I recently spent a three-day weekend in the Scottsdale area. We were scheduled to play Desert Forest Friday afternoon, We-Ko-Pa Saguaro (morning) and Cholla (afternoon) on Saturday, and then Vista Verde on Sunday. We only got in 9 holes at Cholla, however, because it was very slow – and so we ended up jumping back over to play a full 18 on Saguaro at dusk. So with the caveat that we played only the front 9 at Cholla, in contrast to 36 at Saguaro, I would rank the 4 courses as follows: Desert Forest; Saguaro; Vista Verde; and Cholla. [My buddy would rank them Saguaro, DF, VV, Cholla]
Why Desert Forest #1? To start with, I thought that it had an artistic quality to how the green sites fit within the land, the trees, and the background mountains—really beautiful stuff—and that, unlike other desert courses, it felt really natural. The trees/shrubs/bushes are also very mature, plus there are very few houses and it’s an easy walk. All in all, a great setting. (The saucer-shaped bunkers, which I’m not usually a big fan of, also seem to fit in.)
But what about the golf? I thought the greens and green sites were fantastic, and with lots of variety—some elevated, some not; some heavily bunkered, some not; some with tons of contours, some not. There were lots of risk-reward options, holes that (if you wanted to hit driver) required you to work the ball to stay in the fairway, great contours in the fairways, and lots of strategic choices—like a few I try to show below. I’ve seen comments that DF is overly penal off the tee, but it didn’t seem that way to me, though that may have been as a result of the overseeding; it certainly wasn’t playing soft, but the guys in the pro shop told me that a lot of the year the course plays incredibly F&F, and it’s tough to keep the ball in the fairway. I also had a good day off the tee.
A few sample pictures (taken in the middle of the day, so not great) and accompanying comments. I hope to post about Vista Verde in the future.
#1 Green – this shot barely missed the green
#2 – ideal tee shot works right to left
#7 – split fairway; aggressive play is right, leaving a much shorter 2nd
#11 – 580 yard par 5. Although the fairways slopes left, being right is the much better play because of the tree short of the green on the left. View from left side.
View from right side.
Beautiful hole
As I posted in another thread, this tree on the par 5 16th is both beautiful and strategically important –the best layup is past and to the left of the tree (last picture), but that requires the player to challenge the tree.
From the right side
From the left side, past the tree
Great undulations on 18.
