Our last group round was at The Duke at Rancho El Dorado, which is about an hour away from where we were staying in Scottsdale. The course and community are out in Maricopa and aren’t very convenient to the Phoenix metro.

We were actually scheduled to play Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club but found out the night before our round the greens there were aerated a couple days before. So, at the last minute we scrapped the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes plan and picked The Duke instead as early morning tee times are tough to find this time of year.

Sadly, it appears that The Duke has fallen on hard times. The course opened in the early 2000’s and it had the looks of being an upscale community course at one time. There is even a clever western theme to the place. However, as things stood for our round, the course was not in good shape and looked like it had been neglected for some time.

The ground was firm, baked out and there were many dirt sections throughout the turf. Fairways and tees were functional but not much more. The fairways were recently aerated which is a good thing! The tongues on the bunkers were all burned out and the sand wasn’t very good.

The greens were the lone bright spot and were solid surfaces. They had some fun slopes to consider when planning out a short game shot. When trying to get it close from off the green you could putt, hit a lower chip or a higher chip. So, you had plenty of options.

Unfortunately, the layout of The Duke also left something to be desired. The course is flat and most holes are straight with homes lining each side. It is one of those courses where most holes look the same. If the course was in decent shape it wouldn’t be a terrible members course because it is quite playable.

We played the gold tees which are 70.4/120/6536 and you’ll find some gigantic fairways at The Duke! Unless you are playing the water holes (the 5th and 18th) then you’ll have to hit a terrible shot to lose a golf ball.

The par-3 5th, at 169 yards, is the course’s signature hole. It plays to an island green and is the hole you see when turning into the community. A cool bridge, water feature and some palm trees give it a neat look.

Things were palatable for ~$35 but there are tons of better options in the Phoenix area this time of year around that price. The bottom line right now is that you can skip The Duke until conditions improve. If/when they do then I think the course would be a decent place to work on your game.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):