Overview: Victory is one of the courses at the 36 hole Verrado Golf Club. The course is a Tom Lehman design that opened up in 2017. The course sits in the foothills of the White Tank Mountains that has sweeping views of downtown Phoenix, the Estrella Mountains and the White Tank Mountains. Price was $89 per player on a picture perfect Sunday morning w 7:15 am tee time. The temperature started out at about 72 degrees and was at 96 degrees when we finished at 11:30 am.

Clubhouse: The name of the clubhouse is the "Cliff House" ... which sits about 100 feet above the 18th green. There is an outdoor seating area that overlooks the 18th green. It is a great place to sit and have a drink after the round and to enjoy the views off to the west and southwest. All of the staff were very friendly, and I was surprised that the course was not busy.

Practice Range: A very nice range that has a great amount of space to warm up before your round. Each grass station was in excellent condition and the Taylor Made balls were good to warm up with. You drive up the hill to an excellent practice green. The practice green was in excellent shape and I was surprised on how fast the green was running.

Course: For the end of May, the course was in excellent shape. Fairways had plenty of turf to hit off of. The bunkers were in excellent shape and had a good amount of quality sand in them. The rough was cut very tight and was basically very easy to hit out of. The greens ran very smooth and were just as fast as the practice greens. The greens were probably in the best shape and had as much speed as I have probably seen them during the 6 years that I have played at Victory. Very happy with the condition of the course!!

Final Thoughts: Golf prices in the AZ desert have been quite high the past 6-9 months. I think that the $89 rate was a fair price for the condition of the course and I will definitely try to get back and play here again before green aerification begins on 6/5.

Overview: Played probably the best of the Phoenix municipal golf courses on Tues 12/27 with bmcnicoll and 2 of his friends. Aguila is a Gary Pank's designed course that opened in 1999 and sits near the base of South Mountain in the southwest part of Phoenix. Aguila is arguably the best golf value in the Phoenix area with a walking rate of $40 and a riding rate of $55 (with the Phoenix golf card). The course has great views of South Mountain and downtown Phoenix.

Course: Nice clubhouse with a restaurant and pro shop. The clubhouse faces the 9th and 18th greens situated around a shared lake with views of South Mountain off in the distance ... a very nice setting. I have not played Aguila in a long time, and I forgot on how much I like the course design and layout. We played the silver tees at a little over 6400 yards. The layout included a couple of nice short par's 4 mixed in a with a couple of longer ones.
Even with all of the play that Aguila gets, the course was in good shape. The fairways were over seeded, and the rough was dormant Bermuda except on 9 and 18 where it was wall to wall over seed. The sand in the bunkers were good and all of the bunkers were raked. The greens were receptive and rolled in true. Pace of play was about 4:20 - 4:25, which I thought was not bad at all for an afternoon tee time during the Phoenix high golf season.

Summary: Brian, thank you for the invite ... I always enjoy playing with you! It was great meeting Howie and Ron and I enjoyed the afternoon of golf. Aguila is a great golfing value in the Valley of the Sun, and should be considered when visiting Phoenix. Happy New Year to the GK community!! Wishing everyone the best in 2023!

Overview: Having played the Ambiente Course each of the the last two summers, I have been interested to go play the course in the fall and/or winter to see what shape the course would be in during the "high season" in Phoenix. I was very impressed with the conditions during the summer, so my expectations were definitely elevated. I got a great Golf Now deal this past Tuesday at 1:40 pm for a total of $107. I was very happy to get this rate because it was very close to what I paid this past July. I was also excited because the course was off the cart path after over seed.

Clubhouse: Very easy check in was greeted promptly by the players assistant. The pro shop had a lot of merchandise in stock, and was presented very well.

Course: Ambiente has definitely become one of my favorite courses in the Phoenix area due to the re-design in 2013. The course is now more of a links style and is rather tight off the tee. I was a little bit disappointed with the conditions after over seed. The fairways were a little thin, and the rough was inconsistent. Some places were very lush while spots were bare. I was quite disappointed to see that they did not over seed the greens this year. So, the greens were going to be bermuda for the entire winter. They rolled nice and were consistent in speed, but I would probably think that December - March that they would not be that good because the cool morning temperatures would not allow the bermuda to grow. Plus, cosmetically they would not look good, and they might have to put some green dye on them to create the illusion that they are "lush" and thriving. Lastly, the sand traps were ok, but a bunch of them definitely need to be raked.

