Played this (now, only remaining in AZ) Pete Dye designed course that used to be private years ago for $50 off GolfNow around 11am Friday May 29th. Pulling into this community, it is visually a declin... Continue »

Played this (now, only remaining in AZ) Pete Dye designed course that used to be private years ago for $50 off GolfNow around 11am Friday May 29th. Pulling into this community, it is visually a declining upper class area that has fallen on hard(er) times than in previous prime East Mesa rich times. The 'country club' has community areas, banquet halls and even a tennis/swimming club. The course itself is presented aside the other extra curricular activities with it's own sorta-separate parking lot. The club house was sufficient with COVID-19 measurements loosely followed (bare minimum for sure) and the staff was present. I paid my green fee, wanted to warm up so I bought a shabby looking shag bag of about 40 balls for an additional $8 and was given instructions about the directions (which are needed) to get to the practice tee. Also should note I got a course guide for free which is nice to see more and more courses practicing. Now, I don't know what it is about Pete Dye courses of which I've now played three (ASU Karsten, Kiawah Ocean and now RMRCC) but the routing and cart paths are ALWAYS convoluted for whatever reason. I almost got lost two to three times...just felt that needed to be mentioned. Onto the course conditions! The practice tee had ample space into a dirt filled, grass absent, targets aplenty area with practice greens around. The tee boxes, which there are 5 of, were trimmed and surrounded by little landscaping rock paths. The fairways were well lined and a little dry which to expect of the summer conditions starting. The bunkers were well maintained without rakes for the players of the day but allowed for a variety of shots into greens. The greens all day showed consistent roll absent of horrendous pitch marks and rolling around a 10 I'd guess. The downfall was, if I had to pick, the rough as they had many bare spots even with the majority of fairways and greens being surrounded by bunkers or native desert area. What type of review would this be without strategy? Pete Dye's designs linger on my mind the more and more I study golf course architecture because I truly feel he...is a genius. This course was a brute in all the right ways. From the Gold Tips it plays around 6600 which isn't long in today's game but each hole presented a challenge. Whether it was the sightline off the tee from a looming fairway bunker, the position of the flag on an elevated well guarded green or the continuous, multi-tiered greens...each hole had Pete Dye's fingerprint. I left today thinking simply, Pete Dye's courses play the golfer as much as the golfer plays the course. I enjoyed myself today and price/amenities withstanding I would absolutely advise the Arizona resident to try out this course themselves. Never did I feel the conditions of the course hampered my ability to hit the shot I wanted, never did I feel the course was reaching the "manufactured difficulty" many other locations fall into the trap of nor did I ever lose sight of what the game of golf means which is to have fun and challenge your skill.

We teed off this morning around 915 for a rate of $35. The course presents itself as high end but range balls are not included. The range was interesting. On the small side, chewed up with uneven lies... Continue »

We teed off this morning around 915 for a rate of $35. The course presents itself as high end but range balls are not included. The range was interesting. On the small side, chewed up with uneven lies, hard as a rock range balls and dirt making up most of the range. Gas carts. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of extras I was expecting at the course considering it’s semi private.
As noted by previous reviewers it’s definitely a Dye course. Offline shots are subject to uneven lies. The course’s defense isn’t length but play around the greens. Tricky and fairly quick greens proved to be a challenge.
Conditions were typical AZ summer. Tee boxes were unusually thin throughout the round. The greens were fun. Consistent and on the quick side. Fun to play. Overall, a fun course to play but not really a destination spot.

