Author: ceogolfer

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Central Arizona Mesa

Arizona Golf Resort

The Buzz: If you’re looking for an affordable resort course that won’t wear you out, beat you up and pillage your golf ball supply, this Arthur “Jack” Snyder layout, which opened in 1960, is the track you’re looking for. That doesn’t mean it is without challenges, just that they are manageable as long as you use your head and choose your gambles wisely. This is a traditional layout with expansive fairways lined by massive cottonwood and eucalyptus trees, mature vegetation and gently sloping greens that generally are well maintained. Lakes come into play on four holes and the Superstition Mountains provide distant backdrops for several holes.

It is a course known for having difficult par 3s but easy par 5s. There are four par-5 holes, ranging from 488 to 494 yards from the back tees, meaning all of them are reachable in two shots, provided that you avoid the trouble. Of the six par-3 holes, four are longer than 200 yards from the tips, with the longest at 224, and the shortest plays at 173. How well you play them will go a long way in determining your final score.

Arizona Golf Resort has four sets of tees, ranging from 5,161 to 6,574 yards and plays at par 71 with a rating of 71 and slope of 119 from the back tees. The signature hole, not surprisingly, is one of those par 3s, the 14th, which plays at 175 yards from the back tee, with a tee shot that must go between large cottonwood trees and clear a water hazard to a green with bunkers on the front left and front right of the green.

Its player-friendly design makes this a popular course with senior golfers and it draws plenty of repeat customers. It offers extensive practice facilities, GPS-equipped carts and a variety of stay-and-play packages. Along with spacious guest rooms that include kitchenettes and outdoor barbecue grills, the resort has two swimming pools and Jacuzzis.

After your round, check out Anna’s Grill and Lounge, which features casual dining and entertainment by local artists, or the Sunrise Café, overlooking practice facilities and the first and 10th tees. You can also place an order at the Sunrise Café from your golf cart and pick it up when you make the turn. Fine dining is available at Annabelle’s restaurant, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also overlooks the course. The menu includes a wide variety of salads, appetizers, a soup-and-salad bar, pastas, seafood, poultry and beef entrees. The Sunday brunch is particularly popular.

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Central Arizona Mesa

Apache Wells Country Club

The Buzz: This short, private course was built specifically for senior golfers who live within Apache Wells, a master-planned community for active adults. Designed by Jack Snyder, whose work is well known around Arizona, it is an unusual layout that has just seven par-4 holes, water in play on six holes and plays to par 71. There are three sets of tees at 6,038, 5,746 and 5,252 yards with a rating of 67.5 and slope of 110 from the back tees.

It is a playable, walkable course that offers sweeping vistas of the Superstition Mountain range. The back nine is unique in that it has four par-5 holes, three par 3s and just two par 4s. The par 54s range from 453 to 511 yards from the back tees and the par 3s vary in length from 159 to 228 yards.

The par-4 third hole, at 392 yards, is the No. 1 handicap hole and the round ends with another par 5 at 498. In what might seem like an unusual pairing, Valley rock star Alice Cooper holds his annual “Blood Bath” tournament on this course. It also is home to Shriner’s tournaments, the semi-annual “Snowbird Scramble” and the Wingspan Air Heritage Foundation annual outing.

Membership here is limited to 485 and members, who pay an initiation fee and annual dues, must be residents and must be 55 or older. The club has a bar and grill and full-service restaurant that serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, are open to the public and offer daily specials, with seating inside and on an outdoor patio. There also is a multi-purpose room and a banquet hall that seats up to 500 people. Apache Wells has a driving range and other practice facilities available.

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Central Arizona Queen Creek

Apache Sun Golf Course

The Buzz: If grip-and-rip describes your golf game, this might not be the place you want to tee it up. But if you already have throttled back, or simply want to work on your short game in a friendly setting that goes easy on the wallet, then Apache Sun is one course to consider. Open from October through May, this nine-hole layout southeast of Phoenix plays to par 34 at 2,550 yards. It might not seem like an executive course when you reach the first tee and find a par-5 at 480 yards waiting for you. But relax, it’s the only par-5 on a course that has three par-3s ranging from 118-167 yards and five par-4s from 271-384 yards.

It was designed by Leo Johnson, who specialized in smaller courses mainly in the upper Midwest, but also created Tempe’s Pepperwood Golf Course. It opened in 1985 and over the years, about 800 trees have been planted around the property. That, combined with its wall-to-wall turf, gives the course a traditional, Midwest feel, which appeals to its regulars, many of whom are winter visitors from other parts of North America. “I’ve been here since 1988,” general manager Rory Van Pouche said, “and what I hear from our golfers is that they appreciate the traditional experience on a course that has plenty of grass and lots of mature trees. It’s a course they can walk and is very playable but they can still be challenged.” The most fun part of the course is a three-hole stretch where an irrigation pond brings water into play on all three holes. It starts at No. 5, a 170-yard par-3 where the pond runs down the left side. The sixth, a par-4 at 320 yards, has a left dogleg that wraps around the pond. No. 7 is considered the signature hole and is another 170-yard par-3 with water wrapping around the left, back and right side of the green and has a stand of trees also guarding the left side. Apache Sun has a short driving range, putting and chipping areas, and the clubhouse offers a snack bar.

