Category: Scottsdale

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Central Arizona Scottsdale

Starfire Golf Club

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starfire-golf-club-king-8-photoThe Buzz: With its name, location and the legendary Arnold Palmer as designer, Starfire Golf Club might appear to be one of those ultra-exclusive and dazzling golf experiences that Scottsdale is famous for, at a rate you didn’t expect to find. But in a way, it’s even better than that.

Starfire is a lovely neighborhood golf club,  which day in and day out, can be much more appealing than the high-end North Scottsdale knock-your-socks-off golf courses. Starfire, which is managed by In Celebration of Golf, began simply as Scottsdale Country Club, an 18-hole layout in 1953, making it Scottsdale’s first course. Palmer was hired to design a new nine-hole layout, dubbed the “King” in 1988 and also re-designed the previous nines, which are named “Hawk” and “Squire.” Since then, some holes have been rearranged, giving them a better flow and allowing them to work within the available space and with a new clubhouse constructed in 2001 that was placed about 500 yards from the original clubhouse site.

The three nines are played in various combinations, and the “King” is the longest and most popular. The Starfire property is relatively flat and winds through mature eucalyptus, pine and cottonwood trees with generous fairways, medium-sized greens and, depending on the 2-nines you play, water can come into play on 13 holes. There are some nice views of the McDowell Mountains and Camelback Mountain, but this is an urban golf experience and can feel a little cramped with holes surrounded by homes and the course bordered by some of Scottsdale’s busiest roads. Those factors also limit its length, so this isn’t the place where you’re going to wear out your driver. Each course has four sets of tees and yardages from the front and back tees with each combination are: Squire/King, 6,040 and 4,362; King/Hawk, 6,098 and 4,467; Hawk/Squire 5,622 and 3,933.

Par-3 holes are the strength of the layouts, especially the eighth on King and the fifth on Squire, which are considered their signature holes. The former plays at 205 yards from the tips to a well-bunkered green surrounded by water. The latter is shorter, at 175 yards, but trickier and plays over water with bunkers on the left and a series of mounds on the right.

starfire-golf-club-squire-9-photo The Squire’s fifth starts a very nice four-hole stretch created by strategic use of water hazards. The highlight of that stretch is No. 7, which was the first hole of the original country club. The par 4 is just 324 yards and has a sunken lake in the middle of the fairway with very little grass around either side, and a fountain that shoots water high into the air. Because you can’t see the lake from the tee, it looks like a geyser coming right out of the ground.

The signature hole on Hawk may be the ninth, a narrow par 4 at 339 yards that puts a premium on accuracy off the tee and into the green. The par-4 sixth also has a neat feature with a pair of palm trees, which you must split on the approach, like a field-goal from 150-yards out. The approach shots to both the par-4 seventh and the par-3 eighth are over water.

The clubhouse is reminiscent of those popular in Palm Springs. The 19,000-square-foot facility is tastefully adorned amidst a grove of palm trees with a full-service restaurant, an outdoor terrace and a pro shop with a nice array of equipment, apparel and accessories.

Starfire offers a practice chipping area and putting green but no driving range. It is a popular course with female golfers, hosts many scramble tournaments and offers lower green fees than most of its neighboring courses. With its location near central Scottsdale, there are plenty of quality hotels and dining options in close proximity.

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Central Arizona Scottsdale

Silverleaf Golf Club

The Buzz: Several superlatives have been used to describe Silverleaf and all seem to be appropriate, including “elegant.” That one applies to the overall development and to the golf course as well, which fits perfectly within this neighborhood.

Tom Weiskopf, whose stature as a course architect is such that any project with his name attached is going to receive rave reviews, deserves them all for what he accomplished at this North Scottsdale community. Silverleaf is a gem in the heart of a development surrounded by the best and most dramatic of desert living. It comes with a price tag at this private, non-equity club and those who can afford it are in for a treat.

Weiskopf has a special knack for creating golf designs that blend seamlessly with the surroundings, and he took advantage of this splendid terrain tucked into the canyons of the McDowell Mountains and surrounded by the Sonoran Preserve. Set in the foothills, Silverleaf winds through Horseshoe Canyon and Upper Canyon, an area where coyotes, javelinas, jackrabbits and other wildlife roam at elevations reaching 2,100 feet.

The course takes its name from an historic mining claim filed on the property in the late 1800s and sets on land that once was a large cattle ranch. It is a layout defined by elevated tees, sweeping bunkers, contoured greens and wide fairways. From the traditional wooden rakes in the bunkers, to the Pro V-1 balls on the driving range, to the 200-year-old roof tiles on the buildings, Silverleaf is a unique golf experience.

