Mountain Shadows Golf Course

This has always been a great executive course and could be the best one in the valley. It will be interesting to see how the new development will change this course. If you did not know Woodbine Development is transforming this amazing real estate into what will likely be a world class destination boutique resort and golf club. Bitter sweet, I suppose. I’m writing this review more as an informational piece right now, since the course is officially shut down to complete the development. It should reopen in 2016 if they stay on track.
This course has always been friendly from the staff greeting you to the greens themselves. Fingers crossed the customer service is not lost in the transition.
The hook for this course is two fold: beautiful scenery (especially holes 2 – 4 with camelback mtn as the backdrop!) and very forgiving links. Being an executive course (par 57), it’s short and gives you great opportunities to work on your short game. There’s many features you would expect from larger courses with several really nice water hazards, traps and even dog legs on one of the longer par 4 holes.
The price fluctuates, but you’re almost guaranteed a tee time for around $ 50 and summer rates were around ¹⁄₃ the price. Unfortunately, this summer we’ll need to find a different course to play and although the chances are slim here’s hoping the cost per round doesn’t inflate.
Chris Birchby

Beautiful golf course and good rates too!

This is a beautiful golf course right next to Camelback mountain. You get views of the mountains from every hole. It’s a narrow course so it becomes a bit challenging for your beginning golfer but it’s a great place to learn! There are some ponds and water so make sure you bring a couple spare balls as you might hit a few in them like I did.
The unfortunate thing I learned about this course on my first visit there is that they are closing down soon for a couple years. Some land is being sold in the area and let’s hope and cross our fingers this pretty course stays around!
The staff was incredibly friendly. However, there are no cart girls that come around and bathrooms are sparse so be prepared! They do have a driving range to practice at before you get going. Highly recommend trying this course out before it closes!

This course is incredibly well maintained. Greens, fairways and sand traps you name it. This course is very affordable only $ 17 for a 6 a.m. Sunday, late summer tee time. It is a par 56 course so obviously a short executive course, but very narrow fairways with sand traps and bunkers aplenty and even has water for some holes. It took 2.5 hours to play.
If you are playing this course the following should apply: short on time (Football Sunday), a beginner (I have been playing for 2 months) and want beautiful scenery (mountain views all around).
Staff was friendly and loaded my bag into the cart (not something I need at all but a nice touch). The Marshall even made a joke which caught me off guard.
This is the best deal for an executive course to play early in the morning. This course and another executive course in the area were similarly priced and Mountain Shadows beauty just makes it stand out.

Great course, you can do 18 holes in 3 hours. Great public and private course, beautiful greens, golf carts and amenities such as full bar and restaurant. Friendly staff and dining room. Close to camel back mountain, beautiful greens, very well maintaintg. Great customer service too.

Love this course! Great executive course with friendly staff and well kept course. Great for a quick round of golf and sun with the amazing background of Camelback Mountain. One of my favorite places to get my Tiger Woods on!

I like this course because you can play 18 holes in about 2 hours! Great for business outings. Gorgeous scenery of the echo canyon park to the south as you play. Well kept, friendly staff. Just missing the long holes.

This is by far the most challenging executive course I’ve played. It’s also one of the most beautiful. The design of the course is great and there’s always a nice view of Camelback Mountain.
Expect really narrow fairways, small tee boxes, a few forced carry holes (over water with plenty of bunkers around the green). The greens are small and tough to read.
By far my favorite hole is the par 4 #7. Not too long, but a super narrow fairway with sharp dogleg left. Rolling hills, bunkers and a green that looks like you could go surfing on it. But not to worry, there are also a few nice sand wedge length holes to keep the morale up.
I did notice a bunch of fenced up, closed down buildings. The place must have been a full resort at some point. Also, I think it’s safe to assume you’ll have a slow round. I played at 12:30 on a Wednesday and still found myself waiting around at a few holes. A few super-​friendly foursomes saw that I was a walking loner and let me play through, so it wasn’t bad at all. But I would estimate some serious traffic on the weekends, especially in late fall through spring.
Carts are included in the green fees, but you can also walk the course if that’s your thing. It isn’t any cheaper to walk, but I would recommend it over a cart on this course. You’ll really appreciate the setting and course layout on foot.

