Oodham is awesome. I was fairly unimpressed the first time I played as it is super flat compared to what I’m used to. However, after wayyyy too much NLU and some TFE sprinkled in I’ve gained a ton of appreciation for the choices you have to make and some of the risk/reward credit card elements. I played the front during our downpour last weekend and still had a blast.
Likewise, Dove Mountain is cool but make sure you are playing the right tee boxes cause it is tough as hell.
I love O’odham but it isn’t for everyone on a trip. If you’re a GCA or C&C aficionado? Sure. Otherwise, maybe not. But it is a course that really rewards multiple plays because all those holes that seem simple and boring if you just play them once and bang a tee shot down the middle really get more interesting the more you play them and see them in different conditions, different hole locations, etc etc.
This is very true. First, the back tees not that they ever put markers back there for resort play, but you still see the boxes and so feel like you’re driving well past a tee marker) are something stupid like 7850. So even the ones ups are almost 7300. Then 6800 starts to sound reasonable buts that’s still a lot of golf course in the desert when every shot has lost ball/penalty stroke potential. Plus the greens at Dove Mountain are so segmented and so severe that you really want to be going in there with short irons, not mid- or long-irons. Definitely a play the rating/slope tees more than the yardage kind of a course.
I don’t have too much to add but maybe some filler rounds if you do some 36 hole days, here are my Tucson Tiers.
Tier 1 - Best in Town
Tier 2 - Solid courses but not standout
Tier 3 - Potential Fillers
Tier 4 - Do not play golf here
Crooked Tree - only go here if you need a driving range session but the course stinks both design and conditions
Quarry Pines - Poorly designed holes in a neighborhood, along the interstate, and a quarry. Bring a dozen balls.
Thanks for the golf recs everyone. We are seriously looking at Ventana, Dove Mt, and Sewailo as our 3 rounds…. With the Randolph courses as backup plans. If anyone has more to add, chime in.
Any good recs for food or breweries in addition to the golf?
I don’t know much about the food and brewery recs. @samba24 is the man.
But if you are willing to venture out, right now is an absolutely fantastic time to hit up some of the local wineries in Southern Arizona.
If you are interested I can give some recommendations.
I am absolutely not a Tucson food scene expert but here are a few recs to get your started
Presta - Multiple location around central Tucson, best coffee I’ve had in Tucson
Guadalajara Grill - Awesome traditional Mexican food, tableside guac, mariachi band, the whole deal
HUB - Incredible dinner spot, great ice cream too
Borderlands - Best space to have a beer in Tucson, great patio, right on the train tracks. Also, makes incredible beers you cant find other places, they make some truly provocative stuff
Dragoon - Industrial vibe, speacialize in the bitter end of the spectrum. Tons of West Coast IPAs and German beers
Pueblo Vita - Hazy IPAs are their strength, but everything they make is solid
Crooked Tooth - Eclectic and more seasonal taplist
That’s the itinerary for golf.
I am a big fan of Boca, a taco place by one-time Top Chef finalist Maria Mazon. Everything I ate there from salsas, to tacos, to boca balls has been excellent.
In Tucson, don’t miss the local delicacy of a sonora dog. The best place to have one is El Guero Canelo, though I’ve no doubt there are other spots with excellent versions.
I haven’t been there the past few times I was down there, but I did enjoy Lindy’s on 4th as a good burger joint.
Question for the roost and if this is a stupid question because of time of year I understand…
Do yall have a golf outing/tourney that coincides with either weekend of the NCAA Championship??
My wife and I are exploring potentially relocating to Phoenix, but other than spending a couple weekends at spring training with my dad, I have not spent much time in the area. Any high level recommendations on areas to look for housing? Would probably want to live within a reasonable commute from Tempe, but beyond that, have no real idea where to start.
Depends on what you are looking for. Also what you consider a reasonable commute to Tempe and what part of Tempe. There are a handful of different cities/communities to choose from. DM me if you wanna deep dive into the dets.
No events so far are planned for either of those weekends, and I don’t think we’ve done anything in the past. If you’re coming into town you could probably come back into the thread as see if anyone’s down for a tee time somewhere, and maybe a foursome or two gets filled out.
That was the back up plan… idk if Ill be in town but It would give me a chance to kill two birds with one stone… play with some AZ people and see a national championship
The guys already threw out some good options, but I throw a couple more of my favorites and frequent spots.
Pueblo Vida is by far my favorite brewery but is a beer only spot (can bring food in tho). Borderlands is my favorite brewery and food spot.
Mexican - many options here, Guadalajara is a solid local chain, Seis is another favorite along with Boca. El Guero is home of the famous sonoran dog but in my experience all the best sonoran dogs are the little street food carts and trucks. La Carreta del Rorro is one of my favorites. If your up for a vegan mexican place then Tumerico has great stuff whether you are vegan or not.
Nicer sit down spots: Tito and Pep is a NYT Top 50 restaurant in the US and highly recommend but can be tough to get a table. Anello, Falora or Fiamme for Pizza. The Parish is an incredible southern restaurant with equally good cocktails.
Barista Del Barrio is a sneaky good breakfast/coffee spot that usually has a line. And La Estrella is a great bet for all of your baked good needs.
Check out the MSA annex for a cool little spot too, has a great bar and Asian food spot there as well.
Just let me know if you’re looking for something specific and I can provide more recs if needed. Lots of good spots all over town, just don’t judge the looks because some of the best are shitty strip mall places that don’t look like much, which pretty much summarizes Tucson in general lol
Has anyone played mountain Brook, if so, is it worth playing? I live in east valley and am thinking of heading out Saturday to play there.
If anyone else wants to join, let me know. They have a good handful of tee times sat AM, and not a lot of places do.
Does anyone here have a short game and putting coach they work with/have worked with and like? Need to refocus on those areas.
Minnesota lurker on the AZ thread, as my parents live in the East Valley. I played out there back in November. Nothing fantastic, but for the price point I did enjoy the round. It was oddly extremely wet in places when we played, seemed like they overdid the sprinklers the night before or something?! But greens were solid & some fun holes!
I would agree with all of this, including the odd spots of poor drainage. There are a few really run holes, it’s a shorter course with some quirky holes but it’s a good winter value I’d say, worth playing for sure. The east valley is a tough scene for winter value, Mountain Brook is as good/better than anything else for the money
Anyone interested in coming to Albuquerque the weekend of April 15 2023? Please respond to the poll at the link, or here if you do not have access.
https://refuge.nolayingup.com/t/dry-heat-gc-2023-season/79760/227?u=rolandofgilead
Competition day would be Saturday. We have a really solid muni with a full 18 hole course plus a good 9 hole loop as well. So 27(+?) holes for the day.
Additional golf Friday and/or Sunday to make it worth everyone’s while. Tons of options TBD. There are three other really fun and solid munis, a really cool 9 hole course adjacent to University of NM right by downtown, some bigger resort-ish courses 30 mins away, and some other options 60-90 minutes away that are more destination worthy.
cc: @DryHeat
Would anyone want to play golf next week at all? Open most of the week. Looking to get the new year started off swell.
I’d be down to play next weekend