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Golf Course Review OMNI Tucson National Golf Resort SONORAN Tucson Arizona

Omni Tucson National Golf Resort (Sonoran)

Golf Course Review OMNI Tucson National Golf Resort SONORAN Tucson Arizona

ALERT: Aeration
Catalina course will be closed for aeration from 6/8 – 6/20. Sonoran Course will close on 6/29 for its aeration. Reopening date TBD, so check with course for availability.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.

Reviewed by: Nickesquire, Rancho Mirage, CA
Rode the Blues (6529/70.7/129) in 3H, 15M mid morning. Most of the round as a single, part as a threesome and a few holes as a foursome. 107F, clear and calm on the weather front.

Golf Playing Conditions 8.30 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.30 GREAT

Par 70 layouts I usually do not care for. This one is an exception. Very challenging Tom Lehman design with many forced carries. Very tough driving course. Many holes turn even though there are hardly any true dog legs. More elevation changes than I would have expected. Plus grade for the layout, but you better play the correct tees and keep it straight or it could be a long day on this course.

Tees semi lush, mostly good with a few needing divot repair.

Fairways and rough were both lush and excellent to play from. Rough not tall or overly penal, the ball sat up nice.

Sand traps were well maintained with nice quality sand.

Greens rolled very nice. Medium to medium fast and firm. I made more than my normal share of putts on these greens.

Customer service outstanding. They changed out my cart in a matter of minutes and Daulton in the pro shop in particular was especially friendly and customer service oriented. My towel was left in the old cart, he quickly tracked it down and was calling me to come back and get it before I even left the property. Saw the cart gal once, $5 for an Arnold Palmer is a bit steep.

Very fun course to play on a day I was hitting it well from tee to green. Good collection of holes, never felt like I was playing a hole I just played a few holes ago. Highly recommended.

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Golf Course Review TPC Scottsdale CHAMPIONS Scottsdale Arizona

TPC Scottsdale (Champions)

Golf Course Review TPC Scottsdale CHAMPIONS Scottsdale Arizona

Reviewed by: jamesg18015, Phoenix, AZ
Played TPC Scottsdale Champions early Sunday morning paired with a threesome as one of the first few groups out. POP was perfect at 3:30. I’ve played here 3 times in the past 2 weeks.

Golf Playing Conditions 9.55 IMMACULATE
Golf Playing Conditions 9.55 IMMACULATE

The course is in truly excellent condition all around. The greens are probably the best I’ve played in the Phoenix area recently. Firm, yet receptive to short iron shots, no bare spots, smooth, on the fast side of average for an upscale public course. Fairways were very lush due to the heavy overnight watering this course is given, there were many wet spots due to my early tee time but a person playing later in the day would probably not run into this. Bunker sand is perfect as usual.

They are currently allowing solo rider carts. Pool noodles sitting about 1″ below the edge of the cups. They are starting to put rakes back on the course. The only minor annoyance is that they have no drinking water on the course and since last week they put the coolers back on the carts and no longer let you bring your own cooler. You can put your own stuff in the cart cooler, but it only hold about 2-3 bottles of water. So, I had to stuff 3 extra water bottles in my bag and put my cooler back in the car. Would have been easier if I could have just shown them I didn’t have booze in it or whatever and kept it with me.

Free range balls as usual and the range tee turf was in perfect condition.

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Golf Course Review Oakcreek Country Club Sedona Arizona

Oakcreek Country Club

Golf Course Review Oakcreek Country Club Sedona Arizona

Reviewed by: sbarajasjr, San Diego
Played here today (5/10) on a wonderfully sunny and breezy Mothers Day 2020 on an 8:30AM tee-time. COVID-19 precautions were in place at the course (clubhouse closed, grill take-out only, no cart attendant, pool noodle in cup [flag in], and no rakes/ball washers/coolers, though carts were available with confirmation of same household allowing shared carts. The golfers on the other hand didn’t seem to concerned about social distancing; c’est la vie on that. Course, as it was the first time I played, was in excellent early Spring shape with amazing views of the red rocks making this the perfect setting for golf.

