AZ Golf Guides

GREATER PHOENIX/SCOTTSDALE & CENTRAL AZ

Raven Golf Club at South Mountain

PHOENIX

No course can truly compete with Augusta National in terms of beauty, tradition, and architecture, but the Raven Golf Club at South Mountain in Phoenix makes a pretty good run. Unlike any other course in the Greater Phoenix area, the Raven imported 6,000 Aleppo, Mondale, and Canary Island Georgia pine trees, reminiscent of Augusta National, to frame each fairway.

"The trees, first planted in 1994, give us a distinctive feel," says Travis Fish, the club’s general manager, who calls it "desert golf without being in the desert."

The Raven is a unique public facility, with golf shop and clubhouse amenities usually associated with a private club.

Located only minutes from Sky Harbor Airport, the course can be stretched to 7,078 yards and from the regular tees plays to a more comfortable 6,264 yards.

It was designed by a remarkable team of Gary Panks and David Graham, who took the land along Baseline Road in Phoenix and incorporated three lakes, 54 sand bunkers, and some rolling terrain on only 165 acres—a relatively small parcel of land for a golf facility such as the Raven.

They did a superb job. The flagship holes are the 5th, a par 4 of just 303 yards from the championship tees and 324 from the tournament tees; the 7th, a par 3 of 221 yards from the tournament tees, with water and a huge bunker down the left side; and the 18th, a long and thorny par 4 measuring 406 yards from the championship tees and 428 from the tournament tees. Number 5 tantalizes with its risk/reward options—the green fiercely protected by five bunkers. In contrast, three cascading lakes guard Number 18—the largest one near the green.

The installation of the pine trees was conceived by Larry Lippon, the original developer. The Raven, opened in 1995, has held the 72-hole Arizona Stroke Play Championship for the last 10 years.

No amateur is more associated with the Raven than Ken Kellaney, who has won four of those 10 Stroke Plays and finished second in three more.

"It’s just a delightful course to play," says Kellaney. "One of the things I most like about the Raven is the way the fairways undulate. That’s a real achievement because it was built on some very flat cotton fields. They had to move a lot of dirt."

Panks can verify that. "We moved 700,000 cubic yards of it," he says.

The Raven has the unique virtue of being an ideal site for both tournament and recreation play. "It’s serious tournament golf for four days and a very popular public facility on the other days," Panks points out. "It’s playable for everyone. The fairways are wide and the greens are open. You don’t have to hit a high, perfect approach shot to get on the greens."

With green fees ranging from $35 to $79 in the summer and from $99 to $180 during peak season, not only is Raven a great course to play, it’s one of the best golf bargains in the Greater Phoenix area.

DWAYNE NETLAND