Heritage Highlands conditions disappoint

Letter to the editor

(March 23, 2005) - I organized a group of 16 players for a 4 day golf trip to Tucson. We arrived late Wednesday night in Tucson. On Thursday morning, we played La Canada, part of the Hilton El Conquistador resort. Not a bad course, but the greens had been heavily sanded, which always makes for a challenge.

That afternoon, we played Omni Tucson National which is where we stayed. A very nice course and excellent greens. Friday morning we played Ventana Canyon, probably everyone's favorite course, it was difficult but a great layout. Friday afternoon we played Arizona National, a course we all enjoyed, very playable. Saturday morning we played Omni Tucson National again, only this time in the rain. Saturday afternoon we arrived at Heritage Highlands looking forward to a dry and warm afternoon. The weather cooperated, unfortunately, the golf course did not live up to its billing.

The biggest disappointment was the greens.

The greens had been very recently punched or aerified, so recent that the aerification holes had not been filled with sand nor had the greens been mowed. Needless to say we were all very disappointed, given that we were paying prime time green fees and actually called all of the courses ahead of time to make sure that we wouldn't run into this situation.

My co-organizer, Jeff Lerner made those calls and was specifically told that the greens woud not be aerified. We had also received confirmation from the other courses that no course aerifies their greens until after April 15 in the area. The other disappointment was the lack of food and drink service. There were no beverage carts on the course nor was there any food and beverage facilities available to us after the round because of a wedding that was being hosted by the club.

Needless to say, the food and beverage issues and the tee issue were not big deals as isolated incidents, but when combined with the poor condition of the greens this was a very disappointing round of golf and frankly, we feel that we were overcharged and taken advantage of.

Sincerely,
Arick Levine

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.