It’s been not even a week and I’m missing Arizona GK’ers already. Great time at AK-Chin Southern Dunes Thursday – thanks everyone for coming out and those that could not make, let’s get together next ... Continue »

It’s been not even a week and I’m missing Arizona GK’ers already. Great time at AK-Chin Southern Dunes Thursday – thanks everyone for coming out and those that could not make, let’s get together next time. I’ve been a little spoiled when it comes to playing AK-Chin Southern Dunes. I’ve always played it recently out of overseeding when it’s in immaculate shape. This time around I got to play it twice Thursday and Saturday (#TheOven15 – Tournament put on by Ricky Potts of the Friday Foursome) while in its summer condition. Although not immaculate, the course was still in great shape…a little better on Saturday than Thursday because they cut and rolled the greens. Everything is pretty lush with exception to the rough adjacent to the fairways (you’ll run into occasional thin spots). The greens are firm and roll a slower than I’m used to due to the need to keep them longer to handle the summer heat – completely understandable, but they play well. Fairways are firm and mostly lush with only a few thin areas. Bunkers in good shape with quality sand. Tee boxes in great shape lush and level. When playing this course, it’s essential you have a good handle on our sand game. Just about every miss if you keep it on the golf course has a great chance of finding a bunker. I hit 8 bunkers Thursday and 10 bunkers Saturday. The character of the bunkers is bold and they bring so much to the golf course that I would not get rid of any of them. Overall this is a super tough yet super fun layout. As far as the service and clubhouse, top-shelf. It’s a Troon Golf property so that’s expected. But what is really impressive is the practice facility in my mind. All that you need + even a short course called #miniDunes which I got to play on Saturday which is part of the driving range. 6 short holes suited to tune up your wedges and introduce golfers to the game. Fantastic idea. I’ll be back to play AK-Chin Southern Dunes for sure. The more I play the course the more I love it. BTW – get a milkshake while you are there…delicious.

Good times today with #TheOven15. Although the weather was about 105+, it seemed cooler with the high clouds and free water and ice every third hole. The course is in great summer condition, with leve... Continue »

Good times today with #TheOven15. Although the weather was about 105+, it seemed cooler with the high clouds and free water and ice every third hole. The course is in great summer condition, with level tees (we played the blues), great coverage in the fairways and rough, and nice sand throughout the course. I was in plenty of bunkers and I have no complaints. The greens were in good shape. Not as much break as you would guess and plenty quick for being all bermuda. I did not see one ball mark that needed fixing as the greens were very firm, but not overly so. Just be sure to land your shots short of the pin. Every time I have been here, I am greeted by smiling, friendly personnel and the customer service is on par with the best of courses. Thank you Ak-chin for providing a great golf venue. By the way, they also have a great gps system on the carts with touch-point yardages. Got to love that, right?

Played 7/23 in the GK Plays with uncleddboy23 & chilipalmer99, joined by JohnnyGK on the back nine. Really enjoyed the layout and the practice area is first rate - you're hitting to greens with pins,... Continue »

Played 7/23 in the GK Plays with uncleddboy23 & chilipalmer99, joined by JohnnyGK on the back nine. Really enjoyed the layout and the practice area is first rate - you're hitting to greens with pins, having a target is nice. In the afternoons they turn it into a 6-hole short course and kids can play free! Range balls included, as is unlimited bottled water (extra available at several tees all around the course).

(Note - DEFINITELY take advantage of the great bunker practice area - trust me, you'll be sorry if you don't!).

Course was in very good Bermuda condition, a few areas near the greens that were a little soggy but that's about the only negative. Greens rolled true (a little slower than I'm used to but normal for a desert course during summer), rough wasn't that long but very uniform in length, bunkers are EVERYWHERE but all were in excellent shape (I was in enough to know - again, use the practice bunker area!). You don't want to be off the grass here, the desert areas lining most holes are very penal.

Service was very good, immediately took our bags and got them on carts and had them ready to pick up in front after the round. Refreshment cart made several appearances. POP was decent, could have been faster if we knew the course (and didn't spend so much time raking bunkers - USE THE PRACTICE AREA! LOL). Food was very good and reasonably priced.

Highly recommended if you're in the area.

