Category: Tucson

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Southern Arizona Tucson

La Paloma Country Club

la-paloma-hill-course-6

La Paloma Country Club – Canyon / Hill / Ridge Courses
Ask local golfers to choose the best country club in the Tucson area, and this place is going to get plenty of votes. La Paloma, situated in the foothills of the Santa Catalina mountains, is part of an 800-acre development that combines stunning mountain and city views with superb amenities and service.

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La Paloma is the first project Jack Nicklaus tackled in Tucson and one of his first as a course designer after working under several architects, including Pete Dye in the 1960s and ‘70s. La Paloma, built in 1984, has three nine-hole courses called Ridge, Canyon and Hill, which are played in combinations.

Nicklaus insists that his early designs were mellow, but some golfers have left this course muttering about “Jack the Ripper.” Each of the course combinations have six sets of tees and play at about 7,000 yards from the tips.

The Ridge/Canyon combo is the toughest with a rating of 72.9 and a slope of 151. Tee times are reserved for club members and guests of the Westin La Paloma Golf Resort & Spa, a world-class facility that has earned numerous accolades from Golf Digest and Conde Nast Traveler.

la-paloma-canyon-9-photographFairways are tight in spots, but are bowl-shaped on the outer edges, helping funnel tee shots back to the short grass. If you’re playing it for the first time, consider leaving your driver in the bag because it’s not wise to try to overpower this layout – attack where appropriate during your second loop if you dare.

As for memorable holes, Ridge has a pair of excellent par 3s. The fourth, at 199 yards, is a picturesque hole that plays across the edge of a canyon floor 30-40 feet below the green and has rolls and depressions that divide the green into three distinct pin placement areas. No. 7 is shorter at 171 yards across a valley and sand trap to a small, hillside green.

Canyon features an extremely difficult four-hole stretch starting at No. 5, a 542-yard par 5 that is the No. 2 handicap hole and requires an approach shot over a deep canyon. Next up are par 4s at 355 and 445 yards with terraced greens cut into natural hillsides and a 211-yard par 3 that requires a tee shot over natural desert to a well-bunkered green.

The Hill, however, is the most famous nine because it was the setting for part of the film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner and Renee Russo. It also has a great finishing stretch, highlighted by the fifth hole, a sweeping dogleg par 4 at 467 yards, and the seventh, a 538-yard par 5 dogleg right with an approach shot over a wash to a small, pristine green.

Along with the skyline, La Paloma also offers views of Kitt Peak, the fifth-largest observatory in the country, and a landmark known as Finger Rock, which juts up from the Santa Catalinas. La Paloma Resort amenities are all top shelf and deserve a visit – though, perhaps just a look at the 177-foot waterslide will suffice; your choice.

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Southern Arizona Tucson

J.W. Marriott Starr Pass – Coyote / Rattler / Roadrunner Course

Starr Pass - J.W. Marriott - Tucson

Arizona Golf Courses – J.W. Marriott Starr Pass
This parcel has evolved from a historic stagecoach stop – to a Tournament Players Club, handpicked by the PGA Tour commissioner – to a golf course re-invented by the legendary Arnold Palmer as the centerpiece of the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa. It opened in 1986 and remains one of the crown jewels of Tucson golf. It is comprised of three nine-hole courses – Coyote, Rattler and Roadrunner – that are played in 18-hole combinations, wrapping around and through the resort property.

Starr Pass – J.W. Marriott – Tucson

Rattler is the longest of the three and grabs you out of the gate with stunning views of the Tucson metro area and surrounding mountain ranges. Roadrunner, which starts just yards outside of the resort doors, features dramatic elevation changes and swirling winds created by the Tucson Mountains that make the challenge exceedingly more interesting. Coyote is the more isolated of the three, heading west, away from the city and into the natural habitat of jackrabbits, deer, quail and other critters common to Southwest climes.

Throw in six sets of tees on each nine and you’ve got about as many combinations as there are lottery numbers. So let’s try to simplify a touch. Played from the back tees, yardages, ratings and slope are: Roadrunner/Rattler 6,657, 72, 147; Coyote/Roadrunner 6,696, 72.1, 143; Rattler/Coyote 6,913, 73, 139.

Yardages from the front tees, respectively, are 5,450, 4,708 and 5,145. Common denominators are that these layouts aren’t particularly long, but the slope ratings suggest they are tough as shoe leather. Keep your golf ball in play or pay the price for errant shots. By resort-course standards, this represents a stiff challenge.

