Give me your best Phoenix/Mesa Courses...

Titleistforlife

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Hey everyone...Heading for our annual Phoenix/Mesa Golf outing with 8 guys in March. We fly in and base out of Mesa and we've already played the following courses:

Gold Canyon Dinosauer
Las Sendas
Red Mountain Ranch
Palm Valley
and a few others...

Looking for some new fabulous places to play. What are your favorite in the Metro area? Looking at The Raven, Superstition Mountain, Longbow, Gold Canyon Sidewinder, Ocotillo, Grayhawk etc..What are the "hidden jewels" out there? Most of the group can't afford $200 a day green fees so we try to keep the daily green fees around $100, but wouldn't object to one day treating ourselves to $200 plus. Let's hear it!
 
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I really like ASU Karsten, its a great Pete Dye design.

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I really like ASU Karsten, its a great Pete Dye design.

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Agreed. Its almost a must if you haven't and youre in AZ. Really not much I can think of off the top of my head. I reckon the sidewinder course is a lot of fun. I'm partial to Superstition Springs Golf Course if you're looking for a cheaper round too.
 
Hopefully, there will be some THPers that are local to that area who can give you some good suggestions that are less expensive than what I've experenced out there. I've taken a couple of trips and played We-Ko-Pa ($185 in March), Eagle Mountain ($175), Sunridge ($150), Gold Canyon ($145), Grayhawk ($$$$$$), Phoenician (??). I liked them all.
 
My group of 12 guys have been out there the last 2 years in late feb / early march.

Of the list you gave (and others mentioned) here is the order we liked from best to least: Raven, Las Sendas, Long Bow, ASU Karsten, Superstition Mtn.
We got rained out of GrayHawk, but that was the course we were the most excited about.

We also played Southern Dunes which was a good track for a bit lower price. Superstition Springs & Cold Water are good warmup course, but nothing great compared to the list of others you are looking to play.
 
The ASU course keeps coming up...Gonna have to add it to the list for sure. I'll research some of those as well vman...Good info. so far!
 
The ASU course keeps coming up...Gonna have to add it to the list for sure. I'll research some of those as well vman...Good info. so far!

I kind of think ASU Karsten is overrated for $99 a round. There are some great holes (9, 18), but overall I think we would play others again first.

If this is the only year to PHX, I would try to play the TPC Scottsdale course, if no one has played it already. Its fun to play once and say you've played there at least once.
 
Wekopa is a good splurge option. Two great 18s that are quite different from each other. I prefer Cholla.
Vista Verde is reminiscent of Wekopa Saguaro. Great value. Only oddity is no clubhouse.
Poston Butte near Florence is a Troon-managed course that isn't flashy, but plays long and difficult. Poor choice on a windy day.
Johnson Ranch is a great value course.
ASU Karsten is a quality course and the word is that it will close permanently in June.
Southern Dunes is a long drive from Mesa, but another Troon-managed course that gets a lot of raves.
 
I just can't seem to get the group excited about the Scottsdale courses and don't know why. They are for the most part a little more $$$ but I just can't seem to get the group on board with Scottsdale. I would love to play the TPC course once.

quarterskins...since you're local, can you give me any input to the courses on my list? I will definately check out some of yours listed. Heard good things about "the course with no clubhouse"....
 
The ones I can think of down there would be: Aguila, AZ Grand, Longbow, Ocotillo.

Karsten is also a good course to get out to if you haven't been.
 
I just can't seem to get the group excited about the Scottsdale courses and don't know why. They are for the most part a little more $$$ but I just can't seem to get the group on board with Scottsdale. I would love to play the TPC course once.

quarterskins...since you're local, can you give me any input to the courses on my list? I will definately check out some of yours listed. Heard good things about "the course with no clubhouse"....

I haven't played all of your list...

The Raven - Haven't played. Hear good things. Seems like some like the non-desert feel of the course.
Superstition Mountain - Haven't played. Have heard mixed reviews, but I tend to believe it's a quality course.
Longbow - Only played once last summer. Interesting course. Overpriced in general, imho.
Gold Canyon Sidewinder - Only played once, year before last. Seems to be considered a big drop off from Dinosaur in terms of interest.
Ocotillo - I like this course quite a lot. Oddly, some fairway sand has been terrible in my experience, but otherwise an interesting and well-conditioned course. Lots of water, but I've found it to generally be pretty easy to avoid.
Grayhawk - Haven't played it.

For your reference, here's what I think of a couple of the courses that you've played.

Gold Canyon Dinosaur - Generally deserves its wide praise due to interesting track and great surfaces, but it is pricey. I'd rate it below Wekopa and Troon North, but I've read lots of people opine that this one is the one to play for public access in the Valley.
Las Sendas - Course difficulty cuts into the experience of a pretty interesting track that I've always found to be in excellent condition. I've played this one a lot, but it can be punishing.
Red Mountain Ranch - Only played it once last summer. Will play again. Interesting track that's a tad quirky and narrow.

If your crowd is strongly focused on staying around Mesa...

Superstition Springs - Pretty interesting track with good surface quality. Tricky in spots. Freeway goes through it, so noisy in spots.
Lone Tree - Good value course. Pretty forgiving with a lot of bowl-shaped fairways, but you'll hit off hardpan if you miss the fairway; houses don't really crowd the course.
Trilogy Power Ranch - Good quality course. A little tight house-wise in places. Tip: I think the greens putt much faster going east on this course.

