Golf in Scottsdale/Phoenix

[BCrosby]

I will have an afternoon free in Scottsdale/Phoenix for one round of golf next month. I've never played in the area before. 

Is We Ko Pa the GCA choice?

Bob

[Jeff Shelman]

The Coore and Crenshaw course at We-Ko-Pa is very, very good. It very much runs counter to much (almost all) of the public golf in Arizona.

You can walk and are actually kind of encouraged to. Greens and tees are close to each other. There aren't any houses. And very few of the hazards are "carry" hazards.

I think it is fantastic. By next month the weather should be great to walk. Just make sure you check the overseeding calendar.

[TX Golf]

I played Troon North and had a great experience. It was a few years back and I wasn't really studying the architecture but I would recommend to to anyone, although it is quite expensive. Also, I don't think there is a more fun course to play than TPC Scottsdale Stadium course. I always have a great time playing courses that you get to watch on TV.

[John Foley]

Bob

Yes. It's very very good. Much better than Talking Stick IMHO. The Scott Miller course there is also very good.

Defiently check the overseed schedule

[Bill_McBride]

I still like Talking Stick North a lot but haven't been to We-ko-pa since the C&C course was built.  The first We-ko-pa is not too walkable in my opinion but I hear the C&C is.  Talking Stick is definitely very walkable, dead flat and greens/tees close together.

TSN is fun mostly because of all the centerline hazards.

Another good choice if you are at the west end of the valley - west of Phoenix or downtown Phoenix - is the Wigwam Gold Course, beautifully renovated by Forrest Richardson & Associates a couple of years ago.

[Carl Nichols]

I don't know much about Arizona golf -- when, and with what, do they typically reseed?  Thx

[Andy Troeger]

www.azcentral.com/sports/golf/articles/0827golfoverseed.html

Credits to Steve Shaffer for posting the link originally--that website will give you the "when" of overseeding. I tend to avoid the area until later in the season, my one experience with playing a course coming out of overseeding wasn't that pleasant. If you can get to a course before it starts the process that would be better even if the course is not the best in valley IMO.

We-Ko-Pa Saguaro takes the cake for me over Troon North, Talking Stick, or anything else. I like Gold Canyon Dinosaur Mountain too, but its a ways out of town. I walked Saguaro, its very pleasant.

[Tom Yost]

Here is a link to the SWPGA overseed schedule (PDF Document)

http://southwest.pga.com/gui/pgasouthwest35102/pageimages/HomePage/2008OverseedScheduleCopy.pdf

Some courses begin in Mid September, most are complete by mid October.  Depending on when exactly you will be visiting, I would recommend trying to find a place to play that has not yet overseeded.  Even though they open up within two weeks of the overseed, it takes at least 4-5 weeks to really get back to normal.

[Jay Flemma]

The Coore and Crenshaw course at We-Ko-Pa is very, very good. It very much runs counter to much (almost all) of the public golf in Arizona.

You can walk and are actually kind of encouraged to. Greens and tees are close to each other. There aren't any houses. And very few of the hazards are "carry" hazards.

I think it is fantastic. By next month the weather should be great to walk. Just make sure you check the overseeding calendar.

hey jeff, good to see you.

I like the chola course at we-ko-pa too.  But I'd also go see TSN and Apache as well.  There are so many astounding holes at apache...

[Doug Wright]

I will have an afternoon free in Scottsdale/Phoenix for one round of golf next month. I've never played in the area before. 

Is We Ko Pa the GCA choice?

Bob

Bob If you only have one round I'd concur with the Saguaro Course (C&C) at We-Ko-Pa. The only caution is if you have a plane to catch that evening it's a ways from the airport.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

WeKoPa Saguaro is closed from Oct 13-31. If you're there before then, it's a must play. If not, then Vista Verde(much talked about here)(by Ken Kavanaugh) reopens Oct 3 so it could be in decent shape by the end of the month.

[Carl Nichols]

Forgive the basic question, but what are the typical summer and winter grasses in AZ (if it can be generalized)? 

[Pete Lavallee]

Bob,

My wife and I played We Ko Pa in the last week of Oct. last year, just as they were coming out of the overseeding shut down. The rate was good, but a lot of the ground game aproaches offered there were not viable with the furry rye grass. Still a compelling layout that is very easy to walk; I'd highly recommend it.

Carl,

Pretty much everybody has Bermuda and they overseed with annual rye; which makes it green. I'd prefer to play on the dormant Bermuda myself, the ball really screams across that surface; it's pretty hard to play run up shots off furry rye grass.