Second stop on our annual trip. Played 6/3. They are doing renovations this summer on 9 holes and the range so only 9 are open. Very good condition throughout, minus the traps which were hard packed a... Continue »

Second stop on our annual trip. Played 6/3. They are doing renovations this summer on 9 holes and the range so only 9 are open. Very good condition throughout, minus the traps which were hard packed and not much sand. While I like the layout and service of this course (typical Troon), there are a lot of flies on the course, guess it's a general problem in the area, and TeaGal got bit like 10 times. For me they're just more of a nuisance, but after talking to other females looks like they get bit a lot. Guess the flies know the sweeter blood. If you haven't played here before, probably best to wait until the winter after renovations are complete. It's definitely worth a trip to Maricopa and a try.

Played 6/1, early morning. Great great great course and well worth the drive from Phoenix. Excellent staff. I have a strong preference for links style courses so this was a good one for me. TONS of sa... Continue »

Played 6/1, early morning. Great great great course and well worth the drive from Phoenix. Excellent staff. I have a strong preference for links style courses so this was a good one for me. TONS of sand. Looked more difficult on the websites flyovers than it actually was. It is challenging, but stay out of all the traps and your'e ok. I was in 5 of them and while, yes, there could have been more sand, at least they were consistent. I'm sure they can get a lot of wind though there and the summer heat can't help but make concrete out of the rest of it. They weren't the best, but I did play out of them well with my 60-4 wedge. Troon course (huge fan of), so well managed, etc. all the good Troon stuff. Very good food at the restaurant.
Definitely will play on our winter trip back.

Was on a trip to Tucson, and decided to play Southern Dunes based on previous reviews. It's about a 20 minute drive if your'e coming up the 8. It is really in the middle of nowhere just outside of Mar... Continue »

Was on a trip to Tucson, and decided to play Southern Dunes based on previous reviews. It's about a 20 minute drive if your'e coming up the 8. It is really in the middle of nowhere just outside of Maricopa. Started playing at about 2:30 on a Friday and it was about 102 degrees. First thing you notice is the Sand, and I'm talking about a lot of sand. The only Courses I have played with even a close amount would be Desert Willow Firecliff and SilverRock. Almost impossible to play a full round here and not be in a trap. Now understand I don't mind Traps, they really don't bother me. But what I do mind is hitting out of hard packed dirt. There in lies the problem. They don't take care of the traps. The rest of the course was in great shape. The Greens were very smooth, the fairways and rough almost immaculate and the layout very challenging. I would call this a Target Golf Course because of the location of the Traps in the middle of the fairways anywhere from 220-280 yards from almost every Tee. Would definitely play there again if they ever get the Traps in good shape.

Played it for the first time on 05/24/13. About 10 cars in the parking lot when I got there around 10:30 am. Course is definitely unique as you can't just pull driver on every hole. Gotta play smart a... Continue »

Played it for the first time on 05/24/13. About 10 cars in the parking lot when I got there around 10:30 am. Course is definitely unique as you can't just pull driver on every hole. Gotta play smart and try to keep it in play. Although there are over 100 bunkers, I managed to only find 5. Greens putt well and are true. They hold all approach shots also, but are not that pretty to look at. Biggest complaint are the 1 million flies on the course. They didn't bite you but you couldn't get away from them, very very annoying. Every time you set your club down there would be 20 flies on the club-head, and this was on a breezy day, can't imagine what its like when there is no wind. Way out in the sticks also, don't know if I would go back.

I played this course yesterday, May 24, 2013. I called earlier in the day and was quoted three rates, depending on start time. I chose to go out at 3:30 for $39, although my preference was to go much... Continue »

I played this course yesterday, May 24, 2013. I called earlier in the day and was quoted three rates, depending on start time. I chose to go out at 3:30 for $39, although my preference was to go much earlier. The gentleman in the pro shop told me 2:30 was $49; earlier was $99 rack, but he could give me $69 as a discounted rate. Not bad either way. I received a call around noon saying I could come out earlier for the $39 rate as their tee sheet was fairly open. Really? I never had that happen! The weather was hot, but not bad for this time of year, about 98 degrees. The greens are just in transition from their winter grass to Bermuda. They rolled great, but seemed a little firm for me. It was challenging to make a ball stop on anything but a highly lofted shot. All the turf was in great shape. Tees were level, although a couple of par threes had a lot of unfilled divots. The biggest turnoff was the bunkers. The sand was thin, hard, and crusty. Not horrible, but it was better three months ago. Before going out, I took advantage of their great practice area, which would otherwise cost $25/day if you were not golfing.

