My majestic week of golf continued across the state this time when I was fortunate enough to play a round at the iconic Troon North Monument course outside of Scottsdale, AZ. It was a bitter cold morn... Continue »

My majestic week of golf continued across the state this time when I was fortunate enough to play a round at the iconic Troon North Monument course outside of Scottsdale, AZ. It was a bitter cold morning but thankfully the blue skies came out and warmed up the experience by around midway through the front nine.

What a course! What perfect conditions! What a credit card bill! Yes, everything you may have heard about Troon North is true - fairways are perfectly manicured carpets, greens are flawless and fast, rough is lush and penal, bunkers are the fluffy perfect stuff and the big range of tee boxes allows for a great experience at all levels. You've read all that.

And despite that all being true, I'm just not sure that this course merits its VERY hefty price tag. The conditions are perfect - no doubt about that. The carts are luxurious and well-appointed. The clubhouse is modern and sleek and the staff is inviting and knowledgeable. The layout? It's tough. Really tough. There's a par 5 with a 200 yard carry uphill into a narrowing canyon that maxes out at around 30 yards at the mouth. There's not much here besides fairway and death. Miss it and you're doomed. But hit good shots and be rewarded.

The greens are thrillingly fast and perfectly surfaced. They are very slick and require pretty perfect tee shots to hold the greens, and if you don't, you're rolling off into very difficult collection areas. I saw quite a few off on one side then off on the other shots from my group. It's a challenge.

All that being said, the greens fee was north of the $425 mark and while that is certainly reflective of the quality of the course, it's not a fee that I would be willing to pay all too often. But I'm not going to complain one bit about the experience as it was world class and if you have the means, you will love this course ... if your game happens to be sharp that day.

Got in a nice early round today on monument. We haven’t played here in years… Wasn’t as hard as I had remembered. Good fair challenge. Blazing heat wave in the desert this week meant the course was a ... Continue »

Got in a nice early round today on monument. We haven’t played here in years… Wasn’t as hard as I had remembered. Good fair challenge. Blazing heat wave in the desert this week meant the course was a little soggy first thing in the morning but I’m sure by noon it has dried out well. Service is always perfect here as every Troon we have ever been to. For most of their courses being busy resort courses they do a great job of making every customer feel like they are happy that they went to golf there. Conditions were a bit of a mix. Everything was basically fine and good but the greens had awful severe divot marks. Hole one was atrocious, two through nine not much better. 10 11 12 seem to get a little bit better and then the last holes looked like people ran out of steam and weren’t dropping too many on the green by then. I love Troon for all they are and all of their courses are so well-managed. My only advice... I would take about 18 staff members, actually make it 20 because three of them will have to be on hole one, and tell them all to each pick a hole and spend an hour fixing divots. And to the people that left them… Shame on you. If you can hit it that close you should be able to fix your own d%mn divot.

This course's customer service is hands down amazing!! It was 90 degrees when we teed off at 6:45AM and by the time we finished, it was well over HOT!! Played this course in just under 4 and a half ho... Continue »

This course's customer service is hands down amazing!! It was 90 degrees when we teed off at 6:45AM and by the time we finished, it was well over HOT!! Played this course in just under 4 and a half hours. Everything was smooth from the bag drop, to check in, to getting our carts, and teeing off. Warmed up on the range for a bit and putted some. The greens on about holes 1-13 had major divot marks. I was busy trying to fix as many as I could. There is a cart girl on the front 9 and another on the back 9. No water on the course or divot/sand mix, but they do give you waters and an iced chest filled with ice on the carts and the Marshall does come by to offer a refill on the bottles of water. Touch screen GPS on the carts come in handy! Tee boxes were fine. Fairways and sand were good. No rakes in the bunkers, but that is too be expected. Summertime is SUPER DUPER HOT, so you need to keep hydrated and take advantage of what shade is available. Beautiful course with lots of organ cactus and saguaros. Beautiful homes on the back 9 as well!

