Played Sunday morning (5/17/09) as a 3-some. I like the layout of this course. Sort of old school with a lot of very mature trees lining the fairways. The back 9 has a lot of holes with dogleg left layouts . . everything bends left on the back 9. This was probably the worst condition I've ever seen the course in. Normally the fairways are very nice and lush but I found myself hitting off dirt a lot today which is somewhat annoying if you've actually split the fairway and now find yourself hitting off a lie that's worse than the short rough! The ongoing problem with this course is pace of play. No ranger to keep things moving. We were behind a 4-some and waited every shot/every hole until the 13th when they let us finally play through. The group ahead of them was 3 holes ahead! The price is generally right on this course, and the customer service is always very good. They need some water and a ranger!

This is a fun course. The front 9 is very straightforward and pretty pedestrian. The back 9 is great . . as good as any around. The course is in nice shape. The greens are coming back from being punch very nicely. The fairways are in good shape. Customer service in the clubhouse is very good, and the cart girl was around 6 or 7 times during our round, which is important since we're not at 100+ degrees in Tucson. The problem with this course, and it has been a problem seemingly forever . . is pace of play! The tee times are set 7 minutes apart. Due to the nature of the course, narrow, holes in and around an old quarry, and some driveable par 4's this means play stacks up and it's hit a shot, sit around and wait . . hit a shot . . sit around and wait throughout the round. I don't think marshalling could solve this problem because everyone is sitting and waiting. They need to spread out the tee times. I know that on paper this would cut into potential rounds played, but in actuality it wouldn't since everyone is waiting anyway. Make the tee times 10 minutes apart and "The Pines" would be on my first cut of courses to play in Tucson. As it is now . . you'd better plan on spending 4:30-5:00 for a round. It takes a lot away from the enjoyment of the round.

I play this course pretty regularly . . sometime better than others. Played with a guy from Virginia who joined our group today, so I'll use his comments about the course as the basis for my review. Very interesting holes. Liked the fact that there were sunken and elevated greens. Liked the elevated tee boxes on many of the holes. Liked the elevation changes. Says they don't get a lot of elevation changes back in the Virginia area where he regulary plays. He said he really enjoys "desert golf" because of the forced carries, and although del Lago doesn't have a lot of "monster carries" off the tee box the ones that are there make you think about shaping your shot. The course conditions are very nice right now. We played early with a 7:22 tee time, and zoomed around the course quicker than we had ever played it before. The only drawback (if you want to call it that) was that there was a minimum of staffers available that early, so it was unload/load your own bags. If you were not familiar with the course layout, as our playing parter found himself to be, then it was a little "disconcerting" (to use his vergiage) to not know where to unload your bag . . whether you needed to load it on to a cart yourself, which cart to take, etc . . This is a nice course as I have mentioned in my previous reviews. Well worth the drive 20 minutes out of town to play.

Played 4/26/2009 in a shotgun. We weren't part of the tourney, but they had spots left over, so sold those tee times at a discount. I hit the ball very poorly, but it doesn't detract from the beauty and playability of the course. This is my favorite course in Tucson. One of the guys in our 4-some was playing the tips (I don't) so in helping him around the course for the 1st time, I got a different look at a lot of holes. This is a different golf course depending on which tees you play. The angles are different, the view is different, it's not just a yardage thing with the blacks being X amount of yards behind the blues which I play. The whole course looks different. That's the mark of a well laid out course I think. Whether it's reds, whites, blues, or blacks . . this course has something for everyone. The only drawback was the early start time meant many of the bunkers were wet . . and since I found a bunch of them . . that made for a much different round. As always, customer service was exceptional . . even with the rush and crush of everyone getting ready for a shotgun start.

