Canoa Ranch Golf Resort

Saw the print ads and the TV ads for this golf course. So we signed in to Golf Now and booked a tee time for four. We decided to take the leisurely 35 minute Saturday morning drive down to Green Valley to play golf at Canoa Ranch for our first time there.

On the positive side: The course layout was interesting and the par 3s were quite long and challenging. Sorry and sad to say, Big Disappointment after that. $67.00 per player was too expensive IMHO. Sand bunkers were rocks, no sand, and a nearly impenetrable surface. Difficult to even dent it with the rake, let alone a sand wedge. No amenities provided such as: a bottle of water, a towel, GPS. The carts are gas; therefore, don’t accelerate when someone is in their pre shot and swing routine. This slows okay.

The dead rough was cut like a military recruit’s buzz cut and was as hard as the cart path which allowed golf balls to run off the convex surface and into the cacti fields. This slowed play as the groups in front of us hunted for golf balls, frequently (every hole).

The greens, even flying high wedges into them, were nearly as firm as the cart path. Did I mention that they were also patchy (I get this. It has been a cold winter with numerous frost delays) But, a small tine punch and proper mowing would help.

The tee boxes had great looking, thick grass on them. Good for them.👍🏻 However, there was hardly a level spot and the grass was so long!!’ Uff-da!

Is this golf resort hurting for money? Or why the terrible course conditions?!

On the positive side, the bar service was excellent. 🥃Skol! 🙋🏼‍♂️

Excellent layout with great views. Bunkers not maintained with no new sand for a number of years. Bunkers are actually ground under repair as club damage possible on every one - gravel, rocks and no sand.

How to wreck a golf course. Don't maintain it. The bunkers are a joke. No sand , hard as concrete, erosion everywhere virtually unplayable. The greens are in terrible shape,. Damaged and totally inconsistent. This used to be a wonderful golf experience but with neglect it has become a sad track..

Sand traps are basically a little sand with a lot of rocks. We ended up playing them as ground under repair. Rest of course was in very good condition.

The course is great except for the bunkers, lots of rocks and not much sand.

We had a great round through 10 holes, brief waits on tee boxes, but a pace that moved right along. We were having fun and playing well. Starting on 11, it got really slow, I mean hit a shot, go to your ball and wait. The slowness of the back 9 took all of the rhythm out of the game. I was 5 over through 10, I was 12 over for the last 8 holes. Fortunately I was in good company, and their scores rose just like mine. It would have been nice to see a marshal to keep the pace going.

Views of mountains on many holes, varied desert style layout, challenging yet somewhat forgiving, friendly staff.

Visually stunning course. Very good hole layout. Bunkers were in terrible condition. Big rocks, very little sand.