Played Tues 5/7, 11am tee time. There aren't many golf courses in Phoenix that can accurately be called "scenic." Sure, some have nice views of the local topography, but at the end of the day, it's st... Continue »

Played Tues 5/7, 11am tee time. There aren't many golf courses in Phoenix that can accurately be called "scenic." Sure, some have nice views of the local topography, but at the end of the day, it's still grass surrounded by a lot of dirt, desert, and sagebrush. Ocotillo is such an exception. The course consists of three 9-hole segments: the Gold, White & Blue courses.

There is no desert here. There is, however, water, and a lot of it. Water as a lateral hazard, water that protects many Par 3s and must be carried on second shots on Par 4s, water on 75% of the holes. It's a wonderful and beautiful change of pace from cacti and rock wedges. The Blue course has two waterfalls near the tee areas (on holes 5 & 8) you won't see anywhere else in this town.

As for the course itself, the fairways are somewhat generous but they do narrow and slope towards the water on many holes, so proper placement is important. Most tee boxes were in good to very good shape, though some of the Par 3s were a bit chewed up and a couple others crowned. Fairways were green and overwatered in spots (not unlike Raven), but I did not have a bad lie all day. Bunkers had heavy, fluffy sand and could be worked properly. Greens were very fast and a bit sparse, but I did not see any putts roll offline because of the sparseness.

Amenities: this is a resort course in SE Phoenix; it acts accordingly. From the team that takes your bag to the clubhouse to the cart girl who came by 6+ times, everyone was friendly and helpful (sad no mango towels available today though). Excellent driving range with all-you-can-eat balls with which to practice, and a couple small putting greens as well. Probably my only gripe was pace of play: even with an 11 AM tee time, POP was 4:15, due to two foursomes ahead of us who would neither yield nor play from the proper tees given their collective abilities.

CP

Got on for an unbelievable deal from golfnow for $20 each. Course was gorgeous. Tee boxes were great. Fairways were great. Rough was great. The greens had some ball marks on them and ran a little slow... Continue »

Got on for an unbelievable deal from golfnow for $20 each. Course was gorgeous. Tee boxes were great. Fairways were great. Rough was great. The greens had some ball marks on them and ran a little slow, probably because the course was a little wet, but spots without ball marks were nice and smooth. Not a desert course at all, lush with trees. Would definitely play again.

Ocotillo Golf Resort Course Review
Phoenix Arizona Golf Course Reviews

Played at Ocotillo today, and the greens are in very rough shape. The greens are extremely chewed up, with numerous spike marks around the holes.

Played at Ocotillo today, and the greens are in very rough shape. The greens are extremely chewed up, with numerous spike marks around the holes.

Played on 7-16-11 Course was in good condition for the middle of July. Tee boxes were a bit uneven but, nothing a club length couldnt fix, fairways were thin in some spots but, nothing serious sand wa... Continue »

Played on 7-16-11 Course was in good condition for the middle of July. Tee boxes were a bit uneven but, nothing a club length couldnt fix, fairways were thin in some spots but, nothing serious sand was good a little hard in some no problems tho. Greens were firm and held, ran smooth with medium to fast speed and true. Ocotillo in my opinion is a fun course with challenging holes that winds through a housing area with lots of water but, really shouldnt come into play (water and houses) on to many holes. With the rates one can get in the summer this course is well worth the price. The practice area can be short at times and they dont want you hit driver some days plus the chipping and putting area are real small.

We played the Blue/White rotation today. We played in 3 hours and 40 minutes, with a 1003 tee time. I've played here several times, and I must say this is the worst condition I've seen it in-it was ... Continue »

We played the Blue/White rotation today. We played in 3 hours and 40 minutes, with a 1003 tee time. I've played here several times, and I must say this is the worst condition I've seen it in-it was certainly playable and actually OK, but not up to the usual Ocotillo (Troon) standards. The fairways were thin, looking as if the over-seed hadn't taken yet, the greens were ok and fast, some with a lot of ball marks on them, although this is likely not the fault of the course, more so the golfers!! Most of the pin placements today were certainly a challenge! The bunkers were mostly good, except there were a few green-side bunkers that had many rocks in them-rocks not pebbles although there were lots of bunkers with pebbles in them too, but rocks is a bit much! The service was good. Hopefully a bit of heat will bring the course around.

