Sunbird Golf Resort

This course is nicely kept, greens are in good condition and overall a nice course to play a round.

It wouldn't be fair to review this based on other higher end full par 70-72 courses I've played. This review is purely based off other short courses I've played here in Arizona (Greenfield, Augusta Ranch, Desert Sands). The one thing that was worse at Sunbird compared to the other short courses was the greens conditions. I had a morning tee time and the greens were so slow that single putting was nearly impossible unless you were within 3 ft (at my handicap 15 handicap level). There were multiple instances where I landed on the green with a 20 ft putt to go and I would strike it (hard enough that I thought I would blast past the hole) and still end up 5-10 ft short.

If you take that away the rest was pretty average or slightly average about the course. One thing I greatly appreciated was the course layout. Most of the other short courses it is the same hole over and over again with minor differences (greenside bunker positions and maybe some water). At Sunbird intentionally built it so that even with a par 4 250-300 hole it would be blocked off so you would have to use an iron/wedge on off the tee and plot your attack to a birdie chance. The course also appeared to have Junior tee boxes which I thought was awesome and would love to take my son when I feel he is ready for his first time on a course.

Overall, if the green were better and at a fast or at least medium speed, then I would say this is easily the best short course option at of all of the ones I've played. Out of the four, this is how I would rank them.

1 - Augusta Ranch (best maintained with grassy roughs instead of rocks and okay to great greens depending on the day).

2 - Sunbird (most of the course was maintained to price standard minus greens. Course/Hole Layouts was a breathe of fresh air compared to other short courses that are straight shot with no challenge).

3 - Greenfield Lakes (Par 4s and Par 5s all truly require Driver, but almost all par 3s are extremely short with wedge or 9iron distances)

4 - Desert Sands (Just no. I've played twice and the only reason why I might acknowledge its existence is if a $15-$20 budget is all you can afford and it is the difference between getting a round in and not. Even so, one of the two times that I played I walked away feeling that spending $15 on a large bucket of range balls would have been better than dealing with the pace of play and course conditions).

Enjoyed this short course venue. Greens and fairways were in excellent shape. However, “sand traps” were terrible. More like semi-cement. This would be an easy and inexpensive fix and make a huge difference in the course.

Played as a single on a Sunday. Front desk guy was very friendly and explained a lot about the course as it was my first time. I got off on my scheduled tee time and the carts were in good shape. Tee boxes, fairways and greens were in good shape and played true. Pace of play backed up a bit on the back but players were great about letting me play through. No starter that day and no marshals on the course but things moved along pretty well. Only drawback for me was that there was no snack bar or beverage cart on the course. Would have been nice to get a hotdog and/or a beverage at the turn or on the course. Aside from that, i think its a god value. This is a short course and if you are a bomber or low handicapper, it may not be much of a test for you.

The course is in good condition but it was very difficult to get a putt to the hole.

Very chill. Nice vibe. Crowds were light everyone was nice. Fairways and greens are well kept. I enjoyed my day. Looking forward to playing the coarse again. Oh ya, there’s 27 holes too.

Overall, the course has some fun holes with different challenges. However, the greens were super super slow. Since the course is within a small community, there's always cars and golf carts driving around while you're teen off so it can be a little disruptive to your concentration in the middle of your swing.

Did enjoy the round; staff very friendly and courteous; no on course beverages or food