2016 Phoenix area course conditions thread

[brianhorne8]

I'll be there Monday. Going to snap a bunch of pictures and post here and my WITB.

[Double K]

Did they stop allowing walking at SD?

 

I didn't ask since it was raining and brought every piece of golf clothing I owned to the course, sorry.

[SilverBullets]

Did they stop allowing walking at SD?

 

I didn't ask since it was raining and brought every piece of golf clothing I owned to the course, sorry.

 

I have played SD 5 times this year since the overseed and have walked every time.

[Double K]

Looks like it's clearing up. Going to head to Talking Stick North for twilight at 1:27 if anyone wants to join. $49 on tee off.com.

[Double K]

Looks like it's clearing up. Going to head to Talking Stick North for twilight at 1:27 if anyone wants to join. $49 on tee off.com.

 

They closed the North course so have to go off the South. Got to head out 30 mins earlier, but I think it's going to be slow with everyone going off one course.

 

 

[Enzogorlami]

They usually have the speed push carts sitting out Inbetween the row of golf carts and the practice green area. They were there and sitting out last time I played a few weeks ago. Aguila 11:06 for 24$ (Hot deal) Saturday anyone?

[Rohlio]

I was wrong on the SD walking, they still allow it. Good news!

[Sun Devil]

Tried to play Quintero this morning. Rained out.

[Double K]

Talking Stick South today. Had originally booked the North course but due to the rain they had closed it between the time I booked and drove to the course.

 

It was wet, CPO wet. Bunkers were filled with water and completely unplayable. Based on the amount of rain that was completely expected.

 

The fairways are excellent, overseed came in nicely. Didn't notice many bare areas.

 

Greens were awful. Bumpy and hairy. I guess with the rain they hadn't been cut in a few days. Ball marks everywhere.

 

They layout was pretty repetitive and uninspired. Not a lot of variety in the length of the par 4s. Course is very flat.

 

I'd play it again, but wouldn't paid more than the $49 than I did today.

[SilverBullets]

Hey all - I am new to phoenix. I am looking to get fitted for wedges and irons. I obviously want to get fitted somewhere outdoors where I can see how the clubs interact with the turf. The turf is so different here than in the Midwest, I want to make sure I am hitting the clubs off grass here. I have Hotstix is great but fairly expensive. Not sure I care if it's only an extra $75-$100 to get fit properly and get the full experience. What are the other places I should be considering?

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Hey all - I am new to phoenix. I am looking to get fitted for wedges and irons. I obviously want to get fitted somewhere outdoors where I can see how the clubs interact with the turf. The turf is so different here than in the Midwest, I want to make sure I am hitting the clubs off grass here. I have Hotstix is great but fairly expensive. Not sure I care if it's only an extra $75-$100 to get fit properly and get the full experience. What are the other places I should be considering?

 

Outside of paying for it the only thing I can think of is keeping your eyes peeled on social media every now and then courses will offer wedge fittings in conjunction with a manufacture for free. Personally I would spend the money at hotstix or cool clubs then try to save it back when buying wedges through places like discount dans

[SilverBullets]

Hey all - I am new to phoenix. I am looking to get fitted for wedges and irons. I obviously want to get fitted somewhere outdoors where I can see how the clubs interact with the turf. The turf is so different here than in the Midwest, I want to make sure I am hitting the clubs off grass here. I have Hotstix is great but fairly expensive. Not sure I care if it's only an extra $75-$100 to get fit properly and get the full experience. What are the other places I should be considering?

 

Outside of paying for it the only thing I can think of is keeping your eyes peeled on social media every now and then courses will offer wedge fittings in conjunction with a manufacture for free. Personally I would spend the money at hotstix or cool clubs then try to save it back when buying wedges through places like discount dans

 

Makes sense. Last time I got fitted for irons I think I paid $125 to get fit at Scioto CC in Columbus. They are a preferred titleist fitter and had a plethora of shafts to try. I ended up getting the tour issue S400 which wasn't an offering in their normal 'fit cart' at places which are not preferred fitters. I don't mind spending an extra 5%-10% to get it done 100% correct. I spoke with the hotstix guys and they seemed pretty impressive. Just didn't know what other options are out there. I have a kind of 'tweener' swing where my swing speed is right in the middle of stiff and xstiff. I also have a pretty flat swing and tend to launch the ball low (depending on the club head). So in the past I have issues with finding the right shaft. It was good talking to the guy on the phone and all he spoke about was the shaft importance. That's how I feel about golf clubs and hate when I go to PGA SS or Golf Galaxy and realize quickly I know more about the fitting process than they do lol

[az2au]

I use Cool Clubs for all builds and fitting other than the ones I had built by the Ping Tour guys. High quality work but the fitting does cost money and you will not pay less than MAP on anything. That said, they do discount things for repeat customers and one of our members was a long time club fitter there before he went to work for PXG. He has nothing but positive things to say about how they did things and the craftsmanship. I have been very happy with their work and never have questions about the exactness of specs. Worth every penny for me to have that confidence but can totally understand how others would care less.

 

I will note that the only thing I've bought in the last five-seven years not built by Cool Clubs or Ping is my putters. I have five of the same putters so no need to have them built/checked.

[isaacbm]

Talking Stick South today. Had originally booked the North course but due to the rain they had closed it between the time I booked and drove to the course.

 

It was wet, CPO wet. Bunkers were filled with water and completely unplayable. Based on the amount of rain that was completely expected.

