Orange Tree Golf & Conference Resort

Curiosity called me to get back to play the Orange Tree GC again. Last time, a couple of months ago or so, the experience wasn't the best with fairways and greens in poor condition in the majority of the holes. What a significant change I found in the GC conditions yesterday. It's evident the efforts put to recover this GC. Fairways and greens were in very good condition, even in the middle of the AZ summer, as you should expect. Congratulations and great job to the staff that got revived this GC, and that motivates me to play it again in the future.,

Better than expected based on year over year reviews. Pleasantly surprised, very playable, all greens with exception of 16th were excellent. S little rough around the edges but nothing to be over critical about. Well done

Course was surprisingly in decent shape. Still has its rough parts, but unbeatable for $30 in Scottsdale.

I have golfed this course many times in the last four years. The course, with the exception of two greens is in great shape. They have worked hard to get it to this point. I understand the two greens are going to be fixed in the near future.

Course was in solid shape for this time of year. They had cold water out. Will be back soon.

I’v been playing OT, on and off, for about 15 years. For 4 years in a row I wrote the course saying it ought to be embarrassed for having “clay” bunkers—largely untilled or raked, and greens, a third of which had up to ⅓ of them barren (down to dirt). The bunkers are now sand, raked and tilled, which is great. However the green’s issue remains and lots of work is needed to make them satisfactory. As this was the beginning of the 4th of July weekend, the fairways and rough had not been cut. Again, very disappointing for a “golf resort.” Also, the general overal outside appearance of the facilities is VERY dated—with NO apparent changes in the last 15+ years. One of my golf buddies, who played Orange Tree BEFORE there were houses. concurs..

Well I really enjoyed the course. I’ve been wanting to play here for a while. My drive is 45 minutes so I decided to give it a go on the 4th. Not disappointed at all. Yes, a couple of greens need some work but it’s summer in Arizona. Other than a foursome of kids slowing everything down it was worth the drive. Thank you Orange Tree hope to see you soon.

This was my third course in Arizona. While the layout was decent and the fairways were generally fair despite being lined with homes, there were a few maintenance issues that really affected play.

They watered the greens during the day, which is unusual, and unfortunately, the sand traps were wet as a result. Wet bunkers are not playable, and these hadn’t been reworked after watering. In that condition, I would recommend treating them as ground under repair and pulling your ball out.

The greens were also incredibly slow — I’d rate them about a 6–8 on the stimpmeter. That took some getting used to.

Course management is important here. You don’t always need to pull out a driver, even on some of the par 5s. Thoughtful shot placement will serve you better than just distance.

For summer conditions, the course played well. I know Jon just came onboard and I'm sure the greens improvements will be coming along shortly. It still would be nice to have cart services but I also understand that not many people are playing in the afternoon. I don't recall if anyone was at the snack shop when I made the turn. Keep up the good work, guys.