I was down in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area last Friday, and decided to head a little south on I10 to Eloy and see what golf was avaliable for a walk-on single.
Grande Valley was recommended by a friend and thought I'd give it a try, since the alternative was to head for home and shovel snow out of my driveway. The short story is that I enjoyed the course, people and staff so much I stayed an extra day and played it again Sunday.
The course itself is no "Championship" course and doesn't advertise itself as such, but it is what most public courses both new and old should aspire to; eminently playable for all levels of golfer, kept in good condition (firm and fast) with excellent green complexes, which along with the mounding are the course's main defence.
When you consider that originally the site was flat as a pancake, Forrest did an excellent job of creating a golf course out of little more than bare desert. The course is walkable, though I noticed that most took carts, and the green fee is a modest $43 for Saturday and Sunday play, cart and range balls included.
There are no bunkers on the course, which should help with speed of play, and of course reduce maintenance budgets, and really, the course doesn't need any, plays just fine with the mounding and slightly rolling fairways.
The greens are the devil's own work, though.
Forrest must have had fun burying the entire zoo underneath them. They were maintained at reasonable speed, rolling around a 9 or thereabouts, but with the contour and slope, you had to have your approach land on the correct part of the green, otherwise you could be left thanking the Golf Gods you only took three putts to get down. IIRC, the 6th green was a real joy - pretty much divided into four sections by two opposite running ridges.
I was helped in no small measure by the three locals I was sent out with on the Saturday morning - it was their home course, so their advice on where to land the tee shot/approach was invaluable. The course does, if anything, favour those who draw the ball, though there are a couple of holes where a fade off the tee might be more advised.
From the above you'd be correct in assuming I thoroughly enjoyed my two rounds, especially since I had a nice 78 on Saturday and a 75 on Sunday.
Forrest did a marvelous job with this course.