Champions Club At The Retreat

Staff was friendly... But we had a 12:30 tee time and did not tee off until 12:45 and pace of play was very slow all round. Also we did not see a Cart/beer girl throughout the entire round! Not good!

Love this course, but the recent rains made the fairways really rough.

Played the Blues (6221/71.2/134) using Forelinx as a single in 3H, 45M just taking my time & practicing. I played one hole on the front and saw there was going to be huge delays with multiple 4somes stacked in front of me as far as I could see. So called an audible, hopped onto the back then came back and played the front later and was rarely within a hole of anyone the entire round. The weather was clear, calm and around 60.

The tees have been over seeded but are still winter thin. Dormant Bermuda underneath with rye coming through on top. Well maintained with few unfixed divots.

The Bermuda fairways are winter thin AND firm which produces lots of roll. Most had been sprayed green, which creates a better visual and provides some contrast with the rough.

The Bermuda rough is also winter thin but still playable. Okay lies, not overly punitive. Hopefully the expected rains perk both up, because they are REALLY thin & firm.

The sand traps are well maintained with brown sand.

The bent greens putted very nice, firm, smooth & medium fast. I rarely comment on how I played in a review, but this round was as fun a round as I have played in a LONG, time, because "Happy can putt". I have been keeping track of my stats for over a decade and tied my all-time low of 23 putts in this round. And most were not tap ins either! For those that have played this course and putted on these greens, you realize how out of the ordinary 13 one putts and 5 two putts in a round is here.

Attendant out front with carts, the starter and the Pro Shop staff are all excellent. The customer service has been excellent every visit here. I had a burger combo in the restaurant. Excellent quality @ normal golf club high prices.

This would be a very tough course to walk, don't think I have ever seen a walker here. Since many shots require precision on both distance and direction or your ball is gone on this course, I only used driver 4 times this round. With the hard fairways, using every iron between 2 & 6 off different par 4/5 tees was more than adequate from the Blues. Native area hazards line both sides of most holes. Challenging to club correctly with the often severe elevation changes and the usual wind swirling around in the canyons. Almost every hole has a forced carry off the tee, before the green or both. The layout is constantly up/down hills.

I have never make it through a whole round w/o multiple penalty strokes @ Champions, and even shooting my best score ever here this round, that was still ever present. This is NOT a course for beginners or people who cannot consistently get the ball in the air or hit it reasonably straight. Recommended = Yes, especially if you enjoy the challenge. However, word of caution... until some grass grows or the rain softens this place up, it is nearing Robinson Ranch conditions where balls roll back down fairways 50+ yards on uphill holes. I had that happen on the approach shot into #1 and on multiple shots on holes 2 & 4. Having played the bounces before assists in knowing where to aim and provide the best chance of staying out of trouble. I had good shots roll into hazards and bad shots roll out of hazards and roll right into the middle of the fairway. There is a little Chambers Bay (2015 U.S. Open) in this courses current conditions where you really need to think about where you are going to start the ball to get it to end up in the desired location. Ending up 20 to 40+ yards left or right of where you actually land is a real possibility, depending on the slope and the angle you choose.

Fun and challenging course. A bit of target golf mixed in with some wild greens. A good change of pace. I would reccomend.

As always diffucult course if you are not mentally prepared to experience a challenging course. The greens are smoothe, fast and excellent

This course is ridiculous. I felt like I was playing a miature golf round with the excessive hills. It might be fun for a "look see" and attempt crazy shots that you wouldn't encounter on a flatter course; I hit my longest drive ever, 374 yards on #12....but the teebox is elevated by at least 100'.

I ended up shooting an 81, but it just didn't feel like I was playing a real round of golf.

Played the Blues (6221/71.2/134) with Hermgolfs using Forelinx. POP was slow for a weekday, 4H, 50M playing in the a.m. We played again in 4H, 10M in the p.m., jumping around groups so we could finish.

The weather was clear, calm and chilly. Around 40 when we teed off, warming up to the low 50's midday then chilly again by the end of the rounds.

The tees had been overseeded with dormant bermuda underneath and rye coming through on top. Good overall, well maintained.

The bermuda fairways had good coverage, usually lush, occasionally thin. Usually a nice cushion to hit off of, but some collection areas are riddled with old divots.

The bermuda rough also had good coverage and was about about half lush/thin.

The sand traps are plentiful on this layout. Not sure what has happened here, they were previously filled with fine, brown sand. However, they have recently been replenished with very poor quality sand with hundreds of small to even large rocks. Poor, I had to actually remove numerous rocks in every trap I was in to avoid club damage and for safety issues. I would have been blasting rocks toward the hole in addition to my ball if I had not intervened before hitting. Their trap rating went from an 8/10 to a 4/10 because of the amount of rocks in a month?

The bent greens were very nice, firm, smooth & quick. The large green complexes have alot of slope and there can be some nasty pin placements. Many greens have tiers, and if you have a downhill putt or are on the wrong side of a tier, good luck!