Played out at AK-Chin Southern Dunes on Thursday 7/23/15 with JohnnyGK, the AZ GK'ers and a Hemet Gk'er. JohnnyGK got us a great rate for the golf and treated us to lunch after the round ... thanks J... Continue »

Played out at AK-Chin Southern Dunes on Thursday 7/23/15 with JohnnyGK, the AZ GK'ers and a Hemet Gk'er. JohnnyGK got us a great rate for the golf and treated us to lunch after the round ... thanks John! This was my first time at a GK play or GK event, and I enjoyed playing with John and the GK'ers very much.

Course was in very good shape. Bermuda was growing in nicely and the greens were true. The greens were not fast as they are in the winter, but if you put a nice stroke on the ball there was a good chance that it was going in the hole.

I felt that the course was pretty wide open off the tee, but the closer you got to the green the more the bunkers came into play. The bunkers ... there are a lot of them on the course. Most of them were deep and you need to practice your sand play before you play at AK Chin. There is a lot of bunkers on all the par 3's and the par 4 14th hole that measured 283 yards from the blue tees had 17 of them!

The pro shop staff and the starter were all very professional. We saw the beverage cart three or four times during the round. As stated earlier, John bought us lunch in the Arroyo Grille and my deli sandwich was good and the onion rings were really good.

Overall, I really enjoyed the course and will definitely play there again. John, thanks again for the nice course and lunch!

Played this course at 8 am on 7-23-15 for $35 in a golf outing arranged by JohnnyGK. Thanks Johnny for setting this up!

By the by, Southern Dunes has an awesome special going on, where you get six ... Continue »

Played this course at 8 am on 7-23-15 for $35 in a golf outing arranged by JohnnyGK. Thanks Johnny for setting this up!

By the by, Southern Dunes has an awesome special going on, where you get six rounds for $129, or $21.5 a round. You also get an additional 6 rounds on their Mini Dunes course, six beverages, six Pro V1’s, and 20% off dining at the Arroyo Grille.

Link: http://www.greenskeeper.org/arizona/phoenix/southern_dunes_golf_club/ratesspecials.cfm

The course conditions are superb for summer, but with the attendant issue that there are some waterlogged areas on the course. One of my playing partners had issues chipping around the green from some of these mushy areas.

This is a minor quibble for a beautiful and well maintained course.

The course has coolers with ice and complimentary water bottles on every cart. There are coolers with ice and complimentary water bottles at almost every hole. The cart girl came around twice on each 9. The starter was pleasant, if long winded, and explained how things worked on the course.

Each cart has on board GPS. If you try to drive your cart too near tees, desert areas, and greens, your cart locks up and you can only reverse your cart.

I found myself in a lot of bunkers, and can safely opine on their conditions. Despite my chagrin at being in the sand, my ball was always on top of a nicely raked fluffy layer of sand. There are quite a few bunkers and desert areas. Curve your ball too far to the right and you will find yourself in the desert more often than not.

As a high handicapper, I enjoy it when forward tees are well thought out and provide a challenge to shorter hitters. That was the case here.

Played 06/24 After reading previous reviews I had to try this course out on my annual trip to the desert. This doesn't look like your typical desert style course.I find it to be semi difficult with ... Continue »

Played 06/24 After reading previous reviews I had to try this course out on my annual trip to the desert. This doesn't look like your typical desert style course.I find it to be semi difficult with all the bunkers that they have. Course is in very good shape. tee boxes are great, fairways are lush. There is not much rough and the greens still have some sand on them, but that was to be expected. They did putt semi fast. The sand in the bunkers is very soft and has not dried out.
I played the blue tees at almost 6500 yards which is a little long for me. The white tees are almost 6000 yards. I wish they had a combo for the blue and white tees.
Very friendly staff.

Played here Monday 5/18 and was very impressed. The staff was great and explained the layout and sent me off to the all grass range. Hit some balls an went over to the putting green. Next to the range... Continue »

Played here Monday 5/18 and was very impressed. The staff was great and explained the layout and sent me off to the all grass range. Hit some balls an went over to the putting green. Next to the range is a chipping area with a practice bunker. Tee boxes and fairways are next to perfect. Never had a problem finding a level spot to tee of or had a bad lie in any fairway. Fairways were cut just right. The rough was cut at about 1" so really no problem getting out. This course has LOTS of bunkers! The ones I was in had plenty of soft sand. Greens were firm but held good shots well. Minimual amount of ball marks and they ran true. I keep reading more break than there really was so not my best day putting. Pace was great. I played as a twosome and we got around in 3:20 with no one ahead and never anyone behind. This place is way out of town on the east side but well worth the drive. I booked thru the course website and paid $55 which was great for what you get. Went in and had a burger and a brew after the round and service was great and the food excellent