Over in the Ahwatukee area, which isn't too far from Mesa...
Club West - I like this course. Good quality surfaces. Weird driving range into a pit, but at least you hit off grass. Kind of a regular folks vibe with interesting elevation changes on the back nine.
Foothills - Haven't played it, but it's right next to Club West and seems to get good reviews.
Arizona Grand - Mentioned above, Haven't played it, but it seems to get some negative opinions for being quirky with blind shots and forced lay ups. Looks lush from the S.Mtn trails that I mtn bike on.
Whirlwind - High quality course; two 18s. Personally I would rate Devil's Claw way above Cattail; at high season prices I wouldn't bother with Cattail unless y'all are looking for an easy run on nice surfaces. Cattail is similar in feel to the Talking Stick courses, where Devil's Claw is more like Wekopa Cholla.

Another mentioned above that seems to get a lot of positive reviews is Aguila, which is on the other side of South Mtn from Ahwatukee; that's getting a little farther from Mesa, but it's not much farther than The Raven.

All imho, of course. I'm a 17 index playing a little under 2 years, but I do have a penchant for playing different courses.
 
wow...great information quarterskins.

Anyone else have their favorites in the Metro area?
 
I played Grayhawk over the holidays and was super impressed. They have a "36 hole special", which means you can play both courses for a "discount" (still expensive, but worth it if you are staying in the area and want to play both courses). And you don't have to play the courses the same day - you can spread it out over a couple of days. With a group of 8, I would imagine they might be open to giving you an additional discount on the 36 hole special if you book in advance - so might be able to get it down to around $150 per course if you're lucky.
 
The ones I can think of down there would be: Aguila, AZ Grand, Longbow, Ocotillo.

Karsten is also a good course to get out to if you haven't been.

I really enjoy AZ Grand Resort (formally Phantom Horse) too. Its reasonably priced and interesting to play because the front 9 is traditionally landscaped with a lot of grass, while the back 9 is desert landscaped. Also the par 3 18 is awesome because the tee box is perched on South Mountain, and you get an amazing view of the Phoenix valley.

And as ddxu and quarterskins mentioned, Southern Dunes is a nice course. I have only played it once, but I really enjoyed myself. I posted pictures from my round there somewhere in the course reviews forum.
 
Some great courses mentioned. I usually stick around the scottsdale area and would put a vote in for Mcdowell Mountain. I played it when it was the Sanctuary but it was recently bought by and updated by phil mickelson. I loved it then and im hearing better things about it now.
 
Thanks for the great info guys. If anyone else has any input, I'd greatly appreciate it. I will post back on this thread the courses that we end up playing.
 
1/2 hr north of Phoenix in Carefree is The Boulders.
I've played there a few times and both courses are beautiful.
They are on the spendy side, but sometimes you just have to do it.


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The Boulder's looks very nice Drumdog. I am going to go to the group with the following:

*One of the following for the "splurge" course: Greyhawk, We-ko-pa, or Troon North (one of these six)
*Ocotillo
*Longbow
*Bargain Course: Superstition Mountain

Which of the six (two courses at each complex) splurge courses would you guys choose? - Talon, Raptor, Cholla, Saguro, Monument or Pinnacle...
 
Man I reckon I'm not great with names but Troon North anything would be the first on my list.
 
I've played all the splurge courses and loved them all. Troon North is my fav and I end up playing it each time I go to Scottsdale.

I always like Kierland. Not sure how much it is in March but it is worth a play.
 
<<Which of the six (two courses at each complex) splurge courses would you guys choose? - Talon, Raptor, Cholla, Saguro, Monument or Pinnacle...>>

I have played all and I really like We-ko-pa since there are no houses around, especially Cholla course.
Also, We-ko-pa could be least expensive among those great courses.

Now I usually play Desert Mountain(six courses) or We-Ko-pa when I visit Scottsdale.
 
The Boulder's looks very nice Drumdog. I am going to go to the group with the following:

*One of the following for the "splurge" course: Greyhawk, We-ko-pa, or Troon North (one of these six)
*Ocotillo
*Longbow
*Bargain Course: Superstition Mountain

Which of the six (two courses at each complex) splurge courses would you guys choose? - Talon, Raptor, Cholla, Saguro, Monument or Pinnacle...

I have only played Monument at Troon but I have heard that Pinnacle is just as nice.
I prefer Talon at Greyhawk...both are pretty different but both are nice.
At Wekopa I love the older course (Cholla) but again both are very nice
 
HIgh end and not to miss is We-Ko-Pa. Love both, maybe Cholla a touch more.
Last time out there I took the drive to Southern Dunes and found it totally worth it. Awesome course.
Also played the Gallery which I think is private but not sure. #9 is 775yds down the mountain. And the conditioning was fabulous from tee to green.
 
I am glad to have read this thread. I have close family moving to Mesa soon and wanted to know more great courses to play while I am out there!
 
I'm heading to Sedona in April with the family and plan to play twice. Once in Sedona with the wife and kids and once at another course with myself and oldest son. Would like to play a higher end course, any recommendatons and how far away from Sedona would I need to go?
 
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