Category: Sun City West

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Central Arizona Sun City West

Trail Ridge Golf Course

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Arizona Golf Course Review: Trail Ridge is one of the four regulation-length golf courses among the seven courses (three are executive layouts) managed by the Recreation Centers of Sun City West.

While technically a private club, it offers limited public play, mainly during the summer months, with green fees that provide great value in the Phoenix area; members always receive preferred rates and tee times.

Designed by Billy Casper and Greg Nash, who have created many of the layouts in Arizona’s active adult communities, Trail Ridge opened in 1990 and underwent an extensive, six-month renovation project, reopening for play in October, 2011. The tees, fairways and greens all were upgraded, along with the driving range and the clubhouse.

The golf course is relatively flat but fairways offer some rolling terrain and are lined with mature trees; six lakes bring water into play on eight holes. Level par is 72 and Trail Ridge offers four sets of tees at 6,566, 6,200, 5,512 and 5,497 yards, with a rating of 71.4 and slope of 128 from the tips.

After a couple straightforward holes, things get interesting at No. 3, a 418-yard par-4 where you need to carry shots over two separate lakes. The first is in play along the left side off the tee and the second stretches down the right side of the end of the fairway and green.

Messrs. Casper and Nash crafted a nice variety of par-3 holes, including two that measure longer than 200 yards. Their best is No. 7, a 163-yard shot to a green guarded on the front, right and back by a large lake that also stretches part way down the eighth hole.

The highlight of the back nine is the 14th, where two more lakes provide the challenge. One is positioned near the end of the fairway on the right side and blocks the front of the green and the other horseshoes around the back side; tricky putting surface here too.

Trail Ridge is outfitted with full all-turf driving range, chipping and putting greens, and a snack bar with food service. Members of the Sun City West community association enjoy numerous amenities, including bowling, recreation centers, fitness facilities, a library, village store and dining. A teaching academy also is available to members with a staff that includes former LPGA Tour player Anne-Marie Palli.

Read the Arizona Golf Course List AZGA Player’s Arizona Golf Course Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory.

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

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Central Arizona Sun City West

Stardust Golf Course

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: Stardust is the first of the three executive courses built in Sun City West and remains one of its most popular plays with nearly 70,000 rounds per year.

The Sun City West active-adult community, northwest of downtown Phoenix, offers its residents a total of seven golf courses, three executive layouts and four regulation 18-hole courses. They are all managed by the Recreation Centers of Sun City West, a private club that allows limited public play mostly during the summer months.

Stardust is a traditional layout with fairways lined by mature trees, subtle greens and deep bunkers. Three small lakes bringing water into play on four holes, all on the back nine.

Designed by Greg Nash, who has had a hand in many of the courses built in active adult communities in Arizona, Stardust opened in 1979 and has three sets of tees at 4,267, 3,954 and 3,489 yards. The layout plays to par 60 and from the back tees is rated at 60.6 with a slope of 96.

Stardust Golf Course is a combination of six par-4s and 12 par-3s, which range from 132 to 210 yards. As expected, the most interesting shots on the course occur on the four holes where tee shots must clear water hazards. For example, you’ll find a lake to carry, that also separates the holes, at the par-3 13th and 14th holes, which play at 181 and 168 yards from the back tees. Bunkers guarding each green gobble up several shots that clear the water but miss the green.

Another lake defines Nos. 16 and 17. The 16th, at 160 yards, features a green literally surrounded by bunkers and the 17th challenges you with length, playing at 202 yards, with one large bunker along the right side of the green.

No. 18 is the best par-4, playing at 385 yards with a slight dogleg left and a tricky green surrounded by bunkers.

Stardust has full practice facilities and a snack bar with food service. Members of the association enjoy numerous amenities, including bowling, recreation centers, fitness facilities, a library, village store and dining. A teaching academy also is available with a staff that includes former LPGA Tour player Anne-Marie Palli.

Read the Arizona Golf Course List AZGA Player’s Arizona Golf Course Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory.

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

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Central Arizona Sun City West

Pebblebrook Golf Course

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: Pebblebrook Golf Course was the first of 7 courses built in Sun City West, the successful retirement community for active adults located northwest of downtown Phoenix. The development now boasts nearly 30,000 residents, who enjoy a variety of activities within the community. Golf is high on the list and Pebblebrook may be the most popular course of them all.

Designed by Greg Nash, who created several layouts in Arizona’s adult communities, it’s a traditional, player-friendly course that is relatively flat with wide fairways bordered by mature trees.

Although the large greens make the course appear quite expansive, don’t stray too far off line because four lakes and a winding creek bring water into play on nine holes. And here’s another tip; don’t let your miss be a slice because you’ll soon learn the lakes are located on the right side of your targets.

Scenic mountain backdrops grace several holes and Pebblebrook offers four sets of tees, ranging from 6,410 to 5,709 yards, so everyone can enjoy the views; it’s rated at 70.1 with a slope of 119 from the tips.

The front-9 features a lake that complicates matters on 3 holes of a 4-hole stretch that starts at No. 5, a 339-yard par-4 with the lake running along the right side of the fairway and wrapping behind the green.

After the putts drop at the 6th, a 429-yard par-4, the same lake guards the right and rear sides of the 7th green, a 504-yard par 5 that is well-bunkered.

Your tee shot must then carry the lake at the par-3, 139-yard 8th hole; greenside bunkers threaten there as well.

Pebblebrook also has a nice 2-hole finishing stretch. No. 17 is a 510-yard par-5 with a lake near the end of the fairway, on the right, that wraps around behind the green. The 18th is a short par 4 at 357 yards, but a creek cuts across the fairway twice and flows into another lake that starts about 100 yards from the pin and wraps around the right side and rear of the green; three large bunkers guard the front.

