I also played with GK on 3-8-20. The staff was really friendly and helpful. They have a nice grass range, a large putting green and a chipping/bunker area. I enjoyed the course a lot. It’s mostly fla... Continue »

I also played with GK on 3-8-20. The staff was really friendly and helpful. They have a nice grass range, a large putting green and a chipping/bunker area. I enjoyed the course a lot. It’s mostly flat (I would consider walking if I played it again) and in nice shape. The fairways had good coverage and gave lots of roll. The rough was just a tad longer in length then the fairways. I actually hit a lot better from the rough with the extra cushion. The bunkers looked nice. I didn’t land in any of them but I did find some water. The greens were firm and smooth. The red tee boxes were mostly level and in good shape. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the gas powered carts. I’d like to check out the other Sun City West courses sometime. Thank you, Johnny, for another fun outing!

I also made the trip over to Arizona to play in the GK plays event here. I have a daughter who lives here so I got to visit family at the same time.
Thanks to Johnny for another well run and very enj... Continue »

I also made the trip over to Arizona to play in the GK plays event here. I have a daughter who lives here so I got to visit family at the same time.
Thanks to Johnny for another well run and very enjoyable event. I always have fun meeting and playing with new GK'ers and today was no exception.
I felt that the course was in very good condition with great coverage on the fairways. The rough was cut fairly low so not much of a factor. My only coplaint about the course was the inconsistent speed of the greens.
The staff was great and the food and drink prices are amazing. I can't think of any course where you can get a draft beer and a good hot dog for $5.
While not one of Arizonas top courses it was a solid deal and a fun track to play.

Played in the GK event on Saturday in about four hours with a friend and two other members who were great. The staff was friendly and helpful. The facilities check every box you would find at a high... Continue »

Played in the GK event on Saturday in about four hours with a friend and two other members who were great. The staff was friendly and helpful. The facilities check every box you would find at a higher end course. The gas carts were an experience since I had not been in one for many years. The tee boxes were all in great shape with a few being very firm making it difficult to get a tee in the turf. The rough was very short and most wayward shots found their way into the granite lining the fairways. The green side rough was good and allowed for decent lies. The traps were well groomed but similar to most of those we have in Southern California with a thin top cover of sand/dirt/granite and damp dirt underneath. The greens all had great coverage but were very firm and did not hold any shot good or bad. The practice greens were fairly quick but those on the course were quite a bit slower. Many of the greens were rolling at different speeds frustrating those in our group. The water features on the course are few but do come into play on those holes. The entire facility is well maintained and the rates make it very reasonable. Recommended for a fair price and good conditions.

GK Plays out at Sun City yesterday at the Deer Valley facility and found the course to be very playable and fun, with a few caveats. We had a three-person group with mpisarski and me playing from the ... Continue »

GK Plays out at Sun City yesterday at the Deer Valley facility and found the course to be very playable and fun, with a few caveats. We had a three-person group with mpisarski and me playing from the blues and Abbacat playing from the red tees. A few notes not directly related to the course conditions first. Make sure you bring cash with you as there is NO ATM at this facility. They have a small, comfortable pro shop right alongside the snack bar and prices are super reasonable. They also have gas-powered carts instead of electric, so there's a bit more noise than usual. The course layout is pretty simple with a lot of water features that rarely come into play outside of a few holes. Most of it is more for scenic effect as the course basically winds in between homes the entire way but none of it feels too claustrophobic or repetitive. It's flat and straightforward and, now that I think about it, I can't even think of what its best defense is against low scores. Normally these courses have tiny, multi-tiered greens or massive greenside bunkers, but not this place. It's a shooting gallery for low-handicappers and a nice, steady test for the higher ones. Conditions were pretty nice across the board as others mentioned. The fairways were in very nice shape and good lies were found all day, but it was a not a deep lush in any way. Rough was a bit thicker and had a different, yellowish hue to it than the fairways which made it easy to recognize good shots versus bad. I too found the bunkers to be a bit thin after the top layer and even putted out of one late in the round. Tee boxes were level and in good shape. With the plethora of amazing courses in the Phoenix area, I don't think that Deer Valley is going to overtake Quintero or TPC Scottsdale anytime soon in terms of reputation, but it's a fun round at an affordable rate that ticks many of the right boxes if you happen to find yourself in that part of town. I look forward to seeing the other Sun City options in the future if I move here in the next few months.

Out with the Gk event yesterday and a blast was had. Course is not too tough but you need to manage your approach shots as spin was a little tough to generate. I really enjoyed how lush the fairways a... Continue »

Out with the Gk event yesterday and a blast was had. Course is not too tough but you need to manage your approach shots as spin was a little tough to generate. I really enjoyed how lush the fairways and rough were as it was a nice surprise for the price we paid. The layout is pretty simple with a few long par 4's and a few reachable par 5's. My only down side for the course was the sand. I was in 2 green side traps and both had about 1/2" of soft sand and hard pack under I skulled a few by not being able to get under the ball. If you are in the area and want to play a cheap round Sun City West is a great choice.

