Las Colinas Golf Club: Review from Arizona Golf Guides

480-987-3633 21515 E. Village Loop Rd. Queen Creek, AZ 85242 www.lascolinasgolfclub.com public holes: 18 course par:71 rating/slope: - Black 70.8/123 - Gold 67.7/112 - Red 66.6/106 range of yardages: 5,800–6,800 cart & green fees: phone for information course designer:Mike Osmonson shoe policy: alternative cleats required

In the Southeast Valley, Las Colinas is golf central in the community of Queen Creek. The big draw is a user-friendly parkland golf course that does as well for junior golfers and beginners as it does for amateur champions.

Las Colinas is actually the third iteration of a 35-year old layout, which accounts for the mature mesquite trees and replanted cottonwoods throughout, as well as the well-established turf tee to green. Under private ownership, this daily-fee facility has become the centerpiece of the Village of Queen Creek residential development that now surrounds the golf course. The club offers resident rates and annual memberships, and hosts a busy slate of men and women golf leagues.

The layout plays to par 71 from three sets of tees, with five par 3s and four par 5s. A moderate degree of shaping and mounding in the fairways further separate the course from its flat desert surroundings. The few water hazards and sand bunkers loom large where they do crop up, such as water front right at No. 4, the number one handicap, and the greenside bunkers that guard holes five and six.

While Las Colinas makes no pretense of difficulty, it has all the right stuff to deliver a stern test. Each spring the Arizona Golf Association hosts the San Tan Amateur. The top golfers in the state quickly discover the nuances to the challenging pin placements on the sloped and tiered putting surfaces. They realize where length is not a factor, they have taken a final exam in shot-making and finesse on a traditional-style track that measures a mere and mortal 6,655 yards from the Coyote tees.

The Roadrunner tees play at 6,032 yards—from there the par 3s are decidedly shorter. The forward tees further level the playing field to 5,014 yards.

DAVID HUBBARD

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