Wish I could!!
Looking for a little advice from the locals. In two weeks, I’ll be in town for a 3 day golf trip with another buddy. Total budget for 4 rounds is ~$650-700.
High End - WeKoPa Saguaro ($300)
Mid Price - Talking Stick O’odham ($180)
Budget - Aguila ($60 twilight) and Silverado ($100 twilight)
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If we tee off at Aguila at 3pm on day of arrival (sunset 6:50), how many holes should we expect to complete?
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On day 2, Saguaro in the morning and Silverado in the afternoon. We are staying near Old Town, so Silverado would be convenient. Reviews seem good and make it sound like $100 is decent value. Any better $100 twilight options I should consider?
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Last day, booked early morning at Talking Stick before a 4pm flight. Is there a better value out there for $180 morning? I like Papago, but we’ve played there a few times already. Also, I typically really like Coore Crenshaw courses.
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I would think to a large extent your question about Aguila hinges on what day you’re playing. If you’re coming in on Saturday or Sunday, it will likely be consistently busier throughout the day and you’ll maybe get 13-14 holes in? On a weekday I think there’s a reasonable chance you could play all 18, even if the last few would be pretty dark.
Silverado will be quite a come down from Saguaro but it’s fine. Definitely convenient to where you’re staying. Put it this way: It’s not a good golf course but of courses in that price tier I like it as much as anything. The front nine has double-wide corridors (holes going out then coming back), which is much better than, say, Starfire where every hole is just squeezed between condos. The back nine is an interesting routing trick - the corridor wasn’t wide enough for holes to play in both directions so they alternated the directions of holes. You play 10, then drive past 17, play 11, etc. It means cartball is the required but it also keeps the corridors a little wider than they are in some other places. A few fun holes on the back.
One thing to note about Silverado is it is one of the courses built in the floodplain. 99% of the time that doesn’t matter but after one of the direst years I can recall it actually rained last week and we have a forecast for the upcoming week with more rain in it. I don’t know how much actual rain we’re expected to get or if it is expected to rain any after this week, but it could make Silverado soggy since it sits in the floodplain where the whole city drains.
An alternative could be Longbow. Nice semi desert style course. Might be a bit higher cost than Silverado at twilight but it’s a better course as well.
Lastly, if you like C&C give Talking Stick a go. You probably know enough about it to know that TS is not going to be like Saguaro, which has a lot of land movement and natural beauty. Talking Stick is flat and, bluntly, kinda ugly. A lot of people play it once, or even a few times, and don’t get it. But some people do get it if they are C&C fans or go in having some idea what to look for. It’s an awesome course.
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Awesome, thank you for the detailed response! Playing Aguila on a Tuesday, so hoping to finish. Also, decided to scrap Silverado and booked Longbow. Was only an extra $40 to play Longbow.
Feeling pretty good about the trip overall with two Coore and Crenshaw courses plus 2 of the local favorites.
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If anyone wants to get in my buddies golf pool here is the link.
It’s $50 an entry and you can do as many entries as you want. We do majors and the players. You pick 6 guys from 6 tiers based on odds. Only your best 5 players are counted towards your score. 3rd place gets $50, 2nd place gets $100, and 1st gets the rest of the pot after each tourney. Usually have about 18-30 guys. Let me know if you have any questions.
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Hey all. New to the refuge and in the process of joining the Dry Heat GC roost. Not exactly sure what that entails but I’m based out of Scottsdale and looking for some guys to play/talk golf with!
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Welcome, Paddy! Glad to have you here. We just had our major event this weekend but people will post tee times with open slots on this thread and get together for rounds all year round. To learn more about the Dry Heat GC roost, I’d encourage you to connect with the roost captain, @RolandOfGilead. He’s based out of Albuquerque but can give you a lowdown of all the details with our season long competition and other events.
Looking forward to teeing it up.
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Speaking of posting tee times…
I have a 12:08 pm this Saturday, March 15, at Poston Butte. Cost is $146 (unclear if that’s pre-tax or post-tax). One open slot.
I’m down
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All yours! Edited the post to reflect one final spot open.
Wanted to hop in here and add an 11:30 Sunday Tee time for all my Gilbert/Chandler folks. @ Toka Stick $86
Edit: One spot open
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Looking for tee times for the first time this season makes me want to throw my phone off my balcony. This market is absolute lunacy.
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Only thing that makes sense in PHX city card and trips to muni’s. Walking with range balls is Less than $65
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Yeah, nearly all my golf is played at Aguila, Encanto, and GCU. The only reason why I looked for non-munis last night was because I have friends coming into town and wanted to lock in something ahead of time. The nine-day booking window is tough for planning.
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Bump
I forgot to stay up till midnight to book golf, so the only thing I was able to find for next weekend was a 2:16 at Cave Creek next Sunday, March 23.
All three spots open as of rn. I’m also open to other choices if anyone ended up grabbing a tee time and has openings elsewhere that weekend.
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I’m travelling to Phoenix from Michigan for spring break (arrive April 3rd, leave the following Tuesday). I’m looking to play a couple rounds while out there. We are staying at Arizona Grand on the south side. Looking at Aguila, Raven Golf Club and Papago.
Would you recommend any of those over each other? Or something else I’m missing?
Also would be happy to meet up with any locals!
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I think that’s a solid lineup that won’t totally break the bank this time of year. Aguila is a favorite of Dry Heat GC and where we held our major last week. The place was looking great rn. Papago is another favorite of mine. Raven is a good third as it’s a totally different style of course than what you typically get in Phoenix. Not desert-y and has a bunch of imported pine trees. It’s a good enough course from a design standpoint and is always in excellent condition. Of the courses right by your hotel, it’s the best.
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All 3 of those are a very solid plus option.
I would also recommend Southern Dunes, since you won’t be all that far from it. It would be a highlight of the trip.
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I agree with what the others have said, and just want to say you wisely left AG off your golfing list. Don’t waste your time there golfing. These other options will be much more fun.
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