Cholla Course at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club

I live in Chicago, but I’m fortunate enough to get to do two golf trips to Arizona every winter. We’ve played courses all over the Phoenix area and We-Ko-Pa has always been our favorite. In fact, we’ve stopped going anywhere else and just stay and play at We-Ko-Pa! The rundown:

- Both courses are fantastic. They each have a different feel and set of challenges. You can also vary the tee boxes to open up a whole new challenge (word of advice, unless you are a single-digit handicap, don’t do the purple on Saguaro. I just learned that the hard way!)
- The greens are in great shape and run true. Fast, but not crazy fast. (I’d wager about an 11)
- The staff is awesome. Super friendly and fun. We even had a lost item and the lengths they went through to find it were above and beyond. Major shout out to Eric and Josh.
- The hotel is great too. Nice pool and hot tubs. The staff was a ton of fun. They were decked out in Chicago Bears gear for the NFL playoffs. They welcomed me despite the Green Bay Packer golf bag, hat, clothes, etc.! It lead to a lot of fun banter.
It may cost a little more than other courses in the area, but trust me, it is worth every penny! Both courses need to be on your AZ golf bucket list.

We-Ko-Pa’s original golf course is prototypical desert golf, and that’s meant as a compliment: the interplay between grass and sand, cactus and rock works nicely in large part because the holes have enough corridor width to seldom feel like target golf. It’s just tough coexisting with a stunningly beautiful and cleverly constructed Coore & Crenshaw design next door.

Nevertheless, Cholla has plenty to recommend it, especially the drivable par-4 15th and a handsome finish, plus wonderful facilities and friendly people. Visitors need to prioritize this property on their visits.

Our guys played this course for the first time on the golf trip. It was phenomenal. The Cholla Course was breathtaking. We took several pictures of beautiful holes and particular several part threes were unbelievable. The course is playable if you can control your tee shots. The rocks and native areas can be challenging if you are a bit wild off the teeth. Overall, a wonderful experience. One minor complaint is a poorly designed short par four in my opinion, but otherwise a beautiful golf course and a fun experience. I would highly recommend any Golf or visiting the Phoenix/Scottsdale area

Not as fun as Saguaro. More of a challenging course, where you'll have more blind shots off the tee and lose more balls.

PACE: Waited almost every hole, because it's just a tougher course (group ahead looking for lost balls or having a hard time advance out of range).

CONDITIONS: Tee boxes were great. Fairways were excellent. Bunkers splashed wonderfully. Greens were the best I played on my PHX trip.

STAFF: The starter was helpful. The woman at the half-way hoarse said I could only have 1 scoop of ice for my cart cooler... on a 115 degree day (2 scoops were necessary for a full cooler for my drinks). That didn't seem right.

VALUE: Did the 36 hole rate. Worth it!

LAYOUT: Not a fan of blind/hidden tee shots and this course has quite a few. This is a much tougher driving hole than Saguaro. Plus, I didn't think Cholla had the panoramic appeal Saguaro has either.

Definitely play Saguaro... Cholla isn't bad (conditions are just as great as Saguaro), just not as much fun (IMO).

Great course with great scenery.. If you play, there is no water on the course. They gave you 1 bottle of water in your cooler and thankfully the starter gave us an extra. Cart girl came around on our 1st and 9th hole.. conditions otherwise were excellent.

This is a beautiful, scenic, aesthetically well designed just outstanding venue. Course conditions were impeccable. Most of the holes would be the signature holes in other places. Top ten golf course I have played.

This course is amazing. The conditions right not are spectacular for summer in AZ. Food at the turn was great as well! I would highly recommend going to check this place out if you are in the area!

This track is quite a contrast from the sister Saguaro course. Cholla is shorter but requires more precise shots and club selection. Course knowledge is very helpful here. Both tracks are in very good condition and greens rolled true. All in all, both tracks are well worth the play and expect 2 different playing experiences, both very entertaining.

Course is in great condition. Pace of play was 4 hours which is not too bad. The course layout is fun with great views.

I've played here numerous times. It is actually my favorite Arizona course. The great thing about the course is the diversity of holes. Every hole is like a signature hole. It's great to play a course with no houses .
If you cant make it to Bandon, this is a great alternative. Enjoy

From the moment you pull up to the bag drop you know this is going to be special. Everyone we came in contact with at We-Ko-Pa was great to deal with. As for the course, the layout is one of the best I have seen in all of Arizona. And the views, wow the views, my camera couldn’t keep up with all of the scenic shots from the course. The layout itself is fair but challenging in spots. Some holes have some very tight landing areas and the greens were well bunkered. The elevation changes, though not dramatic like other courses in the area, still make you think over the ball. The greens were a tiny bit slow but they were consistent throughout. This is a must play for your buddy trip itineraries in AZ.

