Played early on Super Bowl Sunday, second group off. There were four of us, all walking. We played in 3:55 which is pretty good. A beverage cart caught us on the 15th green, the first time I have seen that at Rancho. Nice feature considering there is usually nothing available for the early morning crowd. The food truck was not at its place behind the driving range when we finis... » More

Played early on Super Bowl Sunday, second group off. There were four of us, all walking. We played in 3:55 which is pretty good. A beverage cart caught us on the 15th green, the first time I have seen that at Rancho. Nice feature considering there is usually nothing available for the early morning crowd. The food truck was not at its place behind the driving range when we finished. There were tables set up next to the putting green where they had a bar at one time; maybe they are doing food there.

The course generally is in nice shape.. The warmer weather really has it greening up for a winter morning. The greens were pretty good although there are a few with some of the problems noted by Roarksown1 in his December review. #2 was especially bad. The practice green was also rough. The greens on the course were better.

Just a gorgeous morning at Rancho.
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Played the Links @ SB with Alex326 and Bob as previous review indicated. I was prepared to play in any weather when asked to join more than a month ago. It was a day of days. Best treat that can't be beat at the Duke's $$. The staff gave us VIP treatment and the course was playing at my favorite links style best.
I'd post 10 in every category, then might be accused of ... » More

Played the Links @ SB with Alex326 and Bob as previous review indicated. I was prepared to play in any weather when asked to join more than a month ago. It was a day of days. Best treat that can't be beat at the Duke's $$. The staff gave us VIP treatment and the course was playing at my favorite links style best.
I'd post 10 in every category, then might be accused of over rating by the algorithm but not lying! Not many days no complaints, all compliments. This was one. And with experience of former rounds got the arrival right. Using Spyglass to warm up and portion of 17 mile drive to get to course ready to go. Maybe that's a possible change coming some type of warm up area. I think it's time for irrigation replacement also. As a resort many forego playing here for some reason when it is included in the stay? I don't know why...
If the redo changes that for the better I'm for it
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The Mountain course usually gets more play than Canyon. However, POP still moving well. Weather conditions have been mild. Playing conditions are about as good as it gets here. Near immaculate. The overseeding took better this season than last, very few outlying areas that need attention. Course is playinf firm and quick. Long drives in the lush fairways. Greens are firm and qu... » More

The Mountain course usually gets more play than Canyon. However, POP still moving well. Weather conditions have been mild. Playing conditions are about as good as it gets here. Near immaculate. The overseeding took better this season than last, very few outlying areas that need attention. Course is playinf firm and quick. Long drives in the lush fairways. Greens are firm and quick. Lush everywhere. Sand almost always near immaculate here, especially around the greens. Probably the best 36 hole facility to play south of Phoenix and north of the Mexican border in southern Az. Highly recommended.
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5 weeks left before the course shuts down for the remodel. DeepSea14 and I teed it up with my buddy Bob at our usual 9AM (9:10) tee time. I have played Spanish Bay many many times and this may have been the best weather ever. Perfectly sunny without a breath of wind all day long. Temperature was around 80 degrees and just glorious. Course conditions remain steady as al... » More

5 weeks left before the course shuts down for the remodel. DeepSea14 and I teed it up with my buddy Bob at our usual 9AM (9:10) tee time. I have played Spanish Bay many many times and this may have been the best weather ever. Perfectly sunny without a breath of wind all day long. Temperature was around 80 degrees and just glorious. Course conditions remain steady as always. Greens were excellent. They rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. Greens are still tricky, as indicated by my fiver or six 3 putts. It will be interesting to see how tame they make the greens during the redo.

Fairways were super for the most part. Only #11 had some issues and had a portion being re-seeded. The rest were lush and offered good roll out. Rough was the only sign of the course starting to slip. Rough had some patchy areas that probably aren’t being attended to, due to the course being shut down in a little over a month.

Tee boxes and bunkers were fine.

Spanish Bay is one of my favorite go to courses and I’m curious what the redesign will look like, but I’m certainly going to miss playing here for 2 years while they do the makeover.
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Simple, first time playing there you may find it in bad shape and hard to play, but once you know the course and where to it hit your shots it is not bad for the money at all. We played here for a second time and knowing where not to hit your tee shots made a big difference, yes some holes are tight and houses near, greens small (less putts) but being an uphill down hill cours... » More

Simple, first time playing there you may find it in bad shape and hard to play, but once you know the course and where to it hit your shots it is not bad for the money at all. We played here for a second time and knowing where not to hit your tee shots made a big difference, yes some holes are tight and houses near, greens small (less putts) but being an uphill down hill course it has enough challenges to make the round worth it. Not a place for someone who counts on a long drive every hole. If you are wild off every tee you may not find this the place for you but if you can hit spots and have good distance control you can score good. We as many gave this place a bad review after one round, but the second round we found much better with a little course knowledge. No sand traps (a plus for me) lets call this the course for someone not looking for a pristine course or a flat long hitters course, this is a public up hill down hill rough shape course that will give you plenty of NON level lies to hit from.
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