Ventana Canyon - Mountain Course

Summer conditions were excellent all around. Lush fairways and greens. Greens could have been faster but were consistent medium speed across course. Some small areas on course being worked on due to water damage from heavy rains, but did not affect play. Highly recommend this course for summer play and great value.

Course was really nice with amazing views. Played several courses in Tucson area and the entire staff here was exceptional!

Played the Greens (70.8/136/6537). The weather was clear & hot, with temps around 100 by the time we were finishing. Matched up with Rob, Sam & Kay for a very enjoyable round. We played 4 different sets of tees and were never pushed from behind, finishing in 4H, 20M.

Tom Fazio design. Very difficult course but also fair and very fun to play. Tight but not overly tight... but anything much offline is going to bite you on most shots.

Loved the layout. Constantly Up/down rolling hills, much more down than up. You would play a couple of holes downhill, then have a long climb back up the hill to a new tee box to start a new downhill stretch. Only a few holes played uphill, so overall, the course played shorter than the yardage would indicate. Some risk/reward par 4's and a good collection of par 3's. This would be an almost impossible course to walk, numerous long distances from a green to the next tee box. #9 green was probably 1/3 mile from #10 tee as an example. No tricked up holes, the forced carries were fair. The tight holes were balanced by more open holes. However, there are no holes I would classify as wide open, at most you had a bailout on 1 side.

The Bermuda tees had good coverage, mostly lush and were nice to play from.

The Bermuda fairways were mostly lush and deceptively undulating, few flat lies.

The Bermuda rough was generally penal, the ball sat down. A few bare areas here and there farther away from fairways, but good to very good overall.

The sand traps were plentiful and very well maintained with good quality, light sand.

These were the best Bermuda greens I have ever putted on, period. Medium fast, smooth and very consistent from green to green, maybe the quickest Bermuda greens I have ever putted on. Firm, you could barely leave a ball or pitch mark and immaculately maintained.

The customer service was excellent from all encountered. Very nice grass driving range is included in your fee. Considering the layout and playing conditions, this is probably among the top dozen courses I have ever played. Definitely recommended.

Visiting family in Tucson and decided at last minute to Play golf. Contacted website for Ventana golf and racquet club and signed up for a 1:50 pm tee time at a discounted rate. Arrived at the Lodge/Ventana and was greeted immediately with courtesy and a professional staff that made my experience extremely pleasant and enjoyable! Will look forward to the next trip to Tucson and play the Mountain course. Great experience!

Beautiful course, but no real standout holes. Great conditioning, the greens were immaculate.

I'll play it again while it's cheap with the summer rates.

Long drive from the clubhouse to the practice area was kinda odd.

Pace of play was slow, in part due to who we were paired with. Nice gentlemen, but definetly playing from the wrong tees.

Group in front of us was 2 holes behind when I finally called the pro shop. To their credit, they picked up the pace when asked, leave us and our slow partners......

Thoroughly enjoyed the canyon course. The staff was more than pleasant and very helpful and friendly. Pat O'Niell was terrific and a valuable asset to the management. Would play there again in a heartbeat!

I love everything about the Ventana "Canyon" course, except that it's confusing trying to figure out where to check in for your round at the Ventana Resort (it varies, for reasons that I don't understand). In addition, it's very confusing when you finish the 18th hole and THINK you're back where you started when, in fact, you started almost a mile down the road! the course needs better signage as to where to check in and how to get back to your car after you finish.

The course is in very good condition. For a first time player, it is a challenge to find your way around the course because it is really spread out. Signage could be a little better. The greens are a challenge because of the mountain layout. One must be aware of the mountains to determine how fast and how much break on the greens. During this time of the year, the rates are very good for a course of this condition.

Overall, a great experience.

I decided to play here because my wife was at a convention at the Ventana Canyon Hotel (Which we will never go to again for reasons not pertaining to this golf course). I got an amazing rate for playing on a Monday so it was hard to pass up going here versus the other recommended courses in the area. If you haven't been to this course before, you may want a map or GPS before starting because finding out where to start, let alone get from some holes to another, is somewhat challenging.