Final Thoughts: The going rate for course was anywhere from $210 - $250 on the day that I played, and if I paid that rate I would have not been happy with the condition of the course. With the 2023 Phoenix Open being an "elevated" event (with a purse of $20 million dollars), and with the Super Bowl in Phoenix that same week, pricing for golf is going to be steep. I hope the Camelback Golf Club - Ambiente Course improves before February comes around. I will definitely come back and play the course next summer, and I might even try to play there in the shoulder season of April/May.

Happy Thanksgiving to the GK'ers!!

Overview: The Country Club at DC Ranch is a private course in Scottsdale, AZ that was designed by Tom Lehman and John Fought and opened for play in 1997. This course is located at the base of the McDowell Mountains and offers excellent views of the Phoenix Metro area. We were fortunate enough to play the course because a friend of mine had the winning bid on a foursome during a Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce auction.

Clubhouse/Practice Area: A 45,000 square foot Hacienda style clubhouse which included a 12,000 foot fitness and performance center. As we entered the clubhouse we went inside the temporary pro shop and was warmly greeted by the player assistant. He told us where the practice area was and we walked over to hit some balls.
The practice area was beautifully maintained bermuda grass with Taylor Made and Pro V's as the practice balls. The practice area was aimed at Pinnacle Peak with the McDowell Mountains off to the east. It was a great setting to warm up on.

Course: The course was in great shape for mid-September. Fairways and rough were wall to wall lush Bermuda grass with the rough being about an inch in length. The sand was excellent and easy to hit out of and the bermuda greens were in excellent shape and were top dressed with a little bit of sand. The valley effect was definitely in play on this course, and you had to take that into account on every putt and green.
We really enjoyed the layout on the front nine, but as soon as we made the turn and hit #11, you could see what was going to take place over the next few holes. #11 started to work to the east, and you start to make your way up the McDowell Mountains. #12 is a short dogleg right par 4 that worked further up the mountain, and #13 is a short par three into a little bit of a box canyon. Finally, #14 was a 447 yard par 4 that worked back down the mountain and allowed for incredible views of the valley floor below. The rest of the back nine was a little anti-climatic, with 18 being a rather boring finishing hole.

Final Thoughts: It was a great day at The Country Club at DC Ranch, and I definitely want to come back and play there again. In the future, I will definitely be looking at area auctions to have the possibility of playing Phoenix metro private courses during the off season. September is normally a great time to play in Phoenix due to the monsoon summer rains that allow for lush Bermuda conditions.

Overview: Tiburon Golf Club is a 36 hole Troon managed golf resort located in Naples, Florida. The resort is composed of the Gold Course and the Black Course. The Gold Course hosts the LPGA Tour's CME Group Tour Championship and the PGA Tour's QBE Shootout (aka ... Shark Shootout). Both courses were designed by Greg Norman. The Gold Course was closed while we were in South Florida, but the Black Course was open.

Clubhouse: The 27,000 square foot Mediterranean style clubhouse features 3 dining rooms, private men's and women's lounges and an award winning large pro shop. I bought a hat and shirt in the pro shop, and the prices were about 20% higher then any other pro shop that I have been in lately. Customer service was excellent ... every single employee greeted me and wished me a good day.

Practice Area: A nice practice area that had a driving range (where you had to hit off the mats), chipping area and practice putting greens. A little disappointed to hit practice balls off mats, but it happens at times. Practice range balls were Taylor Made balls that were a little beat up.

Course: A classic Florida course that does not have a lot of elevation change, has a good amount of water in play (be careful of the alligators, and I was very surprised that I did not see any.) The holes on the front were pretty much right in front of you, and I thought the course design on the front nine was a little boring. It got a little bit better on the back nine and really enjoyed holes #9 - #11, #17 and #18.
What I really enjoyed was the conditions of the course. Wall to wall bermuda grass, that was lush and mature. Grass coverage was excellent and the rough was about an inch in length. The sand in the bunkers was excellent and the waste areas were composed of a crushed coquina shells .. which were very easy to hit out of. The bermuda greens were in excellent shape, and rolled true. The greens were punched about 4 weeks prior.

Final Thoughts: Tiburon Golf Club is located next to the 295 room Ritz Carlton - Naples, and the 450 room Ritz Carlton Beach Resort is a few miles away. I was disappointed that the Gold Course was closed, so I played the Black Course. It is a course that I enjoyed playing, but I do not think I would go back play. Prices were a little steep ($142 on the day that I played), and the course was not really memorable. If I am in Naples again, I would definitely want to play the God Course ... just to play the course "where the pro's play".)

