A Long Day at Coyote Wash Golf Course

On Tuesday I called the pro shop at the Links of Coyote Wash Golf Resort in Wellton, Arizona hoping to get a tee time for sometime this week.  What I was told was that the entire week was booked but when I said we were only in town for a week, the nice lady at the desk searched through her computer listings and snagged us a cancelled spot at 11:48 the next morning.  Done.  

We arrived in plenty of time, gave our name to the ranger and stepped over to the putting green to practice.  When we weren't called after a few minutes, we came back to our golf cart and sat with the group of other golfers waiting to be called to the tee.  And then we watched as group after group were cleared to go to the tee while we sat there.  Hmmm.  Finally after about a half hour, Denny approached the ranger who said our name had been checked off his list as teeing off.  What?  So the ranger went inside and talked to the pro shop staff where he discovered (delete long explanation here) that a twosome with girlfriends claimed our spot by saying they were a foursome and off they went.  So the ranger squeezed us in by ourselves since all the other groupings were foursomes for the remainder of the day.  

Thus, there were nothing but foursomes ahead of us so we settled in for a long day.  Surprisingly, I started off on the very short first hole with a birdie.  Because when I say short, I mean 216 yards short from the red tees.  Coyote Wash is one of the shortest par 70 golf courses we have ever played that is stretched out over the largest area we've ever seen.  Although the score cards are marked stating the golf course has four sets of tee boxes, the course was only set up with three.  The longest tees (blue) have a yardage of 6019 yards with a rating/slope of 68.110.  The white tees have a yardage of 5701 yards with a rating/slope of 64.9/109 and the red tees have a yardage of 4953 yards with a rating/slope of 66.5/105

The golf course itself is set among homes lining the fairways, but they are set a reasonable distance off and hitting a nice, easy straight ball means you'll be safe the entire round here.  The fairways are open, there aren't a lot of sand traps (although those that were there I managed to find) and water is only a problem on hole number six.

On hole number six a pond extends the entire length of the hole and at most people's landing area the fairway gets very narrow and there are houses much closer to the fairway than on other holes.  So there was quite a back up on this hole as many people ended up in the water.  Notice you have a great view to look at while you are waiting your turn.

Probably our biggest complaint about this golf course is that when you leave the sixth green you have a riding cart drive of almost one half mile to get to the seventh hole and there are absolutely no signs telling you where to go or that you will have such a long drive.  Denny and I thought we were on a bike/walking path at one point and started to turn around but decided to keep going and we did indeed eventually discover the next hole.  I told the guys who were still waiting on the seventh tee (even though it took us a LONG time to get there) that they should have left us a trail of bread crumbs to follow.  But it's a beautiful hole as you can see below.

As you can see from the photographs above, there's not much chance of getting into trouble on this course.  The sand traps do have some big lips and high banks on a few holes and you can lose a ball or two because you can't get to some out of bounds balls due to the fences that are in place even on vacant lots in the complex.  But for as short as the golf course is, it still took us five hours to play due to the number of people on the golf course.  There are several very busy RV parks nearby and the only other golf course within 25 miles is an executive course that is also jam-packed with golfers.  Still, it is a pretty golf course that is in very good shape for a heavily played desert golf course and we would play it again in a minute.  Actually, if we were ready to settle down, they have some beautiful adobe Sante Fe style homes here, any one of which I'd be happy to move into.

I was not able to find any kind of discount online for this golf course, so we paid the full price of $39 per person to play eighteen holes with a riding cart.  After 1 PM it would have cost $19 to play, but at this time of year with the sun setting when it does you would not be able to finish an eighteen hole round of golf due to the number of people on the golf course before darkness set in. This is a busy, busy golf course.

Back at San Pedro Golf Course

It had been a few years since we've been in the Benson, Arizona area and played at the San Pedro Golf Club and there's been a major change: the city of Benson has taken over the golf course.  What that meant to Denny and I right off the bat is that we were no longer able to use our Golf Card International discount and pay $20 each to play eighteen holes with a riding cart.  Instead I booked a tee time online and we played for $27.95 each (plus tax).  If you plan to spend time in the area, the golf course has a special deal where you pay anywhere from $99 to $119 (depending on what special they are offering) for one year and that allows you one free round of golf right off the bat, a free round on your birthday and the ability to play a round of golf for $18.95 before 1 PM (the price is reduced after that.)  Denny and I were paired up with a gentleman from Tucson who had taken advantage of the special and who drives the 40 miles every week to play golf here.  It's a good deal. 

