Some friends and I recently went in together on a charity auction package that included rounds at Shady, Big Canyon and Newport. Today we cashed in our round at Shady and it was an awesome experience.... Continue »

Some friends and I recently went in together on a charity auction package that included rounds at Shady, Big Canyon and Newport. Today we cashed in our round at Shady and it was an awesome experience. We were hosted by the member who donated the round for auction. Super nice guy who took care of everything, reserved an excellent caddie for our group, covered our food, etc. We teed off a little after 10:00 and were finished 4 hours later with a relaxed pace. Nobody in front or behind us all round.

The course was not as pretty as it probably is in the spring/summer, but the playability was great. Tee boxes and fairways dormant and lies were tight, but still nice and consistent. Rough more lush and green. Bunkers had soft white sand. Greens were the highlight. Firm and very fast. Rolling super smooth and true with few flaws to be found. Anything above the hole here was tough to stop. Even 1PLUS1 would have been impressed : )

Fazio design, so you can expect something nice. Fun canyon layout that's forgiving off the tee. However, the greens are very difficult. They are massive and have lots of undulation. Steep false fronts, deep bunkers and run-off areas make it tough to get in the hole, especially when rolling so fast. Customer service and facilities are top-notch. Great overall experience today at a club that's very exclusive. Highly recommended if you ever get a chance to play.