It's like going on a hike and playing disc golf at the same time. Loved the rugged terrain, the friendly locals, the challenge of throwing tee shots uphill, and the thrill of throwing airborne hyzers downhill. Some baskets were hard to spot but once you can see them, you will be challenged.

None!

It's a half hour drive for me but well worth it. My home course is Vista del Camino and I love it there too. Buffalo Ridge is a different beast altogether.

From a local, "Buffalo Ridge is my favorie Phoenix course for sure. Love the elevation changes." I agree, but if you don't know the gem of Buffalo Ridge's "elevation" then you may get worn out mining the 27 holes to find the diamond.

If you don't have the time and energy to burn here's the secret: Go straight to the number 6 tee. You will be going UP. Then on 7 and 8 you will be going DOWN. It's helpful to remember to go UP after 6's basket since that's where the 7 tee is, otherwise you may struggle finding it.

Then you go UP on 9 and DOWN on 10, which you may think is the signature hole of this place, but it's only the beginning of the signature elevation holes. Again, remember to go UP after 9's basket. Also, if you don't remember to go UP on 9 then you may get lost, like I did, and end up playing 9A, which plays toward the parking lot (28th hole?).

Now you go UP on 11 and then 12 is the most technical shot because it's downhill and hidden behind a guardian bush. When you're at the 11th tee looking uphill at the basket turn to your right so you can see where 12's hidden basket is since you won't see it looking down from the 12th tee.

Then you go UP for 13 and DOWN for 14 and 15. It's a little tricky getting to 14 since you're not only throwing DOWN, but the basket is perched down there on a tiny hill which is inviting your disc to roll away once you get there.

If you quit after 15 then you would have played just 10 holes but you would have experienced ALL the elevation shots of Buffalo Ridge. If you do have the time and energy, however, then there is more good disc golf to be found here.

Five nice ace runs are 4 (175'), G (200'), H (206'), 7 (256'), and 17 (262'). You can't see 4's basket from the tee but it's buried in some trees to the right, not too far away. I particularly like this one since it strongly favors my RHFH. I ended up parked on both shots of my only 2 rounds for easy birdies and expect I'd eventually hear chains from the hidden location.

My pet peeve are the tee signs here, and other places, that show multiple baskets, but don't indicate which is the current position. For example, F, H, and I throw blind. They go over a swell, which would be nice if you knew which basket position was your destination. It would be so simple and inexpensive to add a nut and washer on the tee sign, like so many other courses do, but I guess they haven't figured this out at the nicer Phoenix courses yet. I also complained about this in my Vista review. Multiple baskets should be a PRO not a CON!

The A through I portion could have included elevation shots that would have made it a lot better. If 9 more elevation holes were added on this side of the mountain then you'd have TWO complete courses.

I wish the tee signs rose up higher. It was difficult to locate them, but this is only a factor for the first unfamiliar round so not a big deal.

Be careful since B is easily mistaken for I, which is what I did.

Bring water or get some from your car after 8, since that's the closest you'll be to the parking lot before you finish and by then you've finished 17 holes if you played A-I. Most of your UP and DOWN is ahead of you.

There's a walking trail around the upper ridge of the higher baskets and it was active with pedestrians both times I was there. When you're throwing UP a hill you don't usually worry about people, but be conscious of them and stay safe.

Love this place (not so much in the summer)!
Good variety of holes and terrain.
Great exercise while you are playing.
Easy to navigate.
Elevation changes.
Scoring opportunities (even for this old guy)!

Old-school baskets, too many walkers and dogs on the weekends.

I've been playing here off and on since it was new, even helped put out the forms for some of the pads. Lots of great people out here playing, it is definitely the "go to" course for my son and I whenever we take a visitor out! Fountain Hills is great too (way different style), but this is a raw desert course that is just load of fun!

The elevation change: you can't throw off a mountain on any of the other courses in Phoenix!

The openness: you have unobstructed views of the basket (and your disc) for all 27 baskets. I've never lost a disc out here!

The landscape: the rocks will definitely scuff up your discs.

The location: I've had trouble getting to the course using the 101, as there's no exit for Union Hills. Turns out you can just get off the 101 about a block early either way and take the frontage road to Union Hills.

The layout: if you're just playing the standard 18 baskets, then it shouldn't be too hard to find your way (except for 1-4, those are a little challenging). However, the extra 9 baskets on the north side of the park can be difficult to navigate - bring a map if you can.

