:)    GK Golf Events & Outings    :)

Played many rounds on Canyon recently with Mountain greens punched. Course is in very nice shoulder season condition. Greens sanded but so far not punched this season. Barely affects anything but the way the greens look from afar after a couple days. Firm, smooth and medium quick, they putt nicely. Many areas of the course have been vericut, which does not affect playability. Bermuda coming out well on the Tee's/fairways, very lush. Rough patchy hit/mniss, mowed low. Mowed low around the greens, you can definitely use putter from well off greenws currently. Which when going over large mounds to a firm, quick green is frequently a safer play IMO. Course playing firm/quick producing ridiculously long drives currently. Nice range, carts, GPS. Good restaurant onsite. highly recommended.

Greens were punched/sanded about 10 days ago, medium speed and bumpy. I rarely have any complaints here, but felt the need to call the pro shop this week when I found out my out of state guest was charged $148 at my guest rate to play on punched/sanded greens. Making the experience even worse was being scheduled to play a front 9 on Mountain with punched, medium slow, bumpy greens and then transitioning to a back 9 on Canyon with unpunched but sanded quick/smooth greens. Literally the same 30' putt that was 4' short on the front would suddenly be rolling 4' by on the back. Not only did I find the rate ridiculous. Also thought it was extremely poor planning/judgment to split scheduled 9's between courses that played so differently. And was very unhappy they were charging the same guest rate for both courses, so we played nothing but Canyon to play on good greens the rest of the week.

Fairways/Tees very nice with the Bermuda out in full force with warmer temps. Greenside traps really nice, fairway traps have more rocks than I remember from years ago. Fringes mowed down, which is not a good thing on the many holes with false fronts or drop offs from on or coming across greens. But do provide more bump run opportunities when short sided from just off many greens. Many areas of the course have been vericut, which does not affect playability. Rough patchy hit/miss, mowed low. Range, carts, GPS excellent. Restaurant/men's lounge provides decent food in a friendly atmosphere. Highly recommended overall in spite of the above. But still a week away from all 18 greens being medium fast/smooth again.

Greens sanded but so far not punched. Barely affected the speed or play for a couple days. many areas of the course have been vericut, which does not affect playability. Bermuda coming out well on the Tee's/fairways, very lush. Rough patchy hit/mniss, mowed low. Mowed low around the greens, you can definitely use putter from well off greenws currently. Which when going over large mounds to a firm, quick green is frequently a safer play IMO. Course playing firm/quick producing ridiculously long drives currently. Nice range, carts, GPS. Good restaurant onsite. highly recommended.

Front 9 greens were punched/sanded last week, medium speed and bumpy. Back 9 greens have not yet been punched, normal medium fast/smooth. Which creates a whole new experience when you make the turn. Fairways/Tees very nice with the Bermuda out in full force with warmer temps. Greenside traps really nice, fairway traps have more rocks than I remember from years ago. Fringes mowed down, which is not a good thing on the many holes with false fronts or drop offs from on or coming across greens. But do provide more bump run opportunities when short sided from just off many greens. Many areas of the course have been vericut, which does not affect playability. Rough patchy hit/mniss, mowed low. Range, carts, GPS excellent. Restaurant/men's lounge provides decent food in a friendly atmosphere. Highly recommended, but still probably 2 weeks away from all 18 greens being medium fast/smooth again.

Course in very nice late Spring condition. Course playing firm and fast. Tees and Fairways very well maintained, lush with few unfixed divots. Few brown spots here and there beginning to show. Traps always well maintained here, but have more rocks than I remember from prior years. Greens are firm and medium fast with few ball marks. You have to play for roll out on these greens. Practice facitilies excellent. 2 putting greens, 2 practice chippings greens with sand traps. Only complain would be that often the range is set us to limit shots based on a 235 maximum distance, which prohibits Drivers for some players. Decent restaurant for a golf course. Customer service in the Pro shop and with the outside staff has been excellent this golf season. Layout is very spread out, so you rarely see a walker. Nice carts with very good GPS. Highly recommended.

Course is in excellent condition for early May. Bermuda coming out well. Layout plays firm and fast this time of year. Combination of that and the 2200' elevation makes for some long shots. Tees and Fairways lush and very well maintained. Rough is patchy hit and miss, mixture of many grasses, kept low and very playable. This is the time of year they lower it, which does not keep offline shots on the course but it is easier to play out of if the ball actually stops in it. Sand traps well maintained, but has more rocks than I remember previously. Greens are firm and you have to play for roll out. This is my favorite time of the year to putt on these greens. They are firm and quick, but not ridiculously quick. You just need to know which holes not to miss above the hole. Excellent carts/GPS, fine customer service. Highly recommended.

Course is in excellent condition for late March. consistent temps above 90 have the Bermuda in full control and the winter overseed dying out in mmnay areas. Firm and fast is the new normal. Tees and Fairways lush and very well maintained. rough is patchy hit and miss, mixture of many grasses. This is the time of year they lower it, which does not keep offline shots on the course but it is easier to play out of if the ball actually stops in it. Sand traps well maintained. Greens are firm and you have to play for roll out. This time of year, you better know which holes not to miss above the hole. Otherwise, the front fringe or back in the fairway will be your next shots location after your putt whizzes by the hole downhill with no stopping in sight. Excellent carts/GPS, fine customer service.
On a personal note, started playing in the men's club events and they do not play any tees past Gold. Half the Gold tees are 1 tee box in front of where I have always played. You would not think 1 tee box on 9 holes makes a huge difference? It does, both on the sight lines and the amount of trouble it either takes out of play... or brings into play...lol. Still learning what clubs to hit from those tees. Bottom line is that my declining game was ready for a 300 yard decrease in overall course length. #5 in particular the difference is huge... instead of a 180 yard carry over water to a diagional fairway, I can bump an iron down the fairway with no water to carry and be closer to the green than I could ever achieve from the Green tees.

