The Village Golf Club - Thunderbird Nine

The Village Golf Club is owned by the City of Panorama Village and managed by Billy Casper Golf.  With five sets of tee boxes and yardages ranging from 2629 to 3443 yards, each of the three nines is suitable for all levels of play.  The tips are demanding for the low handicappers and the forward tees are great for beginners, seniors, or ladies. 

The Village Golf Club is home to three different nine hole layouts which meander throughout the quiet and quaint community:

Winged Foot is the longest and the toughest of the three nines with a formidable slope of 73.5 and rating of 143 – read our review of Winged Foot

Thunderbird is regarded as the easiest and is much more traditional and straightforward

Rolling Hills is the middle of the roader but it’s  no walk in the park – 3426 yards, slope of 74.1, and rating of 137 – we haven’t had a chance to play Rolling Hills

Thunderbird is a very traditional and straightforward layout and from the tee box you can typically see the pin and what you’re up against – which isn’t a lot..  All of the holes but one are straight ahead through tree lined fairways to smallish greens with at least one bunker.   if you can keep the ball out of the trees and stuff it on the green on your approach shot (not that easy), you’ll have a relaxing and low score round. 

The last four holes make this nine.  #6 is a straight 371 yard uphill shot to a green with two bunkers guarding the front of it.  #7 is a demanding 214 yard downhill shot to  a green with little room for error.  #8 is a 528 yard par five with a cement gully along the entire right side that is waiting for any balls that stray to the right.  And #9 is a fun 386 yard (#1 handicap) hole with a good risk reward shot to try and hug the right side of this dog right plus a challenging narrow approach shot downhill shot to a green with three bunkers and a pond on each side of the front of the green.  This hole will make you want to play Thunderbird again.

The fairways were still transitioning from record heat and a severe drought and as such they were thin and spotty.  The rough was indistinguishable from the fairways.  The Thunderbird fairways are tree lined with homes that can come into play and most are a tad tight – spray the ball and you’re not going to have a good round. 

The greens at The Villages Golf Club were in pretty good shape, ran at a good speed of around 8 to 9, and held the ball pretty well.  All of the Thunderbird green shape some slope ranging from severe to gentle – stay in front of the pin.  They are a variety of shapes and sizes and but most seemed a tad small and all are guarded by at least one bunker making for a demanding approach shot. 

The bunkers were in pretty good shape but the sand was  a little firm and thin from our perspective.  All of the bunkers guard the greens so you don’t have to worry about any fairway bunkers.  The lips are reasonable, 4 to 8 inches, but you’re not going to hit the bunkers and roll out!