Phoenix area *Private* Clubs?

[StudentGolfer4]

I would definitely give Blackstone a try. It’s not the best course I’ve ever played in AZ but it would be an excellent club to be a member at. The golf course is good and the clubhouse and amenities are fantastic. I know you will usually require a tee time these days. That wasn’t the case before Covid but it seems like most clubs and courses are in a similar situation. Don’t rule it out without a visit. 
 

 

Running through the holes in my head and I’m not sure any stand out as tricked up at all. Maybe the first par 5 on the back hole 14? It’s a par 5 that’s reachable but the second shot to the pin is blind? There’s a ton of fairway out right but without playing it you wouldn’t know how far left the green is. My one thing about Blackstone is that I question is the mounding around the green sites. Not all but most of them funnel down towards the green. This is definitely to help keep balls in play and it does it’s job, but I’m not sure I would love it if I played there 3 times a week. Think of a punch bowl green with mounding in the rough to match. 
 

 

[golfingal]

Thanks again to everyone for helping out with feedback!  Hubby has been able to play everything on the candidate list and it's looking 99% like we're going to join Blackstone.  There are several things involved in this choice - but golf being first, he felt it was a more interesting/fun course to play.  Other selling points - Membership cost is affordable and there is a decent equity/resale policy.  They have club storage (Anthem doesn't due to two courses).  The facility is nice.  Green speeds were a bit better/faster than others.  I think he said no food minimums (really doesn't matter but nice to not have to worry about it).  Outside factor - he liked the general area/vibe.  It reminded him of Oro Valley/Tucson - (if it weren't for work we would have moved there and joined Stone Canyon.)  The only real negative was no private carts or annual trail fee options.  They are on track to go fully private so this could change.  It's a little far out - but developments are going in so more convenient stores/services should follow.

 

Well - there it is!  Looking forward to it.

Edited May 2, 2022 by golfingal

[AzSuperHack76]

9 hours ago, golfingal said:

Thanks again to everyone for helping out with feedback!  Hubby has been able to play everything on the candidate list and it's looking 99% like we're going to join Blackstone.  There are several things involved in this choice - but golf being first, he felt it was a more interesting/fun course to play.  Other selling points - Membership cost is affordable and there is a decent equity/resale policy.  They have club storage (Anthem doesn't due to two courses).  The facility is nice.  Green speeds were a bit better/faster than others.  I think he said no food minimums (really doesn't matter but nice to not have to worry about it).  Outside factor - he liked the general area/vibe.  It reminded him of Oro Valley/Tucson - (if it weren't for work we would have moved there and joined Stone Canyon.)  The only real negative was no private carts or annual trail fee options.  They are on track to go fully private so this could change.  It's a little far out - but developments are going in so more convenient stores/services should follow.

 

Well - there it is!  Looking forward to it.

Blackstone has been fully private for a while now. 

[golfingal]

12 hours ago, AzSuperHack76 said:

Blackstone has been fully private for a while now. 

 

My bad - I meant Member Owned - which could result in some policy changes.  

[lurkinghobbit]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:46 AM, golfingal said:

(if it weren't for work we would have moved there and joined Stone Canyon.

 

Can you share the initiation and dues when you looked?  Starting to look to Tuscon given the extreme rise in prices in Phoenix.

Thanks.

 

[golfingal]

Quote

Can you share the initiation and dues when you looked?  Starting to look to Tuscon given the extreme rise in prices in Phoenix.

 

If I recall Stone Canyon was going to $60K soon - dues are pretty typical around $1K/month - that doesn't seem to change much club to club.  Some have food minimums, and cart prices can vary - some allow private carts and some don't - some have annual trail fees - some don't - for us, clubs lose money on us if we can get an annual trail fee.  🙂  One of the sneakiest costs are HOA fees - some communities can be stupid expensive to live behind the gates - a couple examples I found - Anthem - $426/month!  $579/Q in Blackstone - while average HOAs are more like $100/mo.

 

As of last week we are now members at Blackstone - hopefully someday I'll get to play it - once our CA house sells!