The course originated as an 18-hole layout called TPC at Starr Pass when Deane Beman was commissioner of the PGA Tour. Well-regarded Bob Cupp and Craig Stadler designed what are now the Coyote and Rattler nines to become a PGA Tour stop. That combination often is referred to as the Classic Course and at various times during the year is set up to play as it did formerly. The original layout served as host or co-host of tour events from 1987-96, including the 1991 event when Phil Mickelson, who was attending Arizona State University at the time, became the fourth amateur player to win a tour event.

Palmer and Company designed Roadrunner and revamped the original 18 in 2004, completing the layout which is sanctioned as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. Public, daily-fee rounds account for about half of the play here.

Memorable holes include No. 5 on Rattler, No. 6 on Coyote and No. 2 on Roadrunner. The fifth on Rattler is a 510-yard par 5 with a split fairway and it, along with the third hole, a 193-yard par 3, were ranked among the most difficult holes on the tour while the course was part of that rotation. The sixth on Coyote is the resort’s signature hole, which is apropos because it marks the site of a stagecoach trail established by Richard Starr about 125 years ago. At 337 yards from the back tees, it is the shortest par 4 on the course but the temptation to hit a driver instead of a long iron off the tee is high, even though you can’t see the green. Roadrunner’s second hole is a downhill par 4 at 450 yards from the back tee where your approach shot has to carry a wash that wraps around the front and right side of a narrow green. The only water in play occurs when there is enough rainfall to flow through the normally dry washes.

Starr Pass also has a program that offers free golf to kids when accompanied by an adult. Practice and clubhouse facilities are first class and resort amenities are among the best in the Tucson area, including excellent dining at the Catalina Steakhouse.

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Marana Southern Arizona Tucson

Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain Country Club

The Buzz: Playing Heritage Highlands, a semi-private course in the foothills north of Tucson, is like teeing it up on two different layouts because the front and back nines provide contrasting experiences, and both have plenty of appeal. Heritage Highlands, designed by regarded architect Arthur Hills, meanders through natural vegetation and up and down landscape at the base of the picturesque Tortolita Mountains in Marana – the same town that plays host annually to the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship, featuring the top 64 players in the world rankings, at the neighboring course Ritz-Carlton course.

While the front nine flows along flatter terrain, its arroyos and desert washes provide plenty of challenges and risk-reward opportunities. The back nine takes full advantage of elevation changes and confounding breaks on the green that leave golfers asking “how?” Mountain vistas, provided by five ranges, on the inward nine are stunning and the variety Hills designed into this layout makes you stop and think about which of many is your favorite hole. There are plenty of natural desert flora, wildlife and rock outcroppings, and yet this course has a more traditional feel, and generally excellent conditions.

As a semi-private course, Heritage Highlands offers residents preferred rates and tee times and several membership options, but there is plenty of public golf available here. The course has six sets of tees, which range from 4,716 to 6,904 yards, with a rating of 72.3 and slope of 139 from the back tees. What that suggests, accurately, is that there is plenty of challenge without being overwhelming.

There are several memorable holes, highlighted by these four: No. 7, a 184-yard par 3, where the green slopes severely on the right side and a bunker guards the left, with a tee shot straight at the Catalina Mountains that must carry a wash nudging the front of the green.

The 10th, a 546-yard par 5 and the No. 1 handicap hole, features a three-tiered green. It is called “Second Thoughts” because, on the approach shot, you must decide whether to lay up or try to clear the bunkers that bisect the fairway in order to reach the green.

The 13th, named for the architect, is called “Arthur’s Hill,” and the par 4 plays at 359 yards. The tee shot is stimulating and intimidating, requiring accuracy on a hole with a divided fairway, and leaving an approach shot to a partially hidden green with a deep bunker guarding the right side.

No. 17, a par 3 at 223 yards, is called “Picture Perfect,” and it is exactly that with its views of the surrounding mountains and Tucson skyline. The tee shot needs to carry two washes to a shallow green protected by desert on the left and severe bunkering on the right.

Heritage Highlands also features an expansive clubhouse with an excellent restaurant, a warm patio with spectacular views and members have access to a swimming pool, fitness facilities and recreation area. This is considered one of the premier active adult communities in the state and more intimate than most others because it has just 1,297 homes in a master-planned community of 6,200 acres. It sets at an elevation of about 3,000 feet, about one third of its nine square miles is designated to remain open space and much of its perimeter is protected as preserved land.

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Southern Arizona Tucson

Fred Enke Municipal Golf Course

Fred Enke Municipal - Tucson
Fred Enke Municipal - Tucson

AZGA Arizona Golf Buzz: Fred Enke is one of five municipal golf courses owned and operated by the City of Tucson and a departure from the other four, as it’s the only desert-target layout in the stable. Designed by Dick Phelps and Brad Benz, it opened in 1983 and later underwent a renovation under the direction of Ken Kavanaugh.

