Summary:   Value Rating = A

I would definitely play this course again.  It is similar to its sister course, La Cañada, in terms of its feel but with narrower fairways.  It also is built around more houses so you do have to have better control of your shots.  It is a very playable course that will challenge the average player.  It does lack the spectacular vistas you get of the surrounding area on some of the other courses in the Tucson area.

I rate the two courses similarly – the Conquistador course gets a higher rating (A) because it offers more of a challenge that its sister course (A-).

I've played Conquistador twice, both early in the season (October 2009 and 2010) and both times the greens weren't cut as short as they would be in the coming months.  We had the same experience when we played the sister course in 2008.  The grass on the greens was cut long.  This made putting slow and a bit unpredictable.  We were told that they will be cut shorter soon and this was how the course maintained their greens at this time of year (late October).

New feature – check out my short preview video of some of the holes on this course.  This should give you a good feeling about what you'll experience when you play here.

In terms of value, at the cost charged when we played, it was great value.  We did have a discounted rate of $59 (US, excluding taxes) from the resort we stayed at in Oro Valley.  Refer to the website for additional details – www.hiltonelconquistador.com.

Refer to my evaluation criteria.

Some Details:

I played the Conquistador course October 27, 2009 in great sunny and hot weather.  The course is located in Oro Valley, a community just north of Tucson.

The Country Club offers 45 holes, the Cañada Course and the Conquistador course are 18 holes each, and a 9 hole Pusch Ridge course.  Due to the course maintenance program, we weren't able to play the  Cañada course as it was in final preparations for re-opening for the upcoming peak season.  Our green fee included a cart and access to the range.  The practice green was closed for maintenance the day I played.

We did find the putting very slow on the greens.  It did take a bit of time to adjust to the slower greens, especially on longer putts.  We did leave many of our long putts short as the ball really slowed down as the putts lost momentum.  We were told by other players that the greens hadn't been cut to their normal length and the greens are typically much faster.  To compensate, you could be more aggressive on your approach shots knowing that the ball wasn’t going to roll halfway across the green.

I shot 88 from the gold tees (DeANZA tees on the scorecard) which included an out of bounds tee shot and two 3 putts.  There is quite a bit of difference between playing the gold tees (DeANZA) and the silver tees (CORTEZ) and most average players (10 to 20 handicaps) will enjoy the gold tees.

The Conquistador course is built around a community of homes.  You do need to control your shots to avoid having an errant shot end up in someone’s backyard.  There is a nice mix of left and right dog legs along the way.  As the course is built in a mostly urban area you do not get the desert landscape scenery that you get at other courses in the area that are built in a more rural setting.  There is plenty of wildlife to see including quail, rabbits, and lizards.

You are not afforded elevated views of the surrounding landscape but the course is situated close to the Santa Catalina Mountains so that you pretty much always have a view of these mountains from all parts of the course.  This provides a nice backdrop as you are playing your shots but the views aren't as magnificent as you will find on some of the other courses in the area.  The views are still very nice and you will enjoy the scenery as you play the course.

The staff was very friendly and helpful.

My Evaluation Details:

Scenery – The area is very attractive with views of the Santa Catalina Mountains in the background.  You are playing in a mostly urban area within Oro Valley so you can't expect as much countryside as you get on other more rural courses in the region.

Mix of holes – The course has a great mix of long and short holes with many left and right dog legs.  You will use all the clubs in your bag, especially on the par 5's.  There is more target golf on this course than on the sister course.

Consistency and condition – The course was in great shape and offered consistent tee boxes, greens (albeit slow), rough and bunkers.  The consistency of all parts of the course was very good.  I did play a few bunker shots and was able to advance the ball without any problems.  My buddies did land in some of the waste areas (dry riverbed areas) and were able to get the ball back onto the fairway in one shot despite the heavy sand/gravel.

Character – It is a fun and challenging course to play with nice elevation changes to make it interesting.  The course has been well designed into the surrounding area.  Faster greens will make this a tougher course, when the greens are cut to their normal length.

Golf Challenge – the course did offer a good blend of decision making places…..

• tee shots – you can see all the landing areas very well but you do need to hit straight tee shots to keep the ball in play.
• fairway shots – typically the fairways narrow as you approach the greens so you do need to take that into consideration as you play your shots from the fairway.  For the majority of shots you will encounter flat lies but there are some undulating areas where you will be hitting uphill or downhill.
• putting – I can say the putting was consistent across all the greens and as I've noted elsewhere, it was slow.  The greens were very smooth with hardly any bumps.
• greens – the greens were receptive to high shots and with the grass cut longer you could count on the fact that your ball wouldn't roll too far after landing.  We just took this into account as we played the course and adjusted accordingly.
• a chance to recover – landing in the rough presented the usual problems.  The rough wasn't as fluffy as some of the other courses we played in the area and it was cut to a height that was very fair.  Stray shots can end up in someone’s backyard or in areas along the edges of the course where there was a lot of desert brush/cactus.

Other Observations

It was cart path only the day I played.  The course seemed in perfect shape so I wasn't exactly sure why this rule was in play but was told that at this time of year they stick to the cart path only rule.

The Conquistador course is more challenging than the Cañada course because of its narrowness.  The houses can be a bit distracting off the tee because things are a bit tighter so you need to control your shots off the tee to keep the ball in play.

A course I would play again.

Enjoy the photo's: