Whirlwind Golf Club (Cat Tail)

Golf Course Review Whirlwind Golf Club CAT TAIL Course Chandler Arizona

Reviewed by: roarksown1, Playa del Rey

Day one of a two-day work trip out to the Phoenix area so we played Whirlwind first just an hour or so after getting off the plane. We were supposed to play the other 18 at this 36 hole facility, but it was even more crowded after a frost delay in the morning so we had the opportunity to get out on the Cattail 18 right away and took it.

It was a very cold and somewhat windy day so I’m not sure how much that factored into the day’s performance, but it was certainly something one doesn’t expect when playing out in Arizona. But it wasn’t raining so that was a nice change from LA of late. As for the course, really nice. I’m not sure if it’s quite the rack rate price nice (over $150), but it’s very close to that for sure.

It’s also a fun design with plenty of water in play, lots of risk-reward holes, some hilly areas but no major elevations, and lots of strategic placement off the tee that will require some assistance of the in-cart GPS. Conditions are pretty great all around, from the dark green fairways with great lies all day, to the super nice and glassy greens that were fast, true and held shots pretty well all day. Rough was a nice length to hit from and the bunkers and tee boxes were in very good shape as well. Really zero to complain about at all.

Practice range is grass with Callaway balls provided, plus there’s a large chipping and sand area right behind it to test your skills. No actual ‘turn’ on the Cattail course, so make sure you either have enough food and drink from the start, or good chance you’ll get cart service if it was around numerous times on a cold and windy Tuesday afternoon.

Overall, a really nice facility and a great day of golf, even if I did have to trade the hat for the beanie on the back nine and put on a third layer to fight the cold. I would love to come back here on a perfect AZ spring day.

Black Gold Golf Club

Golf Course Review Black Golf Golf Club Yorba Linda California

Reviewed by: leef2020, Huntington Beach, CA

Played Tuesday, 2/19, teeing off about 12:20pm as a foursome. POP 4:45, waiting on the two groups in front at times.

Friendly staff, as always. We had some issue with two threesomes in front when they would ‘join up’ as a Six-some at times (8th/9th holes, 11th hole). Marshall came by as we were approaching the green on 11, and though he said they shouldn’t do that (he was very familiar with them, telling me they play Black Gold all the time), he wasn’t too bothered by this news when I told him. Sensing we were going to be dealing with that the rest of the way, I took the liberty to suggest that it was his job to stop them from doing that, and keep POP up. 😀 Guess he took it to heart, as he did circle back and likely said something to them. Starting on the 14th hole, they stopped that nonsense.

Despite the recent rains, the course remains in pretty darn good condition, not much different from my visit at the end of Jan. Biggest differences were the tee boxes are washed out a bit, thinner and grayer, and bunkers were certainly damp.

Fairways were nicely cut, lush, and still provided decent roll. Slight water damage around the edges here and there, and a few extra parts of fairways were roped off, including all of #12 and #15, which tends to be CPO often. Rough wasn’t onerous, but long in a few areas where I guess they hadn’t cut in a few days.

Greens were lovely and rolled very smooth, at a medium-fast pace.

Cart girl came by often and added cheer on a lovely, sunny Taco Tuesday.

With the Yorba Linda City Championship coming up in March, I’d expect the course to continue to be in very good/great condition in the coming weeks.

We_Ko_Pa Golf Club (Saguaro)

Golf Course Review We-Ko-Pa Golf Club SAGUARO COURSE Fort McDowell Arizona

Reviewed by: roarksown1, Playa del Rey

Day two of our Phoenix swing landed us at the Coore-Crenshaw designed We-Ko-Pa Saguaro course. There was another crazy frost delay that pushed back our start time, but once we got rolling, it turned into a gorgeous, somewhat brisk winter day in the northeast of Phoenix.

All the tough hallmarks of the CC-design team are on full display here. Almost every single hole has hidden dangers and requires precision off the tee. There are plenty of blind tee shots over large desert waste areas, and fairways can be very tight with plenty of tall cacti near the tee boxes showing ball damage from those that failed to find the target. If you’re not confident off the tee, you’re going to struggle here.

But of course they also throw in a fair number of shorter par 4s to give you hope, while most of the par 3s are very manageable with the exception of the very tough long and downhill 15th. And if you want to see one of the toughest closers around, 18 on Saguaro will most certainly do the trick.

The Review

Great conditions from tee to green as well. Greens were super fast, glassy and rolled very true. Certainly plenty of tough angles to manage, but nothing too gimmicky or crazy in terms of slopes. Green-side bunkers are brutal though so avoid at all costs. But the sand is good, as are the very green and inviting fairways. Rough is a pleasure to hit from, but there’s just not a lot of it to go around. Rough tends to be somewhat dormant where it exists, but if you’re off the fairway here, you’re basically in the desert. Tee boxes are great.

Cart service was phenomenal and frequent throughout the day as well, and POP was pretty well managed despite the frost delay chaos earlier in the day. We waited on a few of the holes on the back nine, but generally moved pretty well all day, even passing the group in front of us on the back nine when they stopped to eat. We were all business.

Final Word

Great practice facility as well to help you warm up. Top-notch course in every facet. Make it happen if you get the chance.