[lurkinghobbit]

24 minutes ago, golfingal said:

 

If I recall Stone Canyon was going to $60K soon - dues are pretty typical around $1K/month - that doesn't seem to change much club to club.  Some have food minimums, and cart prices can vary - some allow private carts and some don't - some have annual trail fees - some don't - for us, clubs lose money on us if we can get an annual trail fee.  🙂  One of the sneakiest costs are HOA fees - some communities can be stupid expensive to live behind the gates - a couple examples I found - Anthem - $426/month!  $579/Q in Blackstone - while average HOAs are more like $100/mo.

 

As of last week we are now members at Blackstone - hopefully someday I'll get to play it - once our CA house sells!

 

Yes, I have a friend at Anthem and they have one of the biggest 'social' fees I've seen.  If you live inside the country club walls you are compelled to be a social member.  While that is fairly common, their fee is significantly larger than others.

 

I'm a few years from making the move west, but am trying to stay abreast of options in case I want to buy sooner than later.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Phoenix cc 

[shootermgavin]

Hey just in case anyone is curious, I just put together all of the private clubs in Phoenix (and the rest of Arizona) on GoPrivateGolf.
https://www.goprivategolf.com/in/phoenix

[300_yard_drives]

On 7/30/2024 at 10:41 PM, shootermgavin said:

Hey just in case anyone is curious, I just put together all of the private clubs in Phoenix (and the rest of Arizona) on GoPrivateGolf.
https://www.goprivategolf.com/in/phoenix

Some of your descriptions are terrible. Arrowhead is not beautifully landscaped anymore. Their pictures they use for advertising are from the late 1990s. Moon Valley is far from meticulously maintained. Last time I was there the par 3 course was overrun by gophers and looked terrible

Edited August 19, 2024 by 300_yard_drives

[Shilgy]

59 minutes ago, 300_yard_drives said:

Some of your descriptions are terrible. Arrowhead is not beautifully landscaped anymore. Their pictures they use for advertising are from the late 1990s. Moon Valley is far from meticulously maintained. Last time I was there the par 3 course was overrun by gophers and looked terrible

Agreed…and will add it appears the default used for the greens at all clubs was “bent grass “. 

[300_yard_drives]

1 hour ago, Shilgy said:

Agreed…and will add it appears the default used for the greens at all clubs was “bent grass “. 

It’s a garbage website. Not much real information. Slope ratings and yardages don’t match either.

[puttnforthe8]

On 7/30/2024 at 10:41 PM, shootermgavin said:

Hey just in case anyone is curious, I just put together all of the private clubs in Phoenix (and the rest of Arizona) on GoPrivateGolf.
https://www.goprivategolf.com/in/phoenix

 

OMG - I finally decided to have a look at that site!   Firstly, I have to ask what purpose or reason did anyone decide to put that site up for.  Secondly, it is one of the worst websites in general - must have been done by Mrs. Marples 3rd grade class as a project.  Thirdly, the inaccuracies and silliness as mentioned already is amazing.

 

Finally, to put some of those courses on there and call them private is beyond astonishing!   The interwebs needs a block function like IG or other things.

[shootermgavin]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:54 AM, puttnforthe8 said:

 

OMG - I finally decided to have a look at that site!   Firstly, I have to ask what purpose or reason did anyone decide to put that site up for.  Secondly, it is one of the worst websites in general - must have been done by Mrs. Marples 3rd grade class as a project.  Thirdly, the inaccuracies and silliness as mentioned already is amazing.

 

Finally, to put some of those courses on there and call them private is beyond astonishing!   The interwebs needs a block function like IG or other things.

Lol, I built the site. Any feedback is good feedback, I guess. 

[shootermgavin]

On 8/19/2024 at 10:18 AM, 300_yard_drives said:

Some of your descriptions are terrible. Arrowhead is not beautifully landscaped anymore. Their pictures they use for advertising are from the late 1990s. Moon Valley is far from meticulously maintained. Last time I was there the par 3 course was overrun by gophers and looked terrible

I updated the descriptions for Moon valley and Arrowhead. Also, if any of them are not actually private. just post it here. That depended on whether a tee time was publicly accessible or not.

 

All slopes and ratings should be accurate as I did those manually. But if any of them are off. send me an email: inquiries at goprivategolf dot com.

Edited May 29 by shootermgavin