bhilln
New member
The Golf Club at Dove Mountain sits about 45 min’s north of Tuscon AZ in Marana. It offer’s 3 9-hole courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and associated with the Ritz Carlton resorts. Situated in the Sonoran Desert and Tortolita Mountains as a backdrop it puts a premium on strategy and shot placement. Elevations range from 2,300 to 3,200 feet offer a challenge for any skill levels. Home to the PGA Tour WGC Accenture Match Play Championship the club offers high standards in service and course conditions.
Practice area B+
Driving Range – The driving range had plenty of stations with a pyramid of balls ready to fire at 8 color-coded flags ranging from 100 yards to 260 yards. The range balls were Callaway and Taylormade Penta TP practice balls. A water station, box of extra tee’s and chairs with sun umbrella’s accompany the hitting stations. Grass was in good shape and had no issue having clean grass to warm up on. The practice range looks onto open desert with mountains in the distant background as a scenic backdrop.
Putting greens had about a dozen holes to practice and included areas for breaking and uphill / downhill puts. The green seemed similar speed to those on the course and offered anything needed on a practice green.
Sand -- I didn’t see an apparent practice sand area, although I’m sure there were practice ones but wasn’t adjacent the range and putting green area that I noticed.
Course conditions B+
Tee boxes were well maintained with no debris or broken tee’s littering the area. Grass was in good shape and had no problems finding a good grassy area between the tee markers to tee it up. The tee’s were marked by one of 5 color’s, Blue, Copper, Yellow and green. The copper and yellow tee markers looked very similar and in places made hard to distinguish between the two. Several occasions on the course I was searching for tee boxes that were off the cart path or had to go back to the copper I was playing after driving up to the yellow or green markers.
Fairways were narrow but fair; grass was in good shape and had very little debris anywhere in the short stuff. Lies were generally flat with little elevation difference along the course we played. Bunkers were abundant and were always in the 230-240 mark off the tee on every par 4, forcing long carry’s or layup’s resulting in long 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] shots. Turf was in great shape throughout the course as expected in a course of this level.
Rough was typical for the area, thick but not anything that would severely penalize offline shots. The turf kept the ball up and provided little penalty for hitting off the fairway. Of off the ruff in the desert you had little chance in finding balls due to the natural vegetation of the area. Searching for offline balls resulted in cactus spines that would pierce any mesh type shoe… and were not very pleasant (take it from personal experience here).
Greens of Bermuda grass typical for the area for the front 9 were in good condition and rolled true and smooth. The back nine still showed signed of being punched and bounced the ball around quite a bit. When finishing the round the attendant asked how the greens were as obviously it has caused some issues the past couple weeks. To say the greens are difficult here would be an understatement. TV doesn’t do justice to the elevation and undulations on the greens we played, I don’t think there was a flat spot on an green that we played. Typical of other Nicklaus courses I’ve experienced, it was not uncommon to see a 3 foot tier / ridge in most greens. The slopes on the edges made rolling off the sides easy and common even if you hit he green on the approach shot. Green size were fair, not overly large but not too small to be unplayable.
Layout B+
Dove Mountain offers 27 holes of desert golf and 4 tee’s for a variety of abilities. The 3 courses are the Saguaro, Tortolita and Wild Burro. I had the chance to play Tortoliita and Wild Burro for the round; Saguaro (front 9 of the WGC event) seemed to be getting work done on the greens and wasn’t able to be played.
Tortolita course is a par 36 course playing anywhere from 2638 from the greens to 3955 from the tournament tee’s. It serves as the back 9 for the Accenture Match Play Championship as well. With abundant bunkers and limited space outside of the fairway shot placement is key. Fairway bunkers were constant and forced carry’s of over 240 yards to clear or forced long 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] shots on layup shots. 2 par three’s of 181 yards (from copper tee’s) and 174 yards were well guarded by bunkers; pars were hard to come by all around and required accuracy off the tee to score well.
Wild Burro was a little more forgiving off the tee; at a par 4 and yardage ranging from 2595 off the green’s up to 3897 from tournament tee’s. Bunker placement remained consistent to the front 6 on par 4’s, each forcing the layup or carrying 250+ to carry. (Playing from copper tee’s) Par 3’s were 180 and 161 yards and were protected by bunkers on the short side of the greens with slopes off the sides for shots off line. Fairway’s were a little wider on this course but shot placement remained crucial to scoring well. Holes were generally straight forward with few dogleg’s but relied on waste areas to break up the holes.
