Dove Valley Ranch Golf Club

I'm very disappointed in our local golf course, Dove Valley. Over the course of the last few months, they've raised their prices and removed services. I've talked with the people there about it as well as writing an email to the owners, the Thompson group. The people there shrug their shoulders as there's nothing they can do about the changes and my email went unanswered.

Here's what has happened:

They increased the cost of the DVR card by 50% this fall.
They closed the practice area to people that aren't playing that day or don't have a DVR card.
They doubled the price of a large bag of practice balls to $15.
They stopped having a Happy Hour in their bar which happened to be one of our favorites.
And the price of a round of golf has increased.

I can't see any improvements in the course that would warrant that kind of price increase. I used to enjoy practicing and playing there and having a drink during Happy Hour but not any more.

Dove valley ranch is a Robert Trent Jones design that is a target based golf course. I am not a fan of target golf, but the par fives are pretty open and reachable in two. Some of the par fives are close to 540 yards but they zigzag so they don't play that long.

Playability: you have to play smart and safe off the tees. Realistically, I could probably hit five iron or hybrid off most of the tees.

Uniqueness : the course layout is pretty good and shows a variety between the different holes.

Cost: 120ish - higher

Food: Surprisingly tasty for a small little outfit.

A very good course. All the surfaces - tee boxes, fairways and greens - were in great shape. I really enjoyed the undulating fairways and greens which made for an interesting round. Definitely a course I would play again when in the Phoenix area.

This is a must play course, especially for out-of-towners. One of my favs but beware of the back nine. A lot tougher than the front. The wings are amazing and a great way to wrap up a round.

Heads up - new policy where it's $300+ to use their "public" range because you have to be a loyalty member or book a tee. Public my ass...

This was my FIRST time golfing 18 holes. Man, do I suck at the long game. I definitely need more lessons and to hit the driving range. My short game on the other hand is coming along really freaky well!

Back to Dove Valley Ranch, it's beautiful. There really are doves all over the place. The 19th hole has the bar and pro shop that looks out onto the greens. It's so serene and scenic, we saw a coyote (?) run by as well as bunnies and Prarie dogs (?) while playing.

We were set up with 2 guys to make a foursome. They were extremely patient with newbie me. My partner plays a couple times a week and enjoyed the course. The guys told him a hole on the first 9 was the mostly difficult, but he thought the double dog leg on the back 9 was harder. So much so that he lost not one but two balls. Yes, I'm STILL rolling thinking about it, and not going to let him live it down!! And NO, I didn't lose any!

It's a really nice course and the next time I am back in Arizona, I'll play it again. This time much better...I hope!

Great condition fairways and greens, not too fast or slow!

This course has plenty of fun holes to keep you on your toes, whether it's cutting the corner of a lake, or to go for a long drive across sand or opt for a safe adjacent fairway. Good variety of par 3s, 4s, and 5s.

We were paired up with some cool people, one of them a PGA Pro, so that was fun to watch.

Great views of the surrounding mountains and make sure to take in hole #18, this was one of the best ones I've seen around the Scottsdale area!

Very enjoyable golf for a solid price! The staff was very nice to work with and the bar had delicious drinks and friendly bartenders! Definitely will go back!

Horrible customer service here. I had heard that the range was only open to players with a tee time, so I called during the week to confirm. I was told no, it is open to the public, balls are sold to 4 pm. Show up today with my son at 8:30, 4 people on the range. Go in to buy balls and am told they "privatized" the range in November 1 and it's only open to players and card holders. I said that I called and was told it was open until 4 to the public. The counter person reiterated that they do sell until 4 pm, totally understanding that I had called ahead of time. I then calmly asked if he could take care of me this time, with the fact that there were 3 people on the entire range. He looked me in the eye and said no. This is about the 5th horrible customer service experience at this place I've had and will never go back. It's a beautiful range, but the course is rarely in good shape and the people working here are about as far from customer oriented as you could get. Good bye Dove Valley.

I'll say up front, I'm surprised by the 3-star average, as our experience was very positive.
We had a 0703 tee time on a Wednesday for 3. We arrived a little early, dropped off our bags w/ the friendly crew curbside, and were off 10 mins early.
Other than the mid-March sunrise blinding us off the 1st tee box, it was a wide open course, and the tee boxes and fairways were in pretty good shape. However, the greens on the front 9 looked like the surface of the moon. Seriously, the ball marks on the first green had to number over 100!! The rest of the front 9 weren't much better, but the back 9 greens were notably improved. How is that? Either way, no tangible impact on our putting, odd as that may seem.
Definitely 2 different experiences between front/back 9. Back side was 5 strokes harder, and required some deft fairway woods off the tees. All in all, our round of 18 was enjoyable, and we finished in just over 3 hours thanks to an early tee time. Several reviewers complained about being hurried along by a Marshal. We never saw one.
Last, but not least, Noël (Noelle??) in the bar is a superstar and pours a good adult beverage. And the boys in the kitchen grilled the best hot dog I've had in a long, long time. Great end to a fun round of golf!

Cheers!
RS