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4.6
1096 Reviews (1096)
5 Stars
751
4 Stars
255
3 Stars
58
2 Stars
26
1 Stars
6
Conditions
4.5
Value
4.4
Layout
4.8
Friendliness
4.7
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.5
94.6%
Recommend this course
1024 out of 1096 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
66 Reviews (66)
5 Stars
40
4 Stars
18
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
3
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.2
Layout
4.7
Pace
3.9
Amenities
4.4
StaffFriendliness
4.6
87.9%
Recommend this course
58 out of 66 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.6
153 Reviews (153)
5 Stars
112
4 Stars
28
3 Stars
9
2 Stars
3
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.5
Value
4.3
Layout
4.8
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.5
StaffFriendliness
4.7
93.5%
Recommend this course
143 out of 153 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Public
Style Traditional/Links
Par 72
Length 7546 yards
Slope 142
Rating 76.4

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
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Caddies 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

Reviews

4.6
1096 Reviews (1096)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 56
Patio Dining 45
Brunch 23
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 117
Forced Carries 53
Undulating Greens 53
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 86
A Bucket list/Top 100 Pick 47
A Weekend Splurge 43
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 98
In the 'Burbs 15
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 13
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 7
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Southern Dunes Always a Choice Pick

Southern Dunes is one of the best layouts in the Phoenix Valley. It is both challenging and rippable.

The variable is always course condition. The greens were a little slow but overall the course was in good shape.

It is a must play if you are visiting Phoenix for golf.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Always a treat

The course was in great summer shape bunkers are a bit hard but with the weather we have had that is understandable. Fairways are solid and greens rolled good!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Love this course

I love playing Southern Dunes before the prices skyrocket. It’s such a great tack with first class facilities!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 9
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

A morning golf outing

Ak-Chin is always a fun course,,challanging with all the well placed bunker - it makes for a more strategic round of golf. Crews where busy cleaning up the course after it was hit the night before by a strong wind storm - but play was not impeded - great track

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Everything was perfect… Except

The course was in great shape the and the greens were in excellent shape for this time of year… except the bunkers were the only thing that were inconsistent. There wasn’t a lot of sand in most of the bunkers, even the green side ones.
So the moral of this review is to hit the ball better and stay out of the bunkers

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 27
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Better than ever

Course is in fantastic shape and is one of the best in Arizona

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 11
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

No Shade At All

Very, very nice course. Challenging but fair. My only issue was the expensive price ($90) with very little shade at tee boxes and greens.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 21
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Extremely hard course.

Great course in very nice shape. Incredibly hard golf course.....especially of tees. Have to play it a few times to know where to hit it. Course is great though. Just look at scorecard and know the tips are over 7300 yards....it's a long course so choose tees appropriately.

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

Awesome course

Definitely one of the best public courses during the summer as far as conditions.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Must play

This course is an incredible design with 106 bunkers. You have to lay up in spots and play smart. Will definitely return here!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

First timer won't be the last time.

Very friendly staff. Everyone was helpful. GPS on all the carts. Bottled water every 3 holes. I started about 10:40 at 103 degrees. Finished 4 1/2 hours later at 115. Greens were excellent. Some of the traps need attention (very hard or crusty). There are numerous dry spots around the course but what do you expect in 100+ temps for several weeks. The course is mowed well and they are keeping it up during the summer.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 16
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Fantastic Golf Course

It has been years since I played Southern Dunes. I was so looking forward to my round. I was not disappointed. Great job to all Southern Dunes course workers. The fairways, bunkers, greens and tee off boxes are in magnificent shape considering how hot it is here.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Used cart

Slow pace of play

My tee time was 6:24 am and unfortunately I still had to wait on every tee box to hit with the weather being very hot. I thought it would be a 3-1/2 to 4 hour round at the most and it was 4 hours and 40 minutes.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Easily Top 5 AZ Course

People crack me up on this app. They expect PGA Tour conditions in the heat of summer in AZ for a course that’s under charging under $70. This course is one of my favorites in the phoenix area. Layout is amazing and challenging. It also plays pretty long (7500 from the tips) which I love. I’ve played all the popular courses in AZ (Quintero, Troon North, Boulders, Wickenburg, Keirland, We-Ko-Pa, etc.) and this easily a Top 5 course. No complaints from me.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played

Not worth the drive

Absolutely terrible customer service! I played and left a club there. When I called the next day, the guy in the pro shop described the club perfectly to me and said it was there. A few days later, I drove the THREE HOUR round trip to go pick it up just for them to tell me they didn’t have it anymore. Instead of trying to do anything to make it right all the the guy said was “I don’t know what to do other than say I empathize with your unfortunate situation.” With customer service like that, Doubt I’ll make that trip again.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Poor
Pace Fair
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Did not meet expectation

First time playing this track after all these years. Pretty rough for a Troon course. Bunkers were shaky.. What sand some had wasn't much and others were packed dirt, weeds and rock. The 2 we were paired with just dropped out of the traps. Fairways were okay, greens were inconsistent, some fairly bumpy. Not a good time for an hour drive.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
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