robcau

I was looking forward to playing the Canada course but ended up very disappointed. Let me start with the good. The views in various places on the course were great and the greens were in good shape. That's all the positive I can report.

I understand that AZ might be in a drought situation, but it seemed like the whole golf course was not watered enough. I'm not expecting a perfect edge between the fairway grass and the dormant rough, but it seemed the rough had tons of tufts of fairway grass of just hardpan which meant you often had a bad lie if you were not in the fairway. Furthermore, even on the fairway, the course was mowed down so much and it was so dry that practically every lie was a "tight lie." I'm not that good of a golfer to always be playing from tight lies. In addition the bunkers had very little sand in them. You would easily hit the hardpan underneath the sand. The carts were old, the course had just a few water jugs, and the driving range had old yellow dilapidated balls. I paid 18.00 more to play at Arizona National and what a world of difference. Canada came accross as a cheap muni.

Rancho Manana is easy to get to in Cave Creek AZ. Most notable about the course is that it's very short...even from the tips. It's target golf that does require you pay attention to where you are aiming more than some other courses do. The front 9 is far more scenic that the back 9 with more elevation changes and interesting holes. My main complaint is that out of the over-seeding period, they had really not mowed anything. You couldn't really tell the difference between rough and fairway. The sand traps were not in the greatest shape and the tee boxes were a mess of mostly dirt with hardly any grass. Perhaps in the Spring, things are better in terms of conditions. Service was adequate, but nothing great. Is this course better than your typical municipal in your home town? It probably is, but with so many choices in the Phoenix area, it would be down my list quite a bit.

The views alone, especially from all four par 3s, are worth the price of admission alone. Every single staff member couldn't have been nicer, especially Denny from Germany who was the starter that day. The course was like lush green carpet carved out between desert hills (I'm from Colorado, so they are most certainly not mountains... :) The multiple tees (5-6) could make the course as long or as short as you like. All four par 3s had dramatic down hill shots. The course had other significant elevation changes as well and offered "take your breath" moments frequently. Complimentary range balls and a true rolling putting green were great for warm up. The only down side is that although they completed over-seeding a couple weeks back, the fairways were a bit fuzzy that day which made some shots in the middle of the fairway make you feel like you were playing from light rough. Also, the greens were not in good shape....a lot of sand and did not roll very well. Unless you are coming from the northwest valley, plan a significant drive time to get to the course. However, if I could play there again at any time of year including October, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I played this course in early April and the tee boxes and fairways were immaculate. The greens were hit and miss. My guess is at this time of year, there is a lot of play and it takes its toll on the greens. Very scenic course with a nice warm-up facility, good carts (including GPS) and friendly staff.