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Carefree Central Arizona

Desert Forest Golf Club

Desert Forest Golf Club: Phil Mickelson, who starred at Arizona State University and made his home for several years in nearby Scottsdale, called this his “favorite” golf course in Arizona, which is about as good an endorsement as any course in the state could receive. When you add that salute to the fact that several of its members maintain memberships at Augusta National, Baltusrol, Crooked Stick, Medinah, Pine Valley and Shinnecock, well that pretty much sums up the stature of Desert Forest.

Yes, the name is a a bit of a contradiction in terms, but like its location in the ultra-chic town of Carefree, those in the know understand what it represents.

desert-forest-golf-club-photograph

In a word, “pure” probably works the best for Desert Forest Golf Club. No swimming pool, no fitness center, no tennis club, just golf. And golf the way the legendary designers envisioned the game being played. In this case, the designer is Robert “Red” Lawrence, who created an absolute gem that earned him the nickname “The Desert Fox” of design, long before Johnny Miller picked up that moniker as a player.

Lawrence worked on fabled Merion Golf Club in the 1920’s along with historic Westchester Country Club and the minimalist design he opened here in 1962 propelled Desert Forest Golf Club into the ranks of the world’s elite private golf clubs, where it remains to this day.

In the early 1960”s, when Lawrence first laid eyes upon the unblemished desert terrain of the Sonoran Foothills in Carefree, Arizona, he decided to build a revolutionary layout, the first of its now familiar kind: a golf course simply laid upon the striking native-desert topography, hewn by eons of wind, rain and erosion.

Golfweek magazine’s take? “A revolutionary landmark of golf architecture.”

Modern day accolytes, think Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska, followed Lawrence’s gospel and relied on the natural landscape, moving virtually no soil during construction. Tom Weiskopf and Jack Snyder have done a little “tweaking,” and David Zinkand from the Coore & Crenshaw school has managed a modernization, but what Lawrence created remains intact.

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Desert Forest Golf Club – Sentry watches 11th Green

As you would expect, “pure golf” on this true desert course means Desert Forest has no water hazards in play, unless you are pathetic enough to dribble one sideways into the pond to the left of the tee on the par-3 third hole.

What might surprise you is you’ll find no O.B. stakes, and not a single fairway bunker on the course; zip, zero, nada, none. You’ll learn quite quickly that Lawrence utilized the natural contours to defend the fairways so well, fairway bunkers are unnecessary here.

Instead, Desert Forest presents the pure natural canvas that is its hallmark, and allows its native desert topography to dictate playing angles and shot placement. It’s just you and your clubs against the big three: the course, the elements and your patience.

Zinkand’s recent $3 million modernization recaptured the original profiles and contours of the green complexes and Lawrence’s signature oval-shaped bunkers were updated to a natural rugged-edge profile. More than a million square feet of rough and fairway surfaces were converted to 328 Bermuda turf as well.

Desert Forest offers multiple sets of tees, ranging from 4,763 to 7,201 yards, and the par-72 layout is rated at 74.1 with a slope of 145 from the tips. There are several classic holes, but the par-5’s are particularly outstanding at 551, 553, 594 and 523 yards. As for a signature hole, we’ll take the par-5 seventh, which plays at 551 from the back tee, is the No. 1 handicap and as strategically conceived as any hole in Arizona.

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It offers two distinct paths to the green. Left off the tee is easier and safer, but makes it a 3-shotter with a third measuring about 150 yards to the green. The bolder path, and the one Mickelson definitely would take, is down the right side, leaving an approach of 225-250 yards to the green. Key elements of this risk-reward choice are a waste-like scrub area running on a diagonal axis which divides the fairway from the tee, and the right-side’s more dramatic second shot which must carry an arroyo about 20 yards wide crossing the path to the green.

Desert Forest’s 250 members prefer and enjoy the simple elegance of the understatement, as evidenced by the first three entries on the club’s Master Plan Principles:

The golf course is our first priority.
Hire all the necessary experts and follow their advice.
Provide adequate funding to do it right.

Amen!

Perhaps that’s why Desert Forest, the first desert golf course, is still the best desert golf course. For non-members who appreciate brilliant course design and are fortunate enough to receive the opportunity, tee it up and savor the experience. Everyone else can enjoy a hole-by-hole helicopter fly-over of the course at www.desertforestgolfclub.com.