Stayed and played at Tubac this past weekend. (4/18-19/2009) Was really a tale of two different days and two very different conditions. The first day, Saturday we teed off in the middle of the day and played 18, the Anza and Ranchero 9's. The play was excruciatingly slow! Took more than 5 hours to play 18 holes and it was a wait on every shot, every hole! This made for an unpleasant round. The Ranchero 9 was by far the more interesting of the two we played. Sunday morning we teed off early, 8:30 and played the Anza and Otero 9's in a little more than 2 hours. No wait at any time. This made for a far more pleasant round. Then we reported in and were told we could report to, and play the Ranchero 9 but would be "behind 2 groups". Took nearly 3 hours to play that 9 . . Aaaauuggghhhh! As far as course conditions are concerned, the greens have recently been sanded, and were inconsistant. The tee boxes were nice, and the fairways were nice. The sand in the bunkers was nearly rock hard in most places. I like the layout of the Ranchero 9 the best. It's an older 9 and the layout is a lot of fun. Course knowledge helped a bunch when playing it the 2nd day. I personally, found the Anza to the be least interesting of the three 9's at the resort. It appears to be the newer of the 9's, and winds through the desert instead of through, over and around the hills, river, and trees. If Tubac would employee a marshall to ensure play moved along at a brisk rate then I'm positive that their customers would be far more inclined to return to play again. The course is fun. The starter was great, and the pro shop personnel were great and the cart lady made frequent visits. There is a nice mixture of long (600Y plus) and short (120Y) holes to play, hills to climb, trees to avoid, and rivers/lakes to cross. If play were to move along at a 4-4.5 hour pace then it's a very enjoyable place to play.

This is probably the nicest course I have ever played! In rating the course, I gave everything 9's . . because perfection is near impossible . . but this course comes as close as any I've ever been on. From the minute we rolled up, until we were rolling out of the parking lot, everything was top-notch! The course is a Nicklaus design and places a premium on being able to hit long irons straight and well. When we played (3/30/2009) there were 35mph wind gusts that made playing conditions tough, but they didn't detract from the layout, condition, or playability of the course at all. The tee boxes were immaculate, and with 4 to choose from, you can put yourself in as much danger as you feel comfortable with. The fairways were lush and green, and the greens were fast and true. Our caddie "Kirk" informed us that the bentgrass greens were running at about 11.5 on the stimpmeter. There are some greens that have undulations like I've never seen on a putting surface. My photos capture one such green. There is a nice combination of doglegs, elevated tees and greens, water and bunkers. The customer service was fantastic from the cart guys, to the caddie crew, to the pro shop personnel. This course is about 50 minutes north of Las Vegas but is well worth the drive. We played on a Monday and rarely saw anyone in front of, or behind us. Use the caddie service . . it's well worth the $60 and pay heed to their tips on how to play each hole. Guaranteed 5 strokes are saved by following their advice. Play this gem of a course before the housing development gets built because the views of the mountains are fantastic. This is definately on my "must play again when I'm in Vegas" list!!

Played this course 3/28/09. It's an ok course. Nothing special, but certainly not bad either. While playing, I had the impression that there was a housing development built, they had some leftover land, and decided to drop a golf course in that land. The playing conditions were nice, the fairways were green with very few bare patches. The greens were sort of funky. Most were green, but there were several that had some sort of light green funk growing or on them. There was one hole on the back 9 . . number 17 . . that the green was unputtable due to the huge amount of duck/goose droppings on it. It's a rather unspectacular layout, with the majority of the holes being pretty flat and straight. The sand was very hard, several members of the group I was playing with commented on the hardness of the sand. The price was fair and the range was very nice for a pre-round warm-up. With so many much nicer courses in the Las Vegas area, I won't say this is on my "must play again" list, but it's a nice, if unspectacular course for the money.

