CloudsBelow

Hi,
Heading to Scottsdale in a month and was wondering if any local residents/ frequent visitors had hidden gems for golf while I'm there. I'll be staying at the Fairmont Princess and the two TPC courses on site are no longer an option. The desert course is nothing special. The stadium course is overpriced. I've been down there a lot and loved it - dry heat is beautiful. Any suggestions? I'm a 5 handicap and my GF is pretty good as well. Would like a nice course, not more than $100 per person, and not more than a 30 minute drive from the hotel. Any suggestions? Maybe provide a link if available?

Thank you.

AZ Travels the World

Tons of options in that price range in August. Where have you played and which of them did you like and not like?

climmy

One of the troon courses may be an option. They're definately well over $100 in season, but might be pretty reasonable in the off-season, read now.

I've played troon north (pinnacles and monument) and Talking stick. Just confirmed both are about $65 in the off season. They're wonderful courses and should give your 5 hdcp a pretty good go. I hit 12 of 14 fairways at the monument and still shot 83.

Check 'em out online at www.troongolf.com

Click on "play golf" then tee times, arizona and the course list will pop up. You can book your tee times online through the rezzy system

Cheers.

P.S. be careful not to get a cactus in your a$$...I did after an errant tee ball.

CloudsBelow

I have only played the two TPC courses on site - enjoyed Stadium, hated Desert. I know there are tons of options, just wanted insight so I didn't blow cash and time finding a good course. I'm there in early Sept, 4 full days. I've heard other recs for Troon, I'll check that out for one round for sure. Just need another one or two options.

Thanks

climmy

Bear in mind troon is actually multiple courses in different locations. You could always play Troon North Monument course, Troon north pinnacles course and Troon Talking Stick....There's your 3 courses right there !!

Plus they give you these fancy little pewter bag tags there

AZ Travels the World

If you want to play Troon, be sure to play Troon North. Talking Stick is "managed by Troon Golf" but there is no way it is even close to Troon North. Personally I think there are many courses in the area much better than Talking Stick, which I find long, usually windy and fairly unimaginative.

I would definitely suggest Grayhawk, which is where the World Championships of Golf were founded. Fabulous course, in my view. There are two courses, Talon and Raptor. Talon is consistently the higher rated of the two. They are quite different in style. Talon requires significantly longer carries; Raptor has a lot more bunkers. If you play one, I'd play Talon.

Wildfire Golf Club has two nice courses. It is at the new Marriott Desert Ridge Resort. I wouldn't hesitate to play there.

A course that's one of my favorites in the Phoenix area that is not particularly desert in style is about 25 minutes from where you'll be staying. It is The Raven at South Mountain. Great course -- challenging but still playable.

In four days, personally I'd do Troon North and these three courses. There are several other fabulous, higher ranked courses (Desert Mountain, Desert Highlands, Silverleaf, The Estancia Club, Whisper Rock, to name a few) but they're private.

If you have a hard time getting a tee time, you might work through the hotel concierge, often they have access to slots the general public doesn't.

Enjoy!

CloudsBelow

Great replies guys. I'll print this out and book as suggested. I love AZ and have made it down 1-2 / year for the last few years. Living in Canada, humidity is everwhere so the arid heat is a gem. I would LOVE to find work down there but being Canadian makes it tough!

I'll probably check out a Coyote game now that's back on - would be nice if Gretz is the coach down there. What a lucky girlfriend? A couple rounds of golf, hockey game, and maybe check out an NFL game if it's on. She loves the shopping in Scottsdale, and the spa at the Princess ... it's not all bad for her, I guess.

thanks again

Wilbur

Also We-Ko-Pa outside Fountain Hills is a superb course well worth playing.

ProudEdmontonian

We-ko-pa (www.wekopa.com) and it's a longer drive but well worth it, the Dinosaur Mountain 18 at Gold Canyon (www.gcgr.com).

Both are as good if not better than either of the Troon Courses (Monument and Pinnacle) and definitely better than either Grayhawk track. They're also usually much cheaper in price. Try to play with an Arizona resident and We-ko-pa is a real deal.

TopGun

Take his advice, he hasn't steered me wrong yet. (although I spent a lot of time in the desert at Gold Canyon)

stewabr

You can take this FWIW but the whole reason I live in PHX is because I love the golf. I moved here 9 years ago based solely on that factor since my job allows me to live anywhere I want. I've played nearly every course here (missed 5 that I have no desire to play that I know of), both public and private, most multiple times. Still, all of this stuff is opinion based and different people see different things. Scenery always falls behind shot values to me and thus you will not find Gold Canyon (Dinosaur or Sidewinder) in my top 20 public courses in the area.

Here are my top 20 daily fee courses in the area:
1. Troon North Pinnacle
2. Sunridge Canyon
3. Estrella Mountain Ranch
4. Grayhawk Talon
5. Trilogy at Vistancia
6. Wildfire Faldo
7. Troon North Monument
8. We Ko Pa
9. Raven at Verrado
10. Wildfire Palmer
11. The Sanctuary at Westworld
12. Eagle Mountain
13. Raven at South Mountain
14. Dove Valley Ranch (but it looked in horrible shape when I drove by a couple of days ago)
15. Grayhawk Raptor
16. Whirlwind Cattail
17. Kierland (I prefer the Acacia and Mesquite 9's)
18. Whirlwind Devil's Claw
19. Las Sendas
20. Longbow

If you want scenery first and golf second then We Ko Pa and Gold Canyon (Dinosaur, not Sidewinder) are the way to go. My problem with Gold Canyon relates to holes 1, 6-10 and 18. They are just plain boring holes with very little in the way of shot values. 3 can also be awkward and they really need to rip up the front of the green and fix it. Anyway, if you have any questions, let me know.

CloudsBelow

Thanks a lot for the detailed list. I'm with you, if I could find a job down there, I'd work for 75% of the salary I make here! In fact, I take copies of my CV down with me just in case!? What are the price ranges of the list? I think we'll try Wekopa for sure and another. What was the reference to an AZ resident? Much cheaper to play with a local? Any locals in for a game?

Thanks again.

stewabr

We Ko Pa has a resident rate but as far as I know it only applies the resident and not when you are playing with one.

All of the courses I listed are less than $100 this time of year. You could probably get specials on some of them to play really cheap. Try http://www.golf602.com for deals.

BTW, I specifically didn't include the TPC of Scottsdale Stadium course on my list because I don't think it is a very good place to play golf. It is a great place to watch golf. Anyway, I just had a group of 7 friends in this past weekend for our yearly summer event and finally buckeled and scheduled a time there because they wanted to play it. There was 100% agreement that it was way overrated.

I'll be playing golf in Ireland from 8/9-8/20 but based on the time when you are here I might be able to play.