The pedestrians: there's plenty of joggers and walkers in the park, please don't hit them!

It's always a great time at Buffalo Ridge Park!

This is my new "home" course. It has 27 holes now. The group of guys that manage and play the course regularly really do a great job of keeping things fresh and clean. It's got beautiful views as you get up the side of the ridge. Offers a great experience of the desert. Lots of wildlife (lizards, quail, rabbits, and occasional snake). Core group plays regularly. They are very friendly and very talented.

Until you know the layout, it can be difficult to find your way around. Nothing more can be done to help though. It's just the nature of a desert course. Discs can get pretty beat up too. Once again, just the result of any desert course.

Being new to the sport, I'd only played Vista del Camino before moving north. It took a little getting used to but now that I have, I absolutely love it. I'd definitely recommend it. Give it a shot, and see if it's your cup of tea.

Buffalo Ridge is in a great desert setting with cacti and palo verdes. This is true desert disc golf. Almost all of the holes have a different feel, except for one or two that go straight up the mountain. You can really air it out here and have no trouble getting birdies. The baskets are in really good condition and the teepads are great (each pad has a different design). There are some well protected baskets and some wide-open ones. The new 9 (A-I), are great also. Hikers rarely interfere with disc golfers.

Very hot during the summer months. But what do you expect, it's Phoenix. There's no need for much of a line-shaping game here, as there are very few trees that get in your way. It can get a little difficult to find your disc if you don't keep an eye on it after you throw. The teepads are a little hard to find for the new 9, so try to find a local or take a picture of the map at teepad A.

This course is very beautiful and a blast to play. Bring lots of water. The course is a good form of exercise also. This is the best course I have been to in PHX.

Good tee signs and tee boxes. 27 holes! (although the new 9 wasn't really marked well as of 3/3). A lot of fun, true desert golf. Beautiful scenery. Restrooms on site. Great use of the land. A lot of elevation changes.

No shade. No trash cans on the course that I remember (although I don't recall seeing much litter on the ground). Somewhat lacking in distance on alot of holes, but it makes up for that with man made OB and hazards around the green

Bring water! I was out in AZ for the memorial and on the last day my friends and I decided to check this course out after hearing great things from the locals. Absolutely beautiful and tons of fun. Not like anything you see here in New England. Luckily a local happened to be there that played with us and showed us the new 9 holes. I can't wait to play this course again.

Great desert coarse with a few up hill and down hill challenges. Provides good exercise because a good portion of the course is a hike.

Only con is having to dig your disc out of a thorn tree or a bush that looks like it would be a great place for a snake to get out of the hot sun.

If you have a chance play this course. Lots of fun!

Very challenging, with the wind and different hole locations its a different course almost every time. Many holes can be a birdie. The view from the higher holes are very good. Great hiking from hole to hole.

Rocky and does chew up discs. Can misplace a disc with a funky drive.

I have played this course for a couple years now and on Sunday, 06/12/2011 had my first hole in one ever.
It was awesome...Hole 10, 355', 2 witnesses and 1 shot.

-27 holes. The new 9 holes (A thru I) is a superb addition! You can access these after Hole 6.
-Grippy t-boxes, with cool designs in the cement.
-Signage is accurate and intact.
-On the new 9 (A thru H), there are stone arrows laid on the ground, directing traffic.
-Elevation changes adds to the enjoyment as well as difficulty. There are just as many holes playing UP the hill as there are playing down it. It's hard to gauge how much power to put into your drive when the hole is marked as 300ft, but rises another 50ft. Great challenge! Inversely, throwing off the hill is a blast!
-The views are awesome here! As an added bonus, there are makeshift stools (made of rock, wood) up on the hill for a quick breather.
-Great workout! As others have stated, this is like an afternoon of hiking with a side of disc golf =)
-There are facilities at the park (water, restroom, benches, paved parking lot)
-Good chance to air out some discs. Lots of distance on this course. My advice is to warm up your arm (and legs!) well before embarking on a round here.
-Very difficult to lose a disc.

-No ceiling, not much necessary shot-shaping. This is the first thing I notice about a course. On most holes, there are a lot of options to the basket. The additional 9 adds some much needed shaping, however.
-Traversing this course can be rough if you're not ready for it. There's not much shade here at all. Remember, it's a desert-style course, so come prepared.
-Will eat your discs. Even the higher quality plastics can take a thrashing here.
-Not a great deal of risk/reward.

