I was pleasantly surprised by The Phoenix Golf Links...we played in overcast skies for nine holes, then in rain for another nine. The majority of the course (16 of 18 hole) sits up on the capped landfill. We saw a few spots where the methane gas had slightly burned fairway or rough grass, but that was incredibly mild and impacted play not in the least.
The course was NOT a photographer's dream, owing to the basic run of it. Much like links courses, you need to be elevated in order to get a great shot of the holes. Due to the rain, I only have about 115 shots, most from the front nine. I imagine that, with a full day (dawn, noon and dusk lighting) to shoot, one could eventually find the best shots, angles, vistas, etc., for photography.
The course itself is a faux-links in that it seeks to emulate the fast and firm stylings of sand-soil tracks. For a wet May 1st, it did indeed run. I can only imagine how it runs on summer days. Across the street from the course is a quarry and the management of both businesses have worked out a deal to supply Phoenix with all the water it needs. We saw the two storage ponds near capacity, with more water pouring in from the quarry. Nice agreement to have.
The picture of the drop-shot par three that Richard posted is #17, with 18 playing away from the clubhouse, across a third large storage pond, to a green enclosed in a glade. The shots on these two holes are the most visually challenging on the course. The first 16, like all good courses, present heroic and safe options. The only true nemesis is large amounts of thick, secondary rough, but you must be well off the fairway (or have taken too aggressive an angle) to get into this stuff.
The greens are quite challenging. I can imagine some of them being nearly unputtable, with some unpinable spots in summer's heat. The par fives are all interesting and none is unreachable in two, so eagles and birdies are within the wheelhouse, especially with summer's firmness. An interesting fact is the transitional nature of the course. With the landfill continuously in a state of settling, greens and fairways change from year to year. This does impact tees, unfortunately, so you occasionally have to scope out flat spots.
I'm off to a coaching clinic here in Columbus (alliteration!) but I'll upload to photobucket later and link the folder to a later post.