(cart included), played on Monday, October 2009 at 6am
Initially, I must say that I live here in Sun Lakes. I purchased a double annual membership; $2700.00 for the Ironwood and Oakwood courses in Jan. 2009. I love to play golf. It is my hobby and my passion. Previously, I have had an annual Oakwood membership for the last 6 years. I have played a combination of 85 rounds of golf, on the two courses; Oakwood and Ironwood since Jan.2009. During a regular week I play about 1 or 2 rounds at Ironwood and about the same, or slightly more, at Oakwood. And, I am the hole Captain for the “Adopt-A-Hole Program ", Palms # 2 at Oakwood. So I care about the conditions on the courses, all of them, enough to supply free labor to the course owner RCI.
I think the following observations will give you a picture of the current conditions here in Sun Lakes. The staff has been reduced and the courses are showing the effects of that reduction. The bunkers are either solid rock bottoms or wet, soggy, muddy holes, some with grass growing inside and some with collapsing or overhanging grass ledges. Whenever I play, I take the time to remove a few stones and rocks from any bunkers I find myself unlucky enough to be in. It just makes sense from a safety point of view. 1. The sprinkler systems seem to have aiming problems which causes the heavy spray volume of water to cascade into the sides of the bunkers causing mud slides and collapse in many of them. The crew members just shrug and say, "The heads cannot be moved or re-aimed." 2. The courses are preparing to be closed for over-seeding. Ironwood should be closed today and Oakwood will be closing in a week, or just slightly over a week. 3. The maintenance crew is overworked, under-trained, under-equipped, or all of the three. The grass as it is being cut is left in piles of wet, soggy vegetation on the fairways, along the sides of the fairways, or dumped at the edge of the greens. In some places chunks of grass have been torn up during the cutting process. I suspect dull cutter blades or problems with the machines, or operator error. Maybe all three. The rough is at least 3 to 5 inches high in some places and unevenly cut in other places. Think big "corn rows" type of cutting. What the golfers hear is “we are understaffed and MUST stay under budget". 4. The various “lakes” or discharge ponds on the courses have various levels of sludge and some are so thick and overgrown with hydro-vegetation that if the ball is in, it is impossible to see it for retrieval. 5. There are patches on the Oakwood courses that have been soded and resoded many times with only partially successful results. As I write this there are places where the latest sod mats are not taking and others where they are. 6. On the plus side, there are areas where trees have been removed totally and some trees have been trimmed back. I suspect this was a safety issue as the winds this year brought many large limbs down while making others unstable and possibly dangerous to golfers underneath them. 7. The pro shop restrooms and those on the course are never really clean, just barely adequate for a quick stop. The men's restroom in the pro shop has had a fixture that has been “out of order “for over three weeks.
The courses, three nines at Oakwood and the 18 hole course at Ironwood, and some other " amenities '' are currently being offered to our HOA at an astonishing $ 5 Million Dollars. That appears to be way over priced in this economy. Plus, the courses will require an enormous effort to bring them back to the conditions I saw when I first played them in 1997 and throughout my residence here since 1999. The pro shop is adequate, and, as many such shops, slightly or greatly, overpriced on various items. The shop staff is friendly and accommodating and the shop is clean.
Why, you may ask, if there are problems do I play here so often? Well, I live here and it is 6 minutes from garage to pro shop in my own cart. I want to continue to play here. I generally like the courses, but recognize that there are problems which must be addressed. 1. The condition of the bunkers are a problem. I suspect bad drainage is the culprit here. The solution: remediation, rebuilding the drainage and refilling with something more like the East and West coast sand that I know exists. I have played in it on both coasts. 2. Training of the staff. No grass cuttings or vegetation should ever be dumped into the lakes or “discharge ponds". The machine operators should be trained to cut the grass AND understand the various techniques and reasons why some areas are cut in different ways. 3. The rest rooms should be clean and well stocked at all times. I have played courses, large and small, expensive and less so, all over Arizona and on both coasts. The conditions found in the restrooms say a lot about what the course thinks of its customers. 4. And finally, the money issue. If it costs more to play a well manicured course, well that is understandable. Look at some of the” fancy" courses around here. The prices are higher, but the experience is nicer. So the price/ cost must be considered by the golfers who play here. If the course is a cow field expects to pay that level of price. Ten years ago I played Bethpage GC when I lived in NY and it was tough to get tee times and the prices were high, even for that time. You still get what you are willing to pay for.
Well thanks for listening. I hope I have painted a clear picture of the current conditions here in Sun lakes. I hope that at some future date, I will be able to report that the courses are FANTASTIC and the conditions are top notch. But, we will both wait and see what comes next for Oakwood and Ironwood Country Club courses
Member (cart not included), played on Sunday, May 2008 at 6am
I enjoy Oakwood and play it about 2 to 4 times per week; some 9 hole outings and some 18.
I live in the community and hold an annual membership at Oakwwood as well as a membership at another other local course.
Oakwood course could us a larger maintenance staff to deal with early morning trap problems (water and collapsed trap walls). The bunkers have some problems; poor drainage and "hard pan" sand surfaces. The owner and course management are working to solve these problems.
Overall I would rate Oakwood as a very good course, one that is getting even better with the start of a members " Adopt-A-Hole Program which kicked off in January. Teams service divots and repair ball marks on greens, one team per hole on the 27 holes.
I work as a hole captain because I respect the game and the condition of the course.