With my trip coming about pretty quickly, I did my best to find a decent deal for today's afternoon round. This time of year is so expensive out here, so a $69 1:05 tee time at Red Mountain Ranch was ... Continue »

With my trip coming about pretty quickly, I did my best to find a decent deal for today's afternoon round. This time of year is so expensive out here, so a $69 1:05 tee time at Red Mountain Ranch was the most appealing thing I could find. They had a big shotgun tournament in the morning that was still finishing up by the time I teed off closer to 1:15 (paired with a twosome). We waited on every shot as the groups ahead were slow even once the shotgun cleared off the course. It felt longer than 4.5 hours, but we finished right on that pace with the back nine moving a little better than the front. After Troon North set my expectations very high in the morning, Red Mountain Ranch brought me crashing back down to earth. Even though I've never heard of this place being in really fantastic shape, I still expected more in peak season. It was really dry and very thin throughout the course. The tee boxes were fine. The fairways and rough were patchy green and brown in color, kind of a semi-dormant look with some inconsistencies in whatever overseeding they attempted. Some fairways were nicer than other and I felt the back nine had better fairways overall. The fairways were definitely on the thin side, but I can't really say I had too many bad lies. The rough was mostly not a factor with a lot of bare spots and wouldn't do anything to keep balls from rolling into the desert areas. The greens were good overall, firm with medium/fast speeds, and again I'd say the back nine seemed more filled in with the overseeded grass. The bunkers were raked well, but very rocky with lots of pebbles and coarse sand. I had a little higher hopes for Red Mountain Ranch being a semi-private club and a Dye design (Perry and Pete, or maybe just Perry?). It is definitely a Dye design through and through and that's where it offers a ton of potential to be a really fun course (unless you hate Dye courses, in which case stay away). Lots of the signature mounding, pot bunkers, railroad tie walls and funky little greens. The course isn't very long by today's standards and it's fairly forgiving off the tee, but then it gets adventurous around the greens. I really liked the layout and it's anything but boring, but I sure wish the conditions were better this time of year.

Played here Friday afternoon. Course is closing soon for overseed, are letting the fairways die.

This course is further along in the overseed preparation. Mostly dormant and dried out grass acr... Continue »

Played here Friday afternoon. Course is closing soon for overseed, are letting the fairways die.

This course is further along in the overseed preparation. Mostly dormant and dried out grass across the course. Lots of left mowed grass.

Dried out but very playable especially for the value (I played for only $27)

Greens were good and rolled well. Firm and fast but not the lightning they normally are making scoring possible.

Bunkers were hard packed and poor. Needed more sand.

The back nine here is awesome. One of my favorite courses to play and should be in fine shape following the reseed.

It's my life's mission to play every Pete Dye course because I'm a golf masochist like JohnnyGK. I had heard warnings of this course from locals, and have been dying to play especially after ASU Kars... Continue »

It's my life's mission to play every Pete Dye course because I'm a golf masochist like JohnnyGK. I had heard warnings of this course from locals, and have been dying to play especially after ASU Karsten got my Pete Dye juices flowing. I snagged a $32 hot deal for 1:37 on Saturday. This course is easily in the top 5 hardest course I have ever played and may be the hardest 6,600 yard course in the US. It is only 6,653 yards from the tips with a slope of 145 factoring in desert roll and carries it plays much shorter. The longest par 4 is the 440 opener. Two of the par fives are only 474 yards but they are par fives for a reason I would find out. The tee shots here are straight forward without desert carries, blind shots, or visually deceiving layouts. The fairways are actually very wide for a desert course. You dont even need to play driver much here. An accurate 3 wood will work. The difficulty here isn't the emphasis on driving accuracy, but rather precision approach shots. When I say precision I mean you have a 15 foot circle you have to stop and spin the ball on otherwise your ball will roll off. Unfortunately the greens are rock so good luck spinning it. The green complexes here are hands down the most difficult I have ever played far exceeding the green complexes at PGA West Stadium by a mile. Luckily you will be driver wedge all day with the short length, because if it was championship length there is no way you could get 6 or 7 irons to stick. The greens are small, narrow, multi tiered and the pin positions are devilish. The greens have tiny narrow 5 yard isthmus' with bunkers and 15 foot drop offs coupled with 3 pace pin positions to dash all hopes. You will think you hit a great shot then see you ball catch a side slop and rocket 10 yards off the green. Or you will see your ball roll off into a chasm. Many greens are turtle shelled and like to have your ball or flops roll off. The greens were fast but not lightning quick but in true Dye fashion they played tricks with you. I would read a putt from all angles and watch a 10 foot putt break the other way. Most 15 foot plus putts were double breakers. The ball would track dead at the hole and them veer off course 1 foot in front of the hole to ruin every birdie opportunity. It was kind of unreal. The bunkers do need a little more sand because you would bottom out and made spinning them to tight pins impossible. Needless to say every par was earned. The par fives were clever here. They would entice you to go for them in two with their short length, but the greens were extremely elevated and plateaued. I watched a 6 iron catapult off one edge into the desert with a shot 5 feet from the pin. Pete Dye must have been laughing because the Pin on the 17th green was on a narrow 30 degree slopped 5 yard isthmus that was impossible to keep the ball on. I reached the green complex in two and proceeded to chip back and forth across the green five times and 4 putt for a 12. One side dropped off 20 feet and the other had a bunker that would only give you an impossible downhill bunker lie. Well played Pete well played. The final 3 holes here are as hard as it gets. The 18th fairway its like playing on no mans land in WW1, not a flat lie the entire fairway. The difficulty aside the course has stunning views on the back nine and the par 3's here are nothing short of spectacular with beautiful water elements. I'm actually shocked this is a semi private country club due to the difficulty. I can't comprehend how seniors who struggle getting the ball in the air play this course. If you want a test of all tests this is a must play. If you aren't a strong wedge player, bunker player, or able to hit a flop spinner just avoid this course you will be crying by the 9th hole. I highly recommend playing here to test your short and approach game! This is one of my top 10 all time favorite courses now.

