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Tucson experiences

BagBoy
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I think the views at The Preserve may be the best of any Tucson area course (although it is not very close to TucsonšŸ™‚). Not a fan of the El Conquistador courses but just personal preference. Sewailo and Arizona National are two enjoyable desert golf courses albeit pricey ($100 this time of year). Crooked Tree is a county muni that is worth a look and all the city munis are in nice condition (Randolph, Silverbell). I have not played Star Pass lately but have friends who say it is in good condition. Quarry Pines is unique with the back nine in what was a mining pit. It used to be a full links course. Enjoy your trip!
 
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I mentioned Crooked Tree to my wife and she was leery about the cheap price.But it canā€™t be much worse than the Quarry.. In all fairness that place was awful.The other bad one was the 9 hole Pusch course.Crap conditions but nice views
 
Slot708 said:
I mentioned Crooked Tree to my wife and she was leery about the cheap price.But it canā€™t be much worse than the Quarry.. In all fairness that place was awful.The other bad one was the 9 hole Pusch course.Crap conditions but nice views
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We played there about a month ago and it is in great shape. I would not hesitate to book there. The fw were awesome.
 
IMG_6078.jpegIMG_6088.jpegIMG_6092.jpegPusch course I called it. pretty views, be a great place to have homes instead of a golf course
 
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Slot708 said:
I mentioned Crooked Tree to my wife and she was leery about the cheap price.But it canā€™t be much worse than the Quarry.. In all fairness that place was awful.The other bad one was the 9 hole Pusch course.Crap conditions but nice views
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Crooked Tree is worth a look. Nice practice area. I know there has been talk about closing the Pusch Ridge course. Have not played it in 20 years.
 
tucsondivots said:
I think the views at The Preserve may be the best of any Tucson area course (although it is not very close to TucsonšŸ™‚). Not a fan of the El Conquistador courses but just personal preference. Sewailo and Arizona National are two enjoyable desert golf courses albeit pricey ($100 this time of year). Crooked Tree is a county muni that is worth a look and all the city munis are in nice condition (Randolph, Silverbell). I have not played Star Pass lately but have friends who say it is in good condition. Quarry Pines is unique with the back nine in what was a mining pit. It used to be a full links course. Enjoy your trip!
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Drive over to the Eastside/Tanque Verde area and play Arizona National if you want the best views in Tucson, and the course is in great shape except for a few bunkers, but that's Tucson. I think it's about $80 weekday.
 
IMG_2641.jpegWe have one more week left of our 5 week stay here just 2 miles south of Saddlebrooke where we played about 90% of our golf. We played Ventana, conquistador , the quarry, saddle brooke, the preserve (many times) , Arizona national, crooked tree , pusch , and one two more I canā€™t remember. Prices are very reasonable compared to Chicago golf.The people here are beyond nice.Only one bad experience on the courses with a Richard ranger at Ventana.But as I told my wife ..ā€ you play stupid games you win stupid prizesā€.I think Richard ranger changed his attitude fast after South side Chicago got done with him. Oh well ā€¦

The golf has been so so , but fun. Views were great but courses were so so imho. Canā€™t beat the prices though.We did slmd
House shopping and decided that we may check out other areas in Texas or South Carolina first.This area is great for a short stay, long term im not sure.But still a good visit imho IMG_2635.jpeg
 

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What did you think of AZ National?
What was bad about Quarry Pines? the conditions or the design?
That one and Crooked Tree are on my "never go back" list.
El Conquistador ain't much better, design sucks, but the conditioning is usually good
 
Very nice . And canā€™t beat the price. I told my wife if we do come back it will be around August September.. that place and all were jam packed. Jim in the pro shopping during those times you can was right on with no tee times
El Rayo X said:
What did you think of AZ National?
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El Rayo X said:
What did you think of AZ National?
What was bad about Quarry Pines? the conditions or the design?
That one and Crooked Tree are on my "never go back" list.
El Conquistador ain't much better, design sucks, but the conditioning is usually good
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Played Crooked Tree last Friday and it was in great condition. Fairways really good, greens medium quick. Tee boxes not as good and they have filled in bunkers with grass. Great practice area.Pricing $54 to walk. Curious why it is on your ā€œnever go backā€ list.
 
