I played Raven late Saturday morning. We were set to tee off at 1133.
We arrived earlier than expected at 1000. Walked up to the three attendants on duty carrying our bags and waited. Two of the t... Continue »

I played Raven late Saturday morning. We were set to tee off at 1133.
We arrived earlier than expected at 1000. Walked up to the three attendants on duty carrying our bags and waited. Two of the three attendants made eye contact with us but chose to ignore us. One finally asked if we were playing. He stated they were waiting for carts but would have one for us quickly. We went in the clubhouse, paid for our greens fee and range balls, and went back outside expecting our bags to be on a cart. No such luck. Went to chip and putt thinking a cart would be available by the time we finished.
The front range was closed today and they were using the back portion of the range for warm up. At this time we were approximately 45 minutes to our tee time. I asked one of the employees if we could get a cart to go to the back of the range to warm up. He said he needed to start a group and to ask one of the other employees. I asked another employee and he said they were still waiting on carts. My friend went inside to and asked someone at the front desk if we could get a cart and he said no problem we'll run you back there. So nearly an hour of being at the course we finally received a cart and were able to go to the range and warm up. The back range required a drive down the 13th hole interfering with players on that hole. We received a "loner" cart to go to the range. We had to put our clubs on the cart. When coming back we received our actual playing cart in which we had to move our clubs to. I don't mind putting my own clubs on the cart but this is supposed to be a high end course.
After being told we could proceed to the 1st tee an employee came after us saying one of us hadn't paid and we needed to visit the pro shop.
Needless to say a lot of confusion before our round even started. I understand if I was playing a lower end course without the resources to have enough carts or to have a playable range but the Raven does not fit this description. A course claiming to be one of the top in the valley provided extremely poor customer service.
On to the course itself. Tee boxes were chewed up pretty bad and not real level. Some were better than others but not the greatest. Fairways were in good shape. A few bare spots but not in horrible shape. Greens were all consistent and were great to hit into and putt on. Overall the course was in good late Phoenix summer condition.
Pace of play was good through the front nine and then hit a wall on the back side. Two hours on the front and 2.5 hours on the back.
Needless to say the customer service today left a lot to be desired. I don't expect to be pampered all the time but when playing a course with the reputation and price of the Raven you expect a little more. Not sure I'll be back after today's experience.

Played today and is in good shape, with teeing grounds and fairways excellent. The green speed was kinda slow/bit grainy. There were a couple bumpy rides for balls on the way to the hole. There were ... Continue »

Played today and is in good shape, with teeing grounds and fairways excellent. The green speed was kinda slow/bit grainy. There were a couple bumpy rides for balls on the way to the hole. There were some very thin spots on the mounds found throughout the course, including around the greens. As well, said thin spots included the mounding framing the fairways (i.e. the 'rough'). My playing partners had some horrible lies within a few yards of the greens on a couple occasions, due to thin/clumpy turf. Other than that, all playable. The bunkers had ample sand. Pace was excellent though we were second out after a tournament. At our own pace, went about 3:40

Great condition, great experience. The greens were in the best shape I can imagine them, all smooth and fast, bit when they were supposed to bite, and rolled very true.

I'd play it again and again,... Continue »

Great condition, great experience. The greens were in the best shape I can imagine them, all smooth and fast, bit when they were supposed to bite, and rolled very true.

I'd play it again and again, if available at a reasonable price. Today, we played with a men's group, so the price was low. Based on the experience this day, and the overall design of the course, I can easily imagine playing this course a lot. Great pace of play.

Enjoy! We certainly did!

Played January 31. Phoned course and got the best deal after checking various web-sites the course itself offered the best deal.. 0954 time for $70+tx. Course was in very good condition overall. A ... Continue »

Played January 31. Phoned course and got the best deal after checking various web-sites the course itself offered the best deal.. 0954 time for $70+tx. Course was in very good condition overall. A few bare spots on the fairways but nothing significant and the fairways here are fairly generous. Greens were good, held a shot, putted true. Lots of bunkers on this course, sand was generally good, some were a bit thin but overall good. The bunkers are very well placed and will catch errant tee shots and approach shots Some of the bunkers are huge, so avoid at all costs!! The staff are very friendly, pa
ce of play today was very good, our foursome was done in 3 hrs. 55 minutes and never did see the group in front or behind us, well spaced times today. Definitely play it if you can get a good rate, but the $150 rack rate is a bit high, even though this is one of my favorite tracks in Phx area.

Played the Raven as a single on August 23rd with a 3 45 pm tee time around 22 bucks. For the fee, this course is well worth it in every extent of a golf course. Staff was welcoming, took my bag, and g... Continue »

Played the Raven as a single on August 23rd with a 3 45 pm tee time around 22 bucks. For the fee, this course is well worth it in every extent of a golf course. Staff was welcoming, took my bag, and gave me the range balls which are complimentary. Now, the GolfNow tee times are often confusing so I would advise to call ahead and ask what tee time and benefits come with it. I thought I booked the tee time with a sleeve of ProV1's but was notified I had to "upgrade" to get that. OK. Sounds fair enough. No cart girl, but water coolers every 3 holes and bathrooms every 6 or so.