Complete practice facilities are available and there are a variety of membership programs from which residents can choose. Sun City West offers more than $125 million worth of amenities to its residents, including four recreation centers, a state-of-the-art bowling center, a recently renovated private library and more than 100 chartered clubs.

It also has a wildlife preservation program that takes a special interest in providing a haven for white swans at all of its golf courses.

Read the Arizona Golf Course Directory AZGA Buzz for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/; it’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Central Arizona Sun City West

Hillcrest Golf Club

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Course Buzz: When it’s a foursome that includes both skilled and recreational players who want to enjoy the day playing golf together, Hillcrest Golf Club is where we play. This wall-to-wall turf Greg Nash design is fun for everybody because the wide fairways and large greens accommodate all but the most errant shot. Five sets of tees ensure that everyone has an appropriate tee box, the most forward plays at 5,512 yards, 72.5/119.

The 5-Par 13th at Hillcrest Golf Club

Although water is present on twelve of the 18 holes, with only two exceptions it is always placed off to the side of the fairway or behind the green leaving plenty of room to avoid it.

Twice, on the back 9, you are required to loft your ball over lake-fed brooks that are narrow enough to step across. Those two shots are a more than fair trade though, for the stunning beauty the lakes provide throughout your day.

But when a player stands on the 7,002-yard back tees, that beauty becomes the beast. From here, the course is rated at an over-par 72.6 with a 126 slope. Now, cutting the water-laden doglegs requires serious hang-time for tee balls at 3 of the par-5s: the 4th, 7th and the 13th, a stern test even for the then PGA Senior Tour (now Champions) who played their MONY Arizona Classic here beginning, in 1984, through 1988.

In addition to the tee ball carry requirement at the 582-yard 4th, the drive must be flighted left, right or over palm trees that stand between you and the lake inside the dogleg-left you’re trying to carry. Approach the green with care as well; it’s a four-clubber. Measuring 40 yards deep, it also rises in elevation, from front to back, 25-feet vertically. When the breeze is up and the pin is located up on the back tier, it’s hard to pull too much club out of the bag.

Highlights on the back-9 include the par-4 12th, measuring just 345 yards. Looks drivable, but be very careful. The lake you can see from the tee behind the green, also hugs the entire left side of the green complex tighter than a mother sending her son off to his first day of pre-school. A safe shot short of the fairway bunker and a short iron approach will yield just as many birdies, probably more.

Save plenty of energy for the finish at Hillcrest as well. The par-3 17th measures 234; a flare right will find water and the front left is bunkered. The large, undulating green is generous so play it smart, take plenty of club and let your miss be long.

The par-4 18th is a strong finisher at 465 yards. The drive must be fitted between trees on both the right and left sides of the landing area. The green plays a bit downhill across a sunken fairway and is bunkered mid-right and top-left. Three distinct tiers are visible on this green; pick a club that places you on the tier that includes the pin.

Hillcrest Golf Club offers a full complement of amenities; lush all-turf practice facilities, full-service restaurant and bar and a fully stocked pro shop; greens fees are competitively priced and very attractive, especially in the afternoon.

So if you have a mixed-skill foursome, this is the place to play. The golf course provides a full examination of the skilled player’s game while granting recreational players a comfortable venue for their own enjoyable round.

And most importantly, Hillcrest offers golfers the most valuable gift of all, the chance to relish a day of golf, together.

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” for Hillcrest Golf Club includes Brokers, on the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Bell Road, and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville at Westgate, located on Glendale Avenue, just east of the 101 Loop.

Categories
Central Arizona Sun City West

Grandview Golf Course

Grandview Golf Course – Sun City West

Grandview Golf Course is the longest and, to many, the most challenging of the 7 golf courses managed by the Recreation Centers of Sun City West, Inc. in the active retirement community located northwest of downtown Phoenix.

Greg Nash designed this course that stretches to nearly 6,800 yards, has water in play on seven holes and, in some cases, as many as eight bunkers lying in wait. While that combination makes it a challenge to any skilled player, Grandview offers four sets of tees, making it playable to all skill levels, particularly those who can avoid the “trouble.”

Like the other Sun City West courses, this one is technically private, but all 7 are now open to public play on a limited basis. Public golfers can snag tee times late in the day during peak season and all day during non-peak season.

Grandview, which opened in 1984, plays at 6,775 yards from the back tees and 5,598 from the front. From the tips, the par-72 layout is rated at 72.3 with a slope of 129.

The front-9 has several standouts, starting with No. 6, a 387-yard par-4 that features a lake on the right side of the fairway, five bunkers running down the left side and three more around the front, right and back of the green.

The 8th hole, a 147-yard par 3, offers up a challenging tee shot over a lake to a green with two massive bunkers behind. No. 9, a 350-yard par-4 is another tester with a mammoth bunker along the right side of the fairway and seven bunkers completely surrounding the green.

You’ll find the signature hole at Grandview after the turn at No. 13, a 575-yard par-5 with two water hazards in play. The tee shot on this dogleg right is over the water to the first portion of a bisected fairway. A lake runs along the right side of the second half of the fairway and wraps in front of the green, and three large bunkers guard the left side of the fairway with two more around the back side of the green.

Just relax here; hit it where you can see it, keep it on the grass and the hole is a whole lot of fun – tweak this recipe and you may have a different experience.

Grandview has full practice facilities with a driving range, putting and chipping greens and a recently opened academy staffed by Drew Reid and Ralph West, who have been longtime popular instructors at nearby Hillcrest Country Club.

The golf shop has a bar and the Crooked Putter Restaurant, which offers a full dining menu. Along with access to six other courses, Sun City West residents have numerous other amenities to choose from, including bowling alleys, tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness facilities and a library.

Read the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Arizona Golf Course Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/; it’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.