2CentGolf.com - How We Review Golf Courses

 

Each of us have categories that are more important to us than others, and they are generally reflected in the ratings. For some of us, it is the beverage cart service, for some it is the greens, and some of us prefer beautiful views on the course. We try to focus on value and good overall golfing experiences in our ratings, but if the sand traps are important to you, there is a rating specifically designed to address the condition of the sand traps. If friendly people on the course are the most important to you, you will find that rating too.

 

Inevitably, any ratings system will have gaps, and the total 2 Cent Golf score is designed to address the overall experience as well as categories such as "fun factor" and "playability". We hope you will find the ratings useful in making your golfing choices.

 

Looking at the information at the top of each review page for each golf course, you will find the name of the golf course, the address, and the telephone number. We tell you if it is a public or private course and the yardage/slope/rating.

 

We also tell you the month and year when the course was played. In Arizona, conditions can vary widely from the winter to summer, so be sure to take into consideration the time of year the golf course was played to properly interpret the ratings.

 

The courses are usually at their best condition December through April for the tourist season, but the relative condition in the summer is usually indicative of how they take care of the course in the winter.

 

Do not worry too much about how long ago the review was done. We have played these Arizona course for fifteen years or more, and unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) they never seem to change very much from year to year. Only when ownership changes are there sometimes improvements or a decline in a course. We try to revisit courses when we hear of changes, and of course we always want to try the new ones as soon as possible!

 

We tell you the type of course. Generally, there are usually only three different types of courses which might make a difference to the golfer in Arizona. The first is the "Traditional" course, which we define as either flat or with rolling hills, large trees, and grass everywhere. Next you have the "Desert" courses, which usually have grass in the tee areas, a little bit on the fairways, and then greens at the other end which are also sometimes surrounded by desert. There are also "Mountain" courses such as those in the Gold Canyon area where you are sometimes hitting a shot from a side of a mountain down to a green that might be 170 yards and require using an 8 iron instead of a 4 iron. There are also Resort Courses, but they can be any of the three types just described.

 

There are many private courses in Arizona. Some are outstanding, and some less than remarkable. Most of them are in the top 25%. We have played a number of those courses, but have chosen not to include them in the ratings as the average golfer would have difficulty arranging an opportunity to play them. If you get a chance to play a private course, do it!

 

Another category is the "Price Paid". This is what we each paid that day to play golf. Prices vary widely and most of the time are more if you use a cart. Look at the page on "The Price" for more information and how we pay for our rounds of golf.

 

We tell you if you can walk. Some of us like to walk, especially in the winter, and this is important to those golfers. Some of the Arizona desert courses, in particular, have miles of cart paths between the homes which make it almost impossible to walk, and some courses simply refuse to allow walkers as they are trying to speed up play. Some courses have mountains and some are flat. Our recommendation is that you call the course first if you want to walk to be sure they allow walking, because even if they generally allow walking, some may allow walking in the summer but not in the winter or when the courses are busy.

 

We tell you how long it took to play our round of golf. Some great golf courses take a long time to complete a round which makes them a whole lot less appealing. We usually play during the week, and in the afternoon. You should consider how long it took us to complete the round in the context of when you will be playing. Mornings and weekend mornings, in particular, are the worst for congestion on the course. In Arizona, a round of golf in the winter can take forever unless it is at a high end (and expensive) course with carts required and widely separated tee times. This is not always true, but many courses in Arizona try to pack in as many tee times as they can during the winter time because that is when they make the money they need to survive for the rest of the year. This can lead to backups of two to three foursomes on the par threes, which is not a happy experience. If you play a Resort Course, you should usually plan for slow play. Particularly at the Resort Courses, the rangers seem reluctant to push golfers along, which usually results in long rounds. Resort Course golfers many times are also not as good, or have not played for four or five months during the winter, which also slows play.

 

If our total time is slow during the week in the summer time, expect your weekend play in the winter time to be excruciatingly slow. Some courses also just play faster than others, even in the winter time and after looking at a few of our reviews you will begin to get a sense of how long your round will (or should) take.

 

Some golf facilities have more than one course; be sure your tee time is at the course you intended as they can be very different in price, quality, and terrain even if they are "side by each".

 

Finally, on our web site you can enter your own rating -once- so you, too, can put in your "2 Cents".