I was paired up with two older members at the first tee time on a Friday morning. I was glad to be with members as they gave me advice on the course. Without that I might have gotten into some unexpected trouble as the course has some interesting arroyos crossing over the fairways unexpectedly. But starting from the beginning: The club house is well stocked, and the staff is remarkably friendly and customer oriented. Each cart had the start time noted and the staff placed bags on the carts for you. There was a warning sign that there was no water on the course and to be prepared with your own water. Each cart had an ice chest filled with ice to store drinks, and the marshall (they called them player assistants) brought around cold towels if you needed them in the high heat. The beverage cart ran rapidly and there was no problem staying hydrated. The first tee started the day off well. There was a water hazard at 200 yards that ran along the fairway. The tee boxes were all remarkable. Each was so well groomed that you could not tell anyone had ever used them. I was amazed at that in Late August Desert temperatures. The fairways were the same way. I hit a divot and replaced it, but found no sand on the cart (a common idea in Phoenix.) The members told me the staff took care of divots. How they did it I could not tell, but I saw almost no divots in the immaculate fairways. Then we reached the green. Again I was amazed at how well groomed they were. In the entire day we found one ball mark that someone left from the day before, but aside from that, there was no evidence the greens had ever been played. The speed was slightly fast, but at the same time, the greens were soft enough to stop my shots (I was hitting high that day) with one bounce. The course lay out is extremely interesting. You begin on the side of a mountain, and weave through arroyos and valleys, with a number of domed greens making shot accuracy very important. The course is not long, but it is challenging. If you shoot wide and go out of bounds the rough areas are desert sand and gravel. There are a lot of rabbits, so I suspect there may be snakes as well, but the members told me they had only seen one in seven years. The front nine is beautiful with desert scenery and interesting holes, and the second nine is more interesting from a players perspective. Accuracy counts on the back nine, and although the course is shorter than average. it plays tough. The eighteeth hole is a par five short enough to make in two if you are a long ball hitter. The GPS read 210 to the pin from where my tee shot stopped. I tried to make it, but the elevated green (fifty foot above the fairway) kept me short. There is a fairly wide arroyo in front of the green that could be a problem if you dont go over it (I made it by only a couple of feet. I played one of the better rounds of my golf life, which probably affected my attitude about the course, but I rank this course better than even the Legacy for being in prime condition, one of the best for lay out, and one of the best for staff courtesy. Ill be going back as much as the wallet can afford. Its thirty miles east of Phoenix, and worth every second of the drive.

Pretty decent course, quite a bit of target golf. Many forced carries over desert areas; if you want to play the tips, better have driver carry of 220 yards or greater. The course is in pretty good shape. My group, including a near scratch player who played the tips, had a hard time holding approach shots on the greens, even with short irons. Some of the greens would hold, some wouldn't, with no way to tell before the shot. Just a small jarring note: the scorecard doesn't show total distances for each set of tees, and the person who guided us to the first tee gave us seriously incorrect numbers. It took a call to the pro shop after several holes to get the right numbers.

I am a weekend golfer in phoenix area and played this golf course more than 10 times. I love sidewider golf course. Course condition is always perfect. Layout itself looks quite easy, but very be careful. Greens are very difficult. It is very fast enough to make you in deep trouble if you miss green. Short game will be very challenging. Hole 16, 17 and 18 could be your nightmere. In winter time, this golf course is excellent choice based on green fee. With around $55 for resident rate, I could not find any better golf course in Arizona.