Category: Sun Lakes

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: This was the first of five golf courses built in Sun Lakes, a highly successful active adult retirement community located southeast of downtown Phoenix. The community emerged in 1972 and this private, 18-hole executive course opened two years later.

The Sun Lakes Course offers three sets of tees at 3,874, 3,571 and 3,256 yards, plays to par 60 and is rated at 55 with a slope of 99 from the back tees. This is recreational golf; you’ll find no par-5 holes and very little water in play on the lush, bermuda turf traditional-style layout.

You will find six par-4 holes and 12 par 3s, which range from 127 to 209 yards. The longest hole on the course is the par-4 10th and the signature hole is the par-4 18th, which plays at a modest 302 yards.

Practice facilities at Sun Lakes CC include a 20-tee driving range, and after golf, a pleasant 19th hole called Sandy’s Lounge, where golfers relax and try out their newest golf excuse.

Each of the five enclaves in the Sun Lakes community has their own golf course, clubhouse and restaurant. Residents and their guests also enjoy heated community pools, hot tubs, tennis courts, health clubs, arts and crafts centers, whirlpools & saunas, billiards, pro shops, stocked fishing lakes and walking paths.

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.

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: This short, par-62 is a sister course to the par-72 Cottonwood Country Club and together they comprise one of the five enclaves of Sun Lakes, a retirement community for active adults southeast of downtown Phoenix.

This community covers 1,120 acres, has 3,809 homes, and like the others has a variety of activities available along with a clubhouse and practice facilities. The courses within these developments are private and offer various memberships as well as daily-fee play to residents and their guests.

Palo Verde has two sets of tees at 3,342 and 4,060 yards, with a rating of 59.7 and slope of 94 from the back tees. There are two par-5 holes, four par 4s and 12 par 3s, which range from 100-181 yards.

The layout features tree-lined fairways that are flat and tight and there is little water in play. One of the few hazards is a lake that runs along the right side of the 10th hole, which is a par-4 at 374 yards and the No. 1 handicap hole. The par-5 7th and 18th holes, which play at 495 and 483 yards, respectively, are the Nos. 2 and 3 handicap holes.

Palo Verde has a practice green but the driving range is located at the nearby Cottonwood Country Club.

Residents also have access to tennis courts, swimming pools, a fitness center, community parks, walking paths and basketball, pickle ball, racquetball and handball courts.

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.

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: Cottonwood Country Club is the 18-hole championship golf course built within the Cottonwood – Palo Verde communities, which are the second and third enclaves – of 5 total, that comprise Sun Lakes, a successful retirement community for active adults located southeast of downtown Phoenix.

Cottonwood Country Club, designed by Greg Nash, is a traditional style layout opened in 1983. The course provides four sets of tees, ranging from 4,791 to 6,737 yards and the course is rated at 71.7 with a slope of 129 from the back tees.

There are birdie opportunities here, but plenty of trouble awaits golfers who flirt too often with the water hazards. Water comes into play on eight holes and strategic bunkering around the greens puts a premium on approach shot accuracy.

Mr. Nash built some nice two-hole combinations at Cottonwood, starting with the fourth and fifth, which are separated by a long, narrow lake. No. 4 is a 379-yard par 4 with the lake wrapping in front and around the right side of the green, which is also guarded by bunkers on three sides. The fifth is a long par 3 at 230 yards, where the tee shot has to carry over that same lake twice.

The front nine ends with a 410-yard par 4 that has lakes pinching both sides of the end of the fairway; prudence trumps valor here.

The 13th and 14th holes also are separated by a water feature that runs the full length of both golf holes. No. 13 is the longest par 3 on the course, at 251 yards and No. 14 is a par 4 dogleg right playing 389 yards with two bunkers guarding the front-right of the green and another front-left.

The 16th, a 324-yard par 4, features a green surrounded by water on three sides and the 18th, at 364 yards, is a dogleg left with an approach shot over yet another lake.

Cottonwood has complete practice facilities with a driving range and chipping and putting greens, and a full-service restaurant. It is a private, equity club that offers annual and seasonal memberships and daily-fee play for homeowners.

Residents also have access to tennis courts, swimming pools, a fitness center, community parks, walking paths and basketball, pickle ball, racquetball and handball courts.

The Cottonwood – Palo Verde community at Sun Lakes also features an 18-hole executive golf course facility, Palo Verde Country Club, which plays at 4,060 yards to level-par 62.

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.