Coldwater Golf Club sprawls across a unique terrain that provides the course with plenty of deep swales and rolling hills. Scenic mountains serve as the backdrop for most of the holes. Meandering desert washes come into play and the natural contours of the land helped determine the placement of the sand bunkers. more»
Aguila Golf Course opened in 1999 and is a 210-acre facility with an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Gary Panks. The Spanish name for "eagle," Aguila affords views of both the downtown skyline of Phoenix and surrounding mountains. more»
Known for its undulating greens throughout the course, Riverview G.C. offers a challenging, 18-hole play for residents of Sun City and guests alike. You can get breakfast, lunch and an assortment of beverages at Riverview Golf Course's full-service snack shop on site. more»
Holding a designation as Arizona's third oldest golf course, Encanto Golf Course originally opened in 1935 near the center of downtown Phoenix. This city-owned golf course today sports a relaxed atmosphere and a golf design with wide fairways and a limited number of water hazards. more»
Palmbrook Country Club features a traditional layout with wide fairways lined with trees and large, challenging greens. Mature pines and eucalyptus trees are scattered throughout the course providing some challenges, but it is not a forest. There are numerous soft sand bunkers and timely doglegs throughout the front nine more»
Hillcrest Golf Club at Sun City West has a traditional, all-grass layout. This challenging golf course features numerous doglegs, water hazards, and strategically placed bunkers but there are player-friendly fairways and few blind shots to make the inviting to players of all skill levels. more»
Built in 1989, Arizona Grand Golf Course has garnered a reputation as an outstanding Arizona course. Neatly tucked close to South Mountain Park, the blend of traditional links play and desert target golf found at Arizona Grand Resort makes for a challenging and exciting round. more»
Legacy Golf Club’s championship course features lush, green fairways, forgiving rough and strategically-placed hazards. Dramatic elevation changes provide extensive views of nearby Camelback Mountain, Squaw Peak and the Phoenix skyline. The resort itself features 328 suites with kitchens, a practice facility, pool, fitness center and tennis court. The facility also includes a fully stocked pro shop and a golf academy. more»
City of Phoenix-owned Cave Creek Golf Course began as a landfill reclamation project in 1983 and has now become the city's most popular municipal golf course with over 100,000 rounds played annually. more»
When it comes to golf, the city of Phoenix finishes second -- and a distant second at that -- to the almost ridiculous surplus of top-10 courses in north Scottsdale.
But that doesn't mean Phoenix is bereft of quality 18-hole layouts. In fact, golfers can still play terrific venues and not have to shell out nearly as much money as they would to play one of north Scottsdale's finest.
In fact, rates at some of Phoenix's best golf courses can be had for as low as $50 in the winter and $20 in the hot summer months.
Any discussion of the Phoenix golf scene has to start with the Raven Golf Club near South Mountain. It's one of the unique golfing experiences in the Valley. More than 7,000 pine trees were imported to give the course a parkland feel, and the Raven's diversity of holes are as great as any club in the Valley.
Oh, the Raven also has a $1,800 beer mug chiller. Just saying!
Phoenix has more than its share of resort courses, including three nine-hole layouts at The Phoenician, the easy-to-get-around Adobe Course at the Arizona Biltmore, and the quirky Arizona Grand, which features three par 5s, five par 3s and a par-71 course that measures 6,288 yards from the tips.
The suburbs of Phoenix are awash in possibilities. On the west side, golfers can test the elevation changes at Raven Verrado, the 83 steep-faced bunkers at The Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, or stay-and-play at the Wigwam Resort, which has three 18-hole courses, two of which were designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr.
The East Valley features a bevy of beauties, from Dinosaur Mountain in Gold Canyon -- it's arguably the most underrated golf course in Arizona -- to Superstition Mountain, former site of an LPGA tournament, and Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, which features water on 23 of its 27 holes.
On the northwest side, head out to Quintero Golf Club. Once a private club, Quintero has the best collection of par 3s in the state.
Weekend hackers can enjoy as well: The Greater Phoenix area has some quality municipal layouts, including Dobson Ranch and Maryvale Golf Course.
Phoenix never will be able to match Scottsdale's cache when it comes to golf. But that's okay. It more than stands on its own.
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The Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed Patriot Course at The Wigwam resort in Litchfield Park is just 6,000 yards, but it is by no means a pushover. It loses much of its yardage on some short par 3s and a couple of short par 4s and the front and back nine are quite different. There are doglegs, trees, some large bunker complexes and plenty of water to challenge players throughout their rounds. ... full article »
The Adobe Course at semi-private Arizona Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix is a traditional parkland design with a smattering of trees, a few water hazards and bunkers. The traditional push-up greens remain, and many of the holes are parallel, making it difficult to lose a ball. ... full article »
Each spring some 15 Major League Baseball teams come to Arizona for a month of Cactus League action. If you're going to be in Arizona checking out your favorite MLB team, make sure to have your golf clubs handy. There are numerous golf courses worth hitting that are close to the spring training homes of your favorite baseball team. Mike Bailey has more. ... full article »
The Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix doesn't overwhelm golfers with its beauty; nor is it one of the most challenging courses golfers will find in the Valley. But what it does it does very well: It's an enjoyable 18 holes that's always in immaculate condition and doesn't cost a fortune. In other words, it's the perfect place to play if the local muni is too easy and courses such as Troon North are too difficult or expensive. ... full article »
Owned by the City of Phoenix, the Papago Golf Course has a reputation as one of the best municipal courses in Arizona. That reputation is backed by more than 50 reviews on GolfNow.com. With nearly 90 percent of the reviewers on GolfNow.com saying they would recommend the course, Papago continues to be a Phoenix-area favorite. ... full article »
Any Web site or travel brochure can pick the most recognizable golf courses in Phoenix. But it takes the more discerning golfer to find courses that fly under the radar but are standouts nonetheless. Here are four under-rated, Phoenix-area courses that fit that criteria. Even without the glossy-golf-mag accolades, they're definitely worth your time and your green fee. ... full article »
Making up 18 of the 36 holes at Whirlwind Golf Club is Devil's Claw, which opened in 2000, set on Gila River American Indian community property 12 miles west of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in Chandler. The Gary Panks design plays just more than 7,000 yards from the championship tees and features gently rolling, wide fairways, lots of sand and large, sloping greens with run-off areas. ... full article »
A name like "Devil's Claw" may sound vicious, but Whirlwind Golf Club's original 18-hole course is anything but venomous. With peak spring season rates up to $169, Whirlwind checks in the upper-middle-class bracket of the Phoenix-Scottsdale area and delivers top-shelf, over-seeded playing conditions in the peak season to its large fairways and greens. Brandon Tucker has more from Chandler, Ariz. ... full article »
The Raven Golf Club -- Phoenix flew under the radar for a few years until OB Sports assumed management in 2010 and performed some much-needed housekeeping to the golf course. The result is a course that is a lot of fun to play while also easy on the eyes. Set on 162 acres, it delivers a Carolina Sandhills-type experience to the Sonoran Desert. ... full article »
Rees Jones constructed a layout that is undeniably difficult but eminently fair at Quintero Golf Club, which despite having numerous elevation change seems to play uphill on every hole except for the four par 3s. And the four par 3s are unforgettable and unmatched anywhere in Arizona, Scott Bordow writes. ... full article »
by Ray Stevenson ( more )