I would like to leave a review that I hope is considered by not just Golfers of all skill levels but also by Don Barth (who I believe is still the owner of Desert Canyon, Bear Mountain Ranch and Rock Island) that owns and operates both Desert Canyon and Bear Mountain Ranch. I would like to premise this by stating that Desert Canyon Golf Course has been the golf course I have been proudest to play and love and still remains to be my favorite course ever created and the consistent exceptional experiences I get at that resort from both the course and the staff have always been top notch and world class.
So with Desert Canyon itself, this experience continued. The course was in perfect shape, the staff were friendly and there was somebody on the first tee to get you started and answer any questions you may have for any new comers or somebody who just had questions. The only issues I was having at moments were self-inflicted skill issues in not being able to execute a shot/stroke I knew I needed to make. The other issue was a group that held us up in front on the front nine for a few holes but I believe they sped themselves up by the end of the front nine. This course still is my favorite and I felt catered to. Desert Canyon only gets a 5 Star review.
So with all of this being said about Desert Canyon, I was very excited to play Bear Mountain Ranch with the same group I was with at Desert Canyon on the same vacation, two days later. I would like to get the positives out of the way first. The scenery and course layout were striking. We were lucky to have herds of deer everywhere and interactive with the course in a way that did not affect us and play with perfect weather just like Desert Canyon. However, there were some major differences in the following areas, the staffing and the course condition. Specifically with the course conditions, the tee boxes were in very poor condition and not up-kept, they were straight dirt on all of the par 3s and even some of the par 4s! On top of that, there had been no rain for weeks there with constant 80 to 90 degree temperatures, so how much water did they have to use to get many of the holes that were not straight dirt to feel like the course just endured a tsunamis' worth of water?!
In addition, the staff at Bear Mountain Ranch were not accommodating and on multiple instances very rude and also not present. The gentleman who handles carts at the parking lot was very unwelcoming, stern and brash with the golf carts and made things as inconvenient as could be on top of it. When we finally was given our carts and went to the clubhouse after being forced to wait and "not being allowed to touch the carts yet" with the cold and rude tone; we were asked if we wanted range balls. While this was fine, I had asked where the practice green and chipping area was given time constraint (Teeing off in less than 25 minutes), and one of the staff went on a statement as "We have ladies coming in starting at 8am so don't bother because there is no way you are going to be able to get on." We said that we tee off at 7:57 am and will be ahead of them and we would like to get a quick feel for the green speeds and chipping. This gentleman who gave that statement looked at us as if we were asking for something illogical on top of some of these women they were clearly prioritizing to look at us like we did not belong. So this lead to at least myself feeling like they were just trying to force us to buy range balls because they did not apologize nor offer free range balls to cater to a scheduling situation they were trying to battle or should I say favor others. So after we make our way out and practice for a few they come out and offer us to go ahead and tee off early which was fine. So with agreement we proceed to the first tee box where there is NOBODY on hole number one. Hole number one is a very blind shot to where you need to be precise to get yourself set up with a good approach shot for success! So while nobody was in front of us we went ahead to use our carts to drive up to see what we were dealing with, this was still frustrating because nobody was there to do what Desert Canyon and many other elite courses will do which is mainly answer any questions you may have and or guide you with shots like these that are unknown. Also, no catering carts even showed up once on a course that asks a pretty penny in order to play it unlike Desert Canyon to where we saw her four times on our round.
So I would like to conclude this review with one question to all of you: How can a company allow one course to be a basically perfect experience for the price they ask and allow/employ/train another within its ownership group to have areas where it is just the opposite? read more
