Going to play with my daughter (D-II player). Will have time to play 9, 18, 18.
Which is easier of Grayhawk Talon or Raptor
Have played TPC stadium course years ago, before the Champions course was built.
Should I give her the experience of the Stadium or do the Champions or neither?
Any other suggestions? Will be staying in Paradise Valley.

I'd say Talon is probably easier. I enjoyed Raptor more, but both are great courses.

TPC Champions was the first round of our trip and it exceeded my expectations. It doesn't have the views of some of the Scottsdale courses but I thought it was a really fun course and their 19th holes is pretty good. I recommend giving it a shot.

We didn't get a chance to play but I've heard really good things about the par 3 course at Mountain Shadows. You may consider that instead of 9 holes somewhere.

When are you going to be here? Forecast for the next couple of weeks is highs in the mid to upper 90's but after that that probably the blast furnace.

I personally wouldn't play either TPC course. I'd get out of Scottsdale and go to We Ko Pa which has two courses. The views there are hard to beat. You can just shoot out Shea Blvd to get there. Grayhawk is also great and right down the street from PV.

Mountain Shadows is a great suggestion. Haven't played it but know some people that play it on arrival day every time they visit.

There are some golf board posters who have been here recently that might weigh in.

In reply to goags2 We-Ko-Pa is absolutely worth the drive. Only one of two courses in the area not tied to a residential area (so I was told), so it's nice to see nothing but desert when you're playing. Pics don't do it justice.

In reply to goags2 Double Post

As the others have said, We-Ko-Pa and Greyhawk.

Check out Whirlwind. Not as known as some of the other names but has always been a good time.

In reply to goags2

goags2 said:

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Going to play with my daughter (D-II player). Will have time to play 9, 18, 18.
Which is easier of Grayhawk Talon or Raptor
Have played TPC stadium course years ago, before the Champions course was built.
Should I give her the experience of the Stadium or do the Champions or neither?
Any other suggestions? Will be staying in Paradise Valley.

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I started a thread about this about a month or so ago. We booked raven golf club, quintero, and we ko pa saguaro courses. Going may 9-12 and taking my father and brother to celebrate his 70th bday

Camelback Ambiente is nice and it's very close to Paradise Valley.

We Ko Pa Saguaro


Raptor is the premier of the 2 GHawk but I like talons quirky layout more. Much more character imo


But it's hard to beat we ko pa saguaro

We Ko Pa is the way…I changed a whole itinerary out there after we played the first round…and played both courses 2X in two days.

The difference - zero houses on either course.

Mountain shadows is a fun par 3 that we got around pretty quickly

We-Ko-Pa is amazing. Best courses in Scottsdale. I enjoyed Troon as well, but man those tracks are tough. Really have to be accurate off the tee because it turns into rocks, sand, and brush real quick. There's something about desert golf that is just awesome. Nothing like seeing your golf ball hook 100 yards into the desert with a stunning mountain backdrop in front of you.

In reply to Mr.Bond How was Cholla?

I prefer cholla over saguaro. It's just different from Tx golf so that's prolly why. Saguaro is pretty straight in front of you. I like something different when in golf trips.

Both are excellent though

In reply to jja79

jja79 said:

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How was Cholla?

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It's good. I personally like the layout better but the views and conditions are much better on Saguaro imo

In reply to AustinCountyAg

AustinCountyAg said:

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I prefer cholla over saguaro. It's just different from Tx golf so that's prolly why. Saguaro is pretty straight in front of you. I like something different when in golf trips.

Both are excellent though

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This is not the popular opinion but I agree with it - I like to have to look at the hole map for a min to figure out how to approach a hole. I felt myself doing this more on Chollo. But I would play both with a lunch at the grill in between.

