8/21 - I played the Vista/Lake nines, and they were in terrific condition. I was very surprised for this time of year on how green this course was. The greens are very undulating and the ball must be... Continue »

8/21 - I played the Vista/Lake nines, and they were in terrific condition. I was very surprised for this time of year on how green this course was. The greens are very undulating and the ball must be placed in the proper areas to have good chances at making putts. The fairways are wide, but there is certainly trouble off the fairway. It's not that easy to get early tee times because it gets a lot of traffic from the retirement community, so make tee times in advance. The rate was only around $45 which was great.

Overview: Copper Canyon Golf Club is a 27 hole upscale daily fee course that consists of the Lake 9, the Mountain 9 and the Vista 9. The Lake 9 and the Vista 9 were the original 18 holes, and the Mo... Continue »

Overview: Copper Canyon Golf Club is a 27 hole upscale daily fee course that consists of the Lake 9, the Mountain 9 and the Vista 9. The Lake 9 and the Vista 9 were the original 18 holes, and the Mountain 9 was added about 3 years ago. The course was designed by Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley (the same team that designed AK Southern Dunes). The golf course is the center piece of Sun City Festival which has been built by Pulte/Del Webb. When completed the community will have over 7,000 homes (due to the continued surge in the Phoenix housing market.) The course is located in the northern part of the White Tank Mountains in the Phoenix suburb of Buckeye.

COVID-19: The course is pretty strict about people wearing a mask in the pro shop (only 2 people at a time), the clubhouse and while purchasing something at the snack bar. 2 people in a cart if you are only from the same household, and I was surprised to have seed in the carts and see water in the cooler jugs out on the course. No rakes in the bunkers and a very unique device was used to get the ball out of the golf hole ... something I have never seen before.

Course: Was fortunate enough to play on a beautiful AZ day with the temperature about 70 and sunny skies. The wind was down, which never really happens at Copper Canyon and we played the Lake/Mountain combination ... which is my favorite combination to play. The course was in very good shape and the contrast between the over seeded fairways vs the dormant bermuda rough was very evident. The fairways were in nice shape and had good coverage and the bermuda rough was cut very short. The greens were smooth, ran at a medium pace and did not have a lot of ball marks. The course has generous fairways and large undulating greens. The bunkers were not in the best shape, but I will give them a pass on this due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
The primary defense of the course is the wind ... which thankfully was down. The Mountain 9 is one of my favorite 9 holes in the valley because of the beautiful vistas and being segregated from the rest of the community. Many new homes are being built on the Mountain 9, but they are not really close to the course.

Final Thoughts: The course is very busy in the high season due to the golf membership packages that they have for the residents of Sun City Festival, and the ability for residents to book 14 days in advance where the general public may only book 7 days in advance. I thought the green fee of $89 was very good considering the time of year. What I like about the course is that it is in great shape year round, in my opinion the greens are in even better shape in the summer.

Played Copper Canyon with three friends yesterday. Weather only hit about 100 so it was a pleasant day. Caught 1p twilight for 23 dollars including cart and they let us go out early at 12:40. We di... Continue »

Played Copper Canyon with three friends yesterday. Weather only hit about 100 so it was a pleasant day. Caught 1p twilight for 23 dollars including cart and they let us go out early at 12:40. We didn't have anyone ahead of us and nobody pushing behind either. Greeted by cart guy who loaded our bags. Complimentary range balls. Fair drink prices also. They are building a third nine that is to open in November. Course was in great shape for the end of summer. Fairways were plush. Tee boxes perfect. Greens were running a grainy 10ish. With all of our summer rain the bunkers were in great shape and manicured. Primarily a retirement community you can tell they take care of their course. Course has perfect practice facilities as well. Course is fairly open and scorable. I played hickory and shot 76 from 6400 yds. Good mixes of short and long par 3,4, and 5s. Water comes into play on several holes as well.

I decided to stop by Copper Canyon on the way home. It wasn't too crowded out and they only charged me $23, so it was an easy decision to squeeze in one more quickie. I did play through a couple group... Continue »

I decided to stop by Copper Canyon on the way home. It wasn't too crowded out and they only charged me $23, so it was an easy decision to squeeze in one more quickie. I did play through a couple groups along the way, but otherwise played as quick as I could. The weather got a little uglier as I played (dark skies, really windy, a couple drops of rain and some thunder cracks near the end of the round), so I wasn't wasting any time. The course was in very nice condition and I really liked how it played with firmer/faster turf than any other course I visited on this trip. The tee boxes were great and fairways were cut tight to provide some extra roll-out. Rough also cut low and easy to play from. Bunkers generally in good shape, as well. The greens were firm and by far the fastest of anything I played last week, rolling super smooth. They were fantastic! I've always heard really good things about Copper Canyon, but it's kind of isolated and I've never been able to work it into any previous trips. Getting such a great rate was also a bonus this time, too. It definitely lived up to the expectations. It's a good overall layout. It does feel a bit like a construction zone right now. They are actually adding 9 more holes (some of which you can see almost finished already), which may open as soon as next year. Also, there are some graded dirt areas getting ready for new homes and some new homes in mid-construction along the back nine. The heavy winds were kicking up a lot of dust and sand. There is one part of the back nine where you really get way out there away from the clubhouse. It looks like the individual 9-hole routings will change once the new holes are added, but it was hard to tell exactly how things will ultimately lay out. The new nine will hopefully give me another excuse to come back in the future because this is a highly recommendable course on the west side of the valley that doesn't have as many top-shelf tracks to choose from.

