Walked the Whites (6003/69.3/116) with Mnelison, Susan and Greg. Very nice group to play with. Sunny, around 70 and calm. POP slightly more than 4H playing in a Scramble with the SLO Co. Golf Club.

Today was charged $39 for the weekday walking rate. Last time it was $36 for Seniors to walk during the week? Today the guy said they charge everyone the same price? Time before that it was $40 to walk? So they seem to make it up as they go here. I was not amused.

Layout is quirky, tight in places with some fun holes. Par 70 with five par 3's and three par 5's.

Tees decently maintained, winter thin with good coverage.

Rough and fairways were both winter thin. Playable and cut low, fairways a step up over the rough.

Sand traps decently maintained with darker sand.

Greens putted very nice, medium fast and smooth. Firm but still held full shot approaches well.

Quick, efficient friendly check in, no on course services offered under COVID-19. Restaurant now open for dine in. Small range on mats that is not full size. Entire course very playable but not worth $39 to walk on a week day in this area. Weak recommendation.

One of the more fun courses I enjoy playing, in part because the length is not too punishing and the greens are such a challenge at times. They rolled fairly well and were faster than they've been the past few times I've played. Fairways were a mixed bag - some good areas, some areas brown/thin. Tee boxes were the worst part of the course. Lots of play so I suspect it will not change or improve for a while.

Staff is great and senior rates make this a wonderful bargain. Pplus I love the vistas and the deer. The only condition is that you play early, otherwise it can be a long day.

Got out at 1:40 on 2/23 as a single joining another single and an elderly couple. I just so happen to have been paired up with the couple the last time I was out at Roosevelt. Conditions here are good. Second and seventh tee boxes are move forward but otherwise most are level, some with thinner coverage than others – no real issues. They keep the fairway grass here a little fuller and the underlying base has more unevenness to it than most places, but not in a problematic way. At this time of year it seems lush compared to the harder, winter thin fairways that are the norm. Rough here is not overly punitive but generally longer than the fairways so you don't get off scot free. Missed the bunkers so can't address them, but they can be a mixed bag here. Chipping areas were OK if on the nappy side, so some variance on how well the ball will sit up. The greens are firm, fairly quick and reasonably clean.

I've gone on in more depth about this course in earlier reviews so flip back if you are curious. In my relatively short experience with it, I've found the scene, the conditions and the layout consistently enjoyable and this outing was the same. There is also something quintessential LA about the place — reinforced by the fact that on one hole the aiming point is LA city hall and on another the Griffith Observatory. How iconic can you get?

Played on Monday in the morning. Course is in above average shape. Most fairways are lush and have a good roll to them. Not much in terms of rough to speak of maybe 1-2 inches. Sand was ok. Greens were good but a little to bumpy for me. I would say course is in better shape then it has been in the last few months. They are a GK supporter but I will be honest at $46 to walk I will not be playing that often.

Played a couple times last week and course is in great shape again. Fairways are lush green and have good roll. Bunkers are great with rakes. Greens in good overall shape. Conditions have gotten a lot better in the last few months.

Overview: Sterling Grove Golf and Country Club is the first new golf course in the Phoenix metro area in the last 5 years. The course is managed by Troon Golf and is part of the Toll Brothers Housing Development of Sterling Grove, which when completed will have a build out of 2,200 homes. The course was developed by Nicklaus Design (Jack's design team only ... not Jack), but it's a classic Nicklaus design with large fairways and undulating greens.

COVID-19: Pretty straight forward with masks being worn in the Pro Shop and Clubhouse, and 2 people in the golf cart. No water or rakes on the course, but the golf carts did have seed.

Course: The course for the most part is right in front of you except for 3 or 4 holes. I thought that the course opened up with some very average holes, but by the 6th hole got a little more interesting, and I definitely enjoyed the course a lot more after that. The tee boxes were in great shape and were almost PGA quality. The sand was excellent (was in 2 bunkers all day), and it was not the normal AZ sand, but kind of a combination of AZ sand and Florida sand. I thought it was very easy to hit out of and it was very consistent. The fairways were in very good shape and the rough was pretty easy to hit out of. The biggest concern was if you hit it into the fescue grass which was located on a lot of the holes. The fescue was very thick and it was very difficult to find your ball if you hit it into that area. Most of the time you would have to take a drop if you hit it into there. It will be interesting to see how long the course continues to have the fescue due to player complaints and when the rattlesnakes start to come out in the next couple of weeks. I can see a player going in there and being bit. I was concerned about the conditions of the greens because the first 2 or 3 greens had some bare spots and it looked like some fungus had gotten into them, but by the 4th hole they were in much better shape.

Final Thoughts: They have a nice pro shop and locker room, but they do not offer food on site yet. They did have a food truck by the pro shop, but the food truck shut down at 3:00 pm ... on a weekend day?
The course opened for public play on 2/11/21, and I thought the price of $89 was very fair, but they have already raised the price to $109 for the month March with $89 being the twilight rate. The course is nice, but in my opinion is not a course that is on the "bucket list" of courses to play in AZ. Lastly, the plan is for the course to go private in the next couple of years.