My tee time was at 7:00 am, which was the earliest you could get at the time. What kind of sucked was that they didn't even open until 6:30. So I thought I was going to get there early, maybe hit the range, chip and/or put a little... but nope. Had to wait about half an hour just to find someone. I was lucky enough to be paired up with a guy that knew the employees and the course very well so he was extremely helpful. We rode our cart down the hill (mind you, where the waiting area is from the hotel is at the 10th tee and 18th green so it's nowhere near the clubhouse) along some winding paths to get to the clubhouse. This alone I probably would have gotten lost unless we had someone show us the way.

So, we got our 15 min of driving range in and maybe a few putts before we had to get going. Now I will say that the views at this course are gorgeous! One of the best I’ve played in AZ in regards to that. The fairways were just getting cut so they were really nice, and the greens were smooth yet challenging. Each hole had a good layout and made the round really fun. If you have a wild drive, however, bring lots of balls. If you lose one out of bounds you will not find it (or you probably don’t want to find it because I’m sure there will be “animal friends” waiting for you).

The crazy part about it all was getting from certain holes to the next tee. If the guy I was playing with was new to this course like I was I’m sure we would have gotten lost a number of times. There is some direction with small signs, but if you didn’t know where you were going you would second-guess yourself because sometimes it took a bit to get to the next tee. Especially some parts where you are riding along the side of the road, it would have been very easy to take a wrong turn.

Overall, the course was fun, challenging, and had amazing views. If it’s your first time just remember to be mindful of the signs to get to the next tee and be careful of the wildlife. I would play this course again probably after I played a few of the other courses near there where some local people in Tucson said are a little more challenging and had better layouts

Great conditions, beautiful course. Covers a vast area, so is not walkable. (at all).

I am new to Golf now but have been satisfied with my experiences far. I continue to look for ways to enjoy my association with golf now.

An outstanding day of golf in the Southern Arizona summer. It was hot but we did not think anything of it nor did the temperature even become part of our conversations. Slight breeze in the dry air made it comfortable.

As for the course, the views of the dramatic Catalina mountain ranges coupled with the perfectly maintained tee boxes, fairways, rough and greens.

Entire experience was excellent and cannot even think of one thing I'd recommend for improvement.

the staff was very friendly and helpful, the course was in excellent shape, they had just finished up on the reseeding of the greens. It was an enjoyable round I will go back again.

First time playing the Mountain course at Ventana Canyon and it will definitely not be the last. Course for late June was in spectacular shape from tee to green with the greens being pool table smooth. I have played over 35 courses in 2017 and this was by far the best conditioned course I have played all year. Also stayed on the property which made everything very convenient. Would highly recommend playing either course at this facility and look forward to going back in the near future

Course is very nice and the third hole is fun to play.

Great day was marred by slow pace of play.

Second time playing at this course with clients. The views of the mountains and canyon are spectacular and the service team are great. Amy did a great job of keeping us hydrated with water and a few Micheladas.

You might not know this but Ventana and probably some other courses will NOT give you credit for your Paid Online amount against your green fees. Instead, they will divide it up evenly among the members of your group giving each player some of YOUR money as an additional green fee discount. If you play Ventana be sure to know before you pay how the Paid Online dollars are to be handled. Do not pay or play until you are satisfied with how the pro shop handles Paid Online dollars.

Having never been to the course , we found it a challenge to locate the golf shop , the one sign was covered by shrubbery . I sent the wife off to get us checked in while I unloaded the clubs and went in search of her and the carts .NO BAG DROP. I certainly expected that amenity at a facility like this one. Once loaded in the cart , it seems be to a half a mile to locate the starter , with a hiccup on the drive. We were to follow the white dots on the cart path , however about half way to the destination is a sign that says golf registration which sends you in another direction. Back on track we make it to the range /halfway house and starter. We ice up and head out to one of the most spectacular courses I have played. Stunning views , plentiful wildlife and a course in great shape . The wife and I had a great time on course and would play it again. Negatives , no cart lady on an afternoon in the 105 degree range. Also , the pro shop closed upon our return so no opportunity to purchase any clothing, etcetera.

Positives , the gentlemen running the starting area and cart return. Most helpful and pleasant.