Overview: Having played the Ambiente Course each of the the last two summers, I have been interested to go play the course in the fall and/or winter to see what shape the course would be in during th... Continue »

Overview: Having played the Ambiente Course each of the the last two summers, I have been interested to go play the course in the fall and/or winter to see what shape the course would be in during the "high season" in Phoenix. I was very impressed with the conditions during the summer, so my expectations were definitely elevated. I got a great Golf Now deal this past Tuesday at 1:40 pm for a total of $107. I was very happy to get this rate because it was very close to what I paid this past July. I was also excited because the course was off the cart path after over seed.

Clubhouse: Very easy check in was greeted promptly by the players assistant. The pro shop had a lot of merchandise in stock, and was presented very well.

Course: Ambiente has definitely become one of my favorite courses in the Phoenix area due to the re-design in 2013. The course is now more of a links style and is rather tight off the tee. I was a little bit disappointed with the conditions after over seed. The fairways were a little thin, and the rough was inconsistent. Some places were very lush while spots were bare. I was quite disappointed to see that they did not over seed the greens this year. So, the greens were going to be bermuda for the entire winter. They rolled nice and were consistent in speed, but I would probably think that December - March that they would not be that good because the cool morning temperatures would not allow the bermuda to grow. Plus, cosmetically they would not look good, and they might have to put some green dye on them to create the illusion that they are "lush" and thriving. Lastly, the sand traps were ok, but a bunch of them definitely need to be raked.

Final Thoughts: The going rate for course was anywhere from $210 - $250 on the day that I played, and if I paid that rate I would have not been happy with the condition of the course. With the 2023 Phoenix Open being an "elevated" event (with a purse of $20 million dollars), and with the Super Bowl in Phoenix that same week, pricing for golf is going to be steep. I hope the Camelback Golf Club - Ambiente Course improves before February comes around. I will definitely come back and play the course next summer, and I might even try to play there in the shoulder season of April/May.

Happy Thanksgiving to the GK'ers!!

Overview: The Camelback Golf Club has 2 18 hole golf courses ... with one of them being the Ambiente Course and the other being the Padre Course. The Ambiente Course was re-designed in 2013 and is a ... Continue »

Overview: The Camelback Golf Club has 2 18 hole golf courses ... with one of them being the Ambiente Course and the other being the Padre Course. The Ambiente Course was re-designed in 2013 and is a links style golf course that has an out and back routing. This is the second time that I have played the course in the past year, and it's definitely one of my favorite courses in the Phoenix Metro area.

Clubhouse: A very large clubhouse that houses a restaurant, the pro shop and locker room facilities. The pro shop was well stocked and merchandised very well (the retail manager in me had to say that).

Practice Facilities: A nice driving range with a good sized chipping area and a large practice putting green. Close to the first tee of the Ambiente Course was another practice putting green,

Course: Probably one of my favorite course designs due to the links style with fescue lining the fairways (which was cut down to lessen the amount of lost balls and to allow us to see the desert animals that would be hidden in the tall grass). The course has very unique holes and can be quite tight off the tee. It's a course that you need to think around instead of pulling driver and hitting it hard. The tee boxes were very lush with bermuda grass, the fairway were a little thin and brown in spots, but it's July in the desert. Rough was cut down and there was not as much fescue as there was last year. Greens were in really nice shape and were punched 3 weeks prior. The sand was good in spots, but was not consistent through out the course.

Final Thoughts: The Ambiente course reminds me of AK Chin Southern Dunes down in Maricopa, AZ. It may not have as many bunkers as AK Chin, but it can be a challenge if you are not hitting shots straight ... especially off the tee. I paid a little over $100 for the round, but I would pay that for this course, especially with Troon North and Grayhawk asking close to $150 for a round this summer. This course is a definite must play when you visit the Valley of the Sun.

Overview: The Ambiente (Spanish word for environment) Course is one of the two 18 hole golf courses at the Camelback Golf Club in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The Camelback Golf Club is associated with ... Continue »

Overview: The Ambiente (Spanish word for environment) Course is one of the two 18 hole golf courses at the Camelback Golf Club in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The Camelback Golf Club is associated with the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort and Spa and the 2 courses are managed by Marriott Golf.
The Ambiente Course had a $10 million dollar renovation in 2013 by Jason Straka (one of the architects that designed Erin Hills ... home of the 2017 US Open.) 12 out of the 18 holes are brand new. This renovation added 100 acres of native desert and grass areas that not only added beauty to the course, but also requires a third less water. The layout is very unique in the fact in that its an "out and back" style course.

