Played here Sunday 12/12 with GK members Perry, Jon, and Nat on what was booked as a 9AM tee time, pushed back to nearly 9:50am because of frost. It had been years since I played Maderas and last time... Continue »

Played here Sunday 12/12 with GK members Perry, Jon, and Nat on what was booked as a 9AM tee time, pushed back to nearly 9:50am because of frost. It had been years since I played Maderas and last time I don't think we even got to the 16th before backups and pending sunset stopped our round. This time I made sure to try and ensure that didn't happen, what resulted was a wonderfully beautiful day and a very good pace of play on a course that was as good as I have ever seen it.

Tees: Probably the worst conditioned part of the course. First things first, nearly every set of tee markers had been moved up one tee box and thus we COULD have played the set we wanted to originally, but starter made no mention of this. Also, more than a few of the tee areas we did use were not level and you were standing on a slope; disappointing considering what this course charges and for it being Troon.

Fairways: Excellent condition. They were vibrant green grass mowed short and tight, but with good lies all day. They were also stunning against the contrasting "rough" that was browning ever so slightly, giving this a more links feel (this is NOT a links course mind you).

Rough: As mentioned, the rough was starting to brown but areas shaded by trees were still thick and nasty. More penal than the rough is the natural barranca this course is set in, plenty of ESA and native areas best to avoid.

Sand: Amazingly was only in one bunker all day and it was a fairway one. It had plenty of sand and it was of the consistency I like (softer grains of whiter sand).

Greens: The highlight of the round for me. The greens were wonderfully colorful, smooth rolling, undulated to all sorts of tricky levels, and generally lightning quick. Pin placements today were "someone pissed off the greens keeper" insane, with hole 10 being particularly unfair. Good to see this part of the course was near perfect.

ETC: Property is classy as soon as you roll in, workers at bag drop right away. Ample parking with two lots. Clubhouse has everything you need. Workers friendly and starter helpful for first-timers (which we weren't). Course layout is fun and very challenging, especially if you aren't hitting driver well. Rented clubs due to necessity and was disappointed to see that although clubs were newer models, nothing else but bag and clubs provided. Food at turn was good and carts have good GPS. If this place didn't charge so much, would have surely played it more.