Southern Dunes in Maricopa, AZ is a course that has been discussed some here. There have been a few threads with photos and descriptions, but everyone seems to love pics, so I thought I'd throw a few at you.
SD was designed by Schmidt and Curley in a collaboration with Fred Couples. What stood out to me was the cozy routing on a relatively flat piece of land. It is very walkable, and while the course is not spread over an exceptionally large site, there didn't seem to be any areas that seemed cramped. I felt the strengths of the course were the par 3s and short 4s. That is not to say the other 4s and 5s were weak, in fact I think the group of par 5s competes with any other AZ course I've played.
I believe this year was the first year they've done a complete overseed, so you'll see mostly green in these pics. I know in the past they've done the bare minimum, so there was much more brown. We played at the end of March, so the course was beginning the transition between grasses.
Here are some pics and a few comments...
From the tee on the par 4 first hole. You can attempt to carry the right hand bunker to leave a short wedge to the green.
The second is an interesting short 4 with several options off of the tee. Any club from a middle iron to driver can be used. The green has a considerable amount of movement.
A couple of views of the approach over the large diagonal cross bunker.
Side view of the green.
If you miss the green to the right on the par 5 third, you'll leave yourself a pitch over this bunker.
From the tee at the well defended par 3 4th.
The 4th green has plenty of internal contour. Many of the holes defended par around the green with awkward pitch shots to greens with difficult slopes.
The 6th is another really good par 3. It is a middle or long iron to a semi blind green. The front middle bunker is actually recessed 20-30 yards short of the green for a little bit of illusion. Also, the visible slope on the right hand side of the green can be used to feed balls to middle or left hand hole locations.
This view shows the kidney shaped green with a swale that makes pitches to the back middle and left pin positions difficult.
An aggressive line over the bunker or small tree on the right side can leave an opportunity to go for the green in two at the par 5 7th.
The approach at the par 4 9th.
Another interesting par 3, the 11th features a v shaped green where the back right and back left portions run away from the tee.
A look back at the par 5 13th.
The short par 4 14th was difficult to decipher from the tee. For longer players it could be reachable, or you could layup with as little as 7 iron. You could also hit a fairway wood over the bunkers left and leave a little flip wedge to the green.
Here are a couple of shots of greenside bunkers at Southern Dunes. The bunkering is eye catching, unique, and plentiful.
I felt the 15th was probably the best long par 4 on the course. From the tee you could attempt to turn it over between the left hand and middle bunkers. There is also fairway to the right of the middle bunker if you wish to bail out. However, going right leaves a much longer approach.
The 16th is an "S" shaped par 5 laced with bunkers from tee to green.
When attacking this back pin position there is actually a sideboard on the left hand side that you can use to get near the hole. The back portion of the geen also slopes away so a shot behind the hole leaves an uphill putt.
The tee shot at the par 3 17th is obscured by the sandy mound. There is actually ample bail out room to the left that leaves a reasonable pitch to the green, but all you see from the tee is trouble.
The par 4 18th from the tee and fairway. I found the 9th and 18th the least inspiring holes on the course. 18 is the only hole with a water hazard in play on the approach and it feels a little out of place considering the rest of the course.
A shot of the clubhouse.
I found SD to be a very playable and walkable layout. There is room off of the tee, but many holes provide decisions that usually result in shortening the hole rather than opening up a playing angle. As I stated before, par is primarily defended around the green with bunkering and green countours that make for difficult up and downs.
I believe the ownership of Southern Dunes has changed hands several times. It is currently managed by Troon golf, but is owned by the Ak-Chin Indian community and is associated with their local casino.