“There’s nothing tricked up about it,” Weiskopf said of the course. “The spaciousness of the land allowed us to shape a course that follows very natural contour lines, while at the same time providing fun, challenges and views that are simply stunning.”

There are five sets of tees ranging from 5,059 to 7,322 yards and it is rated at 74.7 with a slope of 149. The 18th, a 498-yard, par 4, is the signature hole and, from the tips, shares a dramatically elevated tee with No. 16, a 234-yard par 3.

However, it is tough to beat the 13th, a 395-yard par 4 with a stunning backdrop that includes Camelback Mountain, the only water hazard on the course and a glimpse of the Phoenix skyline, framed by a gap in Mummy Mountain. The hole provided Weiskopf the opportunity to create an illusion he always wanted to design into a golf course, as the green appears to sit below the level of the lake behind it.

The course also features a Weiskopf trademark with a drivable par-4, the risk-reward ninth hole, which plays at 313 yards from the back tees. Silverleaf features just three par-3 and three par-5 holes, and the par 3s keep that “fresh” approach intact with “rotating” tees. Each has a long, short and middle distance and the position changes daily.

The 50,000 square-foot Rural Mediterranean-style Clubhouse is highlighted by world-class spa facilities, resort and lap pools, fully appointed men’s and women’s locker rooms as well as fine and casual dining. The overall development also features three distinct neighborhoods, spacious courtyards, award-winning cuisine and shopping venues. If you’re ever invited to play Silverleaf, drop whatever you may be doing and go, immediately – you’ll be richly rewarded.

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Central Arizona Scottsdale

Silverado Scottsdale Golf Club

The Buzz: One of the newer courses to the Scottsdale golf scene, Silverado also is one of its most player-friendly, a par-70 at 6,313 yards from the back tees that filled the last parcel of a green belt along Indian Bend Wash. That’s not to say that Silverado is exactly “easy,” just that it won’t beat you up nearly as much as the high-end layouts further north. While they offer mountains and rugged desert terrain, Silverado serves up a tamer Southwestern feel with mild desert transition areas. This is the place where husbands and wives can play together and both have a good time on a course they can manage. Created in 2000 by designers Ross Graves and Jack Gilmore, it has a unique ownership co-op between local businessmen and the City of Scottsdale. Along with playability, it provides excellent views of Camelback and Mummy mountains and gained a quick following among public golfers, who appreciate its excellent conditioning. It has an unusual mix of holes with six par 3s, ranging from 157-209 yards, and four par 5s, from 514-535 yards. Regulars at the course like its elevated tees, which allow them to clearly see the layout and hazards in front of them, including lakes, nature areas, strategic bunkering and hundreds of trees that were planted during construction and now are starting to mature. Many fairways run parallel with the front playing in a north-south direction and the back situated in an east-west pattern, creating a greater demand for a variety of shots on windy days. The back nine is the more interesting of the two, highlighted by the 14th and 18th holes. No. 14 is a demanding par 5 at 535 yards, and the finishing, signature hole is a 157-yard par 3 that plays from an elevated tee to a large, well-guarded peninsula green encompassed by a 2-acre lake and backdropped by Mummy Mountain. That green complex is in full view of the clubhouse, which means you can relax there after the round and watch your fellow golfers attempt to keep their tee shots on terra firma. The course restaurant serves up an excellent club sandwich and some of the best prime rib in the Valley of the Sun. It also offers monthly specials and an affordable all-you-can-eat buffet. And with the course location near the heart of Scottsdale, there are plenty of dining, lodging and clubbing options available in close proximity.

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Central Arizona Scottsdale

Pinnacle Peak Country Club

AZGA Golf Buzz: When it comes to quality golf courses in Arizona, Pinnacle Peak Country Club might be the most paradoxical – Virtually everyone in the Phoenix-area golf community has heard of it, yet hardly anyone knows much about it, and fewer yet, have played it.

It’s not easy to be well known and remain a well-kept secret, but that is the case with this gem that was designed by Dick Turner and opened in 1976, making it one of the earliest clubs to spring up in north Scottsdale. In fact, aerial photos of the course when it first opened show no homes or other structures in an area that now is nearly built-out.

Still, the course remains somewhat secluded due to surrounding mountains and a massive hedge that blocks viewing from Pinnacle Peak Road along its northern boundary. This private, member-owned club is limited to 325 members and offers seven different memberships, including social and prospective, for those who remain on the waiting list. Many of its members are residents of other states or countries, leaving local members with plenty of tee-time options on a beautiful layout nestled in the McDowell Mountain Range.

Pinnacle Peak, which is one of Scottsdale’s best-known landmarks, actually stands about five miles away but provides a backdrop for some holes on this course that has a traditional design with tree-lined fairways. Water comes into play on three holes and there are three sets of tees each for men and women, ranging from 4,952 to 7,030 yards, with a rating of 72.8 and slope of 130 from the back tees.

