Booked a GolfNow Tee time at 8:30am as a single for $45 as my girlfriend works nearby and has heard/seen some good things about this place and area in general. When I pulled into the parking lot aroun... Continue »

Booked a GolfNow Tee time at 8:30am as a single for $45 as my girlfriend works nearby and has heard/seen some good things about this place and area in general. When I pulled into the parking lot around 7:50am I saw maybe at most 10 cars which is surprising to say the least for ANY Arizona golf course when not summer but maybe COVID-19 had something to do with that. Anyways, the customer service was present. Two people greeting at front with well established distancing , don't know if there was any way to confirm if the carts had been sanitized but they didn't grab my bag and get in my face so that's good. As I walked to the pro shop there was a sign that read: "no more than 4 people in the pro shop at a time" and I walked in and confirmed my pre-paid tee time. The guy at the desk (Gary or Steve) asked if I was a first timer, I said yes and he gave me a course guide for free and gave me some pointers.

Onto the course, the conditions seemed very middling...and I mean that for the majority it was still prime season but you can TELL that the sun and heat is starting to be right around the corner. The fairways and the greens were still prime and aesthetically pleasing to look at and play off. However, the course got rough around the edges. I counted 4 greens that had suffered from some type of grass disease that was killing the collar of the green/fringe area. Sparse, but present . The bunkers were of a great consistency without any rakes present however they had been tended to in the morning obviously (or recently, IDK). The greens were very soft and surprisingly on the slower side, I couldn't get a putt to the hole almost all day.

This course is truly a tale of two personalities. The front nine (which used to be the back nine according to the old course guide I was given) is called "Mountain" which it certainly does for about 7 holes. The first gradually climbs up. With the second hole already giving picturesque views. The rest of the front nine plays in and around the mountain which ends with a par 3 8th and par 5 9th, I mention that because those two holes display what the back nine "Valley" is like. Flat and LONG. The back nine plays about 3,800 from the tips and the course rounds out at 7,162. That's pretty regulation. While the course plays long, it plays even longer because the fairways are so narrow and tight (lined by houses on the back) which makes for a day of sludging out long-mid irons out of rough or desert to postage sized stamp greens. Challenging for sure.

The course was in middle/high tier playability in conditions, the routing is fun however the strategy is kind of ...driver long irons heavy. Bring your a game with the big dog because it needs to be accurate. This course is NOT walkable for note, but an enjoyable place to get away from the Mesa/PHX/Scottsdale hub.