Played the "Canyon" course at Ventana for the first time ever on 3/21/2009. Ventana is home to two first-rate courses, the Mountain and the Canyon. The Mountain is the more "scenic" of the pair, but after playing the Canyon, it's my favorite of the two. Not as many elevation changes, but the holes are very well designed and you've got to think your way around the course. There are some short par 4's that are driveable, but there is an element of risk on each of them if you miss. The par 3's were a nice mixture of short and long iron shots, not simply 190Y postage stamp greens surrounded by bunkers. There are trees that can reach out and grab your ball if you're not straight, and even one hole where you can be in tree trouble if you are straight off the tee. The greens were fantastic, they were quick but rolled very true and had some nice undulation to them. The tee boxes are among the best I've ever seen anywhere. The customer service was excellent. The only complaint I would have about Ventana is that the signage is very poor. The golf shop is not marked by any signage and is actually around back behind the workout facility and tennis courts. Do not plan on walking the Canyon course. There are at least 2 mile-long cart drives between holes and many of holes have a very long cart ride between one hole's green and the next tee box. I will definately play this course again. It was a lot of fun!

It has been a while since I played del Lago . . it's won't be as long next time! Played 3/7/2009 and the course is in as good a shape as I've ever seen it! This is a very nice layout with a great mix of twisting and turning 5's, dogleg 4's, and long 3's with undulating greens. This course has all the elements that I really like in desert golf, elevation changes, forced carries, water carries, and a penalizing desert area if you stray off course. This is one of the nicest layouts in the Tucson area, and with conditions like they are right now . . it becomes a must play course!

If you haven't already put StarrPass on your Tucson area "must play" list . . then do it now! Played the Rattler/Roadrunner 9's (there are 27 holes at StarrPass) on 2/7 and they are in as good a shape as I have ever seen them. The courses are chock-full of "memorable" holes, and you will finish wondering how you could have played the hole differently or better. For the most part, the landing areas are wide and forgiving, but there are some blind shots to narrow landing areas where course knowledge definately comes into play. This is a layout where you always have to be thinking about how you want to set yourself up for the next shot. The greens were fast, but held shots without any problem. There are a number of risk/reward opportunities that present themselves throughout the round. 2nd shots are a premium on this course with many washes and arroyos to cross on the way to the greens. The course also sets up well for women with a nice selection of tee boxes to choose from. There are some forced carries from the tee boxes, but all are more visually intimidating that reality-intimidating. The staff was great the entire round, and the pace of play was very good. This is a definate "must play" if you're in Tucson! I will play the course again soon, and this time try to get onto the "Coyote" 9 to complete the 27!

This is the 2nd time I've played this course. The "course knowledge" I gathered from the first time was very helpful this time around. Played 1/31/2009 with my wife and mother in law. Asked my wife after the round how she liked the course and her reply was "I loved it!". This is a Gary Panks design and it makes you think. There are several holes where leaving the driver in the bag is the smart and best play off the teebox. #3 is a perfect example with a ravine that runs through the fairway. Most of the holes are wide open for "gripping it and ripping it" but you'd better be straight! Anything off the green grass is gone! The greens are well protected with bunkers, but nearly all have a "run up" area where you can chip the ball on. The greens were much faster than I've become used to in the Tucson area, and it was harder to get shots to hold, but they putted very smooth and true. There are some forced carries, but with several teeboxes available, it's a very friendly course for women and shorter hitters. Plays much different from the various teeboxes. The staff was exceptional from driving up and checking in to leaving and loading our clubs for us. This course was just honored by Golf Digest as being the only 5 star course in Arizona. It's a great course, and with a price tag that's considerably less than its Scottsdale competitors. I highly recommend it if you're in the Phoenix area . . and I'll drive the 120+ miles from Tucson to play it again!

It's been a while since I played Torres Blancas. I like this Trevino layout. There are some forced carries, but for the most part, the trouble is minimal. There are very few holes where you have to leave the driver in the bag and I like that. Although this course is built throughout a housing development, it doesn't feel cramped at all. The par 3's are great. Two are uphill, one is from an elevated teebox, and the other is over water. Very fun holes! The 17th is a great golf hole. 490Y par 4 with water in front of a very shallow green. The staff is excellent, the driving range is nice and the putting greens are very good. They need some work on the sand in the traps, it was very thin when I played but otherwise the course is in very good shape. Well worth the fee! I'll play it again . . often!