AZGA Arizona Golf Buzz: As one prominent NFL Arizona Cardinals player described his first experience here, “Every time I took a divot, I wanted to leave a note that said, ‘Sorry.’ ”
Plush is one of many superlatives that have been used to describe Estancia, a word that is used mainly in Argentina to delineate a large, grassed, private ranching estate.
In this case, Estancia is the name of an exclusive private golf club nestled on 640 acres of the northern slope of Scottsdale’s famed landmark Pinnacle Peak. Designed by Tom Fazio, it opened in 1995, started receiving accolades on Day One and hasn’t stopped yet.
Among the many honors it has received are “America’s Best New Private Golf Course” by Golf Digest in 1996 and “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses” by Golf Digest for 2009-10. Along with its strategic and challenging layout, what Estancia serves up are dazzling views, dramatic elevation changes, natural rock formations, the aforementioned sculpted fairways and lush bent-grass greens.
Even Fazio, who has designed some of the world’s most prominent courses, was awestruck when he first saw the property that would become Estancia.
“Personally, I don’t know if I’ve ever created a course with so much character,” Fazio said in the book Arizona’s Greatest Golf Courses. “Once you play it, it remains in your mind forever. To me, it’s easy to see why Estancia didn’t miss.”
For awhile there were some concerns about “missing” because financial woes delayed the start of construction nearly five years. Once it finally emerged, the course was something to behold.
Estancia starts strong, with the first four holes weaving their way along the western edge of the property and beginning the climb up Pinnacle Peak.
Among the many highlights of the front nine is the seventh hole, a 174-yard par-3 from an elevated tee over a wash to a tricky green guarded by huge bunkers on the left front and right front and towering saguaros standing guard over the back.
The back nine consists of one memorable hole after another. The 11th is considered the signature hole, 12-15 is considered the most dramatic four-hole stretch, and 17 and 18 are the favorites of many members.
At 137 yards, No. 11 is the shortest hole on the course and is wedged into a small desert swale right below Pinnacle Peak and surrounded by monstrous boulders and stately saguaros guarding a rolling green.
The 17th is a 584-yard par-5 dogleg that winds through some of the most spectacular rock outcroppings in the area, then down a hill to a small intimate green elevated above a deep swale.
The par-4 18th hole, which plays at 462 yards, offers some of the best views on the course, if your eyes have any room left for them after the previous 17 picture postcards.
There are five sets of tees at Estancia, ranging from 5,295 to 7,314 yards, and it is a handful from the tips with a rating of 73.7 and slope of 137. The equity club has 325 members and guests must be accompanied by members to play here. In 2009, it adopted a market-based pricing policy for the resale of memberships.
Estancia has an equally impressive Tuscan-themed clubhouse designed to create the intimate charm of an Old World hill-town molded around a mountain, and together with this world class golf course, makes Estancia a very special place to call “home.”