Played Tuesday 06/30 Course is in very good shape. Tee boxes are very lush with only a little divot damage on the par threes. Fairways are near excellent. The only drawback is no divot mix on the ca... Continue »

Played Tuesday 06/30 Course is in very good shape. Tee boxes are very lush with only a little divot damage on the par threes. Fairways are near excellent. The only drawback is no divot mix on the carts and the divots are more visible now. There is no rough to speak of. Sand traps are full of sand with a few starting to get a little crusty. There are no rakes anywhere. Greens are near perfect. I don’t what kind of grass they have, but they have not gone into the “summer transition” Saw the cart girl several times. There is drinking water around the course. Customer service is excellent.kj

Played here last twilight with a special guest. KC Leonard is the current active armed forces golf club champion. He had a tournament upcoming here and I was more than happy to have a running mate. ... Continue »

Played here last twilight with a special guest. KC Leonard is the current active armed forces golf club champion. He had a tournament upcoming here and I was more than happy to have a running mate. We got out at 4:45 flew and saw 1 person and had the course to ourselves. Easily finished 18 with epic sunsets to close. The course was even in better shape than when I played pinnacle a month or two ago. The course is pristine right now. Greens were a tad slower than accustomed too. Maybe rolling medium / fast here which is slow for this type of course. Absolutely rolling lush carpet greens. Fairways were immaculate. Green as can be still, which is amazing this time of year. Bunkers and every other amenity was perfect as always. The weather and conditions could not have been better. I had to find ways to nitpick this review. There were some yellow areas on some of the tee boxes. Also there wasn't rough. Those are the only nitpicks I could fine. The views from the closing here are unmatched. When you add the customer service, 36 holes, and prisitne conditions. You're foolish to play elsewhere. This is as best as it gets. If you were waiting for a time to play Troon N with awesome conditions / avoid the 110+ summer heat / and not spend $360 NOW is the time. Rare window of pre summer punching, reseeding pureness.

Played the Monument Course this morning with a 7:20 tee time, paired with a threesome. We went off behind a big group of 8 New Yorkers (leading off the course as 2 foursomes), so I thought they would ... Continue »

Played the Monument Course this morning with a 7:20 tee time, paired with a threesome. We went off behind a big group of 8 New Yorkers (leading off the course as 2 foursomes), so I thought they would be slow. We had to wait plenty of times, but not too terrible a pace at just over 4 hours.

Course conditions were exceptional, just as I would have hoped in peak season. A few soft spots after overnight watering, but overall fantastic on every level. Great tee boxes, lush fairways with perfectly fluffy lies and THICK rough. Pretty deep in spots and very sticky, so it was a real test. Haven't played proper rough like that in some time. The greens were great, fairly receptive with morning moisture and rolling smooth at ideal medium/fast speeds. Guys in the groups ahead were not fixing ball marks, so I did my best to tidy up when I saw fresh ones. Bunkers were also great.

I had played Pinnacle in 2012 and have been waiting for an opportunity to come back and play Monument. The invite I got was too good to pass up and it was a wonderful way to start off a quick 2-day trip. This is a great layout with excellent scenery and character. Back nine is especially memorable. Overall, I'd probably still take Pinnacle with a slight edge between the two, but you can't go wrong on either side of Troon North. Good service and facilities. Hard to say if it's worth such a crazy high price tag in season. Probably not, but it sure is nice here and big spenders should enjoy it plenty. My deal today was impossible to beat. Let's just say that.

Played here last night at 4:00. To give the course a fair shake it appears the course has seen some effects from the recent monsoons. The greens are surprisingly soft this time of year. Most likely... Continue »