Clubhouse: Very nice clubhouse with all of the player assistants being very welcoming and friendly. The restaurant did not open till 11:00 am on Thursday morning, so I was not able to eat there.

Course: I played this course before 2013 (at that time it was called the Indian Bend Course), and it was a very boring flat course. How times have changed ... I could tell right from the first hole how different this course was going to be. The first hole is a dogleg left with a good sized bunker on the left corner of the dogleg and a huge bunker on the far corner of the dogleg, with deep bunkers surrounding the green complex. Native grass areas on both sides of the fairway that force you to hit a good tee shot.
The course was in great shape ... lush Bermuda fairways that had plenty of grass coverage and the rough was at about 1/2 - 3/4 in length and was just long enough to possibly get some flyer lies. The bunkers were in good shape with plenty of sand in them. The course was very soft because of the early morning tee time, not unusual because of the normal watering pattern during the summer at all Arizona golf courses. The only disappoint was that the greens were recently aerated (about 10 days ago) with small holes. They did a major aeration back in June, but I was told at the course they always do a small aeration on both courses in the month of August.

Final Thoughts: I always knew about the renovation of the Ambiente Course, but I do not know why I never played it. The course is a fabulous transformation of its former self. The course is now a links style course, with undulating greens, high native grasses, a great mixture of long and short par 4's ... which I am big fan of. I was so impressed with the course that I want to get out and play it again before the fall overseed. This course just joined my list of must plays in the Phoenix Metro area. Finally, the course reminds me of AK Chin Southern Dunes ... but even better.

Played the Ambiente green tees on 6/26 at 7 am. Good customer service from bag drop to starter. In fact, the starter, 'eagle eye' Jim, saved our group a minute or two by quickly helping me find my err... Continue »

Played the Ambiente green tees on 6/26 at 7 am. Good customer service from bag drop to starter. In fact, the starter, 'eagle eye' Jim, saved our group a minute or two by quickly helping me find my errant hook in the shin high grass. This was my first rodeo to truly shin high rough and AZ desert target golf. Humbly looking back, it took me almost the entire round to put my ego and pride behind me, so that I wouldn't lose every ball in my bag that round.
The tees were not very wide, and overall, the boxes are in good shape. The fairways allowed shots to run run run, while still being nice to hit from. Speaking of runaway shots, the first cut of rough was usually deeper on the upslope side of a fairway, and very short on the downslope side. The downslope side typically feeds your running shots to the second cut of rough(typically ankle to shin high). The bunkers usually had a surface crust layer of sand, letting the ball sit up. The areas around greens were manicured well for the short game. The greens were about 80-90% recovered from aeration and ran med/fast and smooth. The drink cart was encountered four times and you don't see the clubhouse again till after all 18. Our POP was 4.5 hrs.
I learned a lot playing this layout and features, and have a fondness for this challenging course. Reccomended.

I played Ambiente on a Saturday with a tee time around 11am. Played with three nice random guys as a foursome and finished in 4 hours. Tee time intervals were 10 minutes, and we only waited maybe only... Continue »

I played Ambiente on a Saturday with a tee time around 11am. Played with three nice random guys as a foursome and finished in 4 hours. Tee time intervals were 10 minutes, and we only waited maybe only once or twice.

Greens were in absolutely beautiful condition. Extremely smooth. Just the right amount of firmness. They were the highlight of the conditions. Speed was on the quick side but not unreasonable. The fairways are holding up well in the heat. No notable burnt out spots. Tees were great except for the "tan" tee box on #18 which was oddly overgrown like they forgot to mow it.

The sand in the bunkers is a coarse/gritty type that I actually like. It was apparent that the bunkers were probably all raked by the crew in the morning and there were few footprints.

The only negative on the conditioning, and this is an extremely minor negative if I have to fault the course for something, was that many of the green collars were almost completely burnt out. Fine if you are in a position to putt off them, but otherwise hard to hit a wedge off burnt toast.