Played Sunday 8/08. Course much busier than expected for a Sunday afternoon. Played as a single behind two painfully slow twosomes, neither of whom would let me play through. Tee boxes were in very go... Continue »

Played Sunday 8/08. Course much busier than expected for a Sunday afternoon. Played as a single behind two painfully slow twosomes, neither of whom would let me play through. Tee boxes were in very good shape, though a bit hardened and some divots on the par 3's. All the fairways were immaculate...impossible to get a bad lie. Green everywhere. Speaking of which, the greens were the most disappointing feature today. Slow, bumpy, a number of ball marks scattered throughout. At the desk, was promised cart service featuring the famous mango towels--no dice today. Cart girl came by once on the front and back nine, but no towels to be had. Even with all the water, I found it didn't really come into play often. I fade the ball, and that tends to keep the ball away from the water hazards on most holes. All-in-all, still a great place to spend an afternoon.

This place is wonderful...if you like lots of water. I played the gold/blue nines and there was water on almost every hole. The greens were in great shape, the fairways and tee boxes also were in gr... Continue »

This place is wonderful...if you like lots of water. I played the gold/blue nines and there was water on almost every hole. The greens were in great shape, the fairways and tee boxes also were in great shape. The bunkers really need to have alot of work done to them and they also need to add sand.....they were like dirt and they were rock hard. All-in-all this is just a very fun track.

Played Gold and Blue March 13. Course was in great shape, never a bad lie or bumpy green. The traps were half dirt with pebbles, kind of strange for such a nice course, they played ok though. Water on... Continue »

Played Gold and Blue March 13. Course was in great shape, never a bad lie or bumpy green. The traps were half dirt with pebbles, kind of strange for such a nice course, they played ok though. Water on most of the holes, but only comes into play on about half of them. Used to be farm land, they moved a lot of dirt for all the lakes. There are almost no even lies. Strongly suggest using provided course guide, cannot see reachable water on some tees. Probably one of the best subdivision courses in Phoenix area.

Ocotillo is the opposite of everything you normally see in Phoenix golf. No desert, no cactus, no long patches of nothing along the OB. It's green and wet, with water coming into play on about 65-70% ... Continue »

Ocotillo is the opposite of everything you normally see in Phoenix golf. No desert, no cactus, no long patches of nothing along the OB. It's green and wet, with water coming into play on about 65-70% of the holes.

There are three sets of 9-hole courses here: Gold, Blue & White, with four sets of tees to choose from, depending on your skill level. I played all 27 holes today, and hit from the blues. The course is not particularly long (even from the tips, it isn't 7000 yards, and the blues are second longest at 6400 yards), but it plays a lot longer than the stated yardage. Lots of swales, hills & dales all through the courses, with water in the form of lakes and/or meandering streams everywhere, so good course management is a must.

What I liked was on the par 5s, you seemed to have a generous landing area, and while there are a number of bunkers throughout the course, very few of them blocked the hole from a good fairway lie, so you could run up a long fairway wood without penalty.
Most tee boxes were in good shape, though the ones on a couple of par 3s were definitely in need of resodding from all the divots. Fairways had some dead spots, but I cannot recall ever having a bad lie from a fairway lie. The traps had excellent sand in them to allow for a good explosion shot, and the greens were fast, firm and a bit treacherous. Pin placements were especially nasty today, hidden behind bunkers or a just a couple paces from the fringe, and a few holes had some real dips that, if you misread your putt, would cause the ball to end up many, many feet from the hole.

Service was an A+, everyone was wonderful there, the cartgirl must have come by at least 7-8 times w/o being annoying about it and the practice facilities were in great shape. A wonderful golf experience.

CP