Bison Golf Club

This course is a great place to play in the white mountains. It is always in great shape, with some speedy greens after temps warm up. The new clubhouse and restaurant is a must.

Some fairways were unplayable because of aerating.

They've changed the arrangement since last year(same holes, different order). A new clubhouse and pro shop is very nice and all staff friendly. The course is in good shape and as always offers some good challenges with some narrow fairways. We try to play annually and are never dissappointed.

This course has loads of trees. Parts are narrow and hole 18 is a very tough finishing hole

Overall, we love this course and their beautiful new restaurant

I have played Bison several times a year for the last few years. It's a wonderful public course that has been well-maintained, especially the greens, in recent years. It's affordable and you'll find challenges with some of the narrow pine tree-lined fairways. The greens typically run fast, which puts a premium on keep the ball below the hole and not short-siding yourself if you miss greens.

I write this review because Bison has a new layout in 2017 because they built a new clubhouse directly off Highway 260. The new facility is nice, especially the restaurant Buffalo Bill's Tavern. I did not not eat there, but the place looks nice and I've heard good reviews.

As for the course, it's the same, just re-numbered. After a lengthy drive from the clubhouse, the new opening hole is what used to be No. 15 -- a dogleg left Par-4. With this as the starting hole, it breaks up the consecutive Par-5s that used to make or break or rounds and leaves the new finishing hole as the former No. 14. it's a tough finishing hole because there aren't many options to go for the green in two and your layups require demanding and precise club decisions to avoid trees and hazard areas.

I've always loved playing Bison so the new layout doesn't bother me. However, for players looking to play a quick nine holes, this may not be your course. Starting on the new #1 has you finishing about as far from the new clubhouse as possible on the course. And if you start on the back-9, it's the same issue -- you'll have a very long drive getting out to your opening hole. And then there's always the drive back to the clubhouse from #1/18 tees anyways.

Logistically, it's not an ideal set up. But once on the course it's a lot of fun, I think. The playing areas are in great shape right now with super fast greens, especially when the morning dew evaporates. In thunderstorm season, always a good idea to try and get out early to beat these storms. And this course does get busy mid-morning with a lot of play.

I recommend it because I find it enjoyable even when I don't play well. Just know there are a few quirks to the new setup (and there were a couple smaller quirks to the old setup, too).

Absolute disaster on Monday, July 3rd. We arrived for our 10:40am tee time at 10am and see 20+ people with their bags standing around outside the proshop. We thought maybe they were all waiting for a bus after playing 9 holes or something, but it was due to the fact the course had run out of carts by 9:30 in the freakin' morning?!?!? So we proceed inside and inquire about the status or our tee-time and the guy behind the counter lies right to our faces by saying they're only 15 minutes behind or so and that some of the carts are go back in soon. If you run out of carts over an hour before your 1st wave of golfers is due back in (they don't start tee-times here until after 6:30...if they don't wander in way late), and your 9:30 group doesn't head out until after 10:15, then you have a much bigger issue. We drove our car down to the driving range and hit balls for 30 minutes and didn't see one group tee off at #1.

We ask the starter at #1 what was really happening and he said that a much bigger-than-expected group from the local RV park came into golf and used up a big chunk of carts and pushed everyone's tee-times WAY back. I'm assuming they have a special deal for this group which explains why they accommodated all of them and completely screwed everyone who came in with actual tee-times afterwards. We finally left a full hour after our scheduled tee-time and we were still at least 30 minutes from going out onto a totally packed course.

If the proshop had been honest with us and simply gave us the facts, we would have left and just come back 60-90 minutes later, but telling lies directly to our faces just illustrates how poorly managed this course has become. Just tell me, "we have a deal with XYZ and it pushed us way behind schedule". How tough is that!!?!?

It's a quirky, tight layout that is normally fun to play, but this event (and my local friend has told me of other recent stupid management issues) will probably keep me from playing again there anytime soon.

