Talking Stick Golf Club - O'odham Course

Of the three courses I played on my most recent trip to Scottsdale (including We-Ko-Pa Saguaro & TPC Scottsdale Stadium), Talking Stick North is certainly the most understated, particularly considering how flashy the hotel is, with its nightly light show and clubs and bars inside.

But fans of minimalist Coore Crenshaw will still find a lot of beauty here despite a flat, mostly featureless piece of property. We often praise architects for their work on spectacular terrain. But Coore-Crenshaw deserve a lot of credit for the subtleties they've delivered in a fun routing at Talking Stick, just east of the 101 freeway and very accessible from Old Town and Sky Harbor Airport.

The routing has big fairways, some neat hole designs and a whole lot of solitude. Native American courses have the benefit of not needing any adjoining residential development, and Talking Stick, while about as flat as it gets, is still a really enjoyable loop. I favor the North, a more wide open links-inspired course, over the more traditional South, which has more trees and water.

There are a few operational shortcomings here: there was no ranger on the course, and a fivesome held us up pretty good. Also, the driving range closing at 2 pm (only on Thursdays) wasn't great, considering I showed up early for my tee time to hit balls, and there is no chipping/pitching green, which would have been a fine consolation.

But for stay-and-play convenience in Scottsdale, Talking Stick still has one of the best setups thanks to the price point of the stay-and-play package and uniqueness of the two layouts here compared to its nearest peers. I'll still not hesitate to go back.

The excavated rough condition in the depressed area on the 12th hole of the North Course was unacceptable. Also, the music from the pool area of the Talking Sticks Hotel was too loud and could be heard on virtually every hole on the course.

Course was in great shape, it was a perfect day for golf in the Desert. When we arrived staff were on edge, no carts were available until about 3 Min before out t-time. The course was way over booked, pace of play was an unmerciful 5.5 hours for 18 holes. It was apparent that course Rangers had any intent on enforcing pace of play expectations. In our opinion it ruined our experience, and we are not super fast players or low handicappers ourselves.

Talking Stick is very run down. Almost $100 per person is definitely not worth it for this course. Plus the rangers quit early & we have a bunch of guys hitting into us on several holes even though they saw that we had to wait for the players in front of us. We will NEVER go back to this course again. Course is very flat & definitely not beautiful or interesting.

Had a great time playing this course. It is challenging, yet fair. I will definitely go back. Stopped to get a bite to eat when finished. Very disappointed wth the speed of service and the very short menu, though.

Course was in good shape, the greens were really hard, couldn't dent them let alone hold them. Many were so fast few in my group could keep a putt on the surface. Service staff was excellent. For the price I would expect gps.

I found the course in very good shape, pace of play was good, price wasn't bad either.

Dropped off my clubs and everything went smoothly from then on. Checked in and was sent out to the driving range. Great way to warm up. To practice green.and off right on time. Played in 3 hours and 15 minutes. Greens were fast an smooth. Fairways were in good shape for the transition time of year. Would definitely recommend it.

Course is flat and wide ooen. Typical resort course but hoping for more than a back and forth layout with little differences in the holes. Price was steep as well for what you get. I will say food is excellent and the staff is great.

North or South course.... either is awesome. Coore & Crenshaw design is superb!! I highly recommend this golf experience!

The course did not have my name on the tee sheet. It was entered guest. A little disappointing.

Not up to par with other high end courses in the valley staff was not happy to be there on Sunday.

It was a wonderful course to play, and I would enjoy playing it again.

I had high expectations when we pulled in. The staff was friendly and processed our payments quickly. The driving range was fine and we even teeded off a few minutes early.

The problem started when we reached the first green. It was not ONLY slow it was very bumpy. I found this same proble to be true on ALL 18 greens. This made it very difficult to enjoy the round because each hole ended with a slow/bumpy putting surface.

The head greens keeper need to talk to his counterparts at other courses like Whisper rock to see what can be done to rescue this course.

Talking Stick in NOT a cheap course and the amount paid was not reflected in the quantity of the greens. I will not return and advise other golfers to spend their hard earned money at one of the many other courses in the area.

nice course--good layout

not on the same level as the top end courses but definitly worth the $

we will definitly play it again

I played the South Course, which was in good shape and fairly easy. Nice wide fairways, roughs with grass!, and lovely view areas. Staff were super friendly and helpful. Course is good for a range of players -- I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

The staff,the course, the whole day was great, it wasn't over booked the pace was awesome we were done 18 holes in under 4 hours.The only down side of the course is that there is no GPS in the carts.

Our wives hung out at the casino while we played golf on a beautiful golf course. Win, win! Pun intended. Nice facility. Had a great time!

Overall, it was a fun course to play. Tee shots are fairly wide with the challenge being the approaches. Course in good condition

We were a twosome paired with a couple of other snowbirds and really enjoyed our round. Fairways were perfect. Range was great w/ all the balls you wanted to hit included. Huge putting area but a let down that there was no place to chip. Greens were just a bit slow and too firm for my liking. Overall would look forward to playing this course again.