Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club - Maricopa, Arizona

Dr. R. B.

This is an awesome golf course. It felt like a video game. We’ve never played on a desert dune course before, and it was really cool. All the bunkers and how they enter played with the natural desert sands was really cool. The greens were in great shape. I highly recommend this course.

TipTheCap

AK-Chin S. Dunes played there for the 1st time last week. Beautiful Desert Golf Course. Highly Recommended one of my favorite courses on the golf trip. The course is well designed with well placed bunkers, wide open fairways, tough fast greens, and great hospitality from the workers. When back in the area again will defiantly play again.

Tait D.

Lowkey Quality track out in the country roads bout 30 minutes south of Phoenix. One of my favorite courses I’ve played in AZ. They host the Saquaro Amateur every year in January

Rose S.

Tough course , would recommend this not be your first round at the beginning of a golf get away. Lots of bunkers and challenging greens. Course was in great shape. Practice facility was great. Staff were wonderful. This is a hidden gem. We will definitely play it again.

Nick F.

So I'll try and break this down individually

Course: I'll give it 4/5 or 8 out 10. It's very good but very tough. Your iron, putting, and especially bunker game better be on point.

Price: 4/5 or 8 out of 10. paid 109$ for 2 people on a Monday afternoon 5/19. Idc about traveling to maricopa, especially bc I'm in chandler.

Front end Staff: 4/5 or 8.5 out of 10. From the pro shop, to starter l, to bag kids. They we very friendly and the starters/cart drop off guy, Duke especially, we're very nice and tried to be flexible.

Pace of play/Rangering: 1/5 or 2 out of 10. Took over 5 hours to play 18 on a random Monday afternoon. For a course that holds this sort of weight and to have NO rangers controlling groups with pace of play is just atrocious. Im not a scratch golfer, nor is my father by any means..but we won't slow the game down like what I saw today. Waited on every single hole for about 10 -15 minutes, and when we finally hitnwe felt we had to speed up every time. Worst I've experienced since moving to AZ being completely objective.

Would I give it another chance? Most likely, but the course has got to do something. Cant imagine how bad it is on the weekend.

PS: i asked for something for my father and I when we arrived (if doable) he retired this week and I jsut got negative results on my leukemia. Nothing was noted or said. It is what it is.

Dave N.

Good course, bunkers could use some sand...which should be an easy fix.
Greens are great.
Price is a little high but still tolerable.
Staff in the clubhouse are always friendly.
The bar/restaurant is the hidden gem because of the staff, Kayla, Elena, Danielle's , Teresa and everyone are the best I've met.
Make a person feel at home!

former T.

We've played the course many times over the past few years and enjoy the layout and challenges the course provides . On our most recent 18 hole venture on May 3rd, we found the course conditions well below the standards we have come to expect at Southern Dunes.

Many of the tees were closed and appeared to be being redone, in more than one occasion the forward tee was indiscriminately relocated in the middle of the fairway.

Additionally , the course was not very lush,in fact was pretty brown, and the greens were not at all receptive to approach shots. The greens were so firm not one of us found a pitch mark the entire round. The pins that were tucked behind bunkers were inaccessible due to the almost " concrete" nature of the greens.
Also ,the green side bunkers were much too powdery and as a result not only was it hard to control a shot out of, but also many patrons don't make an effort to rake them. We had fun, and we do like the course, but it was in the poorest condition we've ever experienced.
Lastly, the back 9 took 2 hrs and 40 minutes to play(the front was a little over 2 hrs), and we never saw a players assistant the entire back. We hope this was just a one time thing with the conditions and pace of play, and not the new norm.

A B.

Drove down from Scottsdale about an hour to get here. Price is less than the popular publics around Phoenix, probably to lure folks for the long drive. Pulled up to bag drop and the guy just stood there watching us after we popped the trunk. We had to get our own bags out from the car. Not a good first impression, but it is public after all. Maybe the superior experience at Quintero the day prior spoiled my group? Went off to the range before round to find they are in the middle of installing large light fixtures around the driving range to turn it into a mini pitch and putt nighttime course (more later). There were some balls for us to hit at the range, but not enough. The course itself was very playable, despite over 100 bunkers, but the sand was well maintained and consistent. We played 6450 Blues, all 7-8 HC players and felt we could score low 80s with just a little more knowledge or experience of the course. Fairways were in excellent condition as were the greens. Practice green was completely flat, but the greens on the course are not. It would be nice if the practice green had some topography built-in to match a typical situation on the course to get speed. I liked the variety in design, plenty of doglegs, and good challenges into the greens. Fairways were generous, but even if you hit it slightly outside the fairway, you can still find the ball as the vegetation is more like the valley, and less like the Upland desert. Didn’t see any cacti, for example. I read a lot of reviews about mosquitoes and bug problems, but we did not have any except at the end when we had a beer on the terrace where the flies were terrible. Sit near the fire to avoid bugs. After our round, we went back to the driving range (which was set up as the pitch and putt after 3pm) to practice short game and play some friendly challenges. There is only one other group out there practicing so we could hit five balls, each into the greens. I highly recommend this to hone the short game, and it makes the experience unique. I think once they get the stadium lights in there it’ll feel like a quasi topgolf experience. The 6 greens on the range are 40 to 80 yards from the tees that they set up as a circuit so you get some good practice in after your round. I probably would drive down from north Phoenix to play here again for 2 reasons: the pitch and putt and lower green fees. Otherwise the course itself is solid but shouldn’t be on your bucket list.