Speaking of new bracket, wanted to get a baseline on a few things
Are you interested in participating in another match play bracket?
Yes
No
Depends
0voters
Would you be willing to pay a small entry fee? Thinking that $ goes to something for winner, like a hat, trophy, or towel (and maybe a little under the table cash, maintaining amateur status and all)
Yes, $5
Yes, $10
No
0voters
Another potentially crazy idea, and we would need some buy-in and flexibility in availability and willingness to travel around the valley…we could try to do like a “season” of matches (different formats for different weeks) and then seed a bracket based on regular season “points”…?
Muni’s. Papago, Auguila are usually in very good condition. Need to check out Cave Creek again but the greens are pretty interesting there. City card rates to bring cost down.
Talking Stick has an okay program to walk for $80 or less all winter but not great for foursomes due to a 3 day booking window, but playing O’odham for $80 in the winter is a steal.
Outside of that, I’d honestly rather fly to LA, play Rustic, hit the beach, etc. Getting over there for $130 on SW in a few weekends.
Congrats to @pushdraw, a deserving match play champion. Really none of us ever had a chance to stop a man with such a magnificent head of hair.
He likes the bright lights, too. I feel like my record against him in casual rounds is pretty good. But he roasted me in our match and the NIT qualifier, ie, the only two rounds we’ve played that really mattered.
Hey guys - anyone have recommendations for joining clubs in the Scottsdale area? Looking for under 40 deals if available, have checked out Gainey Ranch and Pinnacle so far. Looking for advice!
Believe DC Ranch does as well, though I would guess that’s a different echelon of pricing compared to places like Gainey, Pinnacle, or Ancala. Just a guess, though.
Troon CC actually has an associate membership for those under 50, but not only is that another level of price compared to some of the other clubs, that age range probably tells you a lot about the vibe of the club (so I’ve heard, never played there myself).
One of my college roommates’ parents lived in the community and I had a car so I drove him up there a few times. This was 20-ish years ago so I’m sure they’ve spruced it up some, but back then the course truly didn’t look any better from a design perspective than the Tucson munis I was playing as a broke college student. Actually, worse, because at least the munis didn’t have homes bordering the holes.
The credited designer is Dick Turner, who was apparently the head pro at Mesa CC for a long time. He may have made some changes to the original Billy Bell design at Mesa CC. MCC’s site says he did the same at Pinnacle but Pinnacle says the design is his. Who knows.
Anyway, my roommate didn’t play golf but his dad found out I did and said I should go around with him sometime but Pinnacle Peak CC didn’t seem like the kind of place that was worth a 2 hour drive for. Never played there.
Hello all, I was a late add to my buddies trip to Arizona specifically the Greyhawk area (I think) between semesters of college. And we are getting some golf in too. We are locked into our tee times already but wanted to get some feedback from the places we are playing down there. We are set for Papago, Lookout Mountain, Mountain Shadows, and Desert Highlands. Possibly room for one more course. Suggestions and feedback welcomed!
Desert Highlands is one of the top courses in the state, private, the first Nicklaus course in Arizona and IIRC the host of the first couple Skins games way back in the early 80s. It’s tough, but will not disappoint.
Papago is the city’s premier muni. Re-worked a decade or so ago and now operated by ASU, the course is tough if you play the longer sets of tees (like, at least three of the par 3s where you will not be pulling an iron) but is on a beautiful piece of land and generally offers a good mix between holes where you can score and holes where you need to hold on. My biggest piece of advice–you can drive it anywhere on 1, but from your second shot on–do NOT go right!
Mountain Shadows is an absolute blast. You can hit just about every iron in the bag here and all kinds of different shots with them besides. Great for fun, great for working on your irons or short game, great for gambling, great for getting in 36 on days when there’s less daylight, just great.
Lookout Mountain … well, I have fewer nice things to say. If you search this thread (and, unfortunately the bad holes thread) you’ll find plenty of posts about it. There are some good holes here, unfortunately they are balanced by a high proportion of bad holes, or bad shots on otherwise OK holes (like, the 10th … the drive is pretty but it’s bad golf. If you happen to find the fairway, though, I think the second shot is a good one.) This is an especially tough course to play your first time around because there’s a lot of blind shots or, “Whoa, had no idea that fairway ran out so quick there,” spots. It is what it is.
Sounds like a great trip…a few courses to consider adding
WeKoPa (Saguaro over Cholla, both good)
Talking Stick (O’odham over Mishmashpippash or however you spell it)
AK Chin Southern Dunes (personally haven’t played yet, and a good drive)
What are you trying to get out of joining a club? Great golf, country club lifestyle, tons of golf, practice, good competition, quick rounds?
Phoenix has a good amount of public golf, and the private golf is, IMO, not worth the price for anything inside the loop unless you live right next to it and can play a lot. If I’m trying to get 4-10 rounds in a month I don’t see how a CC makes sense.
I’ve played Eagle Mountain once and it was … many, many years ago. It’s a better course than Lookout Mtn for sure, though, I can say that with confidence. Nothing at Eagle Mountain lit my hair on fire with excitement, but there aren’t confounding/bad holes (especially for the first time player) like there are at Lookout. For the record, I’ve lived near Lookout forever, so I’ve played there a bunch. Eagle Mountain is a bit more of a drive and so if I’m headed out that way I’m much more inclined to just go to We-Ko-Pa (or SunRidge Canyon).