Tee’d off around 1130 and played in 2.5 hours as a single....did not catch up to anyone until hole 16. Not the most difficult course even though I hit a few tee shots out of bounds. All were poor shots and not due to lack of familiarity as the in-cart GPS made getting around the foreign course Pretty straightforward. Greens were perfect . $38 bucks as a AZ resident was a heck of deal. Overall fun course!

I loved We-Ko-Pa. Played 36 holes. Greens were perfect! So were the bunkers and fairways. Hats off to the groundskeepers and course designer here. In addition to pristine conditions the views are breathtaking. Maybe Saguaro has slightly better views. I don't think I could ask much more out of the quality of a course or conditions. Cart staff were friendly, pro shop front staff were OK. GPS on carts, free driving range and practice area. We ate at the clubhouse, the food was awesome but the service was bad / slow. Very expensive for a blue collar guy like me, but I really, really enjoyed it. Got a more reasonable twilight rate for the second 18.

Ok, the layout is great, with breathtaking views. The course condition was also great. But when I’m paying a premium price at a course besides layout and condition I expect service, to be treated like they’re happy that I chose their course, over the many other options.. I’ve been to many courses, in the area where as soon as i pull up right through to when I am leaving I feel like I’ve been treated like a valued guest. I shouldn’t be feeling like it is I who should be gratefully to playing at their facility.
The person at bag drop, did ask how I was, but after that it seemed like she rather be somewhere else. No direction was given and after numerous minutes I tracked down my clubs. The pro shop person definitely gave me the impression that I should be grateful to be there. The only friendly person I encountered was the starter. Rarely saw a marshal, pace of play was terrible for this caliber and cost of course, 4 hours 45 minutes to play 18.
Supposedly we-ko-pa is rated as one of the top places to play, I say this is because of the layout/conditions, not the staff.
Been there done it.
I wouldn’t recommend this course.

Although I didn't play close to my usual round of golf, our foursome represented themselves well. 4 Seniors (60's and 70's) handicaps from 6 to 20.
Staff - As good as I have ever experienced across the board. Friendly and helpful to a fault
Course - Wow, a thinking persons golf course. Every hole unique and a challenge, but fair. As well designed a golf course as I have ever played
Conditions - Greens excellent condition, relatively fast but not unmanageable
Fairways - close cut, perfect
Tee boxes - ditto fairways, clean as a whistle
Negatives - no ball cleaners on the course as they are on each golf cart. Our cart had no water in the ball cleaner. A few bunkers had almost no sand in their low spots.
I'll be back......often

Played during 2016 Waste Management Open week- the course was very expensive as all local courses are that week due to the influx of golfers (supply and demand I guess) - that would be my only complaint. The course was fantastic and super fun and in good condition - I would love to come back!

Going into the round, I knew the course would be great. But the pictures do not do it justice.

I spent weeks planning which 2 courses to play in the Phoenix area for my first taste of golf in the area. And choose according to my tastes.

So we played this and Quintero. Quintero was great, but Cholla has 0 bad holes on it. 18 gems.

I've played well over 100 courses all over the world, and this is right up there with the best I've played.

Phenomenal condition (greens slower due to overseed, which was the only downside), incredible layout/design.

I know many prefer Saguaro, which I have not played. But I don't see how it could beat Cholla.

I'll be back to Phoenix to play more golf in the future.

But I emplore any visting the area wondering where to play - play Cholla at WeKoPa, it will not disappoint

visiting the Scottsdale area for 10 days of golf and was told we had to try We-Ko-Pa when we arrive one course was closed for over seeding and they had already shaved the fairway down to nothing on the Cholla course .I was like playing on cement At the pro shop they gave us a 10 dollar discount of the full price , This was a total rip off and I was so disappointed with the conditions They should have never lets us tee off Shame on them for charging this price for the worst round of golf in Scottsdale that week

the good news weather perfect for this time of year,courses in very good shape fairways and greens almost perfect first group out have separate ranges for the two courses very friendly staff,bad news G.P.S. is kinda confusing if not used to playing the course lots of blind tee shots due to G.P.S. not giving good information,sand in the bunkers is not the typical "desert"sand kinda the white fluffy stuff have to be able to play a different kind of bunker shot than what is normal for the phoenix desert,beverage cart came around quite often good thing and she was "very friendly and nice" kelly from Cleveland,Oh