I played Copper Canyon on 7/8. Booked through the course for their $45 deal including all you can play golf, lunch, and a bounce back coupon. We teed off around 9:30 and were done with 36 around 4:3... Continue »

I played Copper Canyon on 7/8. Booked through the course for their $45 deal including all you can play golf, lunch, and a bounce back coupon. We teed off around 9:30 and were done with 36 around 4:30. The course had play going on but the pace was good overall.
I can't find much else to say about the course I haven't said in my previous reviews. The greens are still what stand out on this course. Soft and receptive all day long. The fairway conditions were good with a few bare spots.
Overall, it's a fun course you can score well on with not too much trouble to get into.

I got out to Copper Canyon on 8/29 and teed off around 9:15 am. The course offers $45 all you can play including a meal. Played 36 and was done around 3:30 with nobody on the course for my second 18... Continue »

I got out to Copper Canyon on 8/29 and teed off around 9:15 am. The course offers $45 all you can play including a meal. Played 36 and was done around 3:30 with nobody on the course for my second 18.
It's hard to believe no one has reviewed this course since I did last June.
I think the course was in better condition yesterday than it was last year when I played. I can't find a bad thing to say about the course other than it's a long drive out there for me.
I was able to tee off as a single but ran into a number of golfers on the 10th hole. Pace of play was otherwise fairly quick even though I was stuck behind a number of groups.
Every tee box was in immaculate condition. Some of the par 3s had minor divot damage but nothing outrageous. Fairways were immaculate as well with no bare spots or divot damage. They rolled out well and were a little wet in low areas but nothing to affect play. The greens were awesome to hit into and putt on. They were medium fast but consistent throughout the day. I've never had to repair so many ball marks as during these rounds. They were extremely soft and any well struck approach shot stuck and left a huge ball mark.
The course isn't overly challenging and open enough to be very playable. As I said last year, the par 4s present you the opportunity to hit different clubs. They do have a driveable par 4 on the back side and makes for an interesting shot selection. The par 3s are varying lengh as well. The par 5s are reachable in two with well struck tee shots. Pin placements were in difficult spots for the most part. Hole 9, a par 5, had the pin set on the edge with a huge slope a few yards away from the hole. The approach had to be either spot on or slightly long to give you any kind of putt.
I found the course to be in the best condition of any I have played this summer.

I played Copper Canyon on 6/25 on a late afternoon tee time. The course is about 15-20 minutes west of Surprise. I live in north Phoenix and it took me about 50 minutes to get there. The course is ... Continue »

I played Copper Canyon on 6/25 on a late afternoon tee time. The course is about 15-20 minutes west of Surprise. I live in north Phoenix and it took me about 50 minutes to get there. The course is located in a housing development with not a lot surrounding it. I was surprised at the amount of play at 1:30 on a Wednesday afternoon. A twosome teed off in front of me and for some reason didn't want to let me play through. I still got around in about 3 hours.
Copper Canyon is Troon managed and it shows. Even for late July in Arizona in the middle of the dessert the course conditions were great. Tee boxes were the best I have seen this summer. The fairways were thin but not horrible. Sand traps were all consistent and had sand in them. If you spray your tee shot way off line it will find dessert but you can usually find it. The greens are the best I have seen so far this summer. They had been punched in the beginning of the month but I couldn't tell. They were all the same consistent speed. All of them held a shot and were pretty soft considering the hot and dry conditions.
The course is very playable. The par 4s at CC have a variety of length and difficulty. I hit irons off a couple of par 4s because driver wasn't the safe play. I don't think the course is overly challenging unless you make it with poor tee shots.
The course is a bit of a drive unless you live in northwest Phoenix but worth it a couple of times a year.

Played the course on Wednesday morning 9:30 tee off. The course has Championship written all over it, from the bag boys running to get your bag in the cart, to the pro-shop staff at check in and even ... Continue »

Played the course on Wednesday morning 9:30 tee off. The course has Championship written all over it, from the bag boys running to get your bag in the cart, to the pro-shop staff at check in and even the range boys checking to make sure there are enough balls in the warm up slot for you.
The course is in excellent condition, very lush with perfect conditions from tee to green. Fairways are cut low but not tight, rough is 2-4 inches and very penal in nature, bring your muscle here because if your ball is sitting down your going to need it to hack your way back to the fairway. Bunkers were outstanding today, soft fluffy sand from fairway to green, these to are penal in nature so do not make a habit of finding them as I did through out my round. Greens were receptive to various shots high, low, lot of spin or little spin, rolling about 11 and very dangerous if you misread your line. Temp today was a muggy 94 at tee-off and increased to 100 with muggy conditions that just worsened from the morning hours. Tee boxes showed some minor wear on the par 3's but nothing that would crush your opinion of them. Overall I would rate the course at 8.5 and give the staff a perfect 10. Pace of play today was just shy of 4 hours due to a threesome that shouldn't have been playing there, maybe could have dropped it down to 3.5 hours with our foursome. I will certainly be back, to play again

This course is absolutely worth the green fee. It is in the middle of nowhere but everything about the course is top notch!!! The practice facility is first rate!!The course is challenging but fair. ... Continue »

This course is absolutely worth the green fee. It is in the middle of nowhere but everything about the course is top notch!!! The practice facility is first rate!!The course is challenging but fair. It is a desert course so make sure to keep the ball in play. Even though this is a desert course there is a lot of water on the course. The greens, sand traps, and tee boxes were phenomenal. The fairways were bare in some spots but that was becuase they recently did the vertical cut but you could see the recovery was coming

I strongly recommend this course and think everyone should give it a shot. Yes, it is in the middle of nowhere but your golf experience will be just reward. This is an outstanding course!!

Copper Canyon Golf Club Review
Buckeye Arizona Golf Course Reviews