Played here last night at 4:00. To give the course a fair shake it appears the course has seen some effects from the recent monsoons. The greens are surprisingly soft this time of year. Most likely from all the recent rain. They were rolling a medium to medium fast. However the greens have seen a lot of play. They have been pelted. The front nine greens are the worst. They are beat up with ball marks. At first I thought it was because people weren't repairing their ball marks but then as the round progressed I noticed almost every pitch was leaving a divot and they were very difficult to repair due to the soft moist greens. Only this half is open and coupled with the monsoon softness the greens are heavily devoted. The bunkers are superb here, consistent high quality. Not fluffy but very evenly maintained. The tee boxes are moderately worn too. They were lumpy and have the divots of a lot of plays. Some uneven tees but nothing dramatic. Fairways were lush because of the rain but there were lots of damaged areas. Fairways are a little beat up. Lots of residiual brown areas from when it was dried out before the rain. Also it appears they dug holes and added additional drains in low area of some fairways to help it drain so there is some damage from those. Fortunately most of the damaged, heavily played holes were in the front half of the opening nine. Once you made the turn, and especially once you climbed to the mountain holes it gets pure. The bermuda has grown in nicely in the shaded holes and fairways were lush on those holes. I can see why people either love or hate this course. Although I disagree with those who hate it. This course is desert golf that embraces the extreme. The monument rock in the middle of the fairway is sweet. The lava rocks sprinkled in the approaches is an awesome visual effect. The opening 9 is nothing too special past the first 3 holes but once it makes the turn uphill on the back nine this course is absolutely spectacular. The 12th, 14th and 15th holes are world class amazing holes. The 15th is absolutely stupid beautiful and amazing with it's views. I do agree 18th could use a little more substance as it's quite easy. But I personally love the minimilistic finish. It's the perfect complement to the first. The first hole is on the ridiculous side and makes you nervous about what you are about to embark on, then the 18th is an easy landing back to reality after the breathtaking finish to this course. It's the adult big brother to the Boulders in my opinion. The greens aren't overly difficult. The course isn't too tight and the approaches aren't overly demanding. You have to play this course in control and strategic and can't go driver every hole. The course isn't too long and the short par 4's balance out the two long 470+ plus ones which are quite demanding. This is far and away the best course I've played out here and it is a must play to any golfer. I think it's a spectacular display of golf course design and ingenuity. This is a course I will pay to play during winter to see it in mint condition as it would be worth the winter rates.

Played Monument on 10/15/16, just 8 days after re-open from fall maintenance. Course was cart path only, I had to leave quickly after completing the round, and that's the end of the negatives. And one... Continue »

Played Monument on 10/15/16, just 8 days after re-open from fall maintenance. Course was cart path only, I had to leave quickly after completing the round, and that's the end of the negatives. And one of those, the course could not control. (Started at 730am, I had to get out of my hotel room in Scottsdale by noon so had to rush back)

Everything else, from check in to end of the round was superb. Given I played only 8 days after re-open, I wasn't sure what exactly to expect, but had this course on the top my got to play list, so ventured out.

I was told by some of the locals the conditions would be much better in a month or two. I'm not sure how much better they could be. Conditions were nearly flawless, so now can't wait to go back to see how much better they can get.

Tee boxes were clean and level. Granted minimal play here since re-open, but clear the course takes care of every inch of the property.

Fairways were the highlight for me. I could see where the surface might be a little denser and firm in spots, but still were amazing. Emerald green and lush.

Greens were excellent. Medium fast, true, and fair. Nothing too elaborate in terms of undulation or size, just very well designed, receptive, and playable. Held shots well.

Only played from one greenside bunker, which was very good. Right amount of sand, dense but not too heavy.

The rock formations, desert flora outcroppings were spectacular and framed each hole beautifully. All of the nature around (birds, cactus, vegetation and even a couple of Javelina) made for a very interesting trip around the course. Homes nearby are not intrusive, tucked back from the playing area and unnoticeable while going around.

Service inside an out was great. Ambulance (aka Beverage Cart) came around 4 times, and always routinely provided additional ice even if you didn't purchase anything. Just a small touch that's noticed, because you normally don't get it. As always, my experience with Troon courses is top shelf. Pay a little more, but get the best conditions and service.

Highly recommend. (If you cant manage or don't want to be restricted to cart path, I believe they will be back on the fairways in a few weeks)
Enjoy

Played 06/30 Course is in excellent shape except for the greens. I know they aerated them a month ago but they did not look good . They are a little bumpy and almost have bare spots in them. It was a... Continue »

Played 06/30 Course is in excellent shape except for the greens. I know they aerated them a month ago but they did not look good . They are a little bumpy and almost have bare spots in them. It was a little disappointing because the practice putting green looks perfect.
The Tee Boxes are excellent along with the fairways. There is very little rough to speak of and the sand was very good. Customer service was very friendly