1st stop on a 3 day golfing trip with all the courses were with-in 30 mins of maricopa harrah's casino. wed march 30th 250pm tee time for $87.00 low 80s with a gentle breeze,first time here and the co... Continue »

1st stop on a 3 day golfing trip with all the courses were with-in 30 mins of maricopa harrah's casino. wed march 30th 250pm tee time for $87.00 low 80s with a gentle breeze,first time here and the course conditions did not disappoint...tee boxs level and good coverage 9,fairways were like carpeting 9, rough long grass or desert but mostly still playable 8,bunkers were either hardpan or very soft and lots of them 7,greens were VERY fast but fair 9practice facilities were awesome grass range and large chipping and separate large putting greens 10, resturant and outdoor patio was very nice and fair priced food..the views and the pristine conditons were awesome...highly recomend

Played here today (9/5) with GK member Abbacat (Wendy) on a 7:04am tee time under threat of rain/lightning that never came to fruition thankfully. Had heard nothing but great things about this course ... Continue »

Played here today (9/5) with GK member Abbacat (Wendy) on a 7:04am tee time under threat of rain/lightning that never came to fruition thankfully. Had heard nothing but great things about this course but being it’s over 2 hours away, never thought I’d get the chance to play. Wendy was nice enough to offer the chance on her way out of AZ and my way back home and we made it happen, thankful to have gotten to try this course out, even if conditions were far from prestige with fall maintenance less than a week away! Tees: no issues on the blue tee boxes I played, but the red boxes Wendy played had more than a few uneven lies. Lots of tee options to chose from too for golfers of all skill levels. Fairways: good shape given the storm that passed hours before tee off and the fact summer was unkind im sure. No issues with roll or lies. Rough: the rough here is minimal; the native rough in the land that flanks the course is beyond penal. I lost a drive to it on the back 9 and didn’t even bother trying to look. Sand: this place has the name dunes for a reason; bunkers litter every hole, all shapes and sizes so best to get used to the dirt-like sand you’ll encounter. Greens: good shape as well, though they didn’t hold a single shot all day. They were firm, quick, and undulation was very tricky for me today. ETC: very nice property isolated from everything. Staff was friendly all around (they even offered bug spray!) and frankly this place could charge twice what it does and get away with it but they don’t. Facilities reek of Troon class all-around; clubhouse had everything you could ever want. Pace today was insanely good at 4 hours even with the groups behind us pushing us from beginning to end! Highly recommend.

I played the course on June 30th, I didn't know this beauty of a course was out there. It has a great layout, it was in super shape considering its summer in Arizona. They also treat you right supplyi... Continue »

I played the course on June 30th, I didn't know this beauty of a course was out there. It has a great layout, it was in super shape considering its summer in Arizona. They also treat you right supplying water bottles on nearly every hole. It's a diamond in the rough.

I got out to the town of Maricopa to play Southern Dunes. The drive took close to an hour for me due to the only road into Maricopa down to one lane. Those who know the road understand it isn’t the be... Continue »

I got out to the town of Maricopa to play Southern Dunes. The drive took close to an hour for me due to the only road into Maricopa down to one lane. Those who know the road understand it isn’t the best to begin with.
We teed off around 1020 as a foursome in three carts. Precautions are taken including a touch less door handle, no rakes, no divot mix and pool noodles in the hole. Customer service, as most Troon managed courses is at the top of the game. U limited bottles of water provided due to the high temperature and lack of water coolers on the course. Nice touch and something you only see at high end courses.
The course was still in awesome spring time shape. We’ve only recently seen temperatures climb in Phoenix and you can tell on the course. Nice green fairways and the greens were a highlight through the round. They were on the firm side. Even we’ll struck approach shots seemed to have a good amount of roll out to them. I really enjoyed putting on them. Well struck putts would hold their line.
As previous reviewers stated the course is no push over. Accuracy, length and a good short game are necessary here. Lots of bunkers clearly but I feel a lot of them are there to visually intimidate you off the tee. The course is forgiving enough if you can find grass under your ball. Scores can be had.
Overall, a great course to make the trip out there every so often. If you live close it’s definitely a track to play often especially as summer months come.
A warning for those not familiarity. A few farms are around and they do have a lot of cows at them. Good luck when the wind blows just right. Also, lots of insects will follow you around the course. Those are really the only drawbacks to the course.

Used teeoff.com got a deal Friday 8 am with 2 coworkers for $67. Top natch practice facility here. Really nice staff and customer service A+ as you would expect at a Troon course. The group who tee... Continue »

Used teeoff.com got a deal Friday 8 am with 2 coworkers for $67. Top natch practice facility here. Really nice staff and customer service A+ as you would expect at a Troon course. The group who teed off in front of us flew. We were only a three some, so after the second hole we never saw anyone again for the entire round. The course is in near perfect condition. Lush turf throughout. Only dings are minor yellow and brown areas and some divots in the fairways. Tee boxes were nice and level. There was some holes and rough spots in a couple. The greens were great. Very smooth greens with subtle and severe contours making for challenging lag putts. There were noticeable ballmarks and bumps I saw on partners putts nothing bad though. Speed was fast and the putts broke true. The course boasts over 129 bunkers and some of the longest and luckily they were very consistent. Not the fluffy pro sand but a dense more compacted sand. The bunkers actually very easy and predictable to play out of. A few were a muddy and needed to be raked. What's unique about the bunkers is their design. They are not the typical steep heavily lipped penal bunkers common locally. In contrast the bunkers here are enormous. And have large have circle lips. However they aren't steep and the ball was rolling down and collecting in the bottom. They aren't difficult to play out of but wow are the sight lines terrifying on the par 3's and a few of the par 4s. It appears almost as if the bunkers are extending up to further defend the greens. Quite the mental intimidation factor. It's a really fun players course. The fairways are wide and you can let the big dog eat. It will really test your shot making, putting, and up and down skills. One of the more fun courses I have played. If you want a test of your skills on a players course that's not ridiculously penal this is the place.

