Category: Gilbert

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Central Arizona Gilbert

Western Skies Golf Club

western-skies-golf-course

western-skies-golf-course
Western Skies Golf Club – Arizona Golf Course Reviews
Players at Western Skies have always enjoyed a player-friendly course in a pleasant community atmosphere at a very reasonable rate, which is just what designer Brian Whitcomb was asked to provide in this 1992 design.

In 2012 though, new owners CBIGG and management group, Borders Golf Group of Lafayette, CA, signaled a new direction for the club and are making good on that promise.

On your next visit to Western Skies expect to find enhanced turf conditions throughout the course, including an additional 20-acres of grassed playing surfaces, as well as a new “fairway practice bunker,” putting green and turf-area targets for the practice facility, all of which are the result of the 2014 installation of a new, state-of-the-art irrigation system for the club’s property.

Western Skies’ convenient practice facility, lighted in 2010, now effectively “checkmates” any excuse for not doing your weekly, hitting-balls homework before it can be delivered.

The layout offers three sets of tees playing at 6,744, 6,236 and 5,639 yards, and offers an entertaining mix of challenging par 4’s, enticing par 5’s and “pay attention here” par 3’s. The par-72 layout is rated at 70.3 from the back tees with a slope of 125; 70.6 and 115 from the forward set.

The most memorable holes on the front-nine are the fourth, a 201-yard, “pay attention” par 3 over a piece of the pond that also hugs a bunker on the right side of the green, and the two, outward-half finishers – strong 4-pars both at 441 and 435 yards.

The back nine layout steps up the challenge a bit and plays about 300 yards longer than the front. Highlights include the 12th, a long-iron/hybrid par 3 of 220 yards to a fairly narrow, deep green, the par-5 16th at 545 yards to an entertaining S-shaped green, and the artful 18th finisher, a risk-reward 353-yard par 4.

Accuracy trumps brawn here where water can threaten a long tee ball, and green-side water threatens everybody’s second on the right side, where a bunker separates the putting surface from the lake.

western-skies-golf-mulligans-bar-grillWhen the last putt drops, head in to Mulligans Bar and Grill. The full service fare draws players and non-players alike, and the vast array of flat screen sports broadcasts and neighborhood friendly vibe keeps everybody happy.

So do Western Skies’ Thursday Skins games, Tuesday night Scrambles and  special price point offers for their Players Club and Game Improvement Pass.

At its essence, the Western Skies Players Club delivers, at a reasonable price, what every avid, loyal player cherishes: The club’s guarantee of the lowest green fee in return for the player’s loyalty. All the other benefits of the program are icing on the cake.

Western Skies Golf Club likes to say it’s the place “Where Locals Bring Their Friends.” If you are looking for a fun, affordable, full-service golf facility to play for a day, or adopt as your home club, grab a friend and go sample Western Skies.

Either way, no matter what you card, you’ll end up one-under for the day.

Visit our Arizona Golf Course Reviews and read the AZGA Player’s Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Central Arizona Gilbert

Seville Golf & Country Club

Par-3 17th - Seville Golf and Country Club

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: Located about 40 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, Seville offers a true country club experience at base of the San Tan Mountains, which provide a serene visual backdrop for the club.

Par-3 17th - Seville Golf and Country Club

Built in 2001, the layout was created by Gary Panks, one of Arizona’s best-known course architects. Mr. Panks has a particular knack for taking a relatively flat piece of property and shaping it into something special, and that’s what he did with this former citrus grove acreage. Many of those trees were transplanted and incorporated into the Seville course along with oaks and jacaranda, which line the fairways and bloom brilliantly in the spring.

Seville plays to level par of 72 and offers five sets of tees with the tips set at 7,060 yards and the front tees at 5,765. From the back, the course is rated at 72.8 with a slope of 128. The layout has a traditional feel although there is mild desert terrain in the transition areas that adds to the challenge when recovering from an errant shot.

