Played a weekday mid-afternoon round as a twosome for $29+tax each. Finished in less than 3 hours with only some very brief waiting on two tees. Mostly singles and twosomes out on the course. Certai... Continue »

Played a weekday mid-afternoon round as a twosome for $29+tax each. Finished in less than 3 hours with only some very brief waiting on two tees. Mostly singles and twosomes out on the course. Certain fairways look like they had some trouble in the transition from winter to summer grass, quite a few bare spots on some holes. The greens visually didn't look great up close, seemed like a mix of grass types on several, but actually putted smoothly. Sand was of good quantity and quality but lots of bad lies due to lack of rakes currently. The course is playing just the right level of fast and firm without being ridiculous, that was the best part. Greens held short iron shots well, approaches were firm and you could run the ball up to the hole. Very enjoyable round. Sometimes a course can look a little haggard visually, but actually have great playing conditions like I experienced here.

Good range with helpful staff. Sunshade to allow for practice during high heat. Quality range balls and good targets and areas to putt and chip. Active rangers on the course. Starter explained local r... Continue »

Good range with helpful staff. Sunshade to allow for practice during high heat. Quality range balls and good targets and areas to putt and chip. Active rangers on the course. Starter explained local rules and desert rules as there are many areas that can get rocky and unplayable on this track. Play was good but not great at 4 hours. Staff was friendly and helpful. The carts have no GPS and has a number of shots that require some knowledge of landing zones and landing areas. Rangefinders can sight most areas and there are a few blind shots. GPS on a phone is recommended as it would help for certain drives or shots. They do have a great flyby visual on the website which I found after which would have been helpful. An interesting layout. A bit short but has one par five on the back and the par threes and the par fours all have lots of variety. I found the greens to be inconsistent on speed and almost crusty but they held shots. The fairways and rough was good for this time of year but had some areas that were exposed and were bare and recovering. Traps were inconsistent with dry and wet sand and seemingly different types of sand depending on the hole. Par threes were really good with challenge and variety of distances. Some of the par fours are really good holes and some fell flat to me with the layout. Good course and good rate and pace of play was better than average and they try to keep it moving.

This was my third and final round on Thursday. It was basically just a random pick when I went online and pretty much every course had open tee times and good prices. I booked on their website for a $... Continue »

This was my third and final round on Thursday. It was basically just a random pick when I went online and pretty much every course had open tee times and good prices. I booked on their website for a $31 special that also included a sleeve of Callaway Supersoft balls. I teed off by myself around 4:00, but ultimately caught up to other groups and played the rest out with a couple other guys. Another 3.5-hour round to cap the day.

Course conditions were decent and it is well on its way toward summer conditions. Firm, dry and fast with the bermuda already coming back in strong throughout. Overall, fairways and tees were nicely maintained and I always had great lies. Rough pretty good. Bunkers too thin and crusty. Greens very firm and often bumpy, so the upcoming aeration should do them good heading into the hotter months.

I didn't really come into this course with many expectations, but I was a little underwhelmed. Pretty standard kind of desert layout. Nice setting, but the scenery is marred by big electrical towers that run throughout the course. Good solid desert course with interesting features on a handful of holes, but nothing too different or dramatic. After We-Ko-Pa in the morning and the back nine of The Phoenician, McDowell Mountain was lacking in any "wow" factor. For the right price, it's a fine option and people who don't want anything too tricked out will probably prefer a nice pleasant desert course like this.

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 se... Continue »

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 shotmakers 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.

I played late on Sunday teeing off around 3pm. Rate was about $30 plus a few bucks for range balls. Overall, a pretty good deal. Not much play going on with temps up in the low 100s.
I've played... Continue »

I played late on Sunday teeing off around 3pm. Rate was about $30 plus a few bucks for range balls. Overall, a pretty good deal. Not much play going on with temps up in the low 100s.
I've played this course numerous times in the summer and the round today was the worst condition I've seen the course.
The driving range had zero grass in the hitting area. Zero. They did have the large movable shade out.
Tee boxes were ok. Some were set up in uneven areas and some were hard as a rock and difficult to get a tee in. Most of the fairways were alright but most were crusty. Some good spots but many dried out spots. Sand traps were a highlight and nice to play out of them. The greens were not a highlight of the course. Slow, crusty, ball marked, and inconsistent. Pretty disappointing aspect of the course.
The course is fun and challenging without killing you but I don't think I could recommend playing here right now given overall conditions fo the course.

Course is right down the street today. The AZ twilight rate was $45 but with the OB sports pass (Management company) it was $30. The Summer OB Pass is $49 so that was what we call a financial no bra... Continue »

