Summary:   Value Rating = A+

I would definitely want to play this course again.  A nice design nestled beside the Santa Catalina Mountains – very memorable. It has all the features I look for in terms of playability.

In terms of value, Arizona National offers value mainly due to the fact that we were able to take advantage of a discount green fee offered by the resort we stayed at in Oro Valley.  Our green fees were $69 (US, excluding taxes) which influenced my value rating.  Regular green fees can be high, especially during the peak playing season (December to April). The higher green fees would lower the overall value rating.  Check out www.arizonanational golfclub.com for more details – some web specials exist that you may want to take advantage of.  Good discounts are available if you use the twilight rate and non-peak season rates.  For Canadians, consider the exchange rate to assess your view of value.

Refer to my evaluation criteria – http://lifepast50.ca/topic-list/golf/reviewcriteria

Some Details:

We played Arizona National on October 28, 2008 on a great sunny and hot day.   The weather was great and there was a strong breeze.

Arizona National is located in the north Tucson area. From our Oro Valley resort location where we were staying, it took us about 40 minutes to drive to the course.

Our green fee included a cart and access to the range.  The 1st hole is right beside the range so you can move quickly to the tee blocks when you tee time arrives.  The practice greens matched the feel and roll of the real greens.  The practice greens lack the rises and falls you will get on the real greens so it may take a bit of time to get a feel.  The greens were quick.

This is a desert course with plenty of desert scrub surrounding each hole filled with varieties of cactus, brush and desert wildlife.  The only wildlife that we noticed was a coyote running along the edge of one of the par 5′s keeping a close eye on one of the maintenance crew.  The coyote did not seem to be too concerned about the golfers.

The views from the course of the surrounding Santa Catalina Mountains and Tucson are really beautiful.  As with some other courses in the Tucson area, there is nothing like standing over a shot with a spectacular vista in front of you, especially at the higher elevations.  Arizona National offers this to you on many occasions, especially views of Tucson.

I played the blue tees while my buddies played the whites. I felt I would like the course better from the blues and I was right, except on one hole, # 11 – a par 5, where the landing area from the tee was pretty much blind. A little course knowledge would have really helped with selecting the correct aim point. Unfortunately a sign on #11 providing you with an indication of where to aim was down.

The course offers tee blocks for all abilities.  I shot an 94, which included 4 penalty strokes due to some slightly errant shots that rolled off the edge of the course into unplayable lies beside the desert vegetation.  As with most courses I’ve played in Arizona, it pays to stay below the hole as the greens were in tremendous shape, very consistent on the speed front, and had subtle bends as the ball rolled towards the hole.

We found the greens fast and it took a hole or two to adjust.  This was mostly due to the fact that we played unexpectedly slow greens the day before at another course.  It just took a little time to get use to the speed.

We did not stay to enjoy the clubhouse but our stop for juice and coffee before the round did leave us with good impression that the facilities were excellent.  The staff was very friendly and helpful.

My Evaluation Details:

Scenery – There are lots of elevation changes which provide you with great views of the surrounding area. On the 18th, you get a fabulous view of #9 and #18 along with the clubhouse and most of Tucson. Check out my photo later in this review.

Mix of holes – there is as great mix of long and short holes that include both right and left dog legs. Since I played from the blues I did use all the clubs in my bag during the round.

Consistency and condition – the course was in tremendous shape and offered consistent tee boxes, greens, fairways, rough and bunkers. The consistency across all the holes was excellent. I played a few bunker shot and was able to advance the ball without difficulty.

Golf Challenge – The course offers a good blend of decision making places where you can lay up or take a shot at the green.

• tee shots – You do have to hit over a number of desert areas with your tee shot. They do block your view of the course on some occasions so it would make a difference to have some course knowledge to help select appropriate landing areas to aim at.  The fairways are generous. This doesn’t mean you can swing wildly, but you do have some extra room for a fade or draw.
  
• fairway shots – For the most part, keeping the ball in the fairway will provide you with a flat lie. There are some undulating areas where you can end up with an uphill/downhill lie.
• pin placements – The pin placements were very fair with a good mix of front, back, middle and side pin placements.
  
• putting – the greens were very consistent and smooth.  Putts rolled very smoothly with no bumps or jumps. We did find the greens fast and downhill putts were tricky.
• greens – the greens were very receptive to approach shots – soft in most areas so a high shot landed with little roll. Bump and run shots as well as lower trajectory approach shots rolled evenly and consistently.
• a chance to recover – If your shot landed or rolled off the course you most likely ended up with an unplayable lie or lost ball. The areas around the course had brush and trees and were very difficult to play out of. The rough was thick and fluffy so you needed to ensure you made good contact with the ball in order not to pop the ball up in the air. From my experience most balls that I hit into the rough ended up 1/2 buried.

Other Observations:

The course had a practice facility that was a bit beat up, at least from the area we were allowed to hit from to warm up.  The practice greens could have included a swale / ridge to help get use to the downhill and uphill putts we were to encounter.

It was cart path only on the day we played and as often is the case, we managed to land about 1/2 of our shots away from the cart path so there was a lot of walking carrying 2 or 3 clubs in your hand.  The course appeared to be in terrific shape so we weren’t sure why carts weren’t allowed on the course that day.  It was a beautiful day so the extra strolling really wasn’t that bad – a bit of a nuisance.

There were a number of holes were you had to shoot over desert waste areas from the tee.  As I noted above, this sometimes made selection of target points a bit difficult for players who were playing the course for the first time.  Course knowledge is a definite help off the tee.  If you hit low shots off the tee you can encounter some troubles – it does pay to get the ball in the air off the tee.

The course was not very busy the day we played and we enjoyed a very leisurely round of golf.

A great view on the 18th tee provides a wonderful view of Tucson.

As you will see from the photo’s below, the area is filled with a variety of desert vegetation.

Santa Cataline Mountains in the Background

Don't Go Long On This Par 3

Another Par 3

Typical View From The Tee

Lane Smith – Lane@lifepast50.ca