Played 2/23. Tees generally in good shape. Rough likewise. Traps good (no rakes). Greens- this is where it gets ugly. Like putting on a beach towel. Slowish and not smooth in the slightest. A few greens had significant coot damage. American Golf has done it again. It’s a shame to see a good golf course turn mediocre at best.

2/22 using GK coupon @39 on a balmy but breezy morning good spacing on tee times no waiting but still a 4hr POP due to our random ineptitude. Course is challenging and extremely scenic being remote and mostly surrounded by wild lands. Fairways have decent cover some thinish areas but quite playable. Mostly firm but generally enough cushion to prevent too much bounce. Rough was varied out in the open rather whispy and easy to hit from while in some shaded areas thick and grabby. Tees were just ok with some lacking cover and being really firm. Also depending on tee placement there was occasional slope--we played the whites ands though the yardage looked on the shorter side the course still has teeth.
Bunkers were the weakest part as they played tougher than they looked. Were groomed and looked and even felt soft but tended to have a hard base making it easy to bounce and thin shots--could use a good deep churn which also could be counter productive due to current covid no rake provision.
Greens are in good condition and are quite the challenge with many being elevated and all being quite firm with tough reads and breaks at the hole. It became apparent the putts really had to carry speed through the hole but that lead to some 4-6 foot come backers and way too many 3 putts.
Small driving range with soft matts. Informative GPS with distance to trouble. Welcoming friendly staff. Great layout with good variety.

Played Redhawk on 2/24/21. I had not been here since 2007, so I was excited to get back.

Conditions are iffy right now. In general, greens were nice. A couple of them did have major bare spots, but the holes were well away from that (except for one green where it was not avoidable. Several greens have different levels, and if you are on the wrong side of a ridge you will be 3 or 4 putting. Tee boxes and rough were good for winter.

Fairways - my usual rant. Bare dirt with a minimal layer of green/brown grass lying horizontally on top of the dirt. Maybe I need to start skipping the practice range mats and just hit my wedges off of the cement. As soon as I got on #1 fairway and saw what was coming, I tried to keep all iron shots > 100 yards as trying to hit a wedge off of these things was more risky than going for the island green.

Maybe I am just spoiled having San Clemente Muni as a home course. There if you hit the fairway, your ball actually sits on grass. You don't see the dirt underneath.

If you like your driver to roll, Redhawk definitely gives you that. My normal 250-260 drive would go an extra 20-30 yards here. However, even from the 6750 tees, I would say on half of the holes, a 280 drive is too much, as you will roll through fairways.

I really enjoyed the layout, it is a fun course. Conditions...meh. Greens are good enough that I would return if I was local, but being an hour away I'd lean to other options in the area.

Played Tues feb 23rd at 822, check in fast and friendly in fact i showed my players card and id and the young clerk said even with the small mask I had on he knew who i was, he said you play here all the time, LOL, the course was in pretty much the same as the south last week, decent winter conditions, sand traps nice sand and since out early not many foot prints, and greens very hard and fast, with next to no ball marks to repair, there were some very difficult pin placements and you really need to be below the hole. Since the greens are so hard it takes a different approach strategy because if you shoot for the center of the green you are going off the back, so playing for the front on the greens is the way to go. I heard they are punching the greens this monday, also heard the price goes up next week.

Played the Palms Course at Menifee today....Paid $41 rate at 10:00...worth every penny...4 and half hour round, but I can see it could be longer if course was full. Greens real good and plenty of good grass lies in fairways, some sand a little thin, but you can tell easy enough walking in them...Played Seven Hills in Hemet on Sunday and if it was a 5 out of ten this was an inch short of a 9......we will be back...

Played Pebble Beach today with my good friend Bob with a 9am tee time. Weather was in rare form in that it was so warm the wind was welcomed to keep things cool. Being that the PGA was just here a couple weeks ago, obviously the course is still in fantastic shape. About the only thing that wasn’t in perfect condition was that most of the tee boxes had been punched and some had been lightly sanded. No issues at all when teeing up a driver. None of the boxes on the par 3’s were affected.

A few updates on the covid protocols. Things are starting to open back up. Caddies still can’t carry bags and no rakes in the bunkers. Snack shop between the 9th and 12th greens is open as is the snack tent next to the 4th tee box. Also the drink cart was out early but never saw it after the 9th hole. Restaurants are open for outdoor dining and the hotel is open again as well.

There was an issue with the check in at the pro shop that frankly I was quite disappointed in the poor customer service. I’d chalk it up to everyone has a bad day, but based on comments the gentleman made last month when I was here, I’d say it’s time to move him to a different position.

Anyway, the weather was perfect and the course was fantastic, even if I did miss all my birdie putts. I would say that the greens were rolling a bit slower than normal but still at a medium-fast pace.