Camelback Golf Club - Ambiente Course

Marriott worked a couple of years to change the old Indian Bend course into the Ambiente. Frankly, the result is disappointing. The course is UGLY, with nasty native grasses bordering the fairways. I feel sorry for the folks who have nice homes overlooking the wash, their current view is UGLY. The course didn't play hard even tho it was 6100 yds. The greens were in good shape. The amenities were really below par. There were no ball washers. They gave a towel one could wet and clean the ball. Of course that gets really mucky fast. There were no tee box ID or yardage signs and no waste cans on the tee boxes. There were four water stations. There was intermittent cart service. The directional signs were really hard to read. On one hole I teed off in the wrong direction. I searched for another hole for five minutes as the directional sign was brown on dark brown. For a Camelback course this facility was lacking. The Padre course is much the better. Glad I played Ambiente at a discount rate as that lessens the experience frustration. Can't see any reason to go back there.

Course in great shape from tees to greens. Greens were medium fast with no ball marks. Course is an out and back course where you do not return to the clubhouse after 9. Bottled water provided on cart and excellent GPS is included. No ball washers on course. Would recommend playing once but there are better courses to play in the valley.

Was told a start that greens were very firm still, being it only having a couple years of play since it was re vamped. Most greens held my shots and I scored decent. Only short chips and pitches were hard to control. Greens rolled fast and pretty true. Water dispersed at certain holes was very good and cart people were nice. Facilities were clean. Great pair, ambiente and padre. Will play again for sure

Ambiente is a great course and a great value for the money. staff is awesome with a great practice range.
Good challenge for middle to advanced golfers from the Verde tees

With the fescue height in excess of 10", if you hit an arrant shot your done. Two feet into the rough and you and taking a drop.

Accurate, conservative and conscious shot making is a requirement. Greens and fairways are in good shape.

Had looked at this course for some time and read reviews about the remodel. Was pleasantly surprised that how good the course was in design and the quality of the surfaces. From the tips the back 9 gets very long

The course flooded by the last storm, the rough is very high, if you missed the fair way, you will have a tough time to find the lost ball.

I found the course to be somewhat challenging. I don't particularly like links courses but had hear both good and bad about Ambiente. I like it but would most likely play in a foursome next time. Pace was excellent , the course was pretty empty so I am sure that helped with the pace of Play..

Course in great shape. Pace of play was great. 4:15 hrs. Actually a little lush to be the links course it has been purported to be. Definitely would be back.

Fun course,great conditions,especially bunkers .Very few burnt areas from heat. Guarantee we will be back. $7 per beer after round was a little much.

thru no fault of course staff or members our group played behing a group of 24 playing some tournament..We had watched group go off for most part they all looked like players but we caught them at 3 and for some reason the pace slowed to a crawl. at 112 degrees waiting for over 5 hours sapped all our energy. just another day and luck of the draw. Would play again interesting layout...

I played here several years ago when Ambiente had all those trees! What a great job in renovating!

The course is in great shape! And even though I'm not a big fan of bermuda greens in the desert (mostly too firm to hold anything!), the greens at Ambiente were great! Got lot's of spin and check ups!

Great course and I'll be back for certain!

The whole course was in a very good shape and greens were true and had a good speed.
probably on of the best course in the phoenix / scottsdale area at the moment.
free water bottles everywhere on the course .
had a great golfday . thank you camelback golf club!

Great course! Excellent condition! Great value for the money!

My favorite summer course. Excellent course condition. See you next week

I had been given differing views on this course before trying it myself. Some seemed to think there was an effort by the club to make this the toughest course in Arizona. Others found it challenging, but not impossible. I played from the 'teal' tees (not the tips), and found the course challenging, but not impossible. Maybe the tips would be impossible (at least for my game). The tips add an additional 30 to 60 yards depending on the hole. Nevertheless, the course is challenging due to the fescue rough and the strategic placement of bunkers in the fairway as well as around the greens. Depending on your game, this is a tough course. Regardless, the club has done a great job maintaining this course in terrific shape. The greens were fast and true with nary a bare spot; the fairways were green and lush from edge to edge. Its a great course, but don't be shy about playing it. It isn't Chambers Bay, but it might be St. Andrews Old Course.

This was my first time playing this course. It has a great design that is different from a lot of the courses in the area. The course condition was great for this time of year.

Good course; the only problem was, I am a seventeen handicap and I was paired with three guys who were probably three handicaps or better. Wow so that is how golf is played.

This is the first time I have played Camelback's Ambiente course and I was very impressed. Everyone who lives here knows this is the time of year were you can play just about any nice course for under $30, but this year a lot of these nice course are I'm reallly, really bad shape. I have played them all and Ambiente is by far in the best shape of all right now. Grass is green and lush on the fairways and the greens are better then any course I have played in the last three months, Troon N Pin 4/12 being the last. The course also has bunkers with real white sand instead of that brown hard desert crushed rock that so many good course still have across the valley for some reason.
Now with that said there is some bad. Even though I liked the layout and we got blessed with a nice overcast breezy day I can see how miserable this course could be in a normal AZ summer day with less then perfect condition. It runs down in a dry river bed and has very few trees for shade. So get there early, or wait for the late cloud cover. Not the best views either, unless you like looking at mansions and fescue.
We chose this couse over Papago only because we wanted to play an Open style course. All of us were pleasantly surprised and very happy with our decision. I wI'll be back again soon!

Hole Hunter BB

The course was in n great shape, staff was extremely friendly, unlike any course I've played in the area.