The additional 9 holes added to the course is a nice boost to an already buff course! The new holes bump up the difficulty by utilizing vegetation and the rolling foothills in their layout.
Protip: Hole H has an alternate teebox further up the hill you can shoot from.

Weather plays a huge factor determining at what time of the day you'll play this course.

Although it isn't perfect, it's a lot of fun (as well as work!) It provides enough of a challenge to keep players coming back.

Very fun course and true to the Arizona desert landscape. This course can be challenging for new players like myself, but it is still a ton of fun. Hiking up and down the mountain is a good workout, so bring good shoes if not hiking boots. Lot's of variety in the hole positions. A few locations with outdoor chairs to rest in the shade. No pedestrians in the way. Restrooms and water fountain near hole one.

Is extremely difficult to play all 18 holes in the summer days. Bring a lot of water then plan on bringing more. Very little shade trees so wear sunscreen and hats. Desert course is hard on plastic and will chew them up. Parking lot can be pretty full for sport practices.

This is my favorite course so far. It offers some easier birdie potential holes and some more challenging holes throughout the course. Very nice views from the side of the mountain tees. Don't speed down 16th street either. I have seen multiple cops sitting down side streets pulling speeders over. First time out bring a map of the course from Spinners on the Green, the tee pads and baskets can be hidden behind trees, etc.

First time playing a real desert course, that was awesome. Great views, great exercise, and great layout. This course was better than I expected. Teepads were really cool!

Course would have been hard to follow if it werent for my map I downloaded from spinnersdiscgolf.com (thanks keith). I had to walk halfway up some of the holes to spy the baskets. Terrain beat up some of my discs but thats ok. They sell more.

Did not see any snakes . . . but a jack rabbit jumped out from behind a rock as i was bending down to mark my disc and i nearly stroked out! Ha! Like everybody else says, take water jug you'll need it.

The view and terain are what you would exscpet if you planned a trip to Arizona to play Frisbee golf. Desert and rocks and Cactus ect. Great Desert Layout . Alot of climbing. Great workout course.

I made the mistake of bringing my youngest son in a stroller thinging I was gonna push him around and it was not the best exp. Not made for anything but a great hike.

This is the course if your looking for a true Arizona desert experience while your in from out of town. Now there are man made park courses ect. but this one speaks to the Valley of the Sun!

This course is located in next to what seemed to be a nice neighbor hood. The park has a baseball diamond and a basketball court. And parking was very close to the first tee. It is all very nice and fairly new looking. Tee pads and baskets are in great condition. The tee pads have a unique pattern etched into each one - nice touch. The tee signs are very helpful showing the hole in relation to key land marks - bushes, a shed, etc. They also indicate alternate basket placements and which one is in.

Some holes have alternate basket placements. This is great for returning players looking for more variety. To me this is a big "pro" even though I don't know how often they switch out the holes.

Restrooms and water are near hole one. This is more than what many courses can say. Since you are in the desert's dry heat, you should probably bring your own water though.

I don't think it's possible to review this course without mentioning the environment. It's beautiful. The hill as the backdrop as well as the course provides challenging and fun elevation changes not to mention picturesque views.

This course is long. It will definitely allow you to open up your cannon. It also provides a large area next to the course for you to practice your driving without any obstacles.

Navigation was tough on a couple holes (ie #2 to #3). But then we discovered the "Next ---->" on the tee signs. That helped, but with the tee signs being so short, the taller brush hide them at times. Very small con.

It's desert. There are not many obstacles to throw around. There are a couple of short, technical holes, but most of the variety comes in the form of elevation changes. Being without obstacles to throw around also means that there are no obstacles for shade.

Watch out - some of those bushes are prickly. Don't find out the hard way... ok so I'm having a hard time thinking of truly major "cons" for this course.

Being a midwestern guy, I didn't know what to expect as far as the rockiness of the course and how that will effect my discs. While it certainly is rocky, my Innova Champion plastic discs held up nicely. I think the traveling in my checked bag was tougher on them.

The first 4-5 holes are a warmup for the rest of the course in every way - visually, distance, difficulty. The back 9 is truly where this course shines.

I had a lot of fun on this course. While I don't have the largest arm, the long downhill drives gave me some added distance. Who doesn't need a good confidence booster? But then the uphill holes came.

