DanTee

Dobson Ranch is one of the courses where I first learned to play and for good reason. Most of the fairways are wide, straight and the rough has good grass, but is not deep. Thus, mishits are not devastating to your score. There are a few dog legs and well placed sand traps, but they can be navigated easily. It's a public course so there are several walkers, which means the pace is fairly slow. Still it's a good place to start play for the Cactus season to get warmed up after the heat goes away. Good warm up facilities, but the 9th and 10th holes surround the driving range, so be careful about stray balls.

This is a club course in a residential district, but open to the public. The first 9 is fairly straight and open, but with challenging corners and greens. It was not in as good as shape as one would expect from a semi-private country club, but it is an older course. The greens were moderately fast despite being loose with grass. That is, one could see dirt in between the blades, which is a chronic problem for Phoenix courses in the summer. Otherwise, it was generally well maintained and it did not affect the play. The back 9 was more of a desert/target golf with split fairways and desert rough. One needs extra balls for this part because it is rare one will find his/her ball in this rough. They provide a map which helps to plan strategy. I ended up laying up many of my shots to avoid challenging the rough. The back 9 also caused delays though I played early in the morning.

Starr Pass is deep in the Tucson Mountains and takes advantage of the terrain, leaving it much as it was before the golf course. Several of the fairways are split, cut by deep water trenches and have elevated tee boxes or greens. The foliage also makes it difficult to get a good look at the rest of the fairway or green. Keeping the ball in play means knowing where your lay-up will be. Unless you are a long hitter, getting to the green in two is nearly impossible with the hidden blinds and split fairways on all but a few of the links. However, it is more challenging than a generally flat course and the tees, fairways and greens are in good shape. Expect to lose some balls.

Orange Tree Golf is located on the Phoenix near Scottsdale Resort of the same name. There's not much parking, but the staff is ready to help with your clubs. The clubhouse is nice and there's a restaurant attached. The course is somewhat challenging in that every green appears to slope down towards the approaching players, so it's best to hit the approach shot short. Every one has sand traps guarding the green, but they are mostly hard dirt. Otherwise the fairways are wide and a few have water hazards that are easy to navigate around. An enjoyable course.

Ken McDonald has been around for a while and although the fairways and greens are well maintained, the ground seemed very hard. There was a lot of roll with the ball on the course. A couple of times, my ball rolled all the way across the green on my second shot from end to end. The fairways are generally straight with only a couple of exceptions. #9 doglegs to the right around water and it is a steep drop off, so it's narrow to the left to keep it up. One must drive across a parking lot to reach most of the back 9. #10 is a long par 5 that goes across the cart path to the right, so it's better to lay up the drive. There's a lot of water around the par 3 #11. #15 has water at the bend as it doglegs to the left, which is hidden from the tees. Keeping it left may reach the water. #17 & #18 are back across the parking lot near the clubhouse. Overall it is a fun course and in good shape.