So in all fairness, the course was actually very nice, but the rating is for the staff at the course. I was playing with several friends who were new to golf, hence a par 3 executive course. We were a slow going group, but we offered several times to let the twosome behind us play through. They said they were fine to play behind us and were entertained by us. All was good, and the course was nice for a par 3. But the course marshall was an idiot. On the 17^th hole (read that again… the 17^th hole), he rides up in his cart, actually picks up one of our balls in play from our tee shots, and rides up to our group and says we need to observe rate of play. I told him it’s the 17^th hole, we’ve already teed off, so really, not a lot we can do at that point. He was a jerk and gave us attitude. If he had actually done his job he would have talked to us about the 5^th hole. What a jerk.

The view is awesome, a really great par 3 with hummingbirds, geese, waterfalls and gorgeous views of camelback… very pretty. The staff is kind of indifferent and either ignores you or gets kind of sassy. I like the course and will return. The beer cart was horrible, on Fathers Day Sunday, it was pretty croweded and our group had reserved about 12 or 14 tee times and we were shocked the beer cart girl was out of almost everything and said they dont really stock up or keep anything on holidays or summer. What… no wonder they arent making any money… Golf 101… everyone wants something to drink, and prob 4 somethings to drink… in English… Stock the Beer Cart with tea, water, juice, food and yes BEEER.

Like everyone else says — good if you pay only $ 30 or $ 40 — in relatively good shape — it is a great little executive with nice staff and a nice clubhouse

I like Mountain Shadows. The boys I nanny take lessons here and it is never too busy and has beautiful camelback views. There are a couple ponds and running streams and bunnies hopping around, cactus and palm trees lining the course, it’s very serene. I highly recommend Marv as a teacher as well, he is very patient, the kids are learning so much from him.

As it has been said many times before, Mountain Shadows is the best executive (Par-​3) course around.
It’s in a very pretty setting essentially at the north base of Camelback Mtn. The several holes played around the lake are especially nice.
I played out here Sunday morning for the first time in a couple years and I was rudely reminded about how tough a par-​3 course can be when the greens are small, firm, and fast. It makes for a good short game challenge if you’re up for it. It’s not the walk in the park like Continental or other easy executive courses.
The resort that used to be apart of the complex is closed and shuttered so it’s mostly just members of the club playing out here now. The dilapidated buildings don’t do much for the ambiance of the area, but they have kept the course looking nice.
Good rates can be found online. It’s a fun course, but like other reviewers have said, I wouldn’t pay more than the $ 45 I spent for a 2.5 hour round of par 3s. Overall, I recommend the course to players of all levels for the right price.

This is a neat little executive course tucked away at the base of Camelback Mountain.
Perfect place for beginning golfers as the forward tee boxes are very short. As executive courses go, this is tougher than most out there. However, one needs to keep in mind that by their very nature, executive courses are much simpler than even the simplest of full length courses. Beginners should bring plenty of extra balls. There is considerable water on the course.
Make sure you only make tee times through the website as these are massively discounted from the phone-​in rates. This course is a mediocre deal at $ 35, but not anywhere near worthy of a $ 65 rate.
The greens were in moderate shape. The course is filled with lots of beginning/​hack golfers who obviously haven’t been taught proper etiquette for fixing ball marks and how to put the pin back in properly. Hence, lots of marks and banged up holes.
There is an amazingly nice club house considering this is an executive course. They have a driving range, although it is restricted to irons only. Golf carts were fairly new and reliable. One anomaly is frost in the winter. Due to the course location in the shadows of Camelback Mountain, it takes an insanely long time for frost to melt on the course. They had a 2-​hour delay the day I was there, and they still had to start people on the Back 9 which is slightly more sunny than the Front 9 in winter.
If you’re looking for a quick round of 18 holes but don’t have time for a full-​length course, consider this to be an excellent alternative. We made it around in about 3 hours without rushing.