Rode the Golds (6482/70.2/132) as a single for their $45 twilight rate. Played 36 holes in 5H, 15M, excellent POP. 95, breezy and sunny is a reason I played through a couple of groups and basically pl... Continue »

Rode the Golds (6482/70.2/132) as a single for their $45 twilight rate. Played 36 holes in 5H, 15M, excellent POP. 95, breezy and sunny is a reason I played through a couple of groups and basically played at my own pace the entire afternoon. Par 71 layout built on the site of an old Quarry. For those of you reading this from So Cal, this is the Tucson version of Oak Quarry. From the Golds, there are many generous forced carries. Was surprised this is a Troon course. Would be almost unwalkable with all the long climbs to numerous tee boxes. Tees lush with few divots. If anything, too lush, they need to be mowed lower IMO. Fairways semi lush with good coverage. Firm with lots of roll. Rough also semi lush. Mostly mowed down, but patches on many holes were lost ball rough, lush and thick. Was advised in the pro shop that they play all the traps as GUR. I can see why, they were terrible. Hard dirt, not sand. Greens looked nice from afar. However, they were maintained high and putted somewhat bumpy and medium slow. Firm, you had to play for run out. Customer service was excellent. Friendly Marshall, attentive cart staff. No on course water or drink cart, so better come prepared. This is a tough golf course. I thought the 132 slope was under rated. This layout would play better IMO in lusher conditions. With tight target areas you need grass to stop balls when the first bounce is 10 yards in the air on many shots. Front 9 had a few tight shots but had some fun holes. There were two very fun risk reward par 4's on the front, 332/302. In between was a 490 yard par 4, so there were long holes as well. Back 9 was target golf on steroids, many tight holes. Par 3's were a beast. 200/202/256/134/197. Recommended, but play up if in doubt and on numerous holes it would assist if you drove up and saw the target area.

My first (And Last) time playing this course. Let me get the negative out of the way. When I booked my tee time I was assured it was the first time out, but I came to learn that "members" always go o... Continue »

My first (And Last) time playing this course. Let me get the negative out of the way. When I booked my tee time I was assured it was the first time out, but I came to learn that "members" always go out before regular play. I have no problem with that policy IF they would tell you that when you make the tee time. When we made the turn, they had put a group of ladies out on the back, which we had to skip a hole to get around. Little things like I asked for an extra scorecard, and was told there they already gave a card to my partner, so no. Really !

The golf course itself is very nice and worth playing, and as the prior review indicates, it's like two different course for each nine. Front more links like and the back playing around the quarry wit dramatic views and elevation changes.

Very nice overall condition, except the greens probably ran 8 on the stimp. hey looked quick, rolled well, just way too slow. The course played much tougher than expected, so recommend anyone paying here to "play it forward"

Played 10/27/18. $28 They had been open a couple weeks after fall overseed. Fairways were still a little shaggy so not much roll out but did not impact shots from the fairway except they were a litt... Continue »

Played 10/27/18. $28 They had been open a couple weeks after fall overseed. Fairways were still a little shaggy so not much roll out but did not impact shots from the fairway except they were a little longer. Greens were not fast but not noticeably slow. All the greens have some character. Not many straight putts. Course overall was in great shape. I managed to avoid all bunkers so no opinion on those. This track is almost like 2 different golf courses and quite fun. The front is a cross between semi links and parkland type with some trees. The back is like a canyon course (dramatic views and some elevated tee boxes) with severe penalties for missing fairways and greens but not unfair. There are some intimidating tee shots with forced carries but generous landing areas. Except for the PAR 3 11 but there is a bail out in front of the green. Miss right, left or long it's off to the drop area you go. We played with a random twosome that had never played there before with a fairly new golfer. They played the silver (5400 yds PAR 71) and I know they had a good time. Highly recommended but if you don't have fairly good control over your golf ball bring a few extra.

Played yesterday on our 4 day Tucson trip. Great staff and customer service. $27 with cart and 3 hour round. Course was in very nice shape. Nice to have great lies in the fairway all round. As previou... Continue »

Played yesterday on our 4 day Tucson trip. Great staff and customer service. $27 with cart and 3 hour round. Course was in very nice shape. Nice to have great lies in the fairway all round. As previously said, the front is nice but the back is great (great layout of 9 holes). Fairways were in great shape. Tee boxes level and clean. Rough was high and difficult. Sand traps were a bit crusty, hard and thin (?). Greens were slow in the front but faster on the back, but in great shape. Enjoyed the course very much. Great access from the 10 Freeway.