Panks allows the player plenty of room in the primary landing areas on most tee shots; you won’t face the visual intimidation of forced carries inherent in desert target golf designs here. You will face several thrilling golf shots as you make your loop.

Highlights of the front nine are a pair of dogleg-right par-5s. No. 2 plays at 555 yards from the back tees and requires a tee shot over right-side fairway bunkers to reach the green in two. The wide, shallow green wraps around a front-bunker that collects most “run one on” attempts.

At the shorter 530-yard 5th, any attempt to reach the green in two must carry the corner of a sizable lake and bunker guarding the right side of the green. Three-shot players can lay-up left and ignore the lake altogether with their approach.

But the most memorable portion of a round at Seville is always the three-hole finishing stretch. The par-4 16th is just 315 yards but a lake defining the dogleg right fairway forces you to decide how much you can bite off and still clear the water. The green complex is elevated and includes a multi-tiered putting surface; great fun here.

In the middle of the lake you just finished playing around sits the par-3 17th. It’s a touch of TPC Sawgrass in Arizona; a 145-yard carry to a true island green that requires a high, soft, precise yardage tee shot. The putting surface is generous from front to back, and plenty wide as well; it just doesn’t look like it when you’re over the shot. Trust it’s big enough, remember to breathe and play away – as many times as it takes.

The 18th is a thrilling, risk-reward 5-par playing at a tempting 520 yards. You must thread an accurate tee shot between fairway bunkers short-right and long-left. For your second shot, your choice is whether to lay-up short of the water, or try to clear a lake that wraps around the left side of the green. Birdies are abundant here, although 7s are carded just as frequently.

Seville Golf and Country Club offers golf and non-golf memberships and has a wide range of amenities available to its members, including tennis, a fitness center, spa and swimming pools. Seville also offers fine dining at Bolero’s Restaurant and lighter fare at Tapa’s Bar, both of which are open to the public.  Seville is affiliated with the Club Corp. Network; members receive preferred access and discount pricing at more than 150 private clubs around the country.

Read the Arizona Golf Course List AZGA Player’s Arizona Golf Course Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Central Arizona Gilbert

Power Ranch Golf Club

Trilogy Golf Club at Power Ranch
Trilogy Golf Club at Power Ranch

The Buzz: Located in the far southeast portion of the Valley of the Sun, this par-71 course was created as the centerpiece of the Power Ranch master-planned adult community, but Trilogy Golf Club is a public facility. Created by local designer Dick Bailey, the course meanders through Queen Creek wash, with natural undulations, subtle elevation changes and strategic mounding. The desert-style layout, which opened in 1999, offers sweeping vistas of the San Tan and Superstition mountains, and a nice variety of holes that keep the round interesting and keep the player thinking.

Trilogy at Power Ranch was created as a retirement community that has been rated as one of Forbes Magazine’s best places to live. It covers 670 acres of the 2,000-acre Power Ranch master-planned community. The Trilogy section is age restricted for adults 55 and older but the rest of Power Ranch is a family-friendly community, where home sales were completed in 2007.

The course added some length in recent years, stretching it to 6,932 yards from the tips, with a rating of 71.5 and slope of 130. There are four sets of tees, with the shortest playing at 5,048 yards. Highlights of the front nine include the seventh hole, a 596-yard par 5 with a triple dogleg to a green guarded by steep slopes and mounds.

The ninth, a 398-yard par 4 with a dogleg left, is another solid hole. A large bunker guards the right side of the green and water runs along the left side all the way past a green with a large bunker on the left front. The course finishes with three excellent holes. No. 16 is the toughest on the course, a 450-yard par 4 with a dogleg left and natural desert preserve dividing the tees, fairway and green.

The 17th is the shortest of the par 5 holes at 558 yards but is a sweeping left dogleg with bunkers strategically placed along the fairway and in the left front of the green, narrowing the approach. No. 18 is a beautiful finishing hole with a double dogleg and water running along the right side, partially hidden from the tee, to a tricky, multi-tiered green.

