Resorts at Ventana Canyon: Loews and The Lodge

Played the canyon course. It was a great layout and in excellent condition.

Our first obstacle was finding the pro shop. There are no signs or bag drop. The pro shop is behind a restaurant so some signage would help. The ride from the club house to the starter takes at least 10 minutes (I'm being generous here; I'm sure it took longer). The round started on time, and we rarely saw another group, BUT on a particularly difficult and intimidating par 3 the whole course backed up. There were 3 groups including ourselves on the tee. We waited on every shot from that point on. The round was easily 5+ hours. To add to the amount of time waiting for the group in front of us, the amount of time needed to navigate from hole to hole easily is at least 2 minutes per hole. That adds 30 minutes to the round. It is a beautiful course, but we would not go again.

Very nice course, BUT!!!!!!!!

In 35 years of playing public courses, I've never had such a difficult time just finding the course! It seems to be part of a resort, with a Loew's Hotel as the focal point. But there's no signage directing you to to the course, the hotel lobby clerk gave me incorrect directions, then the security guard at the guard shack sent me back to the hotel! Then they sent me down to a spot near a restaurant, where they said there was a small bagdrop. So my wife dropped me off there, but there's no apparent bagdrop, so I wandered around up and down the steps for 5 minutes or so till I finally spotted a person, and called out for help. She directed me to the right staircase, and at the corner of the restaurant I saw a tiny legend (in the same color as the building itself) that directed one to the Pro Shop. All in all it took a solid 20 minutes, and if I hadn't been meeting a friend there I'd have tried to cancel out altogether.

All this, and I actually played the mountain course about 1 1/2 years ago!

2-3 employees acted like they had no idea why I'd had such a hard time, but I finally found an honest one who told me the course is separate from the Hotel, that the Hotel absolutely refuses to allow any kind of signage re the course, and that there had even been litigation about it.

If I owned or ran this course, I'd like to think there was some way i could make sure that new arrivals to my course didn't start the day off angry and incredibly frustrated.

We played the Canyon Course. Course was in great shape. Greens rolled true but difficult to read - mountain effect. No particularly difficult holes. Sprinkler heads were marked front/center/back but would have appreciated a yardage book or cart GPS.

Some very, very, long distances from green to next tee box. I would consider playing again the next time I visit Tucson!

Great course with moderately challenging fairways. Well kept. Staff was friendly.

This is a spectacular course in a gorgeous setting. Several of the holes offered jaw-dropping vistas. The course itself was challenging but nit unfair though some of the greens were very tough. Definitely put this on your ‘to-play ‘ list

The course was hard to find because the GPS lead to the Ventana development, so I had to be redirected. The course is a great layout, but the two nines that comprise the Canyon Course lie on opposite sides of the Mountain Course making for a long (more than 3/4 mile) drive between front and back. I can't imagine walking that in a reasonable time. The course condition was excellent, the variety and the scenery were fantastic. The course itself played long. We played the gold, 6300 yard tees, which is my usual length, but with the wind many 4's turning into 3 shot holes.The public and member play alternate between Canyon and Mountain, but next time I will try to get on the Mountain course.

Mountain course was first class. Great design, great layout. Putting was challenging.

Canyon course was very good as well. A few quirky hole layouts. Overall two great rounds.

Beautiful course. Near perfect greens and fairways. Only complaint is being reprimanded for slow play. Even threatened to be removed! Ranger must have been confused. We even had to wait for group in front. Good help is hard to find.

I chatted with a golfer up in Phoenix who told me when I’m down in Tucson I need to play the course. Great recommendation. Greens looked great as well as fairways. They run quick. Scenery is top notch as well. A course like this in Scottsdale would run $260 in season

Fairways were like greens. Wide open fairways challenging but fair. Greens very fast

5hr 15 min + round. No marshal. No attendant at finish of round to enable us to have our clubs transported to the parking lot

We have played around the country, this in our top 5.

A great experience. The staff were welcoming and helpful. The conditions excellent and the course what a Tom Fazio course should be. The day was everything that a day spent golfing to ought be.

Can't comment on the bar/restaurant amenities as we didn't have time to sample them. Maybe next time ... And the will be a next time!

Course was great, but no signage to find course. Finally arrived at course but couldn't find pro shop because it was behind the restaurant from the parking area, again with no signs to direct us. Food was good, although a bit pricey. We did get a great replay price on our second round.