 

The fairways are excellent, overseed came in nicely. Didn't notice many bare areas.

 

Greens were awful. Bumpy and hairy. I guess with the rain they hadn't been cut in a few days. Ball marks everywhere.

 

They layout was pretty repetitive and uninspired. Not a lot of variety in the length of the par 4s. Course is very flat.

 

I'd play it again, but wouldn't paid more than the $49 than I did today.

The North was quite a bit better to me. The greens were actually good and I teed off late. The rain was likely the culprit for your bupy green experience...

The fairways were better than almost every course I played on my trip. Still quite flat though but I don't mind that.

[Macattack]

Hey all - I am new to phoenix. I am looking to get fitted for wedges and irons. I obviously want to get fitted somewhere outdoors where I can see how the clubs interact with the turf. The turf is so different here than in the Midwest, I want to make sure I am hitting the clubs off grass here. I have Hotstix is great but fairly expensive. Not sure I care if it's only an extra $75-$100 to get fit properly and get the full experience. What are the other places I should be considering?

 

Check out Center Cut Custom Golf. Mark is a great guy and has done a few club builds for me and his work is top notch. He is a member on GolfWRX as well. His pricing falls in line with what you would like to pay. He has all the club heads/shafts with adapters etc and his fittings are done on Flightscope X2.

 

https://www.centercutcustomgolf.com/

[puttnforthe8]

Hey all - I am new to phoenix. I am looking to get fitted for wedges and irons. I obviously want to get fitted somewhere outdoors where I can see how the clubs interact with the turf. The turf is so different here than in the Midwest, I want to make sure I am hitting the clubs off grass here. I have Hotstix is great but fairly expensive. Not sure I care if it's only an extra $75-$100 to get fit properly and get the full experience. What are the other places I should be considering?

 

Check out Center Cut Custom Golf. Mark is a great guy and has done a few club builds for me and his work is top notch. He is a member on GolfWRX as well. His pricing falls in line with what you would like to pay. He has all the club heads/shafts with adapters etc and his fittings are done on Flightscope X2.

 

https://www.centercutcustomgolf.com/

 

2nd this one

[SilverBullets]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I will check them out!

[Chomper]

Biltmore Links on Wednesday. The course was wet, but not CPO. Greens were in good shape, just slow. Sand was very impressive, all things considered.

 

And they have new carts w GPS - pace of play was 3:50 for a foursome (and we waited on almost every approach shot from the third hole forward).

 

I had a gift certificate, so I have no idea what the rate was. But it was a pretty nice round overall.

[Sun Devil]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I will check them out!

 

Cool Clubs. Great little company. Somewhat expensive, but you get what you pay for. Agree that outside fitting is a must. They can do your outside fitting at Grayhawk.

[brianhorne8]

Wickenburg Ranch this morning. 2 hour frost delay. Given the amount of weather they've seen, the course was in spectacular shape. Bunkers were soggy, but that's to be expected. Greens rolled better than anything I've played in my life, and the fairways were perfect. The layout was very fun, although I had a few moments where I was scratching my head on the tee box as to where to place my tee shot. I've played more difficult courses (although my score would suggest otherwise), but I really, really enjoyed my round. This place is a steal at $70 before 9AM; even at $100, you'll have a tough time finding many better deals.

[Sun Devil]

Just played Kierland (Ironwood/Acacia). Had Troon card certificates ... so free. We had a 1 hour frost delay. Course was in perfect shape. Greens were rolling fast as usual.

[Double K]

Papago today with Jzona.

 

Course is in really nice shape. Greens are in very nice shape and ultra smooth, with the exception of #7 which had a couple patchy areas at the front. Not as fast as Aguila, but every bit as true. They will speed up if they dry out a bit. Fairways were still on the wet side which led to a lot of mudballs. Was only in one fairway bunker do can't really comment on the condition of them.

 

Really appreciate the course every time I get to play it. Such a nice layout and tests your whole bag. Only thing I'd change is adding a shorter par 3 on the front 9.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Number 8 would be an ideal candidate to change up. 2 is a good green for a long par 3. They could move up the tees on 8 to 185 tips 165 one up etc and make it a better hole. That back tee at 250 yards is beyond dumb.

[brianhorne8]

Walked Southern Dunes this morning. Wow, what a course. Greens were rolling true (and quick), sand was in great shape, and fairways were firm. Loads of roll out to be had. Bombed a couple of 300+ yard drives, and had one at 320+. Super fun layout, and even with four foursomes in front of us, there was no stoppage in play.

 

No chance I miss out on playing this one every time I'm in the area.

[ferrispgm]

What? You don't like hitting woods into a par 3? lol

 

I agree...I love Papago but they could really use a short par 3 or two. It get's a little old choking up and trying to hit a cut 3 wood on that hole. I wish they had a short par 3 like the one at Verde River...one of my favorite par 3's out here.

[Rohlio]

That is always my complaint about papago...I feel I am playing the correct tees for my distance...right up until the par 3's make me hit a cut driver.

[fore_life]

I can't think of a course that has a worse set of par 3's, anyone?

[One_Putt_Blunder]

I can't think of a course that has a worse set of par 3's, anyone?

 

Quintero

 

Trilogy at Power Ranch

180 210 185 195 while shorter than Papago I hit the same club on all 4 holes due to pin placements.

[ferrispgm]

Quintero for sure, not a fan of a couple on GCU Golf Course either.

[az2au]

Yep, Quintero's par 3's are mostly terrible golf holes attempting to be pictures on a calendar.