tucsondivots said:
Played Crooked Tree last Friday and it was in great condition. Fairways really good, greens medium quick. Tee boxes not as good and they have filled in bunkers with grass. Great practice area. Pricing $54 to walk. Curious why it is on your ā€œnever go backā€ list.
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Most times I've played it the greens have been slow, with one or 2 exceptions, the pace of play slow and the layout is boring. I think $54 to walk is a ripoff for that course.
Then they filled in most of the fairway bunkers and I haven't been back. I havent played there in almost 3 years.
You are right about the range and practice area. If I lived over there I'd utilize those, that bunker is a fun hang out.
I live 5 minutes for AZ National, and Fred Enke is 20 minutes or so.
The Tree is just not worth the drive for me. I'd rather go up to Saddlebrooke and pay a little more if I'm gonna drive across town.
 
My wife really enjoyed our time here.We met many many couples from Saddlebrooke to play with. This was the View Golf club.. sadly a 6 hour round.But that is our normal pace no matter where we play
 
Slot708 said:
My wife really enjoyed our time here.We met many many couples from Saddlebrooke to play with. This was the View Golf club.. sadly a 6 hour round.But that is our normal pace no matter where we play
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I havenā€™t played The Views since they re-did the greens
 
El Rayo X said:
I havenā€™t played The Views since they re-did the greens
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I will be honest.The most expensive course here was Ventana Canyon.Those prices are the same we pay in Chicago.For that price bracket.Our courses back home blow that one out of the water condition,challenge,design,and quality of service you receive.That course imho is utter garbage.For $60 i would say that would be more than fair for it.The others I thought were a disappointing were Star Pass, and Sewalio(spelling)..also utter train wreck conditions.

Agree about Conquistador; some of those blind tee shots and rock basin running thru middle of fairway on hole 5 I believe is bad.Im a long hitter for a senior, so I did enjoy hitting driver 8 iron into two of their par 5ā€™s.

The best in the area is Saddlebrooke.The course layout,conditions,design .. all top
Notch.The rest we played were very underwhelming and really needed massive course maintenance for my liking.The back 9 at the Quarry was maybe the most scenic.Course conditions needs massive attention.

This area also seems so ā€œbackwoodsyā€ for me.Besides golf, there is literally nothing to do here at all.The hiking is nice; but after a while that gets old.The foodā€¦so/so.. the shopping .. so/so.Area needs a hard reboot.And if you have young kids.Than please donā€™t bring them here.They would be bored off their rocker the town and co existing areas surrounding are very run down.And look out of date.Felt like we were trapped in 1985

But the people and the groups of other snow bird seniors we played with helped us thru.Without them I wouldā€™ve left after a week.And once they leave in a few weeks this place will be a ghost town.But the positive would be many open tee times

This was my 5 th trip to Tucson.We would usually stay for a few days on the way up to the Gilbert area.Thirteenth trip to Arizona

Give the experience a 4/10. Being honest and generous.As a ā€˜snow birdā€™ many other great areas i would check out first.This would be last resort for us
 
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IMG_2664.jpegBest restaurant by far.But watch out for the pork and beans. šŸ’Ø all night long after that
 
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Slot708 said:
I will be honest.The most expensive course here was Ventana Canyon.Those prices are the same we pay in Chicago.For that price bracket.Our courses back home blow that one out of the water condition,challenge,design,and quality of service you receive.That course imho is utter garbage.For $60 i would say that would be more than fair for it.The others I thought were a disappointing were Star Pass, and Sewalio(spelling)..also utter train wreck conditions.

Agree about Conquistador; some of those blind tee shots and rock basin running thru middle of fairway on hole 5 I believe is bad.Im a long hitter for a senior, so I did enjoy hitting driver 8 iron into two of their par 5ā€™s.

