Mirabel Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ

In my recent visit to Mirabel as a guest, I was so pleasantly surprised at the level of service from the staff and friendliness from the Membership! The Members I joined had told my husband and I how fantastic it was but usually everyone speaks highly of where they claim membership. From the time we came on property people were waving as they walked there dogs, when we got to the clubhouse the valet staff greeted our group and even knew our names! The course was amazing and we even had a delicious snack prepared on course by a chef! Blown away doesn't begin to describe how the visit made us feel. After Golf we stayed for Dinner and had a fabulous meal! We will certainly be arranging another visit in the near future!

Mirabel is one of the elite private clubs in North Scottsdale, with a wealthy membership and correspondingly high fees to join. It is remote- up in the Desert Mountain area. It has some nice benefits for golfers, like a beautiful clubhouse, top-notch practice facilities, EXCELLENT food and drinks on the course (nuts, ice cream bars, bubble gum, gatorade, soft drinks, fruit, etc etc), and even food grilled by an on-course chef mid-round. I really liked the "fringes" of playing here. However, I am not thrilled with the golf course. It is not the conditions- the greens are smooth and fast, and the fairways are always in good shape (though perhaps over-watered). The problem is the architecture... it is a Fazio design, and as usual with his courses, it is uninspiring. Pretty much every hole requires a driver to a wide open landing area. I cannot remember a hole that was memorable, or even made me put a lot of thought into what shot I was going to play. It is a nice course, mind you, but would I join here at the cost of 6 figures and the remote location? I don't think so, and I'm wondering how quickly they are adding members. (At least half the homes adjoing the course in 2010 are vacant...)
The land here is less dramatic than some of the nearby courses- most holes have some moderate elevation change, but not much. The back-drops are pretty nice, with the Mogollon Rim in the distance. The land this course is on was devastated rather recently by a big fire- you can see how thin the "old growth" desert vegetation is (not many saguaros etc). It makes it easier to hit out of the desert but it detracts from the scenic value of the course. It is a very windy track- I played a round earlier this year with 30 mph winds ... and it seemed to be dead in your face on the longer par 4s.
I was there most recently as a reciprocal guest- 1 member of a local club and 3 guests, total greens fees $260 (what a windfall for Mirabel mid-summer!). As usual, I found customer service to be mixed. The guards at the gate are not the most friendly- they made me wait in the car while they chatted for a minute... rude. The staff in the pro shop and some of the players assistants (not all) were polite and friendly. The staffer who brought a snack out was not the coolest... when one of guys in our group asked for a second little snack from the large tray, the employee refused, saying "there would not be enough for everyone then". Come on, how hard / costly is it to make a second plate? (Given the total expenditure with food, drinks, and clothes/equipment for our group was $500+, Mirabel probably could afford it...).
On other occasions I have found the maintenance staff to be really annoying. Once, on the first hole, there were 4 workers right in the middle of the fairway, completely oblivious to golfers on the tee. On the 2nd tee box, here they came, driving out onto the second fairway. The same group of workers were on holes 1-9!. The greens keeper needs to learn an important concept- start them at 9 and work them backward! I hit a ball close to a worker on a par 3 and asked if he saw it; he was clearly annoyed that I talked to him and grunted something unintelligible and walked away. Rude! DC Ranch is the model here- the greens staff always is considerate and stays out of the way.
I've been lucky enough to play most of the elite private courses in the Valley. As a club, Mirabel compares well with any- it is a pleasant place to spend the day. I would place the golf course in the second tier due to the uninspiring Fazio design. Mirabel has a similar feel to Estancia, another Fazio course in North Scottsdale (though Estancia has a superior location).