My wife and I played Sidewinder and Dinosaur at Gold Canyon Resort east of Phoenix. We found the Dinosaur course to be the more challenging due to the hilly terrain. Between the two we found Dinosaur to be in better shape. While Sidewinder is basically flat Dinosaur climbs up and down Dinosaur mountain. Sidewinder dances in between a lot of houses. Dinosaur dances in between hills, rocks, and cacti. Just about every hole deals with elevation changes. A lot of fun tee shots from way above the holes. Be careful with the tee shot on 15. It is not as far as it looks. I saw two golfers get close to homes at the far end of the fairway. I put it in the fairway with a 2 wood hybrid. Many of the greens are very protected by sand traps (and you can not see them all from the fairway). There is a long cart tunnel on the course which is rather interesting. The scenic views are breathtaking. A course that you must do at least once in your lifetime.

My wife and I stayed at Gold Canyon Resort to golf at Sidewinder and Dinosaur for a winter getaway. We played Sidewinder twice and Dinosaur twice. We have to say that, overall, it was a great experience. The staff (save one) was great. The accommodations were above average, the food was good. The courses were very green. The grass was in great shape. It did seem to be cut a little short in places. The greens were in very good shape, but again the grass was very short making the greens really fast (even in wet conditions). The Sidewinder course is for the most part flat. If you have trouble with hills this would be the course to play between the two. The sand traps could use a little more sand (less crushed rock mixed in), but otherwise were well cared for. Definitely a challenge to pitch out of. Sidewinder does wind between a lot of houses. If hitting a ball close to homes bothers you maybe you would be better playing Dinosaur. A good mix of par 5's, 4's, and 3's. On Sidewinder I did not bring out my driver on many holes. On some of the par 4's the smarter play is to hit a shorter club. The desert "rough" is present throughout and I found it very scenic. I did not lose as many balls in it as I thought I might. Our only real complaint comes from an encounter with one of the course marshals. Except for this one individual the starters and marshals were great. Our problem came when we were on the 10th on Sidewinder. The closest group ahead of us started 30 minutes before us. The group behind us had been nipping at our heels from the start. We were not slow (the GPS showed us being 25 minutes ahead of pace). At the 10th the group must have complained and we encountered this course marshal. He seemed rather abrupt and rude. He said we were too slow and to pick up the pace. We offered for the group behind us to play through, but the marshal said that "was not an option." I am not sure why that was not an option. Well, to pick up the pace we started to pick up balls on the fairway and greens. Not much fun on the back nine. The rest of our time and experiences were great, so we hope he was just having a bad day. I would recommend golfing and staying at Gold Canyon.