Morning round here today. I booked an 8:15 as the earliest available time at a $47 rate. Unfortunately, there was a frost delay, but that ultimately worked in my favor as they were able to slot me in ... Continue »

Morning round here today. I booked an 8:15 as the earliest available time at a $47 rate. Unfortunately, there was a frost delay, but that ultimately worked in my favor as they were able to slot me in the first group out with another threesome. The frost delay was only about a half hour, so we were teeing off at 8:00 and we set a great pace of 3.5 hours. The course is in solid condition, but the greens were not too inspiring. The tee boxes, fairways and rough all had lush, green coverage. The rough was fairly penal as the ball would really get swallowed up. The bunkers were damp, but fine. The greens were rather slow and a bit bumpy. As others have noted in previous reviews, this course is really a tale of two nines. It's crazy how big the difference is. The front nine is pretty flat (with the exception of the 2nd hole), easy and very uninteresting as it winds through the neighborhood. Then, you make the turn and head into the quarry. It's a blast after that with some fun/extreme target golf and a really scenic setting. For my SoCal people, imagine the front nine of El Prado (Butterfield) followed by a back nine of Oak Quarry. It's that big a difference on one property! The rates are reasonable enough here, the staff is excellent and the cool back nine makes the lackluster front nine worth plodding through.

I played this course for the first time a few weeks ago and had a lot of fun.
The front nine is very average, but the back nine.. Wow!
It is, very much, on a quarry as the name suggests. There is on... Continue »

I played this course for the first time a few weeks ago and had a lot of fun.
The front nine is very average, but the back nine.. Wow!
It is, very much, on a quarry as the name suggests. There is one hole where the Teebox is on one side of the quarry, and the green is on the other side, with no fairway whatsoever. It is very challenging and fun!

Played this March. The front nine is squeezed into a housing development. It's all about the back nine, it goes through two quarries. There are some great holes, well worth putting up with the front n... Continue »

Played this March. The front nine is squeezed into a housing development. It's all about the back nine, it goes through two quarries. There are some great holes, well worth putting up with the front nine. The par 3 11th goes from one side of quarry to the other, deep ravine between. Look in ravine, looks like snow there are so many golf balls. Be warned, the fairways are narrow, play up.

This is a fun course. The front 9 is very straightforward and pretty pedestrian. The back 9 is great . . as good as any around. The course is in nice shape. The greens are coming back from being p... Continue »

This is a fun course. The front 9 is very straightforward and pretty pedestrian. The back 9 is great . . as good as any around. The course is in nice shape. The greens are coming back from being punch very nicely. The fairways are in good shape. Customer service in the clubhouse is very good, and the cart girl was around 6 or 7 times during our round, which is important since we're not at 100+ degrees in Tucson. The problem with this course, and it has been a problem seemingly forever . . is pace of play! The tee times are set 7 minutes apart. Due to the nature of the course, narrow, holes in and around an old quarry, and some driveable par 4's this means play stacks up and it's hit a shot, sit around and wait . . hit a shot . . sit around and wait throughout the round. I don't think marshalling could solve this problem because everyone is sitting and waiting. They need to spread out the tee times. I know that on paper this would cut into potential rounds played, but in actuality it wouldn't since everyone is waiting anyway. Make the tee times 10 minutes apart and "The Pines" would be on my first cut of courses to play in Tucson. As it is now . . you'd better plan on spending 4:30-5:00 for a round. It takes a lot away from the enjoyment of the round.

I really like this course. This is the storybook tale of two very different 9's. The front 9 is flat, short, and pretty easily negotiated. The back (remodeled) 9 takes you down into, out of, and th... Continue »

I really like this course. This is the storybook tale of two very different 9's. The front 9 is flat, short, and pretty easily negotiated. The back (remodeled) 9 takes you down into, out of, and through an old quarry. It can be quite intimidating! If you try to overpower the back 9 big numbers await. If you play smart, placement golf then you can avoid big numbers. The only drawback to The Pines is the pace of play. The back 9 gets backed up at every hole. Everyone has played the front 9 with the same ball, now they're having to dig deep in their bag for new ones to replace the one they just spent 5 minutes looking for after hitting it out into the quarry. There were marshals, but with everyone waiting . . I don't know what they could do to speed up play. The pro shop staff was sensational. For my $$ this is one of the most fun . .and challenging . . courses to play in Tucson. Well worth the fees which are considerably less than some of the more highly though of, but less interesting courses in the area.