Played today with Robule with an Underpar deal of $18 per player including replay. Due to the heat, all carts had to be in by 2pm so we got a very early start at 6:15 am. When I arrived there were onl... Continue »

Played today with Robule with an Underpar deal of $18 per player including replay. Due to the heat, all carts had to be in by 2pm so we got a very early start at 6:15 am. When I arrived there were only 2 other cars in the parking lot so I knew the course would be pretty empty.

Course conditions were very poor. Tee boxes were level but covered with either inch long grass or just plain dirt. Bad lies were to be found all morning. The fairways were very thin and brown with only a few nice green areas. There were 6 inch tall weeds growing and the fairways were dotted with huge insect mounds. The area around the greens, for maybe about 10 yards out, was pretty good on most holes making decent chips possible onto the really sad looking greens. As thin and ugly as they were, they rolled fairly smoothly, but very slow with about half our putts stopping dead a few inches from the cup. The bunkers had no sand and many were muddy. The lakes were the best conditioned part of the course. The water was so clear it was easy to see all the balls that had died a watery death.

With all that said, I still really enjoyed the first 18 and even managed to beat my previous course best score by 2 strokes. We finished in 3 hrs. After the playing the front nine again, we were both tired and pretty much over it so called it a day. Desert Dunes is still one of my favorite courses and I will definitely be back when conditions are back to normal.

Somehow, I've always avoided the crazy wind at Desert Dunes. Well, that is no longer the case as it was insane this morning. I booked 6:56 hot deal for just $12 and knew some wind was in the forecast,... Continue »

Somehow, I've always avoided the crazy wind at Desert Dunes. Well, that is no longer the case as it was insane this morning. I booked 6:56 hot deal for just $12 and knew some wind was in the forecast, but wow! My drives ranged from 140 yards to over 300, depending on which direction I was hitting. I saw balls go sideways in the air and even backwards a few times. It was silly, torturous and kind of fun to finally get the real DD windy experience.

Unfortunately, the experience was marred a little bit before I even teed off. I arrived a bit early and expected it not to be crowded. I saw a twosome up by the first green when I got there about 6:20 and checked in. The kid in the pro shop wanted me to wait until my tee time and for the twosome I was paired with to show up. I stood down by the first tee for a half hour with nobody around. It was painful. I finally called the shop and asked if I could go off by myself, but he said I had to wait. By 6:56, nobody else came to the 1st tee. I did see two singles head over to the 10th about that time, so I'm not sure if that was the people I was supposed to play with. Either way, the second the clock struck 6:56 I was waiting no longer. I just went. I caught and played through the twosome on the 5th hole and then caught up to those other two guys (who started on 10) on the 16th. I can understand if the tee sheet is somewhat full or if there is maintenance on the course. Usually this place is kind of a free for all on the first tee, so I was surprised he wanted me to wait. Oh well, good to know I guess.

Conditions are going south as the course heads into what will likely be a very slow summer season. Tee boxes were decent. Fairways had some fluffy sections and some thin/bare sections. Rough was everything from hard pan to weeds to some really thick/lush stuff around the greens. Everything just felt quite rough around the edges, dried out and unmaintained. I was in one fairway bunker and it was very firm. Glad I wasn't in any greenside bunkers because they looked similarly devoid of sand. Any sand that was in there was likely blown away this morning! The greens were firm-ish, a little lumpy/scruffy and rolling at medium/slow speeds.

The service and conditions were a bit disappointing. The wind made things more interesting. And, the price was right for this course at the moment. It's too bad because I really like this layout and I root for it to succeed. Just feels like it is continuing on a downward trajectory. The good news is that it is cheap and uncrowded in the offseason, but unfortunately you get what you pay for.

Played 5-7-17 early morning for $45 riding as a single in a little under 2 hours going through a couple of twosomes. Tee boxes were in good shape but a little long and mostly level. Fairways were most... Continue »

Played 5-7-17 early morning for $45 riding as a single in a little under 2 hours going through a couple of twosomes. Tee boxes were in good shape but a little long and mostly level. Fairways were mostly lush and green with good lies, but some areas are starting to turn yellow. Rough along fairways was cut pretty short and was easy to hit from, while the rough around the greens was 2-3 inches and thick. Was not in any bunkers but they looked thin and firm. Greens were in descent shape rolling pretty good but very slow. Overall course is in nice shape and always fun to play.