Visually, this is a semi-arid course with limited turf, but the large greens and ample landing areas offer birdie opportunities for those who keep their ball in play. The tee-boxes, landing areas and greens are grassed and the rest of the course is native desert vegetation, with rugged transition areas that can take a toll on golfers who are hitting it sideways.

There are four sets of tees, ranging from 4,991 to 6,726 yards, with a rating of 73.9 and slope of 133 from the back tees. With hilly terrain, calculated bunkering, rugged transitions and multi-tiered greens, it is a course that puts a premium on strategy and accuracy.

Some of the more memorable holes are on the front nine, which also has the only water hazard – a lake – positioned between the first and ninth. On No. 1, the lake runs along the right side of a dogleg right par-4 that plays at 365 yards from the tips. That lake also lurks along the left side of the par-4 ninth hole, which is the No. 1 handicap hole, at 458 yards.

Most consider the fifth to be the signature hole. It is a par-5 of 556 yards that has a 50-foot drop from tee to fairway and plays slightly uphill to the green. That green is connected to the green for the seventh hole, a 378-yard par-4.

Highlights of the back nine are the 14th and 18th holes, both of which have heavy bunkering. On No. 14, a 400-yard par-4, the ideal tee shot is the center of a triangle created by three large bunkers in the primary landing area, and the approach is to a green with an even larger sand trap sprawling along the right side of the green.

No. 18 offers a chance to finish with a birdie on a par-5 of 507 yards from the back tee, but golfers must avoid two large cross-bunkers on their tee shot and hit an accurate approach with bunkers squeezing both sides of the green. The Fred Enke municipal golf course has a lighted driving range and some of the most affordable green fees in the Tucson area.

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Southern Arizona Tucson

El Rio – Trini Alvarez Golf Course

El Rio - Trini Alvarez Golf Course
El Rio - Trini Alvarez Golf Course

At first glance, or even second, you probably wouldn’t guess that this is where some of the greatest golfers in the history of the game and many famous celebrities have teed it up, but the Trini Alvarez-El Rio Golf Course is rich with history. The course dates to the early 1930s, although some claim it actually opened in 1929, and was the original site of the Tucson Open, hosting that PGA Tour event 17 times over 18 years. The course was operated as the private El Rio Country Club until 1968 when it was acquired by the City of Tucson for public use.

The city added Trini Alvarez to the name in honor of the late club pro, who ran the course for many years. It features tight fairways, small greens, relatively-flat terrain, two lakes that bring water into play on three holes and is lined with mature trees. El Rio now is the site of a First Tee program, providing on-site instruction and practice facilities for juniors, many of whom lack the financial means to take up the game. In conjunction with that program, a three-hole mini-course was created within the driving range to help introduce kids to golf before graduating to the main course, where separate tees have been added 50-100 yards in front of regular teeing areas.

El Rio, which was designed by William P. Bell (the father of designer William F. “Billy” Bell) was Tucson’s first grassed course. With the help of the PGA Tour, in conjunction with First Tee participation, the course underwent a major restoration project in 2004 that included a new irrigation system and cart paths and restored bunkers, under the direction of renowned designer Ken Kavanaugh. “We wanted to de-modernize El Rio,” Kavanaugh said when the project was completed. “There are few opportunities to play an old-style golf course like this.”

El Rio has just two par-5 holes, the ninth and 18th. The signature hole is the eighth, a 210-yard par 3 to a small green well guarded by bunkers. The 18th is a dogleg right where a power fade can lead to birdie opportunities, unless you fade it too much, as the legendary Jimmy Demaret learned the hard way (more on that later). Famous pros who competed at El Rio also included Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Tommy Bolt, Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, “Champagne” Tony Lema, Charlie Sifford and Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Among the celebrities who teed it up here were Harpo Marx, Randolph Scott, Joe Louis, Desi Arnaz, James Garner and Bing Crosby.

Demaret won the title in 1946 and 47, making him the only two-time winner at El Rio, but also had a “claim to shame” in 1952 when he made a 14 on the 18th hole, hitting five tee shots out of bounds. The next year, before the event began, Demaret brought a large sign commemorating the “feat” to the tournament and unveiled it at the 18th tee.

Also in 1952, amateur Frank Stranahan had an 18-foot putt to record what would have been the first 59 in PGA Tour history. He three-putted the hole and settled for a course-record 61. Zaharias made history in 1945 at El Rio, where she finished 42nd, marking the only time a woman has made a cut in a PGA Tour event. In fact, no other woman played in a PGA Tour event again until Annika Sorenstam in 2003 at Colonial. The El Rio clubhouse features a snack bar and grill but no restaurant. Its low green fees make it a favorite of local golfers.