Tee Time: Tucson City Golf, Green Valley Courses, and More – Page 2

by Jack Rickard

Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort in Tucson, Arizona – Courtesy of Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort

Public courses

Tom Weiskopf, who co-designed many of the state’s best, was on his own in laying out The Golf Club at Vistoso. The course has received numerous national honors, including "best public course in Tucson" from Golf Digest. While it’s a target course, Weiskopf gives the player ample room off the tee. He makes strategic use of natural washes that cross several fairways.

The semiprivate Forty Niner Country Club, the only other local course besides Randolph that has hosted both PGA and LPGA tournaments, has maintained its original look as it approaches its 50th anniversary. LPGA Hall of Famer Judy Rankin won here in 1972.

When The Pines Golf Club at Marana opened years ago, it was a links-style course. Not anymore. When the nearby sand-and- gravel company moved out, the course underwent a complete redesign. Now the second nine plays through the abandoned quarry, one of only five courses nationally to do so.

If you don’t want to spend four or five hours on a course, Dorado Golf Course provides an alternative. It’s a par-62 executive-length course that can easily be walked. Dorado recently changed its greens from bentgrass to Bermuda. And, yes, you can hit a driver on most of the eight par 4s, with some risk, of course.

Omni Tucson National Resort in Tucson, Arizona – Jeff Bonner

The Crooked Tree Golf Course, the only Pima County-owned course, features a traditional layout amid towering ironwoods and saguaros. Renovations to the course and clubhouse have made it a first-class facility.

Public resort courses

Omni Tucson National Resort is easily the area’s more recognizable course. For years, it has hosted the PGA Tour’s Tucson Open. Tucson National offers 36 holes with the addition of the Tom Lehman-designed Sonoran Course. It boasts one of the toughest finishing holes on the PGA Tour.

Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort offers 45 holes. The 9-hole Pusch Ridge course surrounds the resort while the country club on North La Cañada Drive offers two 18-hole courses featuring both traditional and desert-style courses. A free shuttle runs between the two locations.

The Lodge at Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club boasts two of famed golf course architect Tom Fazio’s best. The Mountain Course, Fazio’s first at Ventana, features the famed par-3 third hole aptly named “Hole in the Wall.” It’s only 107 yards from the tips, but requires a white-knuckled tee shot that must be straight.

JW Marriott Starr Pass Country Club & Spa features 27 holes. The Arnold Palmer Group softened the tough carries off the tee and difficult green complexes of what was originally one of the PGA’s Tournament Players Clubs. Starr Pass was host to a handful of Tucson Opens, and is where Mickelson won as an amateur.

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