The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 7.85 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.85 GREAT

Tee boxes: Good shape with minimal un-level turf. No real issues from the blue tees.

Fairways: Excellent shape, especially considering you have no mix in carts. They were a wonderfully bold forest green with excellent coverage, good roll, and almost no bad lies.

Rough: Penal, no two ways about it. There were areas under the large trees that just grabbed your club hard and never let go. Take your medicine.

Bunkers: Only in one and got out fine. Visually the sand matches the red hues on the rocks that shadow the course from the north. No rakes due to COVID.

Greens: The certain highlight on a great day. They rolled true but weren’t punishing. There were divot marks fixed everywhere and guys were doing the favor of fixing them all over. A pleasure to putt and try to read the breaks.

ETC: A wonderful course that warrants a visit when in Sedona. The Sedona Golf Resort and Seven Canyons get all the glory, but this course is actually WAY closer to the red rocks on more than a few holes (including the amazing 13th hole where you could almost touch the rocks).

The Final Thought

This place is generally in amazing shape and the pace is always great at just about 4 hours. Highly recommend.

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Golf Course Review El Rio Golf Club Mohave Valley Arizona

El Rio Golf Club

Golf Course Review El Rio Golf Club Mohave Valley Arizona

Reviewed by: carl17, Anaheim

Golf Playing Conditions 5.74 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 5.74 GOOD

Played Tuesday about noon 67F with 20-30 mph winds.  There was a friendly starter, Jarrod, and  sent me right out.

First at Avi Resort where we are  staying but they were fully booked and 3x rates.  Llooked at Los Lagos stacked up as well.  There was no problem here at El Rio which is another nice area course.

Lush emerald green fairways outlined by dormant rough which was cut tight to thin hard-pan in places. Good lies and roll-out on fairways.  Trouble if offline.

Winds made for some awesome drives and on one long par 5 into stiff breeze was chipping fourth shot with my 3 wood from 130 yards! Was fun trying to judge how wide to aim for compensating side winds with no parallel holes just looking out over desert, thick scrub or water. Only lost one ball by hitting green with too much draw that wind took and quickly rolled off into lake. Tee boxes mostly level good coverage with divot mix being used on each par 3.

Firm medium to fast greens held lofted shots while low runners kept a rolling. No pitch marks just a light smudge at most. Wind aided breaks and speeds even holding quick downhills short when into wind. In one trap felt hard and was but sank putt from opposite collar so no harm with long blade out. Fun round hitting two balls at times and finishing in 3 hours only catching a foresome on 17 with another single staying at least one hole back.

Always like playing here when staying in the area.

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Golf Course Review Foothills Golf Club Phoenix Arizona

Foothills Golf Club

Golf Course Review Foothills Golf Club Phoenix Arizona

Reviewed by: jamesg18015, Phoenix, AZ

Golf Playing Conditions 6.23 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 6.23 GOOD

I played Foothills on New Year’s Day 2020, around 10:50am on a teeoff.com deal time for around $45 after promo code and tax. Paired with three other randoms on the same deal. POP was about 3.5 hours, the course was not busy at all, didn’t really catch anyone until the last few holes. Carts were fairly new, course does appear walkable but with maybe 2 longer green-tee hikes, and I did see a twosome walking.

This course and its “sister course” nearby, Ahwatukee CC, have a bit of a local reputation for being scruffy and water-starved under their current owner, who also owned the two other courses in Ahwatukee that closed down in the past few years (Club West and Ahwatukee Lakes).