Played here today with a 9:00 "Deal" time from TeeOff.com. Using 20% off promo code, I paid $63 plus tax. Arrived pretty early and it was oddly much colder than 45 minutes north in Mesa, where I'm sta... Continue »

Played here today with a 9:00 "Deal" time from TeeOff.com. Using 20% off promo code, I paid $63 plus tax. Arrived pretty early and it was oddly much colder than 45 minutes north in Mesa, where I'm staying. Lots of cloud cover until right around our tee time, when the sun started to break through. Service was exceptional all around, as it often is at Troon facilities. (They have a wood-burning outdoor fireplace right at the first tee that made that whole area smell amazing.) We started just a few minutes late and POP was predictably a bit slow due to the course currently being cart path only. The starter said they are typically CPO through Thanksgiving, but this year they're checking the roots of the grass in hopes of possibly clearing carts on fairways earlier.

Conditions are excellent. I gave it all 9s and 8s. Greens were great, very smooth, medium-fast and more firm than soft. Fairways are really good, very green and lush, and I suspect they'll get just get even better over the next couple weeks. Same for the rough, which wasn't too penal. Tee boxes were fantastic. The plentiful bunkers were in really good condition.

This was my first time here. I'd heard a lot about the course and it pretty much lived up to my expectations. They promote it as "pure golf" and that's very true. It's a sprawling course with wide fairways and lots of really nice contours, and no homes or anything else in sight. Maybe the only knock on it, personally, is that it lacks any significant elevation changes. As I said on Instagram, it reminded me of a hybrid between Goose Creek and Primm Valley (Desert), but on a much larger scale. The tips can stretch to 7600 yards here! Unfortunately I played terribly, so I'd love to get another shot at it again sometime.

After the round the range still had balls all over it so it seemed #minidunes wasn't open.

Highly recommended!

Played this course in December and found it to be in really good shape despite the floods which had closed it a few weeks before.
The greens, bunkers , fairways and rough were all very playable and ... Continue »

Played this course in December and found it to be in really good shape despite the floods which had closed it a few weeks before.
The greens, bunkers , fairways and rough were all very playable and made for an enjoyable day. With our Troon Card 2-for-1 deal it was also good value.
Its quite a way out from Scottsdale but definitely worth the drive. I would rate it at least the equal of Troon North Monument and Grayhawk Raptor.

Played here Wed 1/9 at $69, a pretty good deal. I liked the layout a lot, though there were a few issues. The course was WET! I don't know if they have drainage issues or not, as I played two more co... Continue »

Played here Wed 1/9 at $69, a pretty good deal. I liked the layout a lot, though there were a few issues. The course was WET! I don't know if they have drainage issues or not, as I played two more courses in the Phoenix area the next two days and there were no water issues. Needless to say, there was not much roll on Wed. The sand traps were horrible because of the water. The sand was deep, and very heavy.
High point of the course was the greens. They were firm and fast, but still held shots fairly well.
All in all, I will probably give this course another try when I'm in Phoenix.

Played the championship worth course of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes for $45 off GolfNow at 1:50 pm on August 30th. This course presented in the beginning of the outskirts of Maricopa, tree lined once you a... Continue »

Played the championship worth course of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes for $45 off GolfNow at 1:50 pm on August 30th. This course presented in the beginning of the outskirts of Maricopa, tree lined once you approach the course from Highway 348. The parking lot/cart attendant assisted me with my bag right away. I showed up early to hit the range which is included in the tee time but it was closed today for reason beyond any explanation given by staff. No cart girl on the course but it was afternoon in the summer, almost to be expected. The course offered water bottles every three holes, FULL WATER bottles, in an ice filled cooler near the hole monument, classy. This is a course managed by Troon, servicing of the course is to be expected and this place was no different. Tee boxes, which there are six of, were all well manicured and trimmed easily accepting of my tees. The fairways were pristine, of the wide fairways I couldn't find any bare spots or extreme divot damage as sand filled was available on every cart and people seem to use it here. The bunkers, of which there are MANY (I'd say at least 100 even after renovation and removal), were in amazing condition. For the fairway bunkers they were firm and machined raked. The green side bunkers were soft and receptive of errant approach shots making for a guaranteed tough up and down. The greens were firm and a bit dry but they were really really true, the whole course is FIRM to be honest. The greens played like championship greens with complex hills and rolling crevices, all seemingly in the right (or wrong) spots. This course's strategy (from the tips around 7,540 according to scorecard) test the southwest every year as its the US Open qualifying site and it's apparent. I came here this summer with my best game ready to play this course for the first time and left humbled. Off the tee, the line you want to take is often interrupted visually with a bunker that you later notice once you approach your ball that is actually guarding the green. The course is demanding of you off the tee because you NEED a controllable iron to approach with any chance of a birdie. Long isn't the only trick this course has. The greens have tiers and not necessarily in the sense of elevation but in comparison to bunkers where they're located. A lot of greens have run off areas which is a note to know where to miss the green however the grass is often cut very short to make those shots difficult. The par 5's have chances to score but the greens are well placed, akin to any "short" par 4's. Service, top notch; conditions, immaculate; strategy, championship worth...cost, priceless. Head out to test your game, soon. This course is worth it. I've played tough tough championship courses and I'll say this one was the most enjoyable.