Pace of play B
Course was pretty full on my day of play; I played as a two person group and followed 4 person groups so there was waiting throughout the day. The round completed in around 4 1/2 hours but the course prevented playing in small groups quickly due to the volume of players.
Price B
Rages were typical of a course of this type that holds annual PGA Tour events. Morning times were $79 with cheaper rates later in the day due to the time of the year I was playing. The course is available on GolfNow so deals on tee times can be had based on volume of play and time of year.
Amenities A
I didn’t observe the locker rooms although I saw they were available. The clubhouse and restrooms in the area were well kept and clean. I observed cart girls with drinks and food several times throughout the day and offered the typical food and drink at reasonable rates. Staff was friendly and accommodating throughout my time here. Staff was quick to take bags from the drop off area to a cart while checking in and gave the general orientation to the practice area / 1[SUP]st[/SUP] tee’s. Water station and restrooms were present at least once on each side of the course in addition to the turn. There was a restaurant onsite adjacent to the clubhouse with a variety of food but I didn’t partake of any of the faire so can’t rate that aspect of the course. Carts offered GPS systems, coolers filled with ice, 4 water bottles and towels on each cart. The club house offered a variety of logo’d apparel and accessories from a variety of quality brand names.
Overall B+
This is a quality course in a typical Nicklaus style layouts. It’s about 45 minutes outside of Tuscon, making it a bit isolated compared to other resorts in the area. Distant mountains and natural foliage provide scenic views of desert golf. The greens are a challenge and course play’s longer than the numbers show due to the forced carry / layout decisions common on most holes. Condition of the course other than the green’s on the back 9 were in fantastic shape. Back 9 greens seeing the affects of being punched affected the roll of the greens but as a necessary evil. Greens were very difficult, not due to speed though. I’m convinced there isn’t a flat spot on the greens out there on this course. Shot placement into the greens is crucial due to the 3+ foot tiers and sever undulations of greens. While worth a play in the are, this course is a premier course due to the PGA Tour play here and being associated with Ritz hotel group. There is no shortage of premier courses in the area and this one holds up with the best of them.
Practice area B+
Driving Range – The driving range had plenty of stations with a pyramid of balls ready to fire at 8 color-coded flags ranging from 100 yards to 260 yards. The range balls were Callaway and Taylormade Penta TP practice balls. A water station, box of extra tee’s and chairs with sun umbrella’s accompany the hitting stations. Grass was in good shape and had no issue having clean grass to warm up on. The practice range looks onto open desert with mountains in the distant background as a scenic backdrop.
Putting greens had about a dozen holes to practice and included areas for breaking and uphill / downhill puts. The green seemed similar speed to those on the course and offered anything needed on a practice green.
Sand -- I didn’t see an apparent practice sand area, although I’m sure there were practice ones but wasn’t adjacent the range and putting green area that I noticed.
Course conditions B+
Tee boxes were well maintained with no debris or broken tee’s littering the area. Grass was in good shape and had no problems finding a good grassy area between the tee markers to tee it up. The tee’s were marked by one of 5 color’s, Blue, Copper, Yellow and green. The copper and yellow tee markers looked very similar and in places made hard to distinguish between the two. Several occasions on the course I was searching for tee boxes that were off the cart path or had to go back to the copper I was playing after driving up to the yellow or green markers.
Fairways were narrow but fair; grass was in good shape and had very little debris anywhere in the short stuff. Lies were generally flat with little elevation difference along the course we played. Bunkers were abundant and were always in the 230-240 mark off the tee on every par 4, forcing long carry’s or layup’s resulting in long 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] shots. Turf was in great shape throughout the course as expected in a course of this level.
Rough was typical for the area, thick but not anything that would severely penalize offline shots. The turf kept the ball up and provided little penalty for hitting off the fairway. Of off the ruff in the desert you had little chance in finding balls due to the natural vegetation of the area. Searching for offline balls resulted in cactus spines that would pierce any mesh type shoe… and were not very pleasant (take it from personal experience here).
