't sure of.
The layout was fun, lots of rolling hills and fairway bunkers to keep you thinking about your tee shots. The grass was immaculate.
If I had to make a criticism, it would be in line with what many have said on here already.. the brand new renovation has tee boxes as hard as a basketball court. to get a tee into the ground I had to literally hammer on it with the back of my hybrid. But that's a minor gripe for such a beautiful and challenging course, that at 70 dollars was a great Saturday round!
Vistal Golf Club
Played On 5/26/2013Good bargain
Pros: Cheap, 29 bucks for a 645 tee time. Greens in good shape, sand is groomed nicely, not crowded, good pace of play
Lots of dead-dying sod laid down in a few areas in the first cut around the course, a few soggy areas on the low points in the fairway that are over watered.
Thanks for playing Superstition Springs. We appreciate you taking the time to leave us a review. Hope to see you out here again soon!