Went out to play Desert Dunes with Abbacat on Monday 4/11 for 36 holes. Funny thing about this round was it's the first time the wind wasn't howling! That was a nice change from every other time I'... Continue »

Went out to play Desert Dunes with Abbacat on Monday 4/11 for 36 holes. Funny thing about this round was it's the first time the wind wasn't howling! That was a nice change from every other time I've teed up here. Abbacat was a great partner to hit the links with, especially finding my errant shots in the arroyo which can be extremely thick... Hey, one of us didn't lose any balls. (tough to lose them in the fairways.) LOL Tee boxes were well maintained, level with good grass coverage. Easy to find a level spot anywhere within the tee markers that were in place. Distance plates are obvious and easy to read. Plenty of info. Fairways were nice, lush, green and provided decent lies. Some undulation but not too severe in most cases. Marker stakes at 150yd in the middle of the fairway on every required hole. The bushes and arroyo will eat balls and keeping it straight, like most courses is important. Never had much problem finding Abbacat's shot, mine were all over the place sometimes. Distances in the fairways were tougher to get if you weren't right on a 100-150-200 marker stone. Rough was just long enough to make club selection decision intriguing. Thick enough to allow shots to nestle down. Most areas were lush as I experienced plenty of the thicker stuff! Bunkers were blah. This course has some VERY deep bunkers. Some filled with standing water, mud or hardpacked wet sand. I realize the issues this course may have with wind and keeping decent sand in bunkers. I was only in one through two rounds. The shot was not difficult except getting a read on the concrete I was standing on. Greens were very nice and accepted good shots well. Fringe was really consistent. Rough around the greens was pretty deep/thick. The practice green seemed to be faster than course greens. Really smooth and running medium speed. Slower than I'm accustom and that made for more than a few MEOW Mix moments leaving putts short. Overall once I got adjusted, putting was consistent. Seeing Abbacat drop a 60 ft and 30 ft down hill bomb was pretty cool. Like most courses, people have no clue about fixing ball marks or the tools to do the job. Cart was decent, no gps. Had a cooler stocked with ice. Wish they had UBS phone charging as my golf app killed my battery on about hole 30. Staff was excellent as always. The server, Ares, in the lounge was great. Had a really good Hot Dog for lunch. It was a great day on the links.

It was time to head back to my favorite desert course for another attempt at a respectable score. With an Underpar deal of $79 for 2, including range balls and replay, I was joined by Gk’er Robule for... Continue »

It was time to head back to my favorite desert course for another attempt at a respectable score. With an Underpar deal of $79 for 2, including range balls and replay, I was joined by Gk’er Robule for a very fun day. The weather was perfect with temperature in the mid 80’s and, once again, there was no wind.

With the exception of the bunkers, the course conditions were great. The fairways are still very green and lush. #’s 12 and 15 are much improved over last time I was there when they were thin with several bare spots. Some of low lying areas like between fairways 2 and 3 were pretty bare but fortunately I didn’t end up there this time. The tee boxes were all level with no divots to speak of. The greens were beautiful, smooth and rolling medium fast. I’m getting to know these greens better each time which is very helpful with all the crazy breaks. The bunkers all were extremely thin and many were muddy or had standing water in them. The rough is pretty deep in places but didn't cause too much trouble.

Once again, all the staff we encountered was very friendly and helpful. The course was not busy and we finished each round in just about 4 hours. I enjoy playing here more each time and I look forward to returning soon.