Overview: The Canyon Course is one of the 36 holes of golf at Ventana Canyon, while the other 18 holes of golf is the Mountain Course. I was invited to play at Ventana Canyon this past Tuesday with Nickesquire, and we played the Canyon back nine and the Mountain back nine. Nick, thank you so much for the invitation!! Both courses at Ventana Canyon are designed by Tom Fazio and opened for play in the mid to late 80's. The courses are both true desert courses with forced carries, tight fairways and golf course terrain that works up and down the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Clubhouse: The clubhouse is a combination of the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, the pro shop, a restaurant, Men's and Ladies guest and member locker rooms and a fitness center. Nick and I ate dinner at the restaurant on Monday night and lunch on Tuesday afternoon. The prices and the food were good.

Practice Area: The practice area is located by the 1st hole of the Canyon Course and the 10th hole of the Mountain Course. It was a little bit of a drive from the clubhouse, but it looked like a good place to warm up before a round.

Course: Both of the Fazio designs are tight off the tee, but I think the Mountain Course was a little more difficult because of the forced carries off the tee. I really enjoyed both nines that we played, but my favorite hole on the Canyon Course was the par 5 12th hole. This hole was a dogleg right that worked its way back up the mountain. The tee shot is extremely difficult and once you get to the fairway the view looking up the mountain is beautiful. My favorite hole on the Mountain Course is the short par 4 13th hole. The hole is true risk/reward par 4 with 2 bunkers in the middle of the fairway and with the 2nd shot going into a three tier green.
Both course were in good summer shape. The tee boxes were in good shape and, the fairways were better on the Canyon Course then the Montain Course. The quality of the sand was excellent on both courses. The greens on the Canyon Course were very good even with a little bit of sand that was used to top dress the greens. The Mountain Course greens had probably been punched 2-3 weeks prior, and were quite firm relative to the Canyon Course.

Final Thoughts: Both courses were the first courses designed by Tom Fazio west of the Mississippi River. They are both true desert style layouts that force you to focus on accuracy rather than power. As stated earlier, The Lodge at Ventana Canyon is on sight for accommodations and right up the road from the courses is the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. I have stayed at both locations in the past and would recommend staying at either one.

Overview: La Paloma Country Club is a private 27 hole facility that allows outside play to hotel guests of the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa. So, I decided to drive down to Tucson, stay at the Westin, play the course and asked Nickesquire to join me. Nick, thank you for a nice afternoon of golf! The course is carved in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains and offers a beautiful back drop to the course. La Paloma is an early desert "signature" design by Jack Nicklaus ... with signature meaning that Jack was actually involved in the project. La Paloma is a classic desert style golf course with forced carries, tight fairways and a lot of elevation changes. The country club is managed by Troon Golf.

Pro Shop: Nice, small pro shop that is at the back of the resort. Check in was simple, but be aware that they ask if you are playing with a member or staying at the resort. The resort made it very easy because they cart you over to the course. I thought the price was very good ... with it being $79 for twilight (after 11:00 am) and $99 before that.

Practice Facilities: Very beautiful practice area that was covered with a movable awning. This was great because it kept the desert sun from beating down on you while you warmed up on the all grass range. A nice bunker and chipping area is right next to the practice range.

Course: As stated earlier, a classic early Nicklaus desert layout that calls for accuracy off the tee and on your second and/or third shots. Nick and I played the Canyon/Ridge combination and we would have liked to play the the Hill 9 as well, but it was closed due to aeration of the greens. I really enjoyed this layout as it works up and down the terrain of the land. The views of the mountains to the north and city views to the south really enhance the course. Probably my favorite hole on the course was Canyon #4 ... which was a downhill par 4 of 383 yards with a really tight landing area off the tee. Greens were in good summer shape, while the fairways had a lot of grass coverage and the rough was almost minimal. The sand was very good.

Final Thoughts: La Paloma Country Club is an excellent desert layout that reminds me a little bit of Troon North. I really like that the course allows hotel guest play. Plus, the Westin has an Arizona resident that allows for a good "staycation" during the slow summer season in AZ. La Paloma is a course that you should play if you are visiting the Tucson area.

Overview: The Camelback Golf Club has 2 18 hole golf courses ... with one of them being the Ambiente Course and the other being the Padre Course. The Ambiente Course was re-designed in 2013 and is a links style golf course that has an out and back routing. This is the second time that I have played the course in the past year, and it's definitely one of my favorite courses in the Phoenix Metro area.