Course in very nice Spring condition. Temps above 90 have dried the course out. Playing firm and fast. Tees and Fairways very well maintained, lush with few unfixed divots. Few brown spots here and there beginning to show. Traps always well maintained here. Greens are firm and medium fast with few ball marks. You have to play for roll out on these greens. This is about the time of year the greens speed up because of the firmness. And as has happened in previous golf seasons, lag putts I think are good leave 4-6' coming back. Practice facitilies excellent. 2 putting greens, 2 practice chippings greens with sand traps. Only complain would be that often the range is set us to limit shots based on maximum distance, which may prohibit Drivers for some players. Decent restaurant for a golf course. Customer service in the Pro shop and with the outside staff has been excellent this golf season. Layout is very spread out, so you rarely see a walker. Nice carts with very good GPS. Highly recommended.
Began playing the Gold tees because of men's club events. #4 the difference is huge... instead of a short, uphill par 4 that I was having more and more difficulity just reaching the fairway with anything less than a 90% drive... it added another driveable par 4 to the mix of holes moving me up 75 yards and taking most of the forced carry over trees out of play.

Work trip out to the Phoenix area and decided to brave the bad reviews and check out Kokopelli Golf Course. My playing partner lived about halfway between where I was and his house and we had to lock down a very early 6:40am tee time due to the heat in the afternoon currently.

I was surprised to see so many people hitting balls on the range at 6am, but there was good energy and the range itself wasn't too bad, although the mats definitely need some replacing. We grabbed our cart, joined another twosome out from WI, and played from the yellow (back) tees. Things looked promising as the holes around the clubhouse were very green and well-maintained.

Things changed quickly once the facilities were out of range. Each hole was progressively worse as we went along, with many having horrific dirt patches before and adjacent to the fairways, while the water features were empty bits of reed and bush carnage. The fairways are incredibly hilly throughout, which isn't a knock - just an observation. If you're expecting level lies all day - you wont' get them. But I always get a bemused chuckle when golf courses gussy up the first few holes and let the others slide. It's just kinda dishonest.

As for the course conditions, the greens were actually not too bad and had some crazy pin placements. There were a lot of flags on precipitous slopes that didn't allow for any misjudged speed. They varied greatly in size but never in difficulty. Coverage and speeds were pretty good, though.

The fairways were good to decent on a lot of holes once if you got past the mayhem, but again - that really depended on clubhouse proximity. Other holes farther away were really struggling to be up to standard. The rough was quite thick in some areas, super thin in others - no consistency. Bunkers didn't have sand per se, but more playable dirt that looked pretty bad but played better than its appearance. Tee boxes were all pretty good.

We had cart service throughout the day and POP was sub four hours since we were one of the first groups out and never once saw the twosome that was ahead of us at the first hole. These two factors were a good saving grace. I might have lost it had we been waiting and thirsty.

All in all, there are of course a hundred better options than Kokopelli in the Phoenix area, but if they ever got the conditions good and really put the work into the place, I think the bones and layout would be quite fun. But it's a long way from that at present.

Course in very nice near immaculate condition. Temps around 90 with little wind make for excellent playing conditions. Tees and Fairways very well maintained, lush with few unfixed divots. Traps always well maintained here. Greens are firm and medium fast with few ball marks. You have to play for roll out on these greens. Layout is very spread out, so you rarely see a walker. Practice facitilies excellent. 2 putting greens, 2 practice chippings greens with sand traps. Only complain would be that often the range is set us to limit shots based on maximum distance, which may prohibit Drivers for some players. Decent restaurant for a golf course. Customer service in the Pro shop and with the outside staff has been excellent this golf season. Highly recommended.

With temps in the 80's nearing the low 90's, playing firm and fast is again the norm. 1 club wind most afternoons and the weather has been about perfect most days. The layout is lush and in excellent prime season condition. Tees and fairways both lush and well maintained. Near immaculate. Sand well maintained. Rough not overseeded and is mostly dormant, clumpy Bermuda mowed low. But can still be penal with lies varying tremendously within a small area. Large Bermuda greens firm and medium quick. Smooth with few ball marks. Practice facilities and the GPS on the carts are both excellent. Restaurant good for a golf course. Customer service excellent both inside/outside the club. Highly recommended.

The Canyon course is more spread out than Mountain, but the POP still usually moves well. Weather conditions have been damp and chilly the last week. Which has made the overseed perk up even more. Course playing a little longer with less roll. Playing conditions are excellent overall, near immaculate. Greens are firm and quick. Lush everywhere. Sand almost always near immaculate here, especially around the greens. Restaurant okay, but they have raised their prices and have no deals on the menu anymore however. Probably the best 36 hole facility to play south of Phoenix and north of the Mexican border in southern Az. Excellent practice facility. Highly recommended.
Had a bonus yesterday as a playing partner. A very nice (and talented) 4th grader who has been getting lessons riding around with his mom. Enjoyable to ask Andrew what he saw on certain shots or putts to get his perspective from a 10 year old point of view. You could tell he "got it" on levels exceeding what many newer adults I have been matched up with over the years did. Course management already good. Consistent contact in the air toward his targets with some surprisingly long shots playing from the Silver tees.