Thank you everyone that came out to GK Plays Sun City West AZ. I brag about Sun City West Golf Courses always having great playing conditions and being an exceptional value … the Deer Valley course ce... Continue »

Thank you everyone that came out to GK Plays Sun City West AZ. I brag about Sun City West Golf Courses always having great playing conditions and being an exceptional value … the Deer Valley course certainly lived up to it with our outing. Greens were firm yet pure, smooth and ran at good pace. Fairways provided perfect lies all day. Tee boxes in excellent shape as well. The bunkers all well kept with quality sand. The rough was left to be dormant in the winter but still had plenty of padding to hit shots from. We hardly waited during our outing while playing. Afterwards we hung out on the patio for some drinks/food while we gave out raffle prizes and had fun. I know for sure we’ll be doing another GK Plays Sun City West Golf again. Maybe even another this year. Big thanks to GKers SeveB who happens to Pat, the Operational Manager of the golf courses. How cool is that? Big supporters of our GK Community. Highly recommended. — Photos to be posted soon!

Overview: Sun City West Golf has 7 courses ... 4 of them are regulation golf courses and the other 3 are executive golf courses. Sun City West is in the north west part of the Phoenix metro area.
... Continue »

Overview: Sun City West Golf has 7 courses ... 4 of them are regulation golf courses and the other 3 are executive golf courses. Sun City West is in the north west part of the Phoenix metro area.

Clubhouse and Snack Bar: A "no frill" clubhouse area, but it was nice and the prices are great. A beer and a candy bar ... $3.25. The cookies were really good too ... $1.00. JohnnyGK was able to get us a lunch deal for $10 ... nice value.

Course: Deer Valley was in really nice shape. The fairways had nice grass coverage and the rough was dormant bermuda that was cut really tight. The greens were in excellent shape and ran very true. They were not the fastest greens, but they were could be sneaky fast at times. The sand was consistent through out the course and it was easy to play out of.

Final Thoughts: Not a "bucket list" course in the Phoenix area, but a great place to come out and play a solid golf course during the high golf season in the Valley of the Sun ... especially with Spring Training going on. The price was great considering that most courses are charging upwards of $100 or more during this time of the year. Enjoyed playing with Johnny GK, Isoceles and joeboe39. John ... thank you as always, for setting up a great GK Plays!

I had the opportunity to participate in an awesome GK Plays at SCW Deer Valley. The event was fun and well organized. A great turnout today on a great course.
Really nothing negative to say about th... Continue »

I had the opportunity to participate in an awesome GK Plays at SCW Deer Valley. The event was fun and well organized. A great turnout today on a great course.
Really nothing negative to say about this place. Very nice conditions all throughout the round. Great grass coverage all over the course. The greens and bunkers were really the highlight of the day. Bunkers were in great shape and enjoyable to play. The greens were immaculate. Consistent throughout the day.
Thanks to John and Pat for a great event.

Walked a quick round at Deer Valley early on a Sunday morning for $50, paired with a friendly SCW resident.

The Phoenix area received a tremendous amount of rain the day before, with much flooding ... Continue »

Walked a quick round at Deer Valley early on a Sunday morning for $50, paired with a friendly SCW resident.

The Phoenix area received a tremendous amount of rain the day before, with much flooding on certain streets. Deer Valley drained pretty well, but some of the ponds were enlarged and the water had submerged some of the cartpaths. As a result, Deer Valley had a cartpath only rule for the day, but I walked so it did not affect me. Still I was getting good roll in the fairways, green approaches were a little soft, but the greens maintained their firmness.

The greens were a little slow due to the rain but were immaculate. Same for the greenside aprons. Rough was typical dormant Bermuda. Fairways were in great shape as were the bunkers.

Deer Valley is not the most difficult of the SCW courses - it's probably the easiest of the 4 regulation courses - but it is the one I enjoy playing the most. I think it is the most fair in that pretty much any time you miss a green on an approach shot, you always have a reasonable chance to get up and down. Over on Trail Ridge and Grandview, some of the green shapes/sizes make this extremely difficult or impossible depending on hole location. Some long hitters take issue with the relatively short length of this course from the tips (6547). I played white (6080) and as a short hitting better than average player, I find the course layout sets up in an enjoyable way for my game.

Potential customers should recognize that this course is part of a middle class retirement community, and therefore they run a pretty efficient/no frills operation to presumably keep costs down. The rental carts tend to be older (the residents mostly have their own anyway), there are no "bag boys" or beverage carts, etc. The benefit of this is excellent course conditions pretty much all year long, and very fair pricing.

Looks like those of us who signed up for the GK event at this course in a few weeks will find some great conditions.