Talking Stick Golf Club: O'Odham Course

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

Holes 18

Length 7133

Slope 125

Price $185

Facility Type Public

Year Opened 1997

Designer Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore, ASGCA

Reviews

1 / 10

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."

2022

2 / 10

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."

2021

3 / 10

Review

“seems that the holes were very repetitive"

2021

4 / 10

Review

“Good variety of holes, very flat course which makes it playable for all handicaps, greens are playable but important to pay attention to the grain for breaks and speed. Water features are nice on holes which creates more opportunities to lose a wayward shot."

2020

5 / 10

Review

“Solid Coore/Crenshaw design with ample room off the tee and good strategic options. Course was in good condition when played in Feb 2020."

2020

6 / 10

Review

“Good conditioning but fairly bland layout. Greens were nice, a little sticky."

2020

7 / 10

Review

“The aesthetics are a bit tame compared to other Scottsdale courses, but O'odham or North Course is an excellent, very playable, strategic design."

2018

8 / 10

Review

“Some excellent and well designed holes amounts the relatively flat desert scrub. However, the sheer flatness begins to take its toll on the round - memorability suffers a little."

2018

9 / 10

Review

“Course has lost some luster..."

2018

10 / 10

Review

“The course was well conditioned, but you can quickly tell that Coore "

2018

Valero Texas Open

Talking Stick Golf Club: O'Odham Course

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