Clubhouse: A very large clubhouse that houses a restaurant, the pro shop and locker room facilities. The pro shop was well stocked and merchandised very well (the retail manager in me had to say that).

Practice Facilities: A nice driving range with a good sized chipping area and a large practice putting green. Close to the first tee of the Ambiente Course was another practice putting green,

Course: Probably one of my favorite course designs due to the links style with fescue lining the fairways (which was cut down to lessen the amount of lost balls and to allow us to see the desert animals that would be hidden in the tall grass). The course has very unique holes and can be quite tight off the tee. It's a course that you need to think around instead of pulling driver and hitting it hard. The tee boxes were very lush with bermuda grass, the fairway were a little thin and brown in spots, but it's July in the desert. Rough was cut down and there was not as much fescue as there was last year. Greens were in really nice shape and were punched 3 weeks prior. The sand was good in spots, but was not consistent through out the course.

Final Thoughts: The Ambiente course reminds me of AK Chin Southern Dunes down in Maricopa, AZ. It may not have as many bunkers as AK Chin, but it can be a challenge if you are not hitting shots straight ... especially off the tee. I paid a little over $100 for the round, but I would pay that for this course, especially with Troon North and Grayhawk asking close to $150 for a round this summer. This course is a definite must play when you visit the Valley of the Sun.

Overview: Wekopa Golf Club is a 36 hole golf resort that is composed of the Cholla Course and the Saguaro Course. Cholla is more of a target style golf course that is so often found in desert ... where Saguaro is more of a traditional type course where greens are close to the next tee box, there is the option of walking the course and the duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw using the natural movement of the land to dictate the course. A perfect example of this would be that Coore/Crenshaw only moved 25,000 square yards of dirt to create Saguaro where Scott Miller moved over 500,000 square yards of dirt to create the Cholla Course.

Clubhouse: One of my favorite clubhouses because it is so very unique. The two main sections of the clubhouse are separated by a shady patio that opens up to the views of the Sonoran Desert. The golf shop sits on one side of this open area, and the Wekopa Grille sits on the other side. We ate after golf in the Wekopa Grille and the prices are reasonable and the food is very good.

Practice Facilities: Very nice practice area with beautiful views of the McDowell Mountains. There are 2 separate practice areas and both were in use today, as both courses were quite busy. There is also nice short game area as well as a very large practice putting green.

Course: With it being July in the desert, conditions were not as good as they would be in the high season of January - April. The rye grass is almost gone as the bermuda is starting to come in. So, there is a battle between the 2 grasses right now. Fairways were not in the best of shape with there being some brown spots and the fairway grass was a little thin. There is not a lot of rough on the Saguaro course because in most spots it goes from fairway to desert, but what rough there was cut down to almost fairway height. The sand was good and consistent, and the greens did not look that good, but rolled smooth and were consistent in speed. What I love about the course is that there is a good mix of holes ... all the par 3's play in a different direction, there is a good mixture of length in the par 4's and the course has a good blend of holes that work up and down the natural terrain.

Final Thoughts: Wekopa Golf Club is one of my favorite courses to play and they definitely give AZ residents a break on pricing ... with it being $55 for the summer for AZ residents. This is a great price and up till last year it was $45 during the summer. It was the first price increase in 10 years. $55 is still a great rate with most of the premier AZ courses still charging $100 or more this summer. The non-resident rate is $80 and that is still a good deal. Wekopa Golf Club is definitely a course that you need to play while in the Phoenix area.

Overview: Played in the afternoon on Tues 12/13 with JohnnyGK, Nick and Brian on a partly cloudy afternoon with the temperature being around 65. Always a great time with this group and good to see Brian being able to come down from Canada. We went off at about 1:00 pm due to a PGA National Club Champion Tournament that was going on.
Desert Willow Golf Resort is a 36 hole golf resort that is owned by the City of Palm Desert and opened in 1997.

Clubhouse: A very nice clubhouse that is quite large and has a beautiful outdoor patio that overlooks the 9th hole and 18th hole. The pro shop was well stocked with a great variety of merchandise. I purchased a Titleist hat with the Desert Willow logo on the side. All the player assistants were very friendly and it was great seeing the GM come out and meet our group on the 18th hole after the round. It was definitely past sunset and it was nice to see that he took the time to personally thank us for coming out to play ... he also spoke with Johnny for a few more minutes.

