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Rating Index Rating
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4.4
1431 Reviews (1431)
5 Stars
973
4 Stars
335
3 Stars
77
2 Stars
33
1 Stars
13
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.3
Layout
4.7
Friendliness
4.7
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.5
88.7%
Recommend this course
1329 out of 1431 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.3
48 Reviews (48)
5 Stars
27
4 Stars
11
3 Stars
6
2 Stars
3
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.2
Value
4.0
Layout
4.6
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.2
StaffFriendliness
4.6
79.2%
Recommend this course
38 out of 48 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.3
95 Reviews (95)
5 Stars
54
4 Stars
26
3 Stars
10
2 Stars
4
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.2
Value
4.2
Layout
4.6
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.4
StaffFriendliness
4.7
86.3%
Recommend this course
82 out of 95 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
Southern Dunes delivers a championship-caliber layout with challenging bunkers, stunning scenery, and conditions that consistently impress recent golfers. Exceptionally friendly staff, quality amenities, and outstanding value make this AGA and USGA qualifier venue worth the trip.

About

Holes 18
Type Public
Style Traditional/Links
Par 72
Length 7546 yards
Slope 142
Rating 76.5

Stretching over 320 acres in the southwest area, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club (previously known as Royal Dunes) transforms mostly flat terrain into a challenging course that uses practically twice the amount of land a standard course. The course incorporates superb landscaping featuring towering mounds and hollow valleys for an interesting and scenic game. This desert golf course has wide fairways and generous landing areas. The dunes-style layout requires precision from tee to green. The difficulty of the golf course lies within the deep, strategically placed sand bunkers, multi-tiered greens, and native grass roughs. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club provides adequate challenge for players of any skill level.

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Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 2002
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Bermuda Grass
Golf Season Year round. Closed on Mondays from June 1 - August 31st
Architect Brian Curley (2002) Fred Couples (2002) Lee E. Schmidt (2002)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Caddies Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Metal Spikes Allowed No
Dress code Appropriate golf attire.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Grill

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities, Spa, Locker Rooms

Available Sports

Fitness

Accolades

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Reviews

4.4
1431 Reviews (1431)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 59
Patio Dining 48
Brunch 25
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 121
Undulating Greens 56
Forced Carries 55
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 90
A Bucket list/Top 100 Pick 49
A Weekend Splurge 44
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 101
In the 'Burbs 16
Convenient to the City 7

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great course

This course is always fun to play. Great layout and peace a quiet. Can't wait to have a beer at the 19th hole when they complete construction. The new building looks great so far. Keep it up Souther Dunes. The golf staff is top notch.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great Course Design

This course is a well designed course by Fred Couples.

Should note that the entire clubhouse is being renovated and won’t open until Spring 2027. They have a food truck there though that has the best Smash Cheese Burger I have ever eaten!! They gave us a $10 food voucher each when we checked in for our tee time, which was not expected and was appreciated.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 26
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Lots of sand

As it name describes, this course has a lot of sand or dirt traps. They currently are not in very good condition. The course is very nice and staff is friendly!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 30
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Excellent track

I had read a few previous reviews about the course being in a bit of disarray, and yes, they are doing construction and rebuilding the clubhouse, but the Golf Course was a great challenge. Lots of great holes that take a great amount of strategy to get around. The staff was incredibly friendly, navigating us through the construction, and although the pace was a bit slow, we had a fantastic day out at Southern dunes.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 25
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0

dry, firm, bad bunkers and overall nothing much great, at the moment.

Conditions Poor
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Average

Slightly underwhelming course. Currently under construction. Parts of the course look to be not is great conditions, mostly the areas off the fairways. The course design has alot of bunkers but the bunkers were not in good shape. Hard sand which made them almost unplayable. Approximately 1 hour from Phoenix area.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 29
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

Bring your A game

Tough layout. Small landing areas on droves and heavily bunkered greens. Tons of traps. Sand could be better but recommend and worth the 40 min drive.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 13
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 30
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Not for beginners

Good course for 10 index or lower. Lack of sand in bunkers and less than ideal GPS makes for additional challenges. 50% of bunkers green-side were hard pack with no sand. The Mtc folks said sand gets blown out of bunkers!? Should be good course when club house is completed, they fix bunkers and get new carts with better GPS.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Great Time

Course and weather was perfect. Only downfall, new clubhouse is not completed

Conditions Fair
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
First Time Playing

Overrated

Overrated track. Greens were splotchy. They were also so firm and dry I couldn’t hold PW from the fairway. Driving range looked like it hasn’t been mowed in a week. Major let down considering the hype of a top 100 US public course.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great destination course

The course design is great, each hole is unique and requires thinking. The traps are plentiful and make the course and your strategy challenging. With that said the traps aren’t consistent and some are dirt. We started 20 minutes past our tee time which is always irritating especially when it’s 8:00.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 76
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Upgrades under construction

Presently there is construction on a few upgrades at the course. Otherwise the course is in very good condition. Fun track!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 27
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great course

The best course in area. I recommend vourse to anyone. I can not wait to golf there again.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great vourse

Very hot out but the water bottles every 2 holes were great! Greens a bit slow but I'm sure not rolled due to heat; traps firm dirt, which wasn't good. Overall nice track; especially on hot deal.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Windy weather
Used cart

Great Course

Great layout, great views, great weather, great course

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
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Golf Packages

The Triple Down Stay & Play Package

CLICK BELOW
PHOENIX/SCOTTSDALE | Enjoy lodging accommodations at Gila River Resorts & Casino - Wild Horse Pass or Harrah's Ak-Chin Hotel & Casino and golf at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes and Whirlwind Golf Club - Cattail & Devil's Claw courses.

Whirlwind Golf Getaway Package

CLICK BELOW
CHANDLER | Enjoy lodging accommodations at Gila River Resorts & Casino - Wild Horse Pass and golf at Whirlwind Golf Club - Cattail & Devil's Claw courses.
Sunridge Canyon Golf Club

The Fairways of Fountain Hills Package

CLICK BELOW
PHOENIX/SCOTTSDALE | Enjoy accommodations at ADERO Scottsdale Resort, Autograph Collection or The Inn at Eagle Mountain and golf at Eagle Mountain Golf Club and SunRidge Canyon Golf Club

The Fairways of Fountain Hills Package

CLICK BELOW
PHOENIX/SCOTTSDALE | Enjoy accommodations at ADERO Scottsdale Resort, Autograph Collection or The Inn at Eagle Mountain and golf at Eagle Mountain Golf Club & SunRidge Canyon Golf Club

Mesa Golf Around Package

CLICK BELOW
MESA | Enjoy lodging accommodations at Home2 Suites by Hilton - Mesa Longbow and golf at Las Sendas Golf Club, Longbow Golf Club & Ocotillo Golf Club.
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