The best in the area is Saddlebrooke.The course layout,conditions,design .. all top
Notch.The rest we played were very underwhelming and really needed massive course maintenance for my liking.The back 9 at the Quarry was maybe the most scenic.Course conditions needs massive attention.

This area also seems so ā€œbackwoodsyā€ for me.Besides golf, there is literally nothing to do here at all.The hiking is nice; but after a while that gets old.The foodā€¦so/so.. the shopping .. so/so.Area needs a hard reboot.And if you have young kids.Than please donā€™t bring them here.They would be bored off their rocker the town and co existing areas surrounding are very run down.And look out of date.Felt like we were trapped in 1985

But the people and the groups of other snow bird seniors we played with helped us thru.Without them I wouldā€™ve left after a week.And once they leave in a few weeks this place will be a ghost town.But the positive would be many open tee times

This was my 5 th trip to Tucson.We would usually stay for a few days on the way up to the Gilbert area.Thirteenth trip to Arizona

Give the experience a 4/10. Being honest and generous.As a ā€˜snow birdā€™ many other great areas i would check out first.This would be last resort for us
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Wow, that's pretty harsh...:eek::oops:
Agree with many of your observations. I assume you played the Canyon course at Ventana, not the Mountain?
One thing I like about Tucson, is that it's not cosmopolitan and it's pretty low key. Yes, many parts of town are dated and run down, but it's been run by the same political party forever.
I'm retired and enjoy the quiet, as do many.
No offense, but don't come back. Less snowbirds, the better :ROFLMAO: ;). They clog up the roads and drive like D*&ks, cause 6hr rounds at the golf courses and pack hiking trails.
 
El Rayo X said:
Wow, that's pretty harsh...:eek::oops:
Agree with many of your observations. I assume you played the Canyon course at Ventana, not the Mountain?
One thing I like about Tucson, is that it's not cosmopolitan and it's pretty low key. Yes, many parts of town are dated and run down, but it's been run by the same political party forever.
I'm retired and enjoy the quiet, as do many.
No offense, but don't come back. Less snowbirds, the better :ROFLMAO: ;). They clog up the roads and drive like D*&ks, cause 6hr rounds at the golf courses and pack hiking trails.
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It was the bottom level course of Ventana.The canyon 18.For $60, it would be a fair price.But $190 ish, no dice for us.The locals said the politicians here are sketchy at best.They are into old school ways and practices.Have to say the practice areas here are the best Iā€™ve used.If your working on your game or making a swing change.Than this place is so ideal.The ranges are massive, and the short game areas are expensive as well.In Chicago a few ranges like this would be chopped up in a few weeks.They keep them in great shape here and never have to wait for a hitting area to open up.Maybe next time I might do that.Bring a mini golf bag to just work on my game.The weather this year has been real hit or miss here as well

And we brought the 5 1/2 to 6 hr rounds with us.That is what we are used to.We joined up with some small group of 10-12 other seniors here at Saddlebrooke that play slow as a snail as well.Again , great time to practice inbetween their trials and tribulations on these links.Infact every round we had has been 5-6 hours
 
In the 55 year or older retirement community.I really loved saddlebrook (3) nine hole courses.We never played the preserve that is outside of the community.And heard the conditions are sub par.

This was our last golf day. So I ventured out and joined up with a random at crooked tree.I wanted to try this place per recommendations on my own.Best advice I can give is just let the desert do its thing.And let it grow over and donā€™t mow it down for this place

Here is Tuscon 9) and Saddlebrooke 9) . Loved this place
IMG_2675.jpegIMG_2677.jpegIMG_2677.jpeg
 
IMG_2694.jpegHere is crooked tree.Some hole on the back 9

Best part of the trip was karaoke ..
Changed my rating of Tucson Thp. To 6/10 because of the food and karaoke at the all pink Mexican restaurant on oracle

Plus to Arizona: people , food, price of enjoying our time here, Bashas rocks

Negative : golf course conditions , area feels dead, my young nephews kids would hate life if we brought them here
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