Course: One of my favorite courses in the Palm Springs area. Wall to wall over seed and the rough was very lush ... at about an inch in length. The fairways were excellent and had great coverage. Sand was very good ... consistent and all of the bunkers were raked very nicely. Greens were very good and of course were not as pure as they are in the early morning ... putts ran true and the speed of the greens were very consistent. Pin placements were in some difficult locations due to the morning tournament, but it was good to see what the "professionals" play on a day in and day out basis.

Final Thoughts: Always fun to drive out to the Coachella Valley and play 36 holes with the GK family. Johnny ... thank you for setting up a great day of golf!! #knowbeforeyougo

Overview: Played the Classic Club with Gary, Pedro and Nick on Monday 12/13 ... we had a lot of fun and enjoyed each other's company. The first time playing with Gary and Pedro and I hope that we have the opportunity to play again as a foursome in the future ... thank you to each of you for an enjoyable round of golf.
The Classic Club is an Arnold Palmer designed championship golf course that was inspired and built by the HN and Frances C. Berger Foundation. The Classic Club was the host course for the PGA Tour's 2006, 2007 and 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic ("the Hope").

Clubhouse: The clubhouse is one of the largest and most beautiful clubhouses that I have every seen. It is a Mediterranean style that has locker rooms, the golf shop, a lounge and the restaurant - Bellatrix. You go out on the back patio and it overlooks a beautiful waterfall, a huge putting green and about four of the holes. From the back patio you also have beautiful mountain views to the north and west.

Course: The Classic Club has wide fairways, 30 acres of lakes and streams, rolling terrain and with several elevated tees you get beautiful mountain views. The course was in tremendous shape. The over seed turned out very good to excellent ... I love when courses over seed the course from wall to wall. The tee boxes were in good shape, but the white tee boxes did not seem that level and were a little chewed up. The fairways were very good but seemed a little thin in spots. The over seeded rough was in excellent shape, it was lush and about an inch in length. The sand was excellent ... I was in three green side bunkers and two fairway bunkers. The sand was consistent and very easy to hit out of, and all of the bunkers were freshly racked. The greens were smooth, consistent and ran at a good pace.

Final Thoughts: The Classic Club is a Troon managed company ... which prides itself on customer service, and today all of the player assistants were very helpful. It looked like the all the golf carts were brand new and the seats in the carts were very comfortable. The GPS was excellent. Last but not least ... the Classic Club sits in the "wind tunnel" right by the I-10, and the course always has the issue of being very windy to play at, but today we were very fortunate to have little or no wind at all. I would definitely suggest to play the Classic Club on your next visit to the Coachella Valley ... even more so when the wind is down.

Overview: The Raven Golf Club Phoenix is located just southeast of downtown Phoenix and just north of South Mountain. There are great views of the downtown area, Four Peaks, South Mountain, Camelback Mountain and Piestawa Peak. Raven - Phoenix is not your normal desert course ... it has almost 6000 pine trees on property.

Clubhouse: A nice, clean clubhouse that has changed very little since the opening of the course in 1995. Check in was very simple and it was nice to see that they added range balls in with the golf rate. Arizona resident rate was $89, and the public rate was $125. There will be one more rate increase during the 2nd week of January, before rates start dropping again in either April or May of 2022.

Course: I have played this course numerous times over the years, and I feel that the course was in the best shape that I have ever seen it. The over seed turned out almost perfect. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was wall to wall rye grass because they do not normally over seed that much of the rough. They also kept the course cart path only for almost 5 weeks after they re-opened after over seed. Also, it probably helped that we had the warmest November on record in Phoenix ... so it really allowed the rye grass to take root and grow during this past month.
Tee boxes were level and had good grass coverage. A couple of the tee boxes had new sod on them, but it was not a big deal. As stated, the fairways and the rough were wall to wall rye grass and they were almost perfect ... like Rams Hill perfect. The grass was lush and very easy to hit off of. The rough was almost an inch in length, and was very consistent. The greens were in very good shape, and had almost no ball marks on them ... which is normally a problem at this course. The greens were quick, smooth and ran at about a 10. The sand was good and all of the bunkers were raked. I was only in one bunker, but the sand looked very consistent in all of them ... except a couple of them.

Final Thoughts: With the course being so close to Sky Harbor Airport, the course gets a lot of play from those people that fly in and out of Phoenix. I am very happy to say that I really enjoy playing the course because it's a nice layout and has good views, but what will make come back and play again (during the high season) will be the excellent condition of the course.