Played 3/20 in am with my father who had some Troon passes. Nice practice area - range, putting and chipping, all are top notch. Out right on time. 4hr round, nobody in front or behind us the who... Continue »

Played 3/20 in am with my father who had some Troon passes. Nice practice area - range, putting and chipping, all are top notch. Out right on time. 4hr round, nobody in front or behind us the whole day. Perfect lush fairways with loads of bunkers/sand. Perfect tee boxes. 109 total sand traps was what I was told, hence the name of the restaurant. Excellent customer service - everyone from bagdrop to starter was happy and helpful. Great carts with new, accurate gps. Cart girl made plenty of passes. Perfect weather. Great clubhouse. Troon, please come to CA and start running golf courses in Los Angeles. Highly recommend!

Great time here with my brother. We played in the afternoon on a Tuesday at 2:05. I asked for a discount from the proshop and got $10 off, from $59 to $49 plus tax (btw, AZ tax is around 7.3%). Great... Continue »

Great time here with my brother. We played in the afternoon on a Tuesday at 2:05. I asked for a discount from the proshop and got $10 off, from $59 to $49 plus tax (btw, AZ tax is around 7.3%). Great customer service from the bag drop (employee came to us to get our bag from the parking lot), proshop (employee gave us a discount when I asked, he was funny and cordial about it as well), starter (came to the range and got us out early), to the club cleaner guy at the end of the round (he asked about our round and talked of his experiences playing here). The greens here are firm and fast with plenty of undulations. Few, if any, ball marks were see. The tee boxes are in great shape, level and fairly deviod of wear and tear. Tee shots can be intimidating with many forced carries and narrow landing areas. There is a premium on the ability to properly shape a shot for the fairway. The gps on the carts was one of the best systems I have seen, giving great visualization and point to point yardages. I hope you like sand, because you will eventually find some; there are so many bunkers and waste areas or adjacent desert. Unfortunately, it seemed the sand in the bunkers was very thin; however, the quality of the sand was decent, just not enough. Most of the desert areas had some dormant clumps of tall grass that would literally swallow your ball, so watch out. Keep your ball in play and you may score well. I look forward to playing here again.

Played 12/19 with JohnnyGK, Chilipalmer & dcoachl. This is a gem of a course, that is 45 minutes SW of Phoenix in the town of Maricopa. It has 6 sets of tees. Forward tees are 5036 yards. The tips... Continue »

Played 12/19 with JohnnyGK, Chilipalmer & dcoachl. This is a gem of a course, that is 45 minutes SW of Phoenix in the town of Maricopa. It has 6 sets of tees. Forward tees are 5036 yards. The tips are 7517 yards. It is very challenging due to the fact that the course has 109 sand traps on it. ( Did I say "sand traps" more like "Bunkers") To play well you need to control your distance and avoid them at all costs. They are deep with high faces. Your only option most times is to take your lumps and wedge it out back into play.

I agree with everyone else's take on the conditions. Tee boxes, fairways, rough, and greens were in great condition. Bunkers were inconsistent. Some had plenty of soft sand others packed down with a thin top layer, possibly due to recent rain.

Full practice range. Service was outstanding. Outside service, the starter, beverage cart girl were all very pleasant and helpful. Had lunch with Johnny and dcoachl after the round. The chicken philly on pretzel bread was delicious. Highly recommend the food and the course. Pictures submitted.

Played Southern Dunes Golf Club a week ago (12/19) with fellow GK’ers Isoceles, chilipalmer99 and dcoachl. Great day of golf. Besides the bunkers which the majority needed more sand making greenside b... Continue »

Played Southern Dunes Golf Club a week ago (12/19) with fellow GK’ers Isoceles, chilipalmer99 and dcoachl. Great day of golf. Besides the bunkers which the majority needed more sand making greenside bunker play an even bigger challenge, the rest of the course was close to immaculate condition. The greens were beautiful running fast, smooth, mostly firm yet able to hold well struck shots. The fairways were outstanding being very lush, cut tight and provided just about perfect lies all day long. The first cut of rough was lush, thick and 2 to 3 inches. The second cut was dormant, 12 inch native grass/brush giving a beautiful contrast to the fairways. Tee boxes were lush and well groomed with very little divot damage. Overall the conditions combined with a visually stunning yet intimidating challenging layout provided a very memorable day. In addition our pace of play was only 4 hours, we saw the cart girl many times and service from start to finish was exceptional. After our round, dcoachl, Isoceles and I grabbed a bite to eat in the grille. I got their signature 109 bbq burger and I had to result to eating it animal style (cutting it up) because it was so big I could not get my mouth around it…delicious. Southern Dunes Golf Club is a great golf experience I highly recommend.

BTW – added a few more photos to Isoceles.

Southern Dunes Golf Club
Phoenix Arizona Golf Course Reviews