COVID-19 procedures included a PVC pipe inside the cups for the ball to rest on, no rakes or divot fill bottles, and single rider carts for anyone who wanted one. I wasn't crazy about the cart guys were still touching peoples' bags/clubs without asking both before and after the round, though.

I love the layout of this course and always play it during the warmer months when I can find a good deal as it is cost prohibitive during winter.

Played the course Feb 29th as part of my golf and baseball spring training getaway. Fabulous conditions. Fairways are green and fairly lush. Rough is penal with long native grass that will swallow you... Continue »

Played the course Feb 29th as part of my golf and baseball spring training getaway. Fabulous conditions. Fairways are green and fairly lush. Rough is penal with long native grass that will swallow your ball. Of course the weather at this time is prime, so with all that goes on in the AZ area at this time to find a course that is not top notch would be hard. My favorite aspect of this course and the sister course here are the bunkers, deep software and playable for all kinds of shots. Greens were fairly quick not fast but quick, down grain and down hill very difficult, against the grain just a tad slower but still tricky. Very few if any ball marks which was somewhat surprising considering the snow birds that are in the area at this time. Tees were well maintained with the expected divot damage although minor on the par 3s. Great course and conditions on both courses.

I played this course on 6/28. 10:20 Tee time, $40 online rate, POP 3hrs 45min. The conditions all around were great to excellent. The renovation of this course came out great. A lot of forced carr... Continue »

I played this course on 6/28. 10:20 Tee time, $40 online rate, POP 3hrs 45min. The conditions all around were great to excellent. The renovation of this course came out great. A lot of forced carries. Thick fescue around the edges of the course and large deep bunkers make this course very challenging. Course doesn't comeback to the clubhouse after nine. Nice practice facility, good customer service. I drive by this course regularly and it still looks like it's in great condition. I've seen many people playing it. Posted photos of some tee shots.

I played last Thursday, Feb. 26. This was the first course that we played on my first Arizona golf trip. We paid close to $100 which was the twilight rate. I'll add that we went during the peak season... Continue »

I played last Thursday, Feb. 26. This was the first course that we played on my first Arizona golf trip. We paid close to $100 which was the twilight rate. I'll add that we went during the peak season so greens fees were maxed out and it's a difficult task finding reasonably priced courses in the Scottsdale area. Apparently, the Ambiente track is fairly new after a remodel of the previous course. The golf club has two 18 hole tracks on the grounds. We arrived too late to really check out the facilities but I noticed great service from the bag attendant and a nice looking clubhouse. The entire course was really well maintained. The grass was lush throughout and conditions were up to the standards of a high end facility. The greens rolled true and were fairly quick. The bunkers were soft with good coverage. The layout was fairly straight forward with some landing areas being much more forgiving than what the view from the tee box lets on. While writing this, I can't really say there was one hole that knocked my socks off but it was a fun layout. It's a forgiving course but if you got really wayward and landed in the long ground cover, your ball was as good as lost. It was a nice way to kickoff my Arizona golf trip and I'll be back.

I feel obligated to mention my experience at Camelback this last Wednesday. I booked last minute using tee times.com, got a 9:20 time on Padre 18. I arrived 20 minutes early to enjoy their great prac... Continue »

I feel obligated to mention my experience at Camelback this last Wednesday. I booked last minute using tee times.com, got a 9:20 time on Padre 18. I arrived 20 minutes early to enjoy their great practice facility. Check in was seamless, greeted promptly by cart attendant, very pleasant gentlemen, as was the pro shop. I hit a few balls and practiced putting as I know their greens to be quite speedy. I proceeded to the tee, going out alone as a single.

I knew in advance that Padre was cart path only at this time but decided it would be fine and teed off, I hit my approach shot, then around the corner comes Ron, the course attendant. He said I was behind several tee times of a woman's golf league and said that it may be a little slow, but they are moving well. I said I'd just take my time and enjoy the day. He then made a call to the starters desk and asked if I would like to play ambiente instead, just to jump ahead of a foresome and come back and play 1 at the conclusion of my round.

Needless to say, I took him up on his offer, and played this immaculate course in just over 3 hours. The tees, fairways and greens are beyond any reproach, really second to none in the valley for this time of year.

I have always had great experiences playing here, but this was beyond all expectations. I highly recommend this facility, based not only on course conditions but on all levels of service.