Greens of Bermuda grass typical for the area for the front 9 were in good condition and rolled true and smooth. The back nine still showed signed of being punched and bounced the ball around quite a bit. When finishing the round the attendant asked how the greens were as obviously it has caused some issues the past couple weeks. To say the greens are difficult here would be an understatement. TV doesn’t do justice to the elevation and undulations on the greens we played, I don’t think there was a flat spot on an green that we played. Typical of other Nicklaus courses I’ve experienced, it was not uncommon to see a 3 foot tier / ridge in most greens. The slopes on the edges made rolling off the sides easy and common even if you hit he green on the approach shot. Green size were fair, not overly large but not too small to be unplayable.
Layout B+
Dove Mountain offers 27 holes of desert golf and 4 tee’s for a variety of abilities. The 3 courses are the Saguaro, Tortolita and Wild Burro. I had the chance to play Tortoliita and Wild Burro for the round; Saguaro (front 9 of the WGC event) seemed to be getting work done on the greens and wasn’t able to be played.
Tortolita course is a par 36 course playing anywhere from 2638 from the greens to 3955 from the tournament tee’s. It serves as the back 9 for the Accenture Match Play Championship as well. With abundant bunkers and limited space outside of the fairway shot placement is key. Fairway bunkers were constant and forced carry’s of over 240 yards to clear or forced long 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] shots on layup shots. 2 par three’s of 181 yards (from copper tee’s) and 174 yards were well guarded by bunkers; pars were hard to come by all around and required accuracy off the tee to score well.
Wild Burro was a little more forgiving off the tee; at a par 4 and yardage ranging from 2595 off the green’s up to 3897 from tournament tee’s. Bunker placement remained consistent to the front 6 on par 4’s, each forcing the layup or carrying 250+ to carry. (Playing from copper tee’s) Par 3’s were 180 and 161 yards and were protected by bunkers on the short side of the greens with slopes off the sides for shots off line. Fairway’s were a little wider on this course but shot placement remained crucial to scoring well. Holes were generally straight forward with few dogleg’s but relied on waste areas to break up the holes.
Pace of play B
Course was pretty full on my day of play; I played as a two person group and followed 4 person groups so there was waiting throughout the day. The round completed in around 4 1/2 hours but the course prevented playing in small groups quickly due to the volume of players.
Price B
Rages were typical of a course of this type that holds annual PGA Tour events. Morning times were $79 with cheaper rates later in the day due to the time of the year I was playing. The course is available on GolfNow so deals on tee times can be had based on volume of play and time of year.
Amenities A
I didn’t observe the locker rooms although I saw they were available. The clubhouse and restrooms in the area were well kept and clean. I observed cart girls with drinks and food several times throughout the day and offered the typical food and drink at reasonable rates. Staff was friendly and accommodating throughout my time here. Staff was quick to take bags from the drop off area to a cart while checking in and gave the general orientation to the practice area / 1[SUP]st[/SUP] tee’s. Water station and restrooms were present at least once on each side of the course in addition to the turn. There was a restaurant onsite adjacent to the clubhouse with a variety of food but I didn’t partake of any of the faire so can’t rate that aspect of the course. Carts offered GPS systems, coolers filled with ice, 4 water bottles and towels on each cart. The club house offered a variety of logo’d apparel and accessories from a variety of quality brand names.
Overall B+
This is a quality course in a typical Nicklaus style layouts. It’s about 45 minutes outside of Tuscon, making it a bit isolated compared to other resorts in the area. Distant mountains and natural foliage provide scenic views of desert golf. The greens are a challenge and course play’s longer than the numbers show due to the forced carry / layout decisions common on most holes. Condition of the course other than the green’s on the back 9 were in fantastic shape. Back 9 greens seeing the affects of being punched affected the roll of the greens but as a necessary evil. Greens were very difficult, not due to speed though. I’m convinced there isn’t a flat spot on the greens out there on this course. Shot placement into the greens is crucial due to the 3+ foot tiers and sever undulations of greens. While worth a play in the are, this course is a premier course due to the PGA Tour play here and being associated with Ritz hotel group. There is no shortage of premier courses in the area and this one holds up with the best of them.