For more substantial dining and other activities, check out the nearby San Tan Village, Queen Creek Marketplace and Cornerstone at Queen Creek, all of which have sprung up in recent years in one of the Valley’s fastest-growing areas. The San Tan outdoor mall offers shopping and a terrific restaurant lineup that includes Blue Burrito Grille, Gelato Dolce Vita, Sbarro, Kona Grill, Gordon Biersch Brewery and Blue Wasabi Sushi and Martini Bar. The other two developments are more shopping oriented but also serve up some tasty treats at the likes of Chipotle Mexican Grill and Paradise Bakery (Marketplace) and Big Dog Bar & Grill (Cornerstone).

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Central Arizona San Carlos

Apache Stronghold Golf Club

The Buzz: Legend has it that the Apache Stronghold area was created by Usen (an Apache word for God, the giver of life) as a region abundant with everything its people would need to survive. Guarded by the Chiricahua, Aravaipa, Superstition and White mountains, the stronghold was a mystical haven in which the Apaches could walk invisibly among their enemies.

It was here that designer Tom Doak created the golf course that allowed the public for the first time to walk on what are considered sacred grounds. Doak most likely was selected because of his minimalist approach to design, which takes added precaution to preserve what nature provided. The northern Michigan resident, whose projects include Bandon Dunes in Oregon, is a student of Pete Dye but gets his greatest design influence from the legendary Alister MacKenzie. On his web site, Doak says, “Instead of reshaping a severe slope, we try to figure out how to use it to make a golf hole interesting. If it’s too severe, we’ll try a sequence of holes which avoids it entirely. The bulldozer is our third and last option.”

The San Carlos Apache Tribal Government owns and operates the course, which sets at 3,200 feet elevation, plays to par 72 at 7,519 yards, is free of other development and has won numerous awards for design. In fact, at one point it was ranked the No. 1 public course in Arizona by Golfweek magazine before its playing conditions declined. It opened in 1999 and has struggled at various times to maintain conditions befitting such a serene, spectacular setting. That might be due in part to the type of grass and vegetation used in an effort to comply with the tribe’s requests to preserve the land, which has 14 archaeological sites. Since opening, it has undergone extensive replanting to restore what Doak created.

Stronghold is a rambling layout that takes advantage of the area’s rugged peaks and valleys, where snakes and Gila monsters feel right at home, and serves up a host of risk-reward shots. From the back tees it is a beast at 7,519 yards, with a rating of 74.5 and slope of 146. The introduction is a startling one with a par-5 first hole at 661 yards from the tips to a hidden green. The 15th is another monster at 614 yards. Although the back nine is a little shorter, it is a tougher test with some truly memorable holes. The par-4 10th, at 472 yards, snakes its way around a sandy waste bunker that splits the fairway into two long strips with the green on the left, where the fairway is narrower and bumpier. The par-3 14th at 186 yards is a modified Redan hole set atop a 90-foot ridge. On the heels of the elongated 15th hole, another par 5 awaits, and though it is considerably shorter, the 16th also is trickier. The fairway offers a generous landing area, where the best play is to the left side near the 50-yard-wide Gilson Wash. From there, you need a long second shot to clear the wash and reach the other fairway. Next up is the par-3 17th, at 230 yards uphill, where you must clear Gilson Wash again.

The course is the centerpiece of the Apache Gold Resort, which features a Best Western Hotel and casino, and offers a variety of stay-and-play packages.

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Apache Junction Central Arizona

Apache Creek Golf Club

The Buzz: You won’t find it listed among the Valley of the Sun’s prominent courses, but Apache Creek is an enjoyable layout with just enough challenges to keep you focused and its rates make it a good value play. Set in the far Southeast Valley in Apache Junction, and free of housing and other development, the course maneuvers through the desert with low-lying fairways, medium-to-large greens and minimal bunkering. There are two lakes and a large pond, which are connected by a narrow stream that brings strategy into play on several holes on the back nine. This is one of those courses that would work perfectly as the second round of your 36-hole binge.

Designed by Joe Alsip, the course is dotted with indigenous ironwood, mesquite and Palo Verde trees and offers generous fairways but some rugged transition areas between them. It also has an island green, several strategic doglegs, some nice mountain vistas and four sets of tees, ranging from 5,315 to 6,785 yards. The par-71 layout is rated at 71.3 with a slope of 123 from the back tees.

Highlights on the front nine are the fifth and sixth holes. No. 5, a 529-yard par 5, is a sharp dogleg left that plays into a prevailing wind with a lake along the right side of the fairway and a single Palo Verde tree in the middle of the fairway that always seems to get in the way. The sixth is a 145-yard par 3 to an island green in the middle of that same lake.

After the turn, No. 12 is another good par 3, at 153 yards, with a tee shot over a lake to a green with a bunker on the back that can make for a difficult sand shot back toward the water. A stream from that lake cuts across holes 13, 15 and 17 in menacing fashion. No. 15 is a double dogleg par 5 at 548 yards with the stream cutting across just in front of the green in the spirit of famed Rae’s Creek at Augusta National. The same is true at 17, where the stream crosses in front of the green and connects to a large pond near the left front corner of the green and end of the fairway.

The finishing hole can be a beast of a par 4 at 490 yards from the tips. You can shorten it considerably by cutting the corner on this severe dogleg left, but if you come up short of the fairway, an endless waste bunker awaits.

Apache Creek has an older, ranch-style clubhouse with a full golf shop, bar and grill and a western ambiance. Practice facilities include a generous driving range that has mobile shade and a misting canopy to help beat the summer heat, putting and chipping greens. Combine all of that with scenic views of the Superstition Mountains and Four Peaks, reasonable green fees and Internet specials, and it’s easy to see why this is a popular course among local golfers.