Desert/Canyon at Phoenician, The

I enjoyed the course. We played from the resort tees and the course was fair for a 17 handicap. I would play again.

My wife and I played the course and enjoyed it very much. Excellent conditions and a great layout. Challenging without being punishing. My wife was able to enjoy her round from the forward tees. This course is fairly scenic but some others around town offer more spectacular views and at a bit more reasonable prices.

This was our second time playing the Phoenician's new layout and, as always, this is one of the most enjoyable courses in town. We teed off behind the first group, which were regulars and kept a whole in front of us throughout. We finished in just under 4 hours.

The Phoenician is a regular in our rotation because we've never been disappointed in the conditions, especially the greens. Even though this course gets plenty of play, there is rarely any variance in the greens. Always true lines, medium-fast speeds (maybe a 9 on the stimp), and we never seem to see a bad beat. You can roll in a flat or uphill 12-footer with confidence.

We mix in courses across the spectrum from a challenge standpoint, and this one of the 2 or 3 easiest courses in the rotation. It's short (6,000 Whites, 6,400 Blues/Back), many fairways are generous, and the sand is usually close to perfect (hard to find that in Phoenix). I usually improve my handicap trend here.

Some fun, challenging holes for sure: long, uphill par-3s, severe doglegs, blind tee shots, a reachable par-5 (16) and a number of water holes.

19th Hole was glorious. Any time you can play this course for under $80, it's a tremendous value.

The new course layout is terrible... I can provide recommendations in the course hole numbering/design if interested.

This was the worst round, time wise! 5+ hours with no assistance from 'marshall' also very expensive to eat and have a drink!

Had a beer at the clubhouse, server said the cart person would not be around, but she would be at the turn. Cart person was not present all day, at the turn, the clubhouse server was not around, had to go to Relish for a beer, where they increased the price per beer $3.

The staff, the course layout, the weather, and summer course conditions were Great!

The weather had been terrible, but they were well on their way to a good cleanup. Lots of rerouting during renovations, but the course was well marked and staff was good about letting us know.

They removed 9 holes and I feel the best nine. What you are left with is a very choppy layout in which you drive a long way across the resort for your next hole on several occasions.

The views were spectacular. We played during the lunar eclipse and were thrilled.

Excellent experience, perfect condition, course is perfectly maintained. Would highly recommend to others.

Overall Ranking: 3/5

Course Layout: 4/5

Value For The Money: 2/5

Staff Friendliness: 5/5

Course Conditions: 4/5

Pace of Play: 1/5

Played this on the 13th. Typical resort course, forgiving fairways, large greens. This facility recently recently changed to 18 holes from 27. The layout routing seems to have a few long drives between holes.

I have played this course before and it was immaculate and top notch. However, it is not currently in a good place, between construction at the site to the re-layout from three nine-hole courses to one 18-hole course. The drive from 16 to 17 is very low class. It certainly seems like a strange way to combine the course into one. Then, there were three young guests who kept doing donuts in the middle of the 18th fairway. We asked them to get out of the way and they would leave and then come back. When we got mad at them, they said "We're just kids having fun." Restrooms were broken and sand traps were more mud than sand. There are far better courses for similar money in the valley.

They sold off 7 holes of a Perfect 27 holes to Build more Condos / Houses. It totally ruined a perfectly good course. I will never play there again, that's how bad the new design is. Staff was horrible, conditions the worst in the Valley. Although the greens crew did a fairly good job after a major rain the day before, they NEVER told us the extremely poor conditions of the course when we checked into play. 2 of the New 18 holes were closed, water every where sand traps washed out, greens were NOTHING like the perfect practice greens. I brought 3 good friends with me to show them how great The Phoenician was, and I now regret even going there. Asked in The Pro Shop after our round why they didn't tell us how bad of shape the course was in before we played, and then asked for some type of compensation. They never even offered us a thing, no apology for the course, Nothing. That, and I had lost a new golf towel, dropped off onto a cart path and not one person was Honest enough to turn it in. The staff probably took it, I'll never go back and would advise you to NEVER take your friends there the New Design is a Joke.

Visiting Scottsdale and had the opportunity to play for a great rate. Unfortunately, a terrible rain storm the previous evening left mud, debris, and standing water on the course. I was not told that the course was "cart path only" until after my credit card was run. In reality, other than four or so holes, the 90 degree rule would have been appropriate. There were tons of maintenance crews out on the course and they not only left their machines running as my playing partners and I and took our shots, in a couple of cases, they actually got off equipment and left it in the way of shots. I had heard great things about this golf resort and the friendliness of the staff and was really looking forward to the experience, but was disappointed with the customer service. I went into the pro shop after the round for a souvenir and was nearly ignored by the person working at the desk and wasn't even asked how I'd enjoyed my round.

That said, the course layout and challenge were great. The tips are a challenging length, but not ridiculous. The uniqueness of the holes and layout were great and the property is lovely.

First time playing. True Desert golf. Has elevation and makes you think about every shot. Excellent course in a land of a lot of great courses