The Review

The tees, fairways, and greens were actually in pretty good condition. One member of the group said he plays the course often, and it is in the best shape he’s seen it in after some serious conditioning problems in the past few years. The cart attendant had also mentioned they basically lost the greens last summer. They seem to have made a nice comeback. That being said, everything more than 15 yards off the fairways just looks awful and scruffy, even the retaining walls bordering the homes on the course all have peeling/missing paint, are falling apart, lots of weeds, etc. The dormant rough also does not extend very far out from the fairway on most holes and turns into sandy/weedy areas. These off-fairway conditions don’t bother me much, but I know they do turn off some people, especially if paying winter rack rate of $70+.

The greens were deceptively fast, and rolled smoother than their appearance would have suggested. One thing I did like about the conditioning is that they left the dormant rough cut fairly high around the greens, so one could easily get under the ball and hit high lofted pitches; most local courses shave these down (or they get matted down from traffic) and are like hitting off a sidewalk.

I’d play it again when in the area but probably would not make a special trip from my home 40 minutes away.

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Golf Course Review Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club Maricopa Arizona

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club

Golf Course Review Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club Maricopa Arizona

Reviewed by: Kristof, Melbourne
Played this course in December and found it to be in really good shape despite the floods which had closed it a few weeks before.

Golf Playing Conditions 7.28 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.28 GREAT

The greens, bunkers , fairways and rough were all very playable and made for an enjoyable day. With our Troon Card 2-for-1 deal it was also good value.

Its quite a way out from Scottsdale but definitely worth the drive. I would rate it at least the equal of Troon North Monument and Grayhawk Raptor.

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Golf Course review TPC Scottsdale STADIUM Scottsdale Arizona

TPC Scottsdale (Stadium)

Golf Course Review TPC Scottsdale STADIUM Scottsdale Arizona

Reviewed by: sdscratchorbust, Scottsdale

Golf Playing Conditions 8.42 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.42 GREAT

I got a coworker to come with me and play the Stadium at twilight before they shut it down here quickly.

Scottsdale was recently hit with a extreme cold spell, rain, and frost. The course was immaculate a few weeks ago. But it looks like the cold spell killed the grass in the divots, and ball marks. The course was showing a lot of damage in the aprons around the greens. Still in great shape but not the flawless tour quality at the moment. I’m sure when they shut it down for a few weeks it will be perfect for the pros.

The stadium is finished. You have to play it once in your life. No other shot in golf like it that has the same feel. I understand TPC Scottsdale gets a bad rap because it doesn’t tie in to any natural features of the land and definitely has the artificial feel to it. I love seeing different golf courses take courses to different extremes i.e. “The Gauntlet” that is PGA WEST Stadium, the untouched natural beauty of a Rustic Canyon links style, or the over-the-top flair bunkering of a Faldo designed course.

The finish here is exhilarating. To be able to go for an island par 5 in two on 15. Then a makeable hole in one look at the short 16th. Then an easily driveable par 4. Followed by a risk reward finish on 18. (Lay up with a 3 wood or flirt the death pew bunkers on the left and try to split the fairway with a driver to set up an attackable birdie) You can finish with 4 birdies in a row easily.

I think it’s fun to have a course that isn’t stuck in the past and has a different golf experience offered.

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Golf Course Review McDowell Mountain Golf club Scottsdale Arizona

McDowell Mountain Golf Club

Golf Course Review McDowell Mountain Golf Club Scottsdale Arizona

Reviewed by: sdscratchorbust, Scottsdale

Golf Playing Conditions 8.00 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.00 GREAT

Played super twilight here tonight. The course is in really good shape.

I drive by the view of this course every day on my way home. I haven’t played here since summer but had to get out after seeing how green the course is.

The reseed set extremely well here. Greens rolled well, medium speed, held well.

Sad playing here during a winter evening with the soft conditions. My drives had lost 30 yards of carry versus when I had played here during summer. It definitely made the course more of a shot-makers course from the tips.

I don’t mind the power lines and I always enjoy playing here. Friendly design with some fun holes and enough challenge.