If you are looking for something different and fun, come to Buffalo Ridge. The other courses in the area just seemed like more of the same of what I'm used to (not dissing them - that's not necessarily a bad thing). I had to check out this desert course and am very happy I did. When I'm out visiting my brother again, I will definitely come back to this course.

Excellent altitude changes and distance. The course has six or so holes that back track up and then down the hill it resides under. Some tricky pin locations that make you use an array of discs from your bag (especially the generator hole, three I believe).

The cacti. If your not used to them don't reach into them. They poke with a needle like quality.
Packing in water. It tends to have some weight, and in the Arizona heat it will be a must. It is in a park so there are water fountains for refills, but the course never goes back to them till the last hole. In an emergency though you're covered! With the up and down hill courses especially. No one wants heatstroke/exhaustion.

The threat of the cacti make an interesting obstacle. Though they only appear on a few of the holes, there are other shrubs that are just as "pokey". Overall a very fun course. I would enjoy seeing it expanded around to the other side of the hill. Or possibly up and down the hill more often.
Wasn't sure if this was a pro or a con due to personal preference, but it is a bit more rough in terrain than say a grass course. So think about your footwear when playing this one. It gets a little rocky. Enjoy!

Elevation changes challenge throwers to adapt conventional thoughts for distances. Locals take very good care of the course. Wind/breezes can test the best with a gust helping/hurting throwing up or down.

It's hot in the desert in Phoenix, period. Course chews up discs and spits them out.

Take a lot of water with you, although bathrooms have a fountain. Sunscreen is helpful.

Terrain was fun. Great elevation on the back 9.

Front nine = blind baskets. Rocks, rocks, rocks. Need to put orange dots on the baskets rather then black which blends in to the terrain.

Bring water or 'liquids' of choice.

This is the most scenic course in Phoenix. The views are spectacular. Hole #7 has some the best views will ever get on a disc golf course. This course is forgiving to most mistakes. There is little OB, so even really, really bad shots usually leave you with a chance.
Overall this course is quite fun. The hike up and down the mountains is invigorating and really adds to the experience.
Each hole has a distinguishing feature and makes for a wonderful experience. The locals have put alot of love into this course and it shows. It is clean and very well maintained. Several of the tees boast nice sitting areas which comes as a welcome respite in the hot AZ sun.

If you don't like hiking, don't come here. Lots of up and down a small "mountain".
Plus it is Hotter than h*ll in the summertime. Bring more water then you think you will need. Be sure and wear rugged shoes as well. Tennis or running shoes WILL get torn up, and there are some shrubs with thorns long enough to go straight through tennis shoes.
Plastic gets chewed up as if it has gone through a wood chipper. If you don't want your disc to get beat up don't bring it here.

The best course in Phoenix. Lots of elevation changes (it's on the side of a mountain). There's not a lot of OB, but you can find yourself behind some unfriendly "trees" and be in a lot of trouble.
Some holes are difficult to navigate, but be sure to check out the signs on each hole for directions to the next hole. Hole #1 is just beyond the playground andplays back to the ball field. Hole #3 is behind the pumphouse. #14, or "The Island" as it is called by locals is the signature hole on the course. Great views and pic opportunities from there.
Also if you run across some of the locals be sure and ask about alternate tees, there are some very interesting ones!

New Note--The new 9 (or Alpha 9 as the locals call them), holes A-I are now in. They start after hole #5 and go North from #5 and then back South to #6.

In an area that is devoid of trees, this course makes good use of the land to challenge the average player. Elevation changes and a variety of obstacles make this course a good one to play twice in a row to get a good feeling for it.

The distances are a bit on the short side, and if you like your discs, you might consider a less interesting course.

The tee pads are all concrete with some very interesting designs in the cement. Check out the photos to see how sweet some of them are.
With restrooms at the main parking lot and a playground for the kids, this course is one I can bring the family to.

Variety: blind shots, up and down terrain, elevated pole holes, canyon-long shots, nice city views. Nice newer concrete teepads. Not as crowded as other Phoenix courses. Great practice with the varied putts.

The potential for the course to chew up their discs. The location of each ensuing hole is not usually where you would intuitively expect it. Copious amounts of garbage strewn along the course.

Being new to the sport, this is literally the second course I have ever played. That being said, I really enjoyed the variety that comes with this course and I know I will be back soon. If you are new to the game, this is an interesting test to get you dialed in to mastering new shots and situations.