The Oasis Golf Course is ACTUALLY two golf courses. The Canyons (which the greens were in pretty bad shape 5/18/08) ... (more)

The Oasis Golf Course is ACTUALLY two golf courses. The Canyons (which the greens were in pretty bad shape 5/18/08) and the Palmer (which was immaculate 5/19/08). Both courses use reclaimed water to irrigate the course. They use Chlorine to treat the water (I asked several of the ground keepers). I couldn't understand why my eyes were watering and my sinus kept draining, when it was 102 plus degrees and very little wind. Mainly when playing holes that were freshly watered and in the canyon area (canyon walls surrounded the playing area). It seems the chlorine kills the bacteria and EVAPORATES quickly into the air (hence watering eyes and drainage). With the temperature and the heat you could actually smell it. When I asked the green keeper about the condition of greens at the canyons, he said that the condition of the canyons course was due to the malfunctioning of the watering system and a fungus that attacked the greens because of the lack of treatment. They had just re-seeded and was in the process of treating them. Based on those comments, the canyons were on a comeback, there were still 5 or 6 greens that were healing (the main reason I rated the condition at only 4 stars). Both courses had a challenging and picturesque layout. Overall I enjoyed playing the Palmer over the Canyons. If you watched the Big Break VIII, you will have the opportunity to play all the holes you saw on TV. Believe me they are different when you are standing on the tee box looking blindly down into the canyon (most par 5's on the Palmer Course), surrounded by canyon! (Many par 4's on both the Palmer and Canyons) or hitting over a canyon to an elevated green (several par 3's on both courses) Not the place to pull or slice a drive! Once in the fairway or rough (there isn’t much difference between the fairway and rough, maybe ½ an inch?), better to hit short of the green on your approach and have the ball roll up on the green: Greens are extremely hard and ball will not stick on the green (unless using an extremely lofted club PW thru LOB) most approach shots will be with an 8 iron or longer, many (even if you hit the center of the green) will release to the back and test your chipping ability. Many greens were tiered and/or had a severe slope. Holes were cut where your ball would break less than inches from the hole; I understand why Anthony missed his short put! Many were on break lines that if you missed the hole (high or low) you had a three footer or better as a return (unless putting up hill). The 18th at the canyons is a par 3 that you shot is from an elevated tee down to a green that you can only see half of from the tee box, very intimidating. The staff at the club house (same staff for both courses) were great, workers on the course were very respective of golfers and allowed you play uninterrupted (many moved out of sight and/or shut off and moved their equipment). Overall both courses were a blast to play.
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