Teed it up with Isoceles and Ricky Potts on Thursday. It was a pleasure playing in the grand reopening event for AK-Chin Southern Dunes. In addition I saw the ribbon cutting for their brand new, excep... Continue »

Teed it up with Isoceles and Ricky Potts on Thursday. It was a pleasure playing in the grand reopening event for AK-Chin Southern Dunes. In addition I saw the ribbon cutting for their brand new, exceptional 6-hole short practice course/range, known as, #minidunes. This was quite an event with Fred Couples present being he contributed to the design upgrades of the course. In general they widened some of the fairways, removed a few fairways bunkers and removed the mounding on hole 17 that used to make it a blind shot. But overall, the course has hardly lost any of its challenge. Having played it before the renovation and now after, the renovation was an improvement.

Another improvement they made was fully restoring/improving ALL, 100+ bunkers. If you have ever played this course before you can imagine how much work that was to do. When I say restoring/improving, I mean replacing the drainage system too, not just the sand. I remember when I a played it 2 years ago and on some holes you could even see the lining on the bunkers, now they are perfect. In fact, overall, the golf course is in just about perfect shape.

When you’re in Phoenix, Scottsdale or even Tucson, do yourself a favor and play this course. Yeah, it’s a bit a of drive down to Maricopa, about 45 minutes from Scottsdale and about an hour from Tucson, but trust me, its worth it.

I was privileged to play with JohnnyGK in a special event at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes. It was a grand re-opening/re-dedication of the course after it went through a big renovation. It was an all day e... Continue »

I was privileged to play with JohnnyGK in a special event at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes. It was a grand re-opening/re-dedication of the course after it went through a big renovation. It was an all day event that started at 9am with a media event that explained the history of the property as well as the plans for the future. Fred Couples (who designed the course) was there for the whole day. He did a practice clinic and a Q & A that was very interesting. He drove around the course during the 4-man scramble and took pictures with each group. Everyone received some memorabilia that he signed. But the coolest thing was we were served the same dinner that he choose in 1993 to serve the other champions at the Masters after he won in 1992.

It's good that the Ak-Chin Indian Community is going to be more involved with the course. They want to try to get the young people from their community to take up the game, as well as the local youth in the area. The course designer, Troon, and the Indian community have come up with a great idea. They have redone the driving range as a little 6 hole course called #MiniDunes. (Yes, hashtag is part of the name.) The range has 6 greens. In the morning it is a driving range like any other. In the afternoon it becomes a golf course where the longest hole is 114yds, the shortest is 61yds. It's great for beginners and kids starting the game. The BEST thing about it is if you are 17 years old or under , you can come out and play it for FREE anytime.

Course conditions were fantastic! I think it's on par with what you would get at the best private clubs. I rated everything as 9's & 10's. Most of the changes to the course made it a little softer, but it still has over 100 bunkers that you want to stay out of if possible. Some fairways were made larger and the bunkers are much improved. One noticeable change was the Par 3 #17 which had a big mound blocking your view of most of the green. It has been removed. The course has 6 sets of tees making it playable for all levels.

The service was exceptional from the bag drop all the way through dinner. Just like I have experienced at other Troon managed courses. Carts have GPS. It's necessary to use it to find the distances to or over the bunkers. Unfortunately, ours stopped working half way through the round, but I had a range finder as backup.

The 4 man scramble was great. I really enjoyed playing with Johnny, Ricky and "fourth guy. Johnny was channeling his inner Bubba Watson and bombing drives about 330yds. He set us up with short irons into most holes, giving us a big advantage. Ricky gave us solid iron play and kept our birdie streak going by making a bomb. "fourthguy" was just clutch and I came up with a few shots We met up with Fred Couples by the 17th Green. He had to check out the HOT DOG putter. It has now been touched by one of the "Golf Gods." Right after that we go on a streak of 11 birdies in a row. We finished the tournament at -15, tied for 1st, but lose the tie breaker to take 2nd. Thanks again Johnny for one of the best golf experiences of my life.