Went up to Pinedale for the weekend and spent some time with the family up at our Cabin. I had been waiting to play some golf up here and was not disappointed. Range is really small, but the warm up area feels very personal. Your tucked away hitting balls between the tree lines listening to the wind blow through the trees. Absolutely Incredible. The course is actually in really great shape. Probably the best fairways ive hit off of. The greens were slick. There are a few greens that had some areas of concern, but they are fixing it. The ranger was awesome and friendly. He rides around with his beagle and is the nicest ranger i have ever met. The course has some forced carries makes you use a lot of different shots to get to where you need to be. There are some blind second shots as well, which make the course difficult on some holes. Fairways are narrow on some holes so tee shot accuracy is a must. Dont really have any complaints to be honest. Great course and i will definitely be playing every time i go up there during their season.

we were held up over 1 hr from starting with no one going out for a 30 min period

the course was in great shape and always a challenge as the back nine is cut out of the ponderosa pine forest. Had a very good experience.

Very windy on the day we played. I would really like to play it under normal conditions

Excellent golf course, well worth the drive from Phoenix. Plan to stay overnight ( at the KC Motel )
and play their other course, Silver Creek.

Played on a Saturday afternoon wanting to get in a quick round. They did let me go ahead of the sevensome that were about to tee off. That should have been an indication of what was to come. The first 7 holes went quickly. I play quick and enjoyed that. Then I caught up with a sevensome on number 9 after waiting on 3 kids on number 8. The sevensome would not let you play thru... "there is a foursome up ahead"...I skipped a couple of holes and caught up with a father son couple and played with them the rest of the round. We enjoyed it. I then went back to finish the holes I had missed and there was another sevensome...extremely frustrating! They need marshals on the course to keep the pace of play reasonable and they need to stop allowing groups of more than 4 on the course at a time. The staff...difficult to find and extremely not friendly when you do. Enough said.

The course was in excellent condition. The staff was very friendly. THe only problem is that they dont have a practive facility easily accessable from the Clubhouse. They would probably have much more play and practice participation of the did so.

Bob Widera

Summer (High Season) in the White Mountains of Arizona is somewhat limited except for private or extremely high end courses. Bison is a good option for those wanting to play on a friendly staffed course that is enjoyable and still challenging for a moderate handicap golfer. Front nine is the best options for pars and birdies, as the back nine tends to be somewhat longer and narrower, and therefore more difficult for a low score. Highly recommend for a cool golf experience in the high pines at a very reasonable fee.

I enjoy a challenge I would not change a thing. My advice is to hit the ball straight and don't get above the hole.

This is a really fun course nestled in the Ponderosa Pines in Show Low. The two nines are quite different. The front opens with forgiving holes that you'll want to take advantage of. The back offers tighter fairways and some lengthy par-5s that will require accurate tee shots.

The challenge here is to keep the ball below the hole. Greens get firm and fast, and downhill putts can be difficult to keep close if they don't drop. The speed provides more break than sometimes meets the eye, too.

One complaint of the course is that, while it is fairly well marked, there are no 100 or 150-yard posts on a few of the longer holes or holes that offer blind shots. Providing a standing visual on these holes would help speed up pace of play. Otherwise 200, 150 and 100-yard marks are identified in the center of fairways, and some sprinklers indicate front/center/back yardages. I would prefer all Par-3 tee boxes also have a yardage marker to confirm what is on the scorecard.

In the summer, the course is soggy early in the mornings, but dries out rather quickly, especially for the back-9.

Some may be disappointed that the cart paths are rugged, but it adds to the uniqueness of playing golf in the White Mountains!

I erroneously made the reservation for the 23rd instead of the desired 22nd. The pro shop professionals were fantastically accommodating and understanding, resolved the issue immediately. Great course, good people and we had a great round....Tom

Only down side was the driving range was down the road, so no practice for my girl friend. Staff was very helpful. Course in great shape, though greens have been aerated, but have started to grow back in. Tees and fairways in great shape. Lots of trees.... Make sure you want to hit that driver. Enjoy.

Greens recently aerated, but not informed by club house attendant (pro?) prior to paying/playing.

Cart paths on back nine very bumpy.

Lack of directional signs,from green to next tee, makes for an adventure on several holes., as well as finding cart return.

Crossing busy road in golf cart a risky task.

Layout is scenic but a mixed bag - some nice holes, some not so great. Many holes narrow with tall trees and houses too close. Some short doglegs and blind shots made driving the ball tricky. Conditions also mixed - firm fairways, erratic rough, wet areas, etc. Greens in good shape, putted nice with plenty of slopes, but were firm and did not hold incoming shots. Pace of play was great, price was right. Overall worth it, and is a great place to play during the summer.