del Lago Golf Club

Monsoon season has arrived in the high desert which means afternoon golf is both entertaining and risky. Del Lago is nestled in a neighborhood in Vail and has some good views of the Rincon Mountains nearby and Mt Lemmon in the distance. There are some fun elevated tees, challenging blind dog legs, and frequent winds which makes you think about what club to hit whether it’s a head, tail or cross wind. I learned that again as I hit my 7 iron on #7. I hit it solid and watched the head wind grab it and drop it 5 yards shy of the green with the pin in the back. Of course the opposite is quite fun when I hit my tee shot on #10 with a tail wind 335 yards when I usually average around 260-280 depending on how solidify I hit it. It’s an elevated tee shot with a downhill landing, so on a tailwind day, you get both aids! On this day, I played the front nine and a monsoon started to threaten which brought lightning. I don’t do lightning. So, at the turn, I came inside and waited it out. Once the lightning finished, I ended up playing the back 9 in an hour and 15 minutes because most had left!

The positives: Greens are green. Fairways are green. Tees are green. The course is in great shape. It’s a course that brings some good challenges and has something for every level of player in my opinion. If you’re advanced then hit from the tips and test that experience. If you’re not a long ball hitter then hit from the second tees. It takes a lot of the desert out and allows for a nice round. I split the difference and play from the gold tees. The people here are nice. I’ve interacted with multiple people in the golf shop, marshalls, and cart gals. They’ve all been fantastic.

The negatives: The sand traps are awful. And I mean awful. They’re more like compacted mud with rocks to chip your irons traps. What is it with Tucson and sand traps with dirt and rocks instead of actual sand??? Honestly, I take a drop every time I get in one. I don’t want to chip my clubs. It’s a pretty big negative because I like the challenge of sand play, but I refuse to play out of these. Seems to be a thing in the high desert at other courses as well. The only other negative is picky and that is that the greens were really slow. That being said, I get it. It’s summertime here and cutting them to the point it takes to make them fast would probably kill them with the desert heat. I’ve played this course in the fall, winter and spring and the greens are quicker those times of year.

All in all, this course is well worth it especially for a hot rate!

Course was amazing like always! Monsoon rolled in and got us a tad wet but the course handled the water like a champ!!

Course in good shape - greens a bit on the slow side- fill the lakes back up - that is awful

Great course but wish the traps were all sand, free of rocks. Also would love to see carts with GPS capabilities.

Bunkers are unmaintained and everywhere. I love the layout of the course but if you find a bunker you’re likely going to cause damage to your clubs trying to hit out of them. There are a lot of rocks in the bunkers and they are larger than your golf ball. If you’re gonna play here, agree before the round that all bunkers are free drops and you won’t have to replace a club after the round. Played a round in 2019 and found an old pair of underwear in the bunker next to my ball. Not worth the drive to Vail. Save your money and frustration and go play a muni instead. The photo is from 2019. Bunkers are worse following the pandemic.

We've played several courses around here lately, and this course is in better condition than the others...including some of the resort courses. Fairways, rough, tees and greens in good shape.

Only downfall was the 19th hole. Service was horrible from the restaurant. Food was good but had to chase down the server to order drinks, to get menus, to get refills of beverages and to get our bill. No one managing the shop. Probably explains why the only other customer in the place was at the bar.

It was another enjoyable round at del Lago on Memorial Day. I've been playing the course a little more often because they've been offering more decent deals online. I've always liked del Lago because it's not merely a grip it and rip it course. You do use driver, but not all the time. There are multiple options on every hole. Lots of fun. I wasn't on my game today and paid the price for it. Del Lago isn't overly punitive, but you will be punished when you deserve it. I deserved it. Doesn't change my opinion. The greens were a little slow today. It looks like the superintendent is letting them stay a little shaggy to offset the heat. Be aware of that. Some putts came up short early in the round.

The course does not seem to be maintained all that weel. There was not a bunker on the course that was maintained with sand. They looked as if you were hit out of a rock quarry. The greens were just ok. The fairways were below best standards. This used to be a beautifully maintained course. Not now. The price was $45 for an afternoon Tee time. That is way too much for having to take a drop out of every bunker. I had great experiences in the past. However, would not play here again until they brought it back to the old standards. The starter was terrific and top notch

Course was in good shape except for the bunkers, which were mostly hard pan and/or filled with small rocks. The course layout does make you focus on your shots, but with higher winds, this became a major challenge. Overall this course is one of the best in southern Arizona.

I have played this course a lot but not much anymore. They don’t do anything for locals so I never feel like I need to support it. Just another place to play. Outstanding layout. Tees and fairways were good, greens were slow but smooth. Bunker issues are well documented and I don’t think they’ll ever spend to renovate. Could take half of them out and not even notice. Overgrown trees and brush will always grow back until they completely remove the vegetation. Great track but overall mediocre condition. Food and drinks are good but they close too soon 8pm M-Sat, Sun close at 4pm. Could be the showpiece of Vail but sadly owners don’t want to invest in equipment, facilities, and course conditions. If you just want to smack the ball not a bad place but lower your expectations first and you’ll have a good time.

The bunkers are unplayable ground under repair. The greens crew is extremely understaffed and under paid. The cart paths deplorable as well as the parking lot. The amount of unkept areas is poor and should be marked ground under repair.

Greens and fairways acceptable on a very great layout. Course has been let go and needs much maintenance. Its great the desert is being cut back and thinned out, however the branches and spoil are just thrown to the side and is a mess to try and walk or play from. Finnish the Job !!

The problems described are all completely on the ownership and are not the crews fault. Fix the problems or move on and sell this beautiful layout to an entity that will take care of it and have pride in the product presented. Too many folks have tried and don't return. It's wrong to take growth and increased opportunity and pocket all the profit.

Never get tired of playing this track. It always seems like a different course each time I play. I have played this course regularly for the last 6 years and look forward to it each time. Ok

only have one thing to say that is -- Sand is very bad ! There is not much sand! lots of rocks. Took ball out a couple of holes. I guess they are having a hard time getting the sand. But otherwise the place is very nice! Great greens, slower than they look?? Will go back as they should lower price as it gets hotter, Out of the four better course we played in four days. Del Lago was the best in always!! started play at 11:20

Great people and a great course .. certainly for the price it can’t be beat. The course plays at an appropriate speed, the course stays in good shape and people are certainly a credit to the host. Compare it with other resort courses and you can see the value.

I don’t expect perfect conditions, but giving up on the bunkers is not acceptable.

They are slated for repair, but until then, I feel this course can’t compete with other local offerings who either have playable bunkers or are attempting to improve them.

The layout here is fine, other conditions decent.

I would recommend removing all but a few strategically located bunkers to reduce maintenance and avoid a recurrence of these bad bunkers. Until this is done, I’m playing elsewhere.

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Like every other golf course around this area, the Bunkers are not playable. No sand and grass throughout. Why doesn't someone take the sand from all the over filled runoffs around Arizona and sift it and use it in the bunkers. Its a win, win. The washes get cleaned out and golf courses have sand in the bunkers. Greens were very fast. But the speed seemed to differ from green to green. Fast, slow, fast. Not consistent. No hole layouts on the tee boxes or score cards. Not playing this course before and not having a picture of the hole layout made it frustrating. No coolers allowed but you don't provide one on the carts. We were hoping this was a really nice course like San Ignasio which has coolers with ice provided. I don't feel with the conditions of the bunkers it was worth $67.