Played this (now, only remaining in AZ) Pete Dye designed course that used to be private years ago for $50 off GolfNow around 11am Friday May 29th. Pulling into this community, it is visually a declin... Continue »

Played this (now, only remaining in AZ) Pete Dye designed course that used to be private years ago for $50 off GolfNow around 11am Friday May 29th. Pulling into this community, it is visually a declining upper class area that has fallen on hard(er) times than in previous prime East Mesa rich times. The 'country club' has community areas, banquet halls and even a tennis/swimming club. The course itself is presented aside the other extra curricular activities with it's own sorta-separate parking lot. The club house was sufficient with COVID-19 measurements loosely followed (bare minimum for sure) and the staff was present. I paid my green fee, wanted to warm up so I bought a shabby looking shag bag of about 40 balls for an additional $8 and was given instructions about the directions (which are needed) to get to the practice tee. Also should note I got a course guide for free which is nice to see more and more courses practicing. Now, I don't know what it is about Pete Dye courses of which I've now played three (ASU Karsten, Kiawah Ocean and now RMRCC) but the routing and cart paths are ALWAYS convoluted for whatever reason. I almost got lost two to three times...just felt that needed to be mentioned. Onto the course conditions! The practice tee had ample space into a dirt filled, grass absent, targets aplenty area with practice greens around. The tee boxes, which there are 5 of, were trimmed and surrounded by little landscaping rock paths. The fairways were well lined and a little dry which to expect of the summer conditions starting. The bunkers were well maintained without rakes for the players of the day but allowed for a variety of shots into greens. The greens all day showed consistent roll absent of horrendous pitch marks and rolling around a 10 I'd guess. The downfall was, if I had to pick, the rough as they had many bare spots even with the majority of fairways and greens being surrounded by bunkers or native desert area. What type of review would this be without strategy? Pete Dye's designs linger on my mind the more and more I study golf course architecture because I truly feel he...is a genius. This course was a brute in all the right ways. From the Gold Tips it plays around 6600 which isn't long in today's game but each hole presented a challenge. Whether it was the sightline off the tee from a looming fairway bunker, the position of the flag on an elevated well guarded green or the continuous, multi-tiered greens...each hole had Pete Dye's fingerprint. I left today thinking simply, Pete Dye's courses play the golfer as much as the golfer plays the course. I enjoyed myself today and price/amenities withstanding I would absolutely advise the Arizona resident to try out this course themselves. Never did I feel the conditions of the course hampered my ability to hit the shot I wanted, never did I feel the course was reaching the "manufactured difficulty" many other locations fall into the trap of nor did I ever lose sight of what the game of golf means which is to have fun and challenge your skill.