Course is right down the street today. The AZ twilight rate was $45 but with the OB sports pass (Management company) it was $30. The Summer OB Pass is $49 so that was what we call a financial no brainer. Really friendly staff and starter. He did manage my expectations, key to hospitality, by saying they are letting the course go to prep for over seeding. He also said this is a player friendly course and not a brutal desert target golf course. The club house and views are top notch here. The course is really fun. No forced carries or blind tee shots. Tips are over 7,000 so I decided to play combo to not get beaten up my first round. Obviously when the course is prepping for overseeding, and the beginning of the summer heat there will be lots of brown, rough bunker edges etc. This was exactly what one would expect. The only bad part was a few of the greens did have brown dead spots, only an an issue if you landed one one. The greens are firm firm and fast since they are mowed short (Which I love) and were a little dried out (Which I love). The greens here roll and were consistent, once I adjusted they were a blast. The bunkers weren't the powder of premium course but were very consistent and well maintained. Tee boxes could be more level. The carts do need GPS as a few holes I had to guess. The front nine is very much a desert track but it is not very tight. There are some fun risk reward par fours and beautiful par 3s. The greens aren't the super elevated table top variety and provide some member bounces and rolls as a few are recessed. The greens are very undulated and break a lot and provide the main challenge here. The back nine is where this course shines. Some really fun holes with water elements, fairways mounds and multyi level fairways. The part I most enjoyed with the course are the multi leveled fairways. It adds excitement to your drives on what bounce and level you will end up. Much more fun than flat boring fairways. Some fairways and greens had Pete Dye esque mounds (Thumbs up) The back nine also has some double backed fairways so you can get away with a slice if that is your crux. All of the par 5's are reachable with a good drive and I had 2 tap in birdies and a lipped eagle. The par 5s really make this course fun and add a self esteem boost to your game. This course may have one of the most epic closing holes I've ever played and that says a lot. It's an elevated dogleg right flanked by a lateral bunker. What they did add is a Tour tee that is 508 yards uphill par 4 with a massive forced carry let's go!. I went for it since my driver was on today and tubed a drive, hit a clean 3 wood to the front and missed a 6 footer for a par on an uphill par 4! Even Torrey can't match that. What an exhilarating end. The parking lot and cart return are all close and convenient which makes this course a fun neighborhood upscale player friendly course. I will definitely be back when I want a softer round or take a non hardcore golfer out to play. Highly recommend this course. The value is there as long as your expectations are too!

I played 36 at McDowell Mountain on 8/19. The course was busy and pace of play was an issue all day even in the second round. Customer service was good except for the bev cart. She didn't seem too ... Continue »

I played 36 at McDowell Mountain on 8/19. The course was busy and pace of play was an issue all day even in the second round. Customer service was good except for the bev cart. She didn't seem too interested in making any sales and drove by our group each time without stopping to ask if we needed anything. One member of our group asked her to stop and she ignored him.
The driving range still had the movable shade. The "grass" on the range was pretty chewed up and hard to find a spot to hit. The range was also compressed only under the cover and each stall was close to the next.
Course conditions were very good. Fairways were in nice shape with plenty of grass. Some tee boxes weren't very level but had decent grass. Greens were all consistent and accepted shots throughout the day. Sand traps actually had sand in them. The trap on #2 was actually deep enough to cause a fried egg lie. Not something you see in AZ very often.
I paid $34 for the first round and $25 for the second. Not the best deal in town considering they get you for range balls as well.

Overview: McDowell Mountain Golf Club reopened in October of 2011 after undergoing a name and brand change. In the Spring of 2011 Phil Mickelson (yes, that Phil) and Steve Loy acquired the operating... Continue »

Overview: McDowell Mountain Golf Club reopened in October of 2011 after undergoing a name and brand change. In the Spring of 2011 Phil Mickelson (yes, that Phil) and Steve Loy acquired the operating rights to the golf course formerly called "Sanctuary Golf Course at West World". During those few short months, in the summer and early fall of 2011, Phil and Steve had original golf course architect Randy Heckenkemper do some course revisions. Randy and his team reshaped and expanded most of the fairways, added 460 yards to the back tees and filled in many of the bunkers. The nines were also flipped (which I think was not one of their better ideas).

Bag Drop: Was warmly greeted at the bag drop by one of the player assistants. They quickly loaded by bag and pointed me in the direction of the pro shop.

Pro Shop: Greeted by the pro shop staff and they handled my transaction promptly. Nothing to do with the pro shop, but I hate paying an additional fee for practice balls. I was charged $5.00 and tax for about 30 balls. I think that all golf courses should include range balls in their golf rate.

Practice Area and Putting Green: Nice range with good turf and the speed of the practice putting green just about mirrored the speed of the greens on the course. It was nice to see that they had a McDowell Mountain Rolex Clock right next to the putting green ... nice touch.

Golf Course: I was impressed with the condition of the course and really enjoyed the layout. Most of the holes ran North/South, which I think is very good because you will never seem to have the "sun in your eyes". Course came out of overseed about 6 weeks ago and the course was now back to "90 degree rule". Greens rolled true and were about a 10 on the stimpmeter. Pace of play was excellent due to the fact that we were the first group off. Our pace of play as a twosome was 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Final Thoughts: Definitely enjoyed the course and will try to play there again in the near future.

Played Saturday 7/2. 8:38a tee time. $46 included green fee & cart. It's been 4 years since I played this course and reviewed it when it was remodeled. Needless to say, it was a little disappointin... Continue »

Played Saturday 7/2. 8:38a tee time. $46 included green fee & cart. It's been 4 years since I played this course and reviewed it when it was remodeled. Needless to say, it was a little disappointing to see it in such bad shape.

The greens were punched 3 & 1/2 weeks earlier and they still haven't healed. They are slow and bumpy. They need more time. They look like they were punched but not filled with sand. Fairways didn't do well transitioning from rye to bermuda. There were many bare spots. Same goes for the rough. Sand traps were OK. I know they built up many of the old tee boxes and added new ones. Many of them are showing signs of wear, becoming mounded and uneven.

POP was 4 hours. Good practice range with chipping and putting areas. They have a covered driving range which wasn't covered when we were warming up. The service was the one bright spot. Outside service was attentive. The bev cart came around 4 times. The service and the food in the restaurant was very good.It's too bad the golf course went from a 7 to a 5.