Played 11/11. I got an online rate of $49.99 for a twilight tee time of 1:20p included range balls. I last played here 2 1/2 years ago and reviewed it when it first started taking public play. It s... Continue »

Played 11/11. I got an online rate of $49.99 for a twilight tee time of 1:20p included range balls. I last played here 2 1/2 years ago and reviewed it when it first started taking public play. It still has the members getting the prime tee times and the public plays in the afternoon. While the course is nice and really challenging, the golf experience was poor. It's a tough golf course that's generally in good shape. It's not long but it's tight off the tee. Fairways are narrow. I paced off a few that were less than 20 yards wide. The rough was long and lush. It could give you some tough lies. Easy to catch a flyer or a knuckle ball. There is a lot of tough mounding around the greens. Greens are tiered and have a lot of slope. Running around 10.5. When chipping on them, the ball skidded instead of checking. You needed to play mostly flop shots. Tee boxes and sand were in good shape. Submitted some photos. Good all around practice facility. Outside service must be told only to help the members. They never even looked our way. There was no beverage cart service. Carts don't have GPS so bring your own. POP was a ridiculous 5 1/2 hours. There was no ranger on a course that desperately needs one. We quit at the 4 1/2 hour mark when it got dark and still had 3 holes to play. Driving back to the clubhouse, we saw group after group of members walking with pull carts looking for their balls in the desert. What a joke! I can't recommend playing this course at this time.

This is one of the nicest golf courses I've ever played in Arizona, and our group of 4 agreed. One is from Southern Cal, the other from the midwest, and two are local. I won't mention the price we pai... Continue »

This is one of the nicest golf courses I've ever played in Arizona, and our group of 4 agreed. One is from Southern Cal, the other from the midwest, and two are local. I won't mention the price we paid, but it was phenomenal.

The course was in top notch shape, greens immaculate, fairways in impeccable condition, and...there was hardly a single person on the course early on a Sunday morning. Football, I have no doubt, was part of the reason, but I think we saw only one other group the entire day.

The course is tough. Relatively tight landing areas, small, undulating greens with many breaks, and because none of us had ever played it, we were in the dark most of the day. When that mattered most was for the approach shots, because so many of our irons into the greens were well hit, but didn't end up close...sometimes they were hit high and soft, but rolled off the edge. Many greens are perched on hills.

Excellent course, perfect conditions, tough pin placements, and narrow landing areas.