Of course it's difficult to maintain a golf course in the high desert but the staff at San Pedro is doing a nice job.  The fairways here are bermuda grass, dormant now and the tee boxes and greens are in decent shape for the amount of play they seem to get.  We waited on every hole to play as there were several foursomes ahead of us but we still got off the golf course in four hours.  One of the things that makes the round go quicker now is the fact that the golf carts here are equipped with GPS systems so it's easy to quickly choose the proper club for your next shot and keep the game moving.

There are five sets of tee boxes at San Pedro so you can make the golf course as long or as short as you like.  From the black (longest) tees the yardage is 7313 yards with a rating/slope of 73.0/130.  The Copper tees are 6852 yards, 70.4/125, the Whites 6298 yards, 68.4/117, the Jade tees are 5716 yards, 71.3/125 and the Silver tee yardage is 5262 with a rating/slope of 68.8/117.

The San Pedro River runs along the golf course but this time of year it is dry.  There are two ponds on the golf course that come into play and a few ravines that will eat your golf ball if you're not careful.  The sand traps are vile here in the high desert; not the fluffy white stuff of the Midwest but red dirt.  Plain and simple dirt.  Not fun.  The greens aren't particularly tricky here although the speed can be hard to judge depending on when they have been watered and cut and how humid the weather is.  On the front nine the three of us had a tendency to hit our balls short on the green while on the back nine we were all long.  You aren't going to get into a lot of trouble here although there are more canyon walls on the back nine so you could end up hitting out of the rocks up there.  That's fine in the winter when the rattlesnakes are still hibernating but I wouldn't recommend it once the weather starts warming up. 

Your final challenge on the eighteenth hole is to hit it over the water (you have the choice of going around from the Jade tees) and then there's another small pond that fronts the green.  It's a fun way to finish and then you can stop at the small restaurant for a drink and a sandwich afterwards to rehash your game.  

This is a golf course we enjoy coming back to and the city is doing a nice job of keeping it up.

A Short Course: Pine Shadows Golf Course

I had those new golf clubs to try out, so yesterday Denny and I drove through Cottonwood to the Pine Shadows Golf Course.  It's a short nine hole course that ends up being very challenging simply due to the fact that the fairways are extremely narrow and the hillsides are full of rattlesnakes.  My first advice about this course is to bring a lot of old golf balls because you certainly won't be looking for any errant shots in the rough due to the vegetation and snakes.

The course is a par 33 course winding up and down through Mescal Gulch.  You'll see rabbits, quail, Green Herons and other critters (fortunately we didn't see any rattlesnakes) and enjoy fabulous views of the surrounding mountains and distant Clarksville, Jerome and Cottonwood.  The course itself is in wonderful condition with lush fairways and tee boxs and greens that are in excellent shape.  The cost to play 18 holes with a cart is currently $27 before 1PM and $22 after 1PM.  


We considered this a practice day since Denny had a very sore ankle and I had a new set up and swing to work on but we had a lot of fun teaming up with Bobbie and Leslie, a mother/daughter twosome on the last few holes.  Pine Shadows is a fun little course at a reasonable price.  A bit further out of town you can play Verde Santa Fe Golf Club in Cornville, AZ, an 18 hole course that's a little more expensive, running a little over $62 in the morning and $52 in the afternoon, or close to those prices.  That's just a tad too stiff for the two of us but it appears to be a beautiful course by the pictures online.

Playing Apache Creek Golf Course

Apache Creek Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona is one of those courses that demand you hit a straight ball or else you'll end up with a ball sitting on hardpan.  While the fairways and greens are grass, the rough is indeed rough being pure desert sand and gravel.  Throw in a few rattlesnakes and you indeed are playing desert golf.  But look at that view of the Superstition Mountains off the first tee!

For men, playing from the black tees means the course is 6785 yards long.  Denny and the twosome we played with played the blue tees for a distance of 6363 yards, with a USGA rating/slope of 69.4/119.  Women get quite a break, with a yardage of 5315 and a USGA rating/slope of 64.4/111.  It is an eighteen hole, par 71 golf course with no houses sitting on the course which is always a bonus in a winter tourist setting. A couple of the holes have water, including the oh-so-fun island green at hole 6.

The one nice thing about that hard desert surface is that the ball will run and run and run.  I even managed a birdie on a par 3, so it's a very playable and enjoyable course.  Just remember, hit it straight and watch for slithery things in the gullies.