San Pedro Golf Course: Review from Arizona Golf Guides
The golf scene in Southern Arizona is heavy on desert courses and light on links play, but San Pedro Golf Course aims to make up for the deficit. A short trip to Benson will allow you to enjoy a different type of course that is still well-designed and well-executed.
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520-586-7888
928 N. Madison Ave.
Benson, AZ 85602
www.sanpedrogolf.com
public
holes: 18
course par: 72
rating/slope:
- black 73/130
- copper 70.4/125
- white 68.4/117
- jade 71.3/125
- silver 68.8/117
range of yardages: 5,262–7,313
head pro: Dan Wickman
membership: $1,650 annual individual
cart & green fees: summer $25, winter $45
course designer: Mark Rathert
shoe policy: alternative cleats required
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Thirty minutes southeast of Tucson, San Pedro Golf Course plays out along the San Pedro River Valley. Free from the restraints of real estate development, this course offers a respite from urban venues.
Denver-based course designer Mark Rathert masterminded a track in the high desert that takes on an authentically links-style flavor. The front nine plays through stands of mesquite forests along the river while the drama on the back nine intensifies on four holes winding their separate natural canyons.
San Pedro professionals say “cart path” means driving down the middle of the fairways comprised of a tight dwarf-blade hybrid called Riviera. The turf lends a lush look and affords cushy tight lies. Benson’s moderate climate allows San Pedro claim to the best bentgrass greens in Southern Arizona.
There are no contrivances to Rathert’s design. It stresses basic skills in a straightforward test of golf with traditional leanings. There are no out-of-bounds—find it and hit it. The course plays 7,313 yards from the championship markers.
Expansive areas of indigenous native grasses spread through the rough areas and around a number of bunkers. Set against the closely trimmed fairways and perfect putting surfaces, the natural elements make San Pedro inviting and in keeping with the course’s high-desert surroundings—not to mention the challenge of keeping the ball in play.
The water guarding holes Number 9 and Number 18 is testy, but adds significantly to San Pedro’s good looks. Several fairways employ doglegs that dictate the approach to well-protected greens. Rathert has kept the number of sand bunkers to a minimum. While the greenside bunkering is modest and fairway bunkers are sparse, golfers need to heed careful placement. Contouring and grass swales are enough to protect a number of greens. On several holes, tighter landing areas substitute perfectly for the lack of fairway bunkers.
The 421-yard, par-4 Number 3 hole features a split fairway with risk/reward options to consider down either side. One of the most daunting thrills crops up at the sweeping 567-yard, par-5 Number 5. Playing along the river, it turns sharply left before the green perched 20 feet above with trouble left, right, and behind.
The round concludes with one of the more memorable finishing holes in Southern Arizona. Number 18 is a 457-yard par 4 split by a small stream separating lakes left and right. Placement off the tee is critical to thread the second shot by the trouble, or risk the long approach.
The course includes a 16-acre practice facility with a full short-game area. The view from the Sunset Terrace overlooks two lakes and a small stream along the 18th fairway, and encompasses the Dragoon Mountains.
DAVID HUBBARD
Find More Golf Courses in Southern Arizona
San Pedro Golf Course and a number of other Southern Arizona properties make it easy for those interested to gain more information about their courses and amenities. All it takes is a few moments of time to request free brochures from top golf facilities throughout the state.
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