The course underwent an extensive renovation in 1996 that included installation of a new irrigation system, reconfiguration of the bunkering and rebuilding of all 18 greens, which have resulted in pristine conditions. The bent-grass greens, in particular, are among the best in the state.

The front nine is considered the harder of the two and features a delightful six-hole stretch starting at No. 3, a 188-yard uphill par 3 to a green that slopes front to back and is squeezed by bunkers. The seventh, a 450-yard par 4, is the No. 1 handicap hole where even a well-struck tee shot leaves a fairway wood or long iron shot to a green that slopes back to front.

The front nine ends with the signature hole, which at 170 yards is the shortest par 3. Water runs down the entire right side with a pond guarding the front and right of the green and a bunker wraps around the entire back side. A small waterfall and colorful flowers help make this one of the most scenic holes on the course.

The back nine is slightly longer but offers more birdie opportunities. Among them is the par-4 12th that plays downhill at 376 yards from the back tees, but features one of the toughest greens on the course to read and putt. Another is the 16th, a 369-yard par 4, but it features a tight, tree-lined fairway and a nasty pot bunker in front of the green.

The layout presents an excellent finishing hole – a 588-yard par 5 that requires three good shots to reach the green, with out of bounds along the right side, trees lining the left, a lake coming into play down the left side and a shallow green protected by three bunkers.

The clubhouse has undergone extensive remodeling and reopened in 2004 with rustic stone fireplaces, gabled roofs and a Spanish Colonial-style exterior. It houses fine and casual dining rooms, a grille room, locker rooms, a fitness center, golf shop, cocktail lounge and meeting rooms. Pinnacle Peak also features excellent practice facilities and a heated lap swimming pool and tennis courts, although golf is overwhelmingly the activity of choice here.

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Central Arizona Scottsdale

Phoenician Golf Resort

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Phoenician Golf Resort – Arizona Golf Courses
You might come here expecting to play desert golf but what you discover, and delightfully so, is tropical desert golf. The Phoenician golf experience might make you wonder if you veered off course and landed in Hawaii. This world-class resort combines playability with aesthetic beauty that belies its Sonoran Desert locale, with lush tropical scenery and impressive water features. There are three nine-hole layouts – Canyon, Desert and Oasis – which are played in combinations, and you can hardly go wrong with any of them. Photo ops seem to be everywhere you look.

There also is some history to this venue that covers 250 acres skirting Camelback Mountain and once was the site of Valley Country Club, which was razed to make way for the resort. Well-known Arizona architect Arthur “Jack” Snyder designed the new 18 holes, which opened in 1978. Homer Flynt redesigned them in the mid-1980s and Ted Robinson designed the final nine, the Canyon Course, about 10 years later. He also redesigned several of Flynt’s original holes. That’s a lot of input from architects with different design styles and yet it works, and does so splendidly.

Best known for its dramatic elevation changes and awe-inspiring views, the Desert is the most requested course due to its unique layout. Oasis is aptly named with its tree-lined fairways, tranquil water features and traditional layout. Canyon, defined by lush, landscaped terrain, is located on the southern slope of the mountain with sweeping views of the Valley of the Sun and is considered by golf purists to be the strongest nine. None of the courses are particularly long, but take a bit of advice and don’t try to overpower them. Accuracy is the key. Even from the back tees, yardages are 6,258 for Oasis/Canyon; 6,068 for Desert/Canyon and 6,310 for Oasis/Desert. One more tip: Everything breaks away from Camelback Mountain more than you think it will. As for the signature hole, make that plural.

There are enough for a week’s worth of golf, but the pars 3s are particularly impressive. They include a back-to-back pair at Nos. 7 and 8 on Canyon that measure 201 and 132 yards and both play over water to bunkered, picturesque greens. Desert has three strong par 3s, topped by No. 8, which is 120 yards but plays more like 80 because there is an 80-foot elevation drop from tee to green. Many a golfer has managed to air mail this putting surface. The highlight of Oasis is the finishing hole, a dynamic dogleg par 4 at 379 yards to a green that is fronted by water and backed by a palm forest. Another rare treat you will find on Oasis are comfort stations with marble-lined bathrooms and ceiling fans. That’s right, on the golf course.

But that’s nothing compared to the palatial resort, which has been named one of the top golf resorts in America by the Robb Report, Golf Digest and others. Amenities include 474 guest rooms, 73 luxury suites and 107 casitas, 10 restaurants and lounges, numerous retail shops, tennis courts, a spectacular cactus garden and an impressive art collection. Even if you don’t stay here, a tour of the facilities is a great way to cap off your day.