2010

2010
Butler Cabin, Augusta National (c) Burgh Golfer

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

WE-KO-PA Course Review



           I recently had the opportunity to play WE-KO-PA Golf Course in Arizona.  WE-KO-PA is located about twenty five minutes northeast of Scottsdale.  WE-KO-PA offers two courses to play; the Saguaro and Cholla.  Both courses are named after a variety of Cactus that is native to the area and that can be found throughout the course.  Just a little trivia I learned during my round.
We played the Cholla course and teed off in the early afternoon.  The course is situated beautifully amongst the natural desert landscape and offers tremendous desert and mountain views.  Several tee boxes set atop mounds and knolls with breathtaking views of the natural landscape.  In my experience, most desert courses are relatively flat and are surrounded by residential subdivisions.  Although you do see homes from the course, the fairways are not lined with them.  As far as natural beauty goes, this course is hard to beat.
Upon our arrival we were greeted at the bag drop by very courteous staff members willing to help us out.  They loaded our bags and directed us to the pro shop.  Like most courses in this area during the season, the pro shop is fully stocked and has a great variety of apparel options.  After check in we headed to the driving range to warm up.  The range was natural grass and offered plenty of flag distances to hit to.  The balls are included in the greens fee so you do not have to purchase them in the pro shop.
The Cholla Course offers five sets of tee boxes making it playable for all level of players.  We started off playing the combination tees which were a mixture of white and purple tees.  However, after the second hole we decided to play the purple tees the remainder of the round.  The purple tees are just in front of the championship tees and behind the men’s tees (white).  I found this course very playable and not to brutal off the tee.  There is plenty of trouble off the tee on certain holes but it is not overly demanding.  In fact, one of the things I liked most about this course is that it was very playable.  We found that we could relax, enjoy the views and just play.  I was able to hit a combination of three woods and drivers on the par four holes which are always fun.  All in all, it was a great day, the golf course lived up to its reputation and I will certainly go back.  The next time we play, I will try the Saguaro course to mix it up.
If you get to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and loved to play desert golf this is a must try. Before I close, I have to give props to the staff at WE-KO-PA.  Throughout the day every staff member we came into contact with was professional, courteous and helpful.   
We also played Troon North and the TPC Stadium Course on this trip which will be upcoming course reviews. 
If you have played WE-KO-PA leave us your comments.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your favorable assessment of this course. I had a lot of fun when I played it. Here's our review, in case anyone wants some more info or photos of the course: http://www.golftop18.com/we-ko-pa-cholla.html

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