Arizona Dreaming: Greater Phoenix and Northern Arizona Golf Courses – Page 2

by David Hubbard

McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona – Courtesy of McCormick Ranch Golf Club

The world knows Scottsdale

Say Arizona golf, the world thinks Scottsdale, but it then quickly discovers Greater Phoenix is a far-reaching venue with upscale courses tucked into every nook and corner. Nonetheless, Scottsdale provides an undeniably alluring draw.

Golf in Scottsdale is predominantly private, but desert-style golf and upscale pampering go hand in hand at a host of luxurious resorts and daily-fee golf clubs. Troon North Golf Club still casts its spell as the flagship of upscale public golf in the desert. Today, it also serves as the prime amenity for guests of the Four Seasons Scottsdale Resort at Troon North.

The polished and upbeat atmosphere surrounding Grayhawk Golf Club sets the tone for the relaxed Southwestern golf lifestyle. Teeing off at dusk on Talon’s Number 18 says it all in one heroic shot, second only to the view from the patio at sunset.

In January of each year, when golfers worldwide view the sunshine and record-setting galleries at the FBR Open, the phones ring off the hook at the Fairmont Princess Resort and TPC Scottsdale, with golfers itching to play in the wake of the pros on the renowned Stadium Course.

Sunridge Canyon Golf Club in Fountain Hills, Arizona – Courtesy of Sunridge Canyon Golf Club

Legend Trail Golf Club, Rees Jones’ tribute to classic design elements, lies tucked cozily into the desert ravines near Carefree. This club enjoys a reputation as the “Cypress Point of the Desert.”

Adjacent to the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa and Kierland Commons, a cosmopolitan dining and shopping complex in north-central Scottsdale, Kierland Golf Club is a 27-hole track by Scott Miller that mirrors the terrain of the desert and high prairie with an abundance of indigenous vegetation.

Across the freeway in central Scottsdale, the Salt River Pima Indian Community gave Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore a blank canvas to create any style of course they envisioned for Talking Stick Golf Club. For the South Course they drew on their Midwest experiences to create a traditional-style layout with trees maturing along parkland fairways. Winding unimpeded through flat terrain, the bunkers and subtle strategies on the North Course are especially challenging.

Through the 1970s, golf in the desert meant an à la tropics experience in a setting of shade trees and sprawling lakes. McCormick Ranch Golf Club is Desmond Muirhead’s straightforward vision of a grand oasis with bigger lakes and more sand Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa, Litchfield Park than any Phoenix golfer had seen up to then.

The Padre Course at Marriott’s Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale is an extension of the venerable JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa. Stately eucalyptus trees on this parkland track by Arthur Hills lends the feeling of a much older golf course.

The 950-room JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa overlooks JW Marriott Wildfire Golf Club, which features the original layout by Arnold Palmer as well as a Nick Faldo signature course. Faldo’s plan complements the desert style of play with European-style links and an exceptional variety of golf holes with taunting Australian-influenced bunkering.

The Phoenician Golf Club in Scottsdale enjoys the best of both worlds with a 27-hole layout that skips along the base of Camelback Mountain through the resort’s oasis of foliage and ponds, and then offers a hint of desert life on holes through the rugged terrain behind the hotel.

Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona – Courtesy of Westin Kierland Resort & Spa

Recognized for its environmentally sensitive wildlife habitats in an urban setting, Sanctuary Golf Course plays through the foothills of the McDowell Mountains in north-central Scottsdale. What the course lacks in length, it makes up for in tight, crafty fairways.

East of Scottsdale, below the ridge between the McDowell Mountains and Fountain Hills, SunRidge Canyon Golf Club delivers top players a dose of “tough love” on one of the best competitive tracks in the state. The course descends through one canyon then ascends through another, playing through strategic shifts in elevation and natural outcroppings. In the same area, perched in the hills overlooking the East Valley, Eagle Mountain Golf Club cuts through rugged ravines and affords splendid views of the area’s most prominent landmarks.

Adjacent to the Fort McDowell Casino, We-Ko-Pa Golf Club stands as a crowning achievement of the Fort McDowell-Yavapai Nation. The Scott Miller layout is a must-play if only for what has to be the most breathtaking desert panorama in all of Arizona golf, where holes play toward Four Peaks and the Superstition Mountains. A Radisson hotel recently opened on the property, and a second course from Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw opened in December 2006.

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