I played V.V. in November, just before Thanksgiving. It was definitely firm, and the greens were in very good condition, though perhaps not as fast as some might like. The only conditioning issue I noticed was that the fairways had quite a few bare spots. Nothing terrible, however.
More generally, I had been meaning to start a thread on V.V. for two reasons. First, though I thought it was a good course, I wasnīt as overwhelmed by it as others here are -- the site is pretty flat; the push-up greens seemed pretty repetitive (though they did present some interesting recovery shots); I didnīt see a ton of strategy off the tee; and itīs not very walkable. I donīt have a comprehensive sense of the Phoenix/Scottsdale golf market; perhaps the love for V.V. is partly a recognition of the value you get compared to other courses in the area. We paid $90 for a Sunday morning, compared to about $145 for Saguaro the day before.
Second, I donīt see how they can stay in business. The Sunday we played, it looked like they had about 20 players for the whole day. It also looked like they hadnīt started building any houses, and I doubt things have improved in the last three months. If anything, I think theyīre doing a great job on the conditioning given what canīt be a robust cash flow. Letīs hope they can stay alive until things get better.