The course has full practice facilities, including driving range, practice bunker, chipping area and putting green. Amenities at Power Ranch include an athletic club, tennis courts, two swimming pools, a spa, excellent dining at the Santa Fe Club and Slate Bistro and Bar. The San Tan Club, which is the social heart of the community, includes a large stone fireplace, culinary teaching kitchen and movie theater.

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Central Arizona Gilbert

Kokopelli Golf Club

AZGA Arizona Golf Buzz: “Rolling” is the best word to describe this Arizona golf  course, where flat lies are a rarity, both on the fairways and the greens. When he designed this course that opened in 1992, Bill Phillips wanted a layout reminiscent of Scottish links golf and that’s what emerged with its mounding, moguls and undulating greens, along with seven ponds and lakes that bring water into play on 10 holes.

Those features create the challenges on a layout that isn’t particularly long by today’s standards. Kokopelli has four sets of tees, ranging from 4,992 to 6,716 yards, with a rating of 72.1 and slope of 135 from the back tees.

Kokopelli starts with the best birdie chance on the course at an uphill, right-to-left dogleg 519-yard par 5, and ends with the longest hole on the course, a par 5 of 574 yards.

In between, there are plenty of interesting holes, such as the third, a par 4 that plays at 346 yards from the back tee and has a lake running down the left side that wraps around the front and left of the green, and out of bounds along the right side.

The eighth, which is the No. 1 handicap hole, is a 563-yard par 5 with a slight dogleg left that has a tiny opening into a green with water wrapping around the right and back.

The signature hole is the par-5 18th, a dogleg left with a bunker at the elbow to dissuade you from cutting the corner off of an elevated tee, and an approach shot over a large bunker to an elevated green guarded on the front, left and back by a lake wrapping around three sides.

It isn’t a grueling golf experience by any means, but Kokopelli has more than enough challenges to keep low-handicappers focused on the task of playing shots from uneven fairway lies all day long.

The course is named for the mysterious, hump-backed flute player of the southwest that has been a sacred figure to Native Americans since prehistoric times and is associated with rain-making and increased fertility.

It is managed by Eagle Golf and, in 2008, was named the company’s most-improved facility. There are full practice facilities available, including a driving range, chipping and putting greens and practice bunker. Kokopelli is known for staging unconventional events and has a popular player-development program, which offers discount pricing for members. The Kokopelli Grill in the clubhouse serves breakfast and lunch daily.

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Central Arizona Gilbert

Greenfield Lakes Golf Course

The Buzz: Greenfield Lakes is one of several so-called “power executive” courses around the Valley of the Sun that have become popular with golfers who don’t have the time to devote to playing on full championship courses, but still want a little more than a pitch-and-putt, so they can crank up an occasional driver or fairway metal. Greenfield Lakes, which was designed by Ray Pacioni and opened in 1997, plays to par 62 with three sets of tees at 4,107, 3,626 and 2,792 yards, and has a rating of 59.7 and slope of 90 from the back tees.

There are two par-5 holes at 460 and 531 yards, par 4s at 306, 346 and 351 and a nice variety of par 3s ranging from 108 to 203 yards. The course is relatively flat with open fairways and four lakes that bring water into play on half of the holes. The finishing hole is that 531-yard par 5 with a double dogleg that is uncommon on “execs.” Regulars here like the friendly atmosphere of the place and a web site where they can view updated scores, course statistics and tournament results, not to mention affordable green fees.

Along with its low daily rates, which include a replay rate of 10 bucks, Greenfield offers monthly passes for all you can play for $99. Its driving range, putting green, chipping green and short-game area are lighted and open until 10 p.m., which provides a nice break when Valley temperatures begin to climb. Early in 2011, the course began a clubhouse renovation with plans to add a club repair shop and a self-serve food counter.