This would be as tough a course to walk as I have ever encountered. Long, steady climbs and many tees are a good distance from the last green. Challenging to club correctly with the often severe elevation changes and wind swirling around in the canyons. Not normally a fan of target golf courses, but I feel like the course and layout here are good to excellent overall. Numerous holes that many players will hit less than driver on off the tee because of hazards or for position. Target golf on steroids is the way my mind pictures Champions. Many shots require precision on both distance and direction or your ball is gone on this course.

The customer service was excellent. Our cart was running low and they had a new cart out to us within 1/2 hole. Very efficient check-in. I would play here often if I lived closer, excellent course.

This course is beautiful however the super fast greens and the pin placements were out of this world. I'm a 7 handicap that came to play a relaxing round. I quickly had to put my tournament cap and game face on to play this course. I will be back and payback is a $$$$$ !!!

Fast smooth undulating greens. What a gorgeous course! Bring a camera, but do not hold up faster players. Allow faster players to play though especially if you have a poor tee shot and want to look for your lost ball. Just because you like the pace of the slow pokes ahead, doesn't give you the right to back up the rest of the field. A ranger needs to be aware of the lead group pace of play and make sure there is no gaps. There should not be waiting on every hole because there is no ranger keeping control of slow play. I have played many golf courses and even though the course is busy, the members have always allowed us to play through. They told us it was their policy to always allow singles/doubles to play though a foursome. What a nice policy to uphold.

Played the Blues (6221/71.2/134) Saturday, teeing off just behind a mens club tournament in 4H, 45M. Used the Forelinx prepaid membership, matched up with a very nice husband & wife, thanks Brian & Denise for a fun round! The weather was sunny, calm and in the low 80's by the time we finished.

The tees are good overall, well maintained. They have been over seeded with dormant bermuda underneath and rye coming through on top.

The bermuda fairways had good coverage, usually lush, occasionally thin. Several had been sprayed green, which creates a good contrast with the rough.

The bermuda rough also has good coverage and is quite playable, usually producing Okay lies.

The sand traps are well maintained with fine, brown sand. They are plentiful on this layout even with approximately 30 being removed to "soften" the original course design.

The bent greens putted very nice, firm, smooth & medium fast. The large green complexes have alot of slope and there are many potential nasty pin placements. Many greens have tiers, and if you have a downhill putt or are on the wrong side of a tier, a 3+ putt is likely.

Playing the greens here takes some imagination. I had a putt today on #4 where I played about 20' of left to right break. Aiming in a completely different direction, I tried a chancier route where I had to almost die it on top of a mound, which made it break 20' in the opposite direction toward the hole. Both putts came within a foot of being on the correct line aiming 40' in different directions. Many greens also have backstops that can come into play on chips and putts.

Red hazards line both sides of many holes. Almost every hole has a forced carry off the tee, before the green or both. The course is constantly up/down hills. Challenging to club correctly with the often severe elevation changes and the wind swirling around in the canyons. However, with all that said, I like the course and layout.

This would be a very tough course to walk. Many shots require precision on both distance and direction or your ball is gone on this course. The customer service was excellent. Marshall out patrolling constantly. Attendant out front with carts, the starter and the Pro Shop staff were equally good. I enjoy the challenge and would play here often if I lived closer, tough layout in excellent condition.

Excellent golf course. Well worth the money. Wouldn't want to play in mid summer - too hot and wasn't crazy about rattlesnake postings! But now- absolutely perfect!! Great value!

I played on the white tee since it was my first time playing here.
They fairway was a bit dried up due to dry weather but green was well maintained.
If you like to hit long but not consistent with your shot, stay away.
You need to hit it straight and precisely to get low score on this course.
narrow fairways, small and fast green and lots of hills.
you will take second shots from where you can't even see the flag.

Played the Blues (6221/71.2/134) Saturday a.m., matched up with a very nice 3some using the Forelinx prepaid membership in 4H, 50M. The weather was partly cloudy, in the high 60's and fairly still, excellent golf weather.

The tees had been overseeded with dormant bermuda underneath and rye? coming through on top. Good overall, well maintained. Many tees were moved forward for the weekenders.

The bermuda fairways had good coverage, usually lush, occasionally thin. The bermuda rough also had good coverage and was about about 50/50 lush/thin.

The sand traps are plentiful on this layout. They were well maintained with fine, brown sand.

The large green complexes have alot of slope and there were some nasty pin placements today. The bent greens were excellent. Firm, smooth & quick. Many greens have tiers, and if you have a downhill putt or are on the wrong side of a tier, a 3+ putt is likely. Playing the slopes and back stops correctly takes some imagination here. You may have a much better chance of getting the ball close playing it 20' left, right or even long of the hole and letting the slope funnel it toward the pin rather than going the traditional direct route.

Challenging to club correctly with the often severe elevation changes and the wind swirling around in the canyons. I like the course and layout, good to excellent overall, which I rarely say about a target golf course. Red hazards line both sides of almost every hole. Almost every hole has a forced carry off the tee, before the green or both. The course is constantly up/down hills. Severe, fast greens. I can definitely see the high slope rating. This would be a very tough course to walk. Many shots require precision on both distance and direction or your ball is gone on this course. Very challenging layout where you need to think about your next shot in detail before you play this shot on most par 4/5 from tee to green than on most courses.

