Dennis Murphy / Dennis Scully
D_SQUARED PRODUCTiONS,INC.
D_SQUARED PRODUCTiONS,INC.
Dennis Murphy / Dennis Scully
Overview
The O'odham course (formerly the North Course) is one of two courses at Talking Stick designed by the acclaimed designed team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The layout places a premium on accuracy, with fairways and greens strategically surrounded by brush and waste areas and features a refreshing mix of long and shorter holes.
About
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Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“A fine example of desert resort golf with generally wide fairways and lots of sand. A handful of greens have significant slope though most are relatively flat"
Read More2024
Review
“A fine example of desert resort golf with generally wide fairways and lots of sand. A handful of greens have significant slope though most are relatively flat"
Read More2024
Review
“A good resort course with extra wide fairways and not much in the way of hazards to prevent shot making. Play it long or short as you wish. The greens are not overly difficult, but good sized. The course is in good condition and the greens are reasonably fast. A very fun day can be had at this course."
Read More2024
Review
“Coore and Crenshaw took a dead flat piece of land with few cacti or prominent mountain views in Scottsdale and created an interesting, engaging and strategic design. A wonderful example of minimalist design done well. Landing areas are wide, but angles into the greens vary dramatically. This combined with slightly raised greens and ample short grass slopes around green complexes create good shot options off the tee, into, and around the greens."
Read More2024
Review
“The O'odham course is well run, in great condition, and comes with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from resort golf (great service, comfy carts, beverage carts coming around often). The clubhouse and grill were closed when I visited so I am unable to provide any insight on those options. For me, this course lacks a bit of the hole by hole variety that bump courses into the 4+ star range, and, combined with the peak season price point, would have me recommend a few others in the area. That being said, for a fun day on the course, you could do much worse than Talking Stick. The fairways are wide and running; the greens roll true. The backdrop offers beautiful views. Combine that with the top notch service and convenient location to the bulk of Scottsdale and you have a recipe for a very fun day."
Read More2024
Review
“The O'Odham course is one of two resort courses built by the Core / Crenshaw team at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale. This course is in need of some serious landscape maintenance as everything located outside of the fairways & greens are a mess. Overgrown and roped off with yellow markers to keep the golfers away from the numerous dead tree's and shrubs. The flat and repetitive layout of the course does not help the aesthetic scores either. On the positive side, it is an easy walk and the fairways are being maintained. The fairways played firm with good roll out. The greens were very hard and difficult to hit close to the pins. They did roll true and were consistent around the course, but we found it difficult to leave a ball mark anywhere on the course. This firmness of the greens was interesting especially with all of the rain that that area has received in February. This course is not especially difficult with wide fairways and plenty of recovery areas (even if some are roped off). Since we played on a Sunday, it took our group 5 hours and 25 minutes to play due to the lack of course marshals. With a hefty price tag of over $300 (unless you are staying at the resort), there are much better options within the Scottsdale area."
Read More2024
Review
“A very flat and minimalistic layout. Some of the holes are a bit repetitive and uninspiring. Although it may be a lower tier Coore/Creenshaw course, I think it deserves more credit than some give it (especially considering the land). The firm/fast conditions and wide fairways provide many options and make it fun for all skill levels. Much more playable than other desert courses that require pinpoint accuracy. The challenge here lies more in the approaches and around the greens. The 12th hole is a great example of strategy with a split fairway and the ideal line to the left providing the easier approach, but also more risk. From a design standpoint, this is one of the better mid-length par 4s I've played."
Read More2023
Review
“Very average casino resort course. Could make for an enjoyable day"
Read More2023
Review
“Talking Stick O'odham is a fascinating course and one I can see being very polarizing. Located in Scottsdale in an area with plenty of golf, Talking Stick sports two courses designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The O'odham Course is perhaps the flattest course I've ever played, but does offer strong views of the surrounding desert and mountains. The course overall is quite easy tee-to-green but does get tougher on the putting surfaces. The front 9 is quite bland, but the course does get much better on the back 9 with some memorable holes such as the long par 3 11th and par 4 12th with a split fairway. The 17th and 18th are also nice holes and provide a memorable closing stretch. The conditions when I played were firm, fast, and excellent. There are definitely better public options in the area, but Talking Stick is a worthy play for fans of golf architecture."
Read More2022
Review
“Talking Stick's O'odham Course seems to generate a diversity of opinions, and mine is very much on the "pro" side. This is a minimalist Coore/Crenshaw design with a links/dunes feel in the Arizona desert. This is a resort course with wider-than-wide fairways and large, often crowned greens that are generally open to running approach shots. O’Odham is a walker's paradise—every tee box is immediately adjacent to the prior green. It’s very playable for the high handicapper with no forced carries, multiple tee boxes, and literally zero penalty areas (at least I can’t recall seeing any). The green complexes possess plenty of challenge without being overly penal. The course’s main defense is the greens. To have a birdie opportunity, you need to approach the hole from the proper angle and shape the proper shot, based on that day’s hole location. Going long can quickly convert birdies into bogeys, and if you don’t figure out the grain quickly, you’ll spend all day with long second putts. It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing course, but if you like strategic golf and playing angles, you can learn a lot about golf course design on this layout."
Read More2021
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