Played yesterday, 1-29-17 with iluv2golflady. We had a great deal for $40 each with range balls and unlimited play. I played here for the first time 3 weeks ago and was anxious to return. The weather... Continue »

Played yesterday, 1-29-17 with iluv2golflady. We had a great deal for $40 each with range balls and unlimited play. I played here for the first time 3 weeks ago and was anxious to return. The weather was perfect- warm and no wind. The course conditions were very good. Tee boxes level with no divot damage to speak of. The fairways were on the front were completely lush. On the back they were tighter with a few thin spots but I appreciated the extra roll on the par 5s. The greens were firm and really fast, very few marks. The rough around the greens is deep enough to hide your ball, but not too hard to hit out of. The fairway rough was short. The bunkers get my only negative comment. They were very thin and hard. It was pretty much impossible (for me) to hit a controlled shot from a greenside bunker which a couple times landed me in another on one the other side of the green. Having a little course knowledge was definitely helpful but this is still a very challenging course. POP on our first round was 4.25 hours and after a quick lunch we played another 18 in 4.5 hrs. finishing just before dark. I really want to give a big shout out to the staff who as a whole, is about the friendliest of anywhere I’ve played. The cart guys were so efficient, the starter very nice and let us out early both rounds. Aires (sp?) in the bar was amazing. Teresa, the beverage cart girl, was super friendly the several times she came around. On our second round, we caught up to the guys in front of us, one of whom is Mike, a co-owner of the course. We enjoyed chatting with him, and he treated us to drinks which Teresa gave us the next couple times we saw her. It just doesn’t get much better. I definitely recommend Desert Dunes GC and look forward to played again soon

We played here as our final round in the desert on Sunday January 15th at 8:20am. We had a golf now deal for $51 so thought we would give this place a try. Kind of wish we would have played here as ou... Continue »

We played here as our final round in the desert on Sunday January 15th at 8:20am. We had a golf now deal for $51 so thought we would give this place a try. Kind of wish we would have played here as our first round due to the course conditions being average and worked our way up to the pristine conditions we experienced at Shadow Ridge but we made the best of it. First off, this place can get windy......check before you go. Second, this course can be VERY difficult so choose the right tees. Lastly, the conditions here make it even more difficult. The tees we level but had divots and were not mowed, the traps were consistent and played nice, the fairways were spotty and just average, and the rough was horrible. Let me explain: If you missed a green (which happened often due to the strong winds) the rough was at least 5 inches thick and nearly impossible to get up and down. The rough along the fairways wasn't as bad but still was punishing. Not sure if this is normal or if the recent rains prohibited the mowers in many areas. This would be a tough course in perfect conditions so you can imagine what you should expect under these shabby conditions.

Played yesterday, 1-8-17. I got a very good price with a GN Hot deal + reward. The weather was perfect in the low 70’s and none of the wind that I had been cautioned about. I was immediately impr... Continue »

Played yesterday, 1-8-17. I got a very good price with a GN Hot deal + reward. The weather was perfect in the low 70’s and none of the wind that I had been cautioned about. I was immediately impressed with how green everything is. All staff that I encountered were very friendly and helpful, particularly the 3 people in the pro shop. On the 2nd hole I caught up to and joined a threesome of members. I’m glad I did because the course turned out to be much trickier than it appears. The fairways have lots of rolls and dips that aren’t always visible. I was grateful for the extra sets of eyes as the rough was so long that balls disappeared from sight. Fortunately, it wasn’t as hard as expected to hit out of. The fairways were completely lush with no browning. The tee boxes were a bit shaggy but level. The bunkers had very nice sand and were well raked, but 2 of them that I was in had mud in the middle. The greens were firm, smooth, rolling medium fast with lots of big undulations. Again, I was glad to have the help of my playing partners as there were some surprises like where the ball breaks uphill for no apparent reason. Holes 9 & 18 have a big double green. There is a bunker in the deep valley between them- miss your line on either hole and you could be in big trouble! I also really liked the natural look of the course except for #16 which, although pretty, looked quite out of place with the waterfalls and very contrived desert landscaping including several saguaros. Overall, I loved the course and can’t wait to get back to try for a decent score!

Played yesterday (Sunday) Jan 8th 2017. My Girlfriend and I had an absolutely fantastic time. Weather was perfect (no wind) Sun was out. A player couldn't of pick a better day. Course is in great sha... Continue »

Played yesterday (Sunday) Jan 8th 2017. My Girlfriend and I had an absolutely fantastic time. Weather was perfect (no wind) Sun was out. A player couldn't of pick a better day. Course is in great shape. Some Tee-boxes need trimming. Greens are absolutely great, fast and true. Customer service was Great and so was the cart barn employees.