The customer service was excellent. Marshall out patrolling constantly, requesting professionally to pickup the POP. Attendant out front with carts, the starter and the Pro Shop staff were equally good. I enjoy the challenge and would play here often if I lived closer, tough layout in excellent condition.

Played the Blacks (6742/73.6/140) with Hermgolfs in the p.m. using the Forelinx prepaid membership. We were rarely pressed and enjoyed a leisurely 4H, 15M round, often hitting practice shots.

I like the course layout, very tough but fair. You get off the beaten path and it's an almost certain penalty stroke. Many holes have forced carry's off the tee, a few also have forced carries to the green over native red staked areas. Almost every hole has both sides red staked. The course is constantly up/down hills, you will rarely have a flat lie after you leave the tee. This would be a very challenging course to walk, I have not seen a walker the 3 times I have played here.

The tees were in good shape overall, mostly well maintained.

The bermuda fairways had good coverage, usually lush, occasionally thin.

The bermuda rough also had good coverage and was about 50/50 lush/thin.

The sand traps were filled with dark brown sand, well maintained in good condition. They are also plentiful on this layout.

The large bent green complexes have alot of slope and there can be some nasty pin placements on the multi tiered greens. The greens were firm and fast, not that many ball marks. They held approach shots well but could be very challenging to nestle chips up close. On numerous pins it was impossible to stop the ball at or even relatively near the hole unless you made it on downhill putts. These were not quick, they were fast! And the amount of break on certain putts... Mike and I had a couple of putts between us where you had to play over 20 feet of break on the slopes of the tiers. You need imagination to putt and chip well on these greens, using slopes and/or back stops to get the ball close, which I like.

The customer service was excellent. Very efficient check-in. Mike in the Pro Shop was tremendous.

Having now played the Blacks twice, the high slope rating is definitely justified. Challenging to club correctly with the often severe elevation changes and the wind swirling around in the canyons. Most shots require precision on both distance and direction or your ball is gone on this layout. Knowing what club to hit and still be safe on a few of the holes that you cannot hit driver was easier after 2 previous rounds here. Normally, I don't prefer target golf courses and this is target golf to the extreme... but I like this course. I would definitely play here often if in the area.

Played the Blues (6221/71.2/134) with Hermgolfs using the Forelinx prepaid membership in 4H, 10M this a.m. The weather was overcast, a few sprinkles and in the 50's.

Mike mentioned challenging in his review. Red hazards line both sides of almost every hole. Almost every hole has a forced carry off the tee, before the green or both. The course is constantly up/down hills. Severe, fast greens. I can definitely see the high slope rating. Challenging = yes. But fun also = yes.

This would be a very tough course to walk. The Blue tees are definitely easier to manage than the Black tees I played last time here. An extra 500 yards with trouble all around equate to more strokes than the difference in the ratings and slope would suggest for a golfer of my skill level.

The tees had been overseeded with dormant bermuda underneath and rye? coming through on top. Good overall, well maintained.

The bermuda fairways had good coverage, usually lush, occasionally thin.

The bermuda rough also had good coverage and was about about 50/50 lush/thin.

The sand traps are plentiful on this layout. They were well maintained with fine, brown sand.

The bent greens were excellent. Firm, smooth & quick. The large green complexes have alot of slope and there can be some nasty pin placements. Many greens have tiers, and if you have a downhill putt or are on the wrong side of a tier, good luck! Don't expect too many straight putts here, we had NUMEROUS putts/chips today where we had 5+ feet of break.

Challenging to club correctly with the often severe elevation changes and the wind swirling around in the canyons. I thought the course and layout were good to excellent overall. Having seen it once, that definitely assisted on knowing what club to hit and still be safe on a few of the holes that you cannot hit driver or knowing where to aim on a couple of blind shots. Many shots require precision on both distance and direction or your ball is gone on this course. Very challenging layout where you need to think about your next shot in detail before you play this shot on most par 4/5 from tee to green than on most courses.

The customer service was excellent. I was barely out of my car before an attendant with a cart arrived and had my bag on the cart before I could check in. Very efficient check-in, greeted by Mike, the Director of Golf. I would play here often if I lived closer, excellent course.

Very challenging difficult course.! Lots of trouble shots and 2nd shots allows the difficult shooter the club discation. Green are fast!

Course is in great shape for an unbelievable rate. We're very pleased with the facilities & staff. The course itself is very hilly (unwalkable) and fairways are mostly rolling either up, down, or sideways. I really love the short par 3's, from elevated tee boxes. The greens are nice but mostly smaller with complicated undulations. If you want to challenge somebody's golf skills, bring him/her to this course.

This course will drive you crazy if you're not a LOW handicap player. You loose too many balls, even when you think hit a good shot. It's a frustrated hard golfcourse to play. Scratch golfers will have a hard time playing this course.

Greens were just airerated ...should if been issued a voucher for next play., was not made aware of this until paying at the course.

Beautiful course...friendly and professional staff

Such a fantastic place to play. But They are stacking players up every 15mins and the play has slowed to a halt! 5hr round at 9:20 am is just not fun!