Once I got to the first tee though, I remembered why I love this course. This course is so secluded from the city that you get little street noise and the trees breathe in a fresh aroma that is rare around AZ in August. Many fairways are what I call concave targets. If you land your ball in the rough on either side, most likely it'll roll down to the fairway. IF you really miss and hit a tree (or two) the desert/pine straw mix will roll down to the rough. The condition of the fairways were lush and many divots had seed in it. The rough was low enough to see your ball however can harm your approach shot as the ball sat down in the dry wispy stuff. The greens were amazing and I was lucky enough to play while the landscapers were watering them so they accepted shots even more. Bunkers looked good, however I was never in them so I wouldn't know how playable they were ;-)

The strategy at this course isn't too extreme, playing from the tips around 7,000 leads to driver or 3 wood off every par 4/5. The par 3's never required anything past a 6 iron. Greens are this courses defense. They have false fronts, tricky slopes, and tucked pins when they want so scores aren't super easy to come by.

Because of the price in the summer, I can't really say there is a better valued course with such great removal from the city such like the Raven. Trees and water were placed at all the right spots here. Now the only complaint is how expensive it gets in the peak season. But I guess that's everywhere...

Played at Raven on 7-3-14 with a tee time of 3:20 pm for only $22. Great value for this golf course. First off, bring your boom stick (driver) and the flat stick. Because it is looonnnggg. Bubba long.... Continue »

Played at Raven on 7-3-14 with a tee time of 3:20 pm for only $22. Great value for this golf course. First off, bring your boom stick (driver) and the flat stick. Because it is looonnnggg. Bubba long. Played in the afternoon on a hot day, 105 degrees, so the greens were fast and firm but very receptive. The green issue mentioned by others must have healed by my tee time.

The fairways are rather forgiving, not really too narrow so you can be aggressive almost every time. The rough has lush and at times really long. However, nothing a Tiger-like hack couldn't take care of. The bunkers were amazing. With the heat in mind, the bunkers were nice and fluffy well managed. The course played long and true, with amazing views of the city and burbs. Playing bad is easy with this course, lots of sneaky placements possible as well as deep bunkers and rough. Course was a blast to play.

The overall service of the course was below average to be honest. I'm not too picky with how the employees go along their days, especially because of the brutal heat. But as we walked up, the guy was chatting loudly on his phone and never stopped through the whole checkout process. Whatever, only have to deal with him once. Then strike two, the cart girl was completely unavailable. Apparently the cart girl didn't come into work. Alright, got me a little heated (pun intended). But strike three got me extremely angry. If the cart girl isn't going to be making trips, have the restaurant open for beverages and food. NOPE. Closed for some odd reason I was enlightened. Service was "average" other than that...

Played Raven on 6/13. Their summer special is $35 including range balls and a Gatorade.
The course looked wide open when I started but they were busy and I ended up joining a twosome. I still pla... Continue »

Played Raven on 6/13. Their summer special is $35 including range balls and a Gatorade.
The course looked wide open when I started but they were busy and I ended up joining a twosome. I still played in about 4 hours.
The course was in good shape for summertime. The fairways had a decent amount of grass on them. There were some dry and burned out spots but nothing to affect play.
The greens held a shot and were a consistent speed all day long.
Raven doesn't really have anything that stands out as a golf course but I think is playable for all levels of golfers. Unless you are way off line with shots you will normally have a chance to make some shot to the hole. It's a nice break from the dessert courses.

(Played May 28th 7 am)The "Raven" is definitely a course that allows golfers that usually shoot 90's to 100's to score and get some birdies. It transplanted hundreds/thousands of trees that surround e... Continue »

(Played May 28th 7 am)The "Raven" is definitely a course that allows golfers that usually shoot 90's to 100's to score and get some birdies. It transplanted hundreds/thousands of trees that surround each hole which allows for a ton of shade and helps barricade each hole if you miss the fairway left or right. Greens were about a bit slow but smooth and fairways were negligible. Its an average course but a playable one. I recommend this for any birdie seekers out there.

Was really happy to get back out to this course after having not played it in about 10 years. OB Sports is now managing the property and you can definitely tell they are returning the course to the re... Continue »

Was really happy to get back out to this course after having not played it in about 10 years. OB Sports is now managing the property and you can definitely tell they are returning the course to the reputation it built back in the last 90's early 00's. The service was fantastic. Very friendly guys working outside, knowledgeable staff inside and really cool food and beverage girls. Save yourself some time to grab a bit inside when the round is over, good food in the restaurant.

Great practice facility to get warmed up with a very large range, large putting green and chip/bunker area. Everything from the greens-fairways-rough was in comparable condition to the rest of the AZ courses right now. Bunkers were a bit thin (my only complaint). I recommend playing the Raven and will play this course again on another trip to AZ.

My rate was $159 which included a $10 food/beverage credit and $30 merchandise credit for an 8:30 am tee time.