Enjoy our review of every golf course in Arizona at Arizona Golf Course Reviews. It’s just a part of “All Things, Arizona Golf” at the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Carefree Central Arizona Scottsdale

Boulders Golf Club – South Course

Arizona Golf Courses – Boulders Golf Club South Course

If you have to play one but not the other course at The Boulders, then the South better be your No. 1 choice. Spectacular beyond belief with magical million-year-old boulders — and loaded with signature holes – the South Course is full of the Kodak eye-candy you ogle in national golf magazines. There is one catch to playing The Boulders, however: You must stay at the world-class resort on the outskirts of Carefree (15 minute from Scottsdale) to get a tee time in peak season. Not necessarily a bad thing, considering The Boulders has earned a mountain of rewards ever since the first nine holes opened in 1969.

The beautiful hole #5 among the rocky boulders on the South Course of The Boulders in Scottsdale, Arizona
Hole #5 at The Boulders – South Course

Red Lawrence built the original nine and Phoenix architect Jack Snyder completed the first 18 a few years later. In 1984 Jay Morrish added 10 more holes as The Boulders played to three distinct nines up until 1992. That’s when Morrish returned to add the other eight holes, which were ultimately scrambled into the North and the South.

For some reason, the more fantastic offerings like the par-5 fifth hole, that gives you a choice between two fairways that lead to an incredible green setting snuggled into the rocks, as well as the par-3 seventh hole, where a seven-story-high boulder called “Rosie’’ awaits, turned up on the South Course. Even Morrish, a very honest gent who has since retired, was puzzled by the difference.

“As it turned out, I really like the South Course much more than the North,’’ he said. “I did those opening five holes, and the majority of the 18 on the South. Unfortunately, it’s kind of strung out and doesn’t tie together that well. But if you look at each hole individually, they’re pretty darn good.’’

Nobody at the club argues, nor do advertising production companies that seem to film TV commercial after TV commercial on the South. For convenience sake, the club reserves one course for the membership and the other course for resort play daily.

The Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” for the North and South Courses, following a libation on any of several Boulders patios, includes both the simple cowboy cheeseburgers and cold long-necks at Harold’s as well as the finest in fine-Foodie-dining at Binkley’s, both just up the road a piece in the Cave Creek – Carefree locale.

Click Boulders North Course to visit our Arizona Golf Course Directory List and read the AZGA Player’s Review for every golf course in Arizona.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Carefree Central Arizona Scottsdale

Boulders Golf Club – North Course

Arizona Golf Courses – Boulders Golf Club North Course

Most people love staying at The Boulders as much as playing the two golf courses, which is why Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report, known as the connoisseur’s guide to “peaceful and unspoiled places,’’ once gave it the No. 1 nod in the world for 12 years running. It’s also why The Boulders was named by the Arts and Entertainment Network as one of the top romantic get-aways in the world.

Cool stuff for a golf course! Or should we say courses. A 36-hole day is always a good idea and we think you’ll find the North quite entertaining, even if it’s a bit more inundated with houses and offers a few fewer Kodak scenery moments than the South.

Low clouds over the #16 hole on The Boulder’s North Course in Carefree, Arizona
Hole #16 on the North Course at The Boulders

Certainly the North is more traditional and tight, with white stakes seemingly everywhere along the residence-lined fairways. The heart of the North starts at No. 10, where it reels off three demanding doglegs in a row. If there is a signature hole, it comes at the end of that run, as the par-3 14th is a dicey long iron over water to a tricky green. The course closes out with another strong, dogleg par 4 at the 18th, where water and sand once again complicate matters.

Surprisingly, and somewhat contrary to what Morrish and most visitors say, the club’s members enjoy both courses somewhat equally, which is why they are switched back and forth on a daily basis. Oh, yes, and one more thing to relish about The Boulders is its world-renown Golden Door Spa. Ahhhh – perfect after 36 holes of golf!

The Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” for the North and South Courses, following a libation on any of several Boulders patios, includes both the simple cowboy cheeseburgers and cold long-necks at Harold’s as well as the finest in fine-Foodie-dining at Binkley’s, both just up the road a piece in the Cave Creek – Carefree locale.

Click Boulders South Course to visit our Arizona Golf Course Directory List and read the AZGA Player’s Review for every golf course in Arizona.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.