Thank you all for your course views, and stories and suggestions. Really helped.
We are going May 9-12.
Previous guy trip years ago, played TPC, Raven, We Ko Pa, Grayhawk, Talking Stick
During daughter's college years, played Palm Valley, Estrella, Ocotillo, Wigwam
Hoping to play Stadium course (just so she said she did), Grayhawk Talon, WeKoPa Saguaro

In reply to goags2

goags2 said:

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Thank you all for your course views, and stories and suggestions. Really helped.
We are going May 9-12.
Previous guy trip years ago, played TPC, Raven, We Ko Pa, Grayhawk, Talking Stick
During daughter's college years, played Palm Valley, Estrella, Ocotillo, Wigwam
Hoping to play Stadium course (just so she said she did), Grayhawk Talon, WeKoPa Saguaro

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Lol well hey I may see you out there on we ko pa if you are playing it saturday.

In reply to goags2

goags2 said:

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Thank you all for your course views, and stories and suggestions. Really helped.
We are going May 9-12.
Previous guy trip years ago, played TPC, Raven, We Ko Pa, Grayhawk, Talking Stick
During daughter's college years, played Palm Valley, Estrella, Ocotillo, Wigwam
Hoping to play Stadium course (just so she said she did), Grayhawk Talon, WeKoPa Saguaro

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What was your opinion of raven golf club? Playing it may 9th

So we ended up playing 4 rounds in 3 days when we stayed in scottsdale. Ended up playing Grayhawk Talon on thursday afternoon, Quintero friday afternoon, Troon North first tee time saturday morning, and We Ko Pa Saguaro saturday afternoon.

Id rank them


Grayhawk
Troon North
Quintero
We Ko Pa


My thoughts:

Im taking how I played completely out of my rankings.
My favorite layout was Grayhawk. There were just some holes that were impressionable. Greens were fastest out of the bunch(or maybe the slopes on the green just made it seem so) course was in great shape.

Quintero was disappointing for me cause I heard so many great things about it. Greens were not in good condition at all. Nor were the greens very green. Neat track in the middle of nowhere and the elevation changes were a welcoming addition. I lost a good dozen golf balls on this course. Took about 5 hours to play a round having to wait 5 minutes on every shot. Worth the price for sure.

I liked troon north a lot. It had a little bit of everything. I wouldnt say they were the best at anything, but they were 2nd on all my criteria. Although they may have had the most manicured course conditions. Everything was green and thick. Greens were soft and rolled true. Troon and we ko pa were the only courses I could truly get my wedge shots to spin backwards.

We ko pa was interesting in that they had some really long ass holes and some really short holes. I would say the course conditions were probably the worst out of the 4 courses we played however the layout was still fun. I dont think this course was worth the $230/person price tag that they charged us. Its really the only course I wish we had changed which is surprising cause I heard such great things about it.

Disappointed to hear about WeKoPa. We did a 36 day there and the conditions were great.

Were you just here? I've lived here one year tomorrow so I'm still learning. Take this for what it's worth. Seems we're in a transition from overseed to summer grass which I think affects conditions. A month ago We Ko Pa was unbelievable. There's always going to be some rough conditions as the change happens. Had a couple of 100 degree days right at the end of April, first of May that seemed to trigger the changes.

Basing this just on the one year I've lived here I found mid-March to mid-April to be the best time to visit. December-February are hit or miss. When it's nice it's amazing. When it's cold it's really cold. Having grown up in the desert in far west Texas I had forgotten how cold desert air is at 50 degrees.

In reply to jja79

jja79 said:

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Were you just here? I've lived here one year tomorrow so I'm still learning. Take this for what it's worth. Seems we're in a transition from overseed to summer grass which I think affects conditions. A month ago We Ko Pa was unbelievable. There's always going to be some rough conditions as the change happens. Had a couple of 100 degree days right at the end of April, first of May that seemed to trigger the changes.

Basing this just on the one year I've lived here I found mid-March to mid-April to be the best time to visit. December-February are hit or miss. When it's nice it's amazing. When it's cold it's really cold. Having grown up in the desert in far west Texas I had forgotten how cold desert air is at 50 degrees.

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I just got home from scottsdale few hours ago. Yes it was this weekend. Had a great time and would consider a nice alternative for anyone considering going to vegas to play golf.

In reply to Bad Poster I think the conditions, based on what my friends are saying and I'm seeing, have really started to change since the beginning of May. I'm biased since I chose to make this my home but it's a